Does sustainability matter? A structural equation model for cross-border online purchasing behaviour

ABSTRACT

Against the background of increasing internationalisation and digitalisation, the importance of online purchasing transactions, carried out by consumers in countries other than their own, is steadily growing. This is accompanied by an increase in the volume of shipments and, inevitably, by a surge in the level of freight traffic. On the part of the consumers, gaining insights into the ecological consequences of their behaviour has resulted in a greater degree of environmental awareness. This study aims to examine the extent to which this increase in ecologically-oriented sensitivity has an impact on the decision to make a cross-border online purchase. The results are based on a survey of 1,225 students and academic staff at a university. 68 % of the respondents have previously made an online purchase from a foreign online shop or online merchant. The analysis reveals that while there is an awareness of and knowledge about sustainable action, they do not play any part in the decision to make a cross-border online purchase.

KEYWORDS:

• Cross-border e-commerce
• sustainability
• transport
• consumer behaviour
• structural equation model

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Vera Schleiden

Vera Schleiden is research assistant at the Department of Economic Geography of Services at RWTH Aachen University. Her research focuses on the internationalization of retailing especially e-commerce. As part of her research she deals with the actors consumers (e. g. influencing factors of consumer behavior) and the online traders (internationalization strategies) in the internationalization process.

Cordula Neiberger

Cordula Neiberger is Professor of the Department of Economic Geography of Services at RWTH Aachen University. Her research interest lies in the topics of geographical trade research as well as Transport and Logistic. In particular, she has conducted several studies to investigate e. g. the consumer behaviour and e-commerce, digitalization of retail shops or e-commerce and logistics. She ist coordinator and speaker of the working group „Transport“ and member of the working group „Geographical trade research“.