Dr.

Dong Ling Xu-Priour*

University of Rennes 1, France
11, rue Jean Macé, CS 70803
35708 RENNES Cedex 7 France
+33(0) 621438563
E-Mail: donglingxu.priour@yahoo.fr

Dr. Gérard CLIQUET

University of Rennes 1, France
11, rue Jean Macé, CS 70803
35708 RENNES Cedex 7 France
+33 (0)2 23 23 78 51
E-Mail: gerard.cliquet@univ-rennes1.fr

Professor Adrian Palmer

Keele Managemet School
Keele University
Keele
Staffordshire
ST5 5BG
E-mail: a.palmer@keele.ac.uk

*Corresponding author

Short biography of authors:

Dr. Dong Ling Xu-Priour earned her PhD in Management from University of Rennes 1.
Her research interests are in international marketing, multichannel strategy including e-
commerce and online communities. Her publications have appeared in The International
Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, the International Journal of Retail &
Distribution Management, and Technological Forecasting & Social Change, etc., and in the
proceedings of leading international conferences such as Academy of Marketing Science
(AMS), Academy of Marketing (AM). She has also published book chapters in France.

Dr. Gérard Cliquet is professor of marketing and retailing at the School of Business
Administration (IGR-IAE) of the University of Rennes 1 (France). He published 66 articles in
European Journal of Operational Research, Journal of the Operations Research Society,
Omega, Journal of Small Business Management, Recherche et Applications en Marketing,
International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, Journal of Retailing and
Consumer Services, Managerial and Decision Economics, European Management Journal,
Journal of Marketing Channels, 19 books as author/editor and 47 book chapters on
geomarketing, retailing, franchising, intercultural marketing, retail branding. He is a member
of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) and of the board of
editors of the Economics and Management of Networks (EMNet).

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Professor Adrian Palmer is Professor of Marketing at Keele University, UK. His research
interests have focused on consumer behavior and the factors that lead to the development of
relationships between customers and companies and brands. He has published widely in
Marketing journals, including European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing
Management and Journal of Business Research.

Acknowledgments: The authors thank the editors and the anonymous IJEC reviewers for
their valuable comments and help with the manuscript.

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 The Influence of Buyers’ Time Orientation on Online Shopping Behavior: A Typology

Abstract: This research investigates hypotheses about the Influence of buyers’ time

orientations (measured as polychronic-monochronic and past-future time orientations) on four

major variables of online-shopping: trust, social interaction, browsing and locus of control,

which in turn influence users’ intention to shop online. Results using structural equation

modeling with a sample of 377 Chinese cosmetics shoppers support the hypotheses and show

that polychronic-oriented users tend to be positively related to trust, social interaction,

browsing experience and external locus of control and indirectly to intention to shop online

through these four consumer characteristics. No relationship was found between future-

orientation and browsing experience and external locus of control but a positive relationship

was found with intention to shop online through trust and social interaction. Finally, results

show that trust and social interaction are positively related to intention to shop online. The

authors concludes that time orientations can be used as effective segmentation variables,

which are useful in describing a universal typology among different types of online shopping

behaviors. Internet retailers should take into account the role of time in e-shopping adoption

when assessing different types of users and websites design.

Keywords. Time orientation, e-shopping adoption, trust, social interaction, browsing

experience, locus of control, time perception segmentation typology

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Research into online shopping and user typologies has mainly focused on factors determining media

behaviors, but has provide limited empirical evidence on the nature of media and online shopping behavior

[17, 76, 116]. This has led to calls for more research to investigate segmentation of online shoppers

according to the way they use online media [17].

It has been suggested that consciousness of the passage of time may be important for understanding

how people use online services and may provide a further useful basis for segmentation [47]. With

seemingly infinite content  provided by online websites and social media, Internet users can access material

anytime and anywhere  with endless shiny attention-grabbing objects and notifications coming in constantly

[5, 67]. As a result, time becomes a scarce resource and internet users have to control effectively the time

they allocate to browsing Web pages, reading news and sharing web contents, among other things.

