Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

8-2007

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Human Ecology

Major Professor

Youn-Kyung Kim

Committee Members

Ann E. Fairhurst, Laura D. Jolly, Robert T. Ladd

Abstract

Online auctions present unique characteristics in the consumer decision making process that raise new issues related to consumer shopping behaviors in auction-based purchases. The present research examined the relationship between hedonic shopping motivations and shopping values in online auctions and found that the hedonic shopping motivations are important predictors of shopping values in online auctions. This research also defined consumer characteristics that influence hedonic shopping motivations. Hedonic shopping motivations combined with consumer characteristics are critical factors of consumer shopping evaluation in the online auction environment.

The results of this study also revealed that consumers’ shopping evaluation (i.e., shopping value) positively influence their preferences for online auctions. Preferences are important factor to form behavioral intentions in online auctions.

The primary contribution of this dissertation is that it provides an empirically tested theoretical foundation on the components of consumer characteristics, hedonic shopping motivations, and shopping values in online auction environment. Contrary to previous studies that focused on utilitarian benefits of online shopping, this study focused on hedonic aspects of shopping which may explain the success of online auctions in the current retail market.

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