Perceived Risk and Trust as Major Determinants of Actual Purchase, Transcending The Influence of Intention

This study analyzed online purchasing behavior in the hotel industry through an integrative framework, utilizing sets of variables rarely used in previous studies. The analysis was focused on the influence of online purchase intention, per- ceived risk, and trust upon actual purchase, with the idea of further determining which construct has the strongest impact. It also analyzed two new measurement items for website quality. The sample consisted of travelers who have recently made hotel reservations online. The model was tested with Structural Equation Modeling. Perceived risk was found to have the strongest impact on actual purchase followed by trust and online purchase intention. The weak influence of online purchase intention is quite interesting since it stands in contrast to previous research findings. Perceived risk also perfectly mediates the relationship between website quality and eWOM towards online purchase intention. Being descrip- tive in nature, this study did not manipulate the antecedents in the manner of an experimental study. Keywords: perceived risk, actual purchase, online purchase intention, trust, website quality, eWOM, online visibility