The Effects of Utilitarian, Hedonic and Relational Factors on Intention: The Moderating Role of Website Anxiety

It is well recognized that utilitarian and hedonic factors are both important in explaining customers’ consumption activities. Recent research has advocated the role of relational factors in affecting the adoption processes. However, no study has examined these three factors simultaneously in one study. We integrate the utilitarian and hedonic benefits of online shopping with the relational benefit by evaluating how they together contribute to user intention to return to a website. We also examine how these influence factors were moderated by website anxiety. The empirical results suggest that 1) perceived performance, enjoyment, and social presence increase customers’ intention, 2) website anxiety negatively moderates the relationship between perceived performance and intention, such that low website anxiety strengthens that relationship, and 3) website anxiety positively moderates the relationship between social presence and intention, such that high website anxiety strengthens that relationship. Implications for Web site designers and researchers are discussed.