The Moderating Role of Perceived Self-efficacy in the Context of Online Buying Adoption

Previous researchers that have employed Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in modeling online buying behavior, validated that consumers’ attitude towards online buying is mainly determined by two salient beliefs: perceived usefulness of online buying and perceived ease of buying online. This paper takes a different approach from previous studies and postulates that the relationship between ease of buying online and attitude will be moderated by consumers’ perceived self-efficacy. The results of a PLS-based structural equation modeling analysis validate this assumption, indicating a negative path coefficient for the moderating effect. This means that the direct effect of perceived ease of buying online on attitude will decrease as consumers gain more skills and knowledge about online buying and thus, they perceive an increased selfefficacy. The results of this study implies that consumers’ salient beliefs of online buying must be rethought since perceived ease of buying is losing its importance in determining consumers’ attitude for those highly experienced online buyers. Keywords: online buying, perceived self-efficacy, moderating effect, structural equation modeling