Investigating Uncertainty Avoidance and Perceived Risk for Impacting Internet Buying: A Study in Three National Cultures

The purpose of this research is to investigate factors impacting internet buying in three cultures: USA, India, andJordan. While several consumer characteristics impacting internet buying have been studied in previous research,there has been relatively little research which studies the factors across national cultures. Internet buying andcommerce has a global reach and several corporations count on global markets for expansion and growth. As aresult, it is critical to understand the particular nature of differences in consumer characteristics impactinginternet buying in different countries and cultures. This paper reports on an empirical study, which tests theimpact of consumer characteristics uncertainty avoidance and perceived risk on internet buying. Data wascollected and analyzed from USA, Jordan, and India. Results indicate that in cultures where uncertaintyavoidance is high, perceived risk with internet, buying is also high, and this impacts internet buying negatively.Cultures where perceived risk is high, it impacts internet buying negatively. Results provide practicalimplications to web based vendors on consumer characterize that should be taken into account when marketingonline in different cultures. Results also provide valuable insights into the nature of internet buying and thefactors that limit internet-buying acceptance across cultures.