Therefore, time and time consciousness have emerged as important factors in understanding online activities

and decision making processes. So far, Internet retailers have reached consensus that, only by increasing the

“stickiness” of their websites (users’ total time spent reading or sharing content of their websites) can users

really enjoy themselves, and consequently, become more engaged in purchase behavior [67]. Therefore,

internet retailers today place greater focus on appealing to buyers’ time consciousness and the pervasiveness

of time criticality caused by multiple requests on online buyers’ time [59]. Web publishers also establish

their advertising strategy based on the time readers spend on their sites, not mere page views. Accordingly,

styles of time consciousness can play a fundamental role in shopper typology studies [13, 37, 39, 41], and

more specifically such typology of online shopping behaviors can be considered to derive from a personality

trait on which an effective typology can be built. We refer in this paper to “timestyles” as a user typology

based on styles of time consciousness, and which we believe can contribute valuable new insights to online

user behavior types and can potentially allow for better segmentation within online retail environments [80].

Researchers have recently paid attention to the role of timestyles in online shopping, but have tended

to focus on unidimensionality of timestyles such as polychronic-monochronic time orientation [112, 113], or

past-future time orientation [17]. We discuss below how we believe such focus has hindered investigation

of the increasingly important interrelations between time and e-shopping adoption. By examining the role of

multidimensional timestyles in online shopping behavior, we contribute to Internet retailers’ ability to gain

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more in-depth insights on various types of online users, and to improve their market segmentation practices.

From this, internet retailers can effectively develop strategies to address conflicts which may be caused by

the need to have a website which is functional and efficient while at the same time allowing opportunities

for exploration and discovery. In summary, the aim of our study is to contribute towards understanding the

complex role of timestyles in online shopping behavior and specifically to derive a segmentation based on

consumer timestyle typologies.

The plan of this paper is as follows. We begin with a review of literature which leads to an

integrative conceptual framework and hypotheses. Our framework integrates an e-shopping acceptance

framework of a qualitative and meta-analytic review [51], together with the theories of planned behavior [2,

3], and theories of consumer time perceptions [80]. Ingham’s e-shopping acceptance model [51] highlights

the important role of trust, enjoyment, risk perception and social influence in consumer’s intention to shop

online. We build on McDonald’s [80] study of the roles of time perceptions when shopping and

segmentation typology. We then introduce and justify the components of time orientations which we

operationalize in this study - (polychronic-monochronic and past-future time orientations) and four variables

associated with online shopping activities - online-shopping: trust, social interaction, browsing and external

locus of control. These in turn influence users’ intention to shop online which is our principal outcome

variable. We focus on browsing [16, 110] and external locus of control [46] rather than enjoyment and risk

perception in Ingham’s model, as these two constructs are more useful than enjoyment and risk when

examining the different user types of modern online users [46, 72, 83, 110, 113].

We then test the model with a sample of Chinese website visitors using structural equation modeling

(SEM). It is well-established that Chinese culture tends to be more polychronic orientated and scores the

highest on long-term orientation which is close to future time orientation [54]. In addition, the Chinese

market is the largest e-commerce, social commerce and web search market in the world, with social sales

reaching $672 billion. In addition, total revenues of Chinese search engine companies have reached 80.76

billion yuan (US$12.48 billion) in 2015, an increase of 34.7% over the previous year. Further, by the end of

June 2015, the Chinese Internet user base reached 668 million with 380 million online shoppers [25].

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 Finally, we discuss results and theoretical implications, followed by practical implications for global

e-marketers in China on how to better identify different types of online users and their shopping.

Conceptual model and hypotheses

This section first develops the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and evaluates a proposed extended TPB

framework which integrates timestyles. It then describes the conceptual framework and hypotheses of this

study. Figure 1 presents the framework.

Insert Figure 1 about here

Theory of planned behavior and evaluations

The theory of planned behavior (TPB) [2,3] provides a framework which has been widely used to predict or

explain IT adoption or e-shopping acceptance [24,51]. TPB derives from the theory of reasoned action

(TRA) [33] which asserts that the intention to adopt a behavior is determined by the attitude toward that

behavior and subjective norms. To improve the predictive power of TRA and to incorporate non-volitional

behaviors for predicting behavioral intention, Ajzen introduced perceived behavioral control to TPB:.

Accordingly, behavioral intention is determined by three factors: attitude toward the behavior, subjective

norm, and perceived behavioral control, with each predictor weighted for its importance in relation to the

behavior and population of interest [2, 3, 4]. Attitude toward the behavior is determined by a person’s

salient beliefs (cognitive knowledge) about the consequences of a behavior [3, 4]. Subjective norm reflects

a set of normative beliefs representing one’s perception about whether his/her significant others (e.g.,

members of family, friends, colleagues) will approve or disapprove the suggested behaviors, or whether

one’s motivations comply with the approval or disapproval of others [3, 43,114]. Perceived behavioral

control [4, 62] refers to people’s perceptions of their ability to perform a given behavior, which is

determined by the total set of accessible control beliefs (e.g. beliefs about the presence of factors that may

facilitate or impede behavior performance).

In this study, we define behavioral intention as a user’s willingness to adopt or use e-shopping.

Subjective norm is based on social interactions among online users such as what other people are saying on

social media sites, or how users socialize and communicate online with others, and how they exchange

opinions with other shoppers about products and firms, thereby helping their purchase decisions [43, 113].
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To better measure attitude toward the behavior vis-à-vis internet technology and e-shopping adoption, new

specific beliefs have been incorporated into an extended TPB: perceived risk [24], trust, perceived self-

efficacy [92], flow experience, perceived enjoyment and interaction [70]. Few studies of e-shopping using

TPB have incorporated browsing experience [113] and locus of control [46, 72, 96]. In this study, we

measure browsing experience by focusing on users’ perceptions of enjoyment from performing a particular

activity (i.e. browsing stores’ websites). In particular, we include a baseline assessment for their enjoyment

perception that runs through users’ time perceptions from these daily activities or structured routine:

browsing time in stores websites without having in mind anything precise to buy, or just for passing time,

and time for discovering novelties when they have time, including fun and entertainment, and time for their

leisure activities such as browsing retailers’ websites. With this measure, we can better capture the time

dimension in modern Internet user’s everyday activities, their emotional perception and experience, as well

as the nature of enjoyment associated with these browsing activities. As mentioned below, we believe this

kind of enjoyable online navigating activity is just what today’s retailers and publishers are seeking to

develop.

Browsing experience differs from enjoyment or flow experience. Firstly, enjoyment describes the

general overall pleasurable perception, which does not distinguish and describe the specific meaning of a

user’s online shopping activity, in particular, the importance of time while engaging in this activity; whereas

browsing experience can better capture modern users’ enjoyment shopping experience from this activity,

and link this activity with the time dimension. As discussed below, browsing experience is an important

component of recreational shopping [113, p.268] and a key source of site entertainment and social

communication [28, 110]. Specifically, consumer browsing activity (e.g. searching for product information,

browsing social media and retailers’ websites) raises many issues of control of time. For example, perceived

availability or lack of may be used as a filter which influences how content is classified and displayed to a

user. Filtering of content makes browsing easier and facilitates rapid finding of what a user seeks, and

allows users to view content through multiple dimensions.  In addition, users who visit a site regularly may

want to see new and fresh content. To achieve this, retailers should provide their website visitors with

updated and timely content, and websites should also allow users to filter content by timeliness of

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information [113]. Furthermore, optimizing websites' for fast download can improve web browsing

experience, and amplify visitors’ engagement, retention, and likelihood of purchase [56]. With increased

online competition, time management is becoming more important for online users globally. In China, the

pace at which competition has intensified over the last two decades has been fuelled by rapid economic

growth. Thus, Chinese consumers have increasing affluence to support online shopping, but at the same

time face increasing demands on their work and leisure time. Increasing proliferation of competitive

websites makes time management online increasingly important [25, 48,100,113], and is manifested at the

different stages of the buying process: search activity before buying, time spent transacting a purchase and

time spent after purchase [11, 23, 80]. Modern Chinese consumers may now care more about time

management in their daily life including shopping, which can result in more use of online purchasing. From

the above discussion, it is extremely important for retailers to understand how users’ browsing activity is

influenced by their time orientations, and how browsing experience influences outcome behavior. Hence,

we include browsing experience rather than enjoyment in our model in order to better capture modern

Chinese consumers’ perceptions of shopping enjoyment in the specific context of online shopping.

Secondly, there has been growing interest in the concept of flow, defined as a feeling of energized

focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in an activity’s process [83]. Although flow experience is also

associated with perceptions of enjoyment and is related to time consciousness, it is however considered to be

a more specific and intense pleasurable experience than enjoyment [83]. That is, it reflects a more focused

experience, which is concentrated in a short period of time when pleasure is perceived. At that moment, a

person may feel a state of ecstasy and their perception of time becomes distorted. Flow cannot reflect a

comprehensive overview of the relationship between Internet users’ daily browsing activity and time

management. Browsing experience is a broader construct and describes an activity which is intricately

woven into the manner in which online users organize their daily activities, and the ways they perceive and

use time. According to Benevenuto, Rodrigues, Cha and Almeida [12], browsing of websites represents

92% of all website users’ activities. According to CNNIC [29], Internet and online browsing can have a

deep influence on personal lifestyle and CNNC reported that 63% of Internet users had gone online for no

particular reason-just for fun, such as seeking information about movies, books, or other leisure activities).

8
Online browsing is an essential tool for Internet users, through which they get useful knowledge and

information, especially the methods and tools for effective time management of daily activities and

successful completion of these activities [56,113].

The above discussion suggests that online browsing has become indispensable in daily life, and plays

a pivotal role on people’s purchasing behavior [110]. Despite growing research interest in online browsing,

it is still unclear how different online users’ time orientations influence their browsing experience and

whether differences in behavior exist between groups with different time orientations. This leads us to

include browsing experience in our conceptual framework, rather than enjoyment and flow experience.

We use locus of control rather than self-efficacy as an indicator of perceived behavioral control in

our model for the following two reasons. Firstly, self-efficacy is associated with judgment of personal

capacity, whereas locus of control is not the capacity, but the decision made about the degree of control that

an individual perceives they have over events (can we control what happens in our life or is this dependent

on chance?). Individuals with an “internal” locus of control feel more human impact on what happens

around them (high control), whereas those with “external” locus of control focus more on the impact of

unforeseen external factors (low control). In connection with work performance (or results), the level of

self-efficacy is often considered to be correlated with performance [8, 9, 78], while high control does not

necessarily correlate [47, 55]. Self-efficacy is used as a concept more related to circumscribed situations

and activities whereas locus of control is generally a measure of cross-situational beliefs about control.

Consumers’ intention to adopt internet shopping is associated with a specific context where the outcome of a

choice can only be evaluated in the future. Many factors can mediate between the decision and the expected

outcome, including order processing errors, theft of credit card information, and breaches of private

information. These are beyond the full control of Internet retailers or the consumer and thus consumers are

forced to deal with uncertainty or risk [105]. Accordingly, we would expect the individual trait of locus of

control (vs. Self-efficacy) to be predictive of attitudes and behavior more consistently in global online

shopping environments. Secondly, despite the fact that locus of control has received much attention in

recent studies of self-service technology and virtual reality [83], few have investigated it in the context of e-

shopping acceptance. Thus, our knowledge of how perceived behavioral control impacts users’ online

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shopping behavior is limited. Hence, we use locus of control rather than self-efficacy and risk perception in

our model to better understand the different user types and fill a research gap.

In the following section, we propose to further extend the TPB framework by adding two well-

established timestyle factors: polychronic-monochronic and past-future time orientations to our model.

Timestyles and TPB

The importance of time has long been recognized by scholars of economics, psychology, sociology and

socio-psychology, and has recently become a key topic in social sciences and management studies [7, 13,

99, 117]. Sociologists have been interested in personal and social attitudes toward representations of time.

In economics, time is primarily conceptualized as an objective quantity that is possessed by individuals as

units of value [e.g., 19, 20, 106]. In socio-psychology, time is part of consumer lifestyles. In psychology,

researchers have investigated two aspects of time perception: the objective passage of time and subjectively

experienced time. According to McDonald [80], psychological aspects relating to time are associated with

social and demographic variables and also to shopping time, including search, information acquisition,

selection purchase, and consumption itself. McDonald noted that, “time perception segmentation typology

provides insights into ways retailers can benefit from a target market strategy based on how consumers view

time” [p.345].

Although researchers have reached consensus that information technology affects temporal aspects

of contemporary society, the academic literature investigating perceptions of time in technology remains

underdeveloped [69], particularly in online shopping contexts. More research is therefore needed on how

time influences IT-assisted consumer decision-making and specifically e-shopping adoption [69]. Online

purchasing can involve a different decision-making process compared to shopping in real stores, for

example. processes of discovering and searching for products.. Research on online shopping behavior has

found that people in polychronic-oriented cultures tend to pay close attention to online social networking

[111], while people in monochronic-oriented cultures are more favorable to adopting the internet and online

shopping [68, 108, 112]. Bergadaà [13] additionally suggests that future-oriented people find adoption of

new products or new technology easier.

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 Timestyles refer to customary ways in which people perceive and use time [26], and incorporates

dimensions not recognized in previous studies which have commonly used single dimension measures of

time, and which fail to examine the links between time and TPB [80, 112, 113]. . According to Feldman

and Homik [34], “the choice of daily activities constitutes the locus of time's meaning to individuals”.

Hirschman [45] additionally points out that perceptions of time are a function of a consumer's anticipation

and experience. Further, several writers cite that individuals’ timestyles have both a perceptual and

behavioral component [40, 114], which play a pivotal role in consumer behavior, particularly, in ongoing

conflicts that consumers experience in deciding what they should do with their discretionary time [27

p.333]. Others define timestyles as time orientation [89], or as the cognitive processes that result in a

distinct pattern of responding to objects, events, and situations that implicate a distinct temporal space [63

p.14], or as the cognitive, motivational, and emotional processes involved in anticipating, planning, and

regulating behavior [88]. According to Agarwal and Tripathi [1], the concepts of space and time differ

between populations and civilizations. Bergadaà [13] considers time as either a mental construction (having

only subjective meaning), or a social construction guided by cultural heritage [40], or a dimension of

behavior at cultural, interpersonal, and individual levels [82]. Based on these authors, different temporal

orientations may induce different sorts of motivation, different plans, and the consumption of different types

of products. This can lead individuals to choose a type of relationship with their environment such as

attitude of action or reaction, or different specific attitudes that elicit a certain organizational process in

relation to products. According to McDonald [80], consumers spend time on multiple activities relating to

consumption (e.g. search, information acquisition, selection, purchase and consumption itself). McDonalad

further indicates that time perceptions constitute an indicator of lifestyle, derived from shared beliefs and

standards of groups or cultures.. Hall [41] classifies time perceptions as two distinct patterns of time use:

monochronic and polychronic orientation values. Other researchers point out that individuals differ in their

time perception depending on whether they have a past, present or future time orientation [29, 73, 89]. In a

work context, these different time orientations have specific impacts on management behavior [18, 27, 37,

41, 60, 63, 81]. Research on individual time orientation and consumer lifestyle also finds that time is an

antecedent to psychological processes and behavior which influences lifestyle [99], and the way people

11
communicate and interact with new media technologies [113]. The above discussion together with the fact

that searching for products or comparing them online is a major reasons for many online buyers adopting e-

shopping, leads us to conclude that any research on user types cannot ignore the role of time. In the

following section, we focus on the role of multidimensional timestyles in e-shopping acceptance and

develop hypotheses to address the relationships in our conceptual model (see Figure 1).

Development of Hypotheses

We develop hypotheses concerning monochronic-polychronic time orientation, past-future time orientation

and antecedents of intention to shop online.

Monochronic- Polychronic Time Orientation and predictors of intention to shop online

Monochronic-polychronic time orientation refers to individuals’ tendency to engage in one activity at a

time/two or many at a time [57]. For example, polychronics are typified by people who are spontaneous

rather than organized spatially and temporally. They are generally relationship-oriented, and focus more on

social surroundings than monochronics. By contrast, monochronics typically act in a focused manner,

concentrate on one thing at a time, and tend to be well organized and punctual, focusing more on completing

the task in hand but associate less with social surroundings [39, 41]. Previous research has suggested that a

good website-user relationship can develop the level of consumer trust toward an online retailer and enhance

the “stickiness” of its website [67]. This view is discussed further below.

Trust building and development typically passes through a long process of gradual deepening of a

relationship and mutual adaptation to the needs of the other party. It is also typically created in a multi-

channel context with multiple “agents” or touch points such as front-line staff, self-service technology (e.g.

online account management) and an increasingly complex array of marketing communications ..

Accordingly, trust emerges from the accumulation of satisfactory previous experiences [36], which are

developed through both direct and indirect experiences of others, which in turn, are transferred through

word-of-mouth or reputation [32]. Trust is established through a continuous process, reinforced by positive

evaluations of previous experiences and interactions with others. It is also built through both rational bonds

(referring to a customer’s willingness to rely on a service provider’s competence and reliability) and

emotional bonds (which refers to confidence that arises from the feelings generated by the seller) [32, 36].
12
The above discussions suggest that it is important for internet retailers to develop a good website-user

relationship to address trust concerns, which is in turn linked to online purchase intention [67, 73].

As polychronic-oriented people tend to be relationship-oriented, they also focus on interactions with

others and favor social surroundings, and this emphasis should facilitate an increased trust level for users

[44, 52, 76]. In online environments, good relationships and social interaction can significantly influence

consumers' perception of trust [113]. Hence, polychronic-oriented people may be more affected by other

group members who share information and communicate with them online. This interaction enables them to

get to know better the online retailers that can lead to familiarity with the seller and the products and

services being offered. Thus, one may expect that being polychronic will positively influence a user's

perception of trust online. Furthermore, since polychronic-oriented individuals focus on their social

surroundings, and they also pay attention to recommendations made by others in their social groups during

the preliminary stages of purchasing (e.g. search, product comparison), thus a positive social experience in

the preliminary stages could be expected to lead to an increase in trust [113]. The more polychronic-

oriented an individual, the more they are likely to enjoy social interactions with others through websites, and

the more they will trust in an internet retailer. From this discussion we hypothesize that:

H1a: Polychronic time orientation is positively related to perceived trust.

H1b: Polychronic time orientation is positively related to social interactions online.

In addition, polychronic-oriented people tend to concentrate on leisure choices and events offered by

Internet retailers [26], and browsing becomes important entertainment and leisure activities [113], Thus, we

suggest that polychronics are more likely to engage in web browsing. Furthermore, browsing experience

can enable polychronic-oriented people to simultaneously realize multi-tasking, for example by

simultaneously watching television, listening to music, checking new product information, communicating

with friends and exchanging information. This multi-tasking ability may be pleasurable to polychronic-

oriented whose core values focus on doing many things at the same time, thus increasing their perception of

enjoyment of online browsing. Hence, we hypothesize:

H1c: Polychronic time orientation is positively related to online browsing experience.

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 As an important aspect of perceived behavioral control, and a key driver of personal differences,

locus of control is one of the most widely studied personality concepts in IT acceptance behavior [44, 72]

and marketing [62]. Rotter [96] defines locus of control as the extent to which an individual believes that

s/he has the ability to affect an outcome through his/her own actions. This author defined this concept as

uni-dimensional with internal and external locus of control on either ends of its axis. According to Rotter

and Mulray [97], consumers’