Unravelling the Effect of Pandemic on Online Shopping Attitude: Testing Protection Motivation Theory, TAM, Online Trust and Perceived Ease of Use

Abstract

By drawing on protection motivation, the study explored consumers' motivations to engage in adaptive behaviour from offline to online shopping during the pandemic.  This study aims to find the impact of protection motivation, online trust, and perceived ease of use on online shopping attitudes in the post-pandemic period. A quantitative research design was employed, and data were collected from online shoppers using an online survey. The total number of respondents was 373, including both males and females. Additionally, the study used a convenience sampling method. Data were analysed through confirmatory factor analysis and PLS SEM. The findings of the study state that threat appraisal, online trust, and perceived ease-of-use positively impact adaptive behaviour by increasing online shopping attitudes. In contrast, Coping Appraisal has no direct effect on adaptive behaviour. This study provides a blueprint for designing marketing activities and strategies and assists managers in making decisions effectively during health crises and challenging events. The managers can formulate contingency strategies and plan to overcome the situation.  The pandemic has been examined as an accelerator to adopting online shopping. Managers might adapt to the digital transformation in the market to recover or even grow sales further after the pandemic.