When Does Perceived Risk Drive Shopping Cart Abandonment? A Meta-Analysis of Contextual Heterogeneity in E-Commerce

Shopping cart abandonment remains a persistent challenge in e-commerce, yet evidence regarding the role of perceived risk remains fragmented across shopping contexts. This study aims to clarify when and under what conditions perceived risk is most strongly associated with shopping cart abandonment by quantitatively synthesizing 153 effect sizes from 60 independent studies reported in 49 empirical articles published between 2004 and 2026. A multilevel random-effects meta-regression approach was employed to account for dependent effect sizes and to test risk source, product category, shopping purpose, sample location, and publication year as moderators, together with two theoretically specified interactions. The results show that perceived risk is positively associated with shopping cart abandonment (r = 0.244, 95% CI [0.191, 0.296]). The association was stronger for transaction than product-related risk, for fast-moving consumer goods rather than durable goods, and in hedonic rather than utilitarian shopping contexts. Sample location and publication year were not significant moderators. Risk source also interacted with shopping purpose and product category, indicating that risk effects depend on configurations of contextual conditions. Sensitivity analyses and publication-bias diagnostics did not materially alter the pooled estimate. The findings shift attention from whether perceived risk matters to the contexts in which it is most likely to interrupt purchase completion.