Examining the Trust-Based Consumer Decision-Making Model for Online Purchases in Pakistan

This paper empirically examines the trust-based consumer decision-making model in the context of a collectivist country (i.e., Pakistan). The target population of the study was the general retail consumers recruited through online survey. A total of 396 valid responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling in Smart PLS. The study reports average variance extracted, composite reliability, Cronbach alpha, and path coefficients. The results confirm that trust and benefits are positively associated with purchase intention while perceived risk is negatively associated with consumer trust. The study also reports some unique findings like information quality is found positively associated with both trust and perceived risk. Also perceived privacy protection is found negatively associated with trust and positively with risk. The study lays down a foundation for subsequent studies to further explore the phenomena. The study is the first of its kind that has examined this model in Pakistan and proposes some useful theoretical, practical, and policy-making implications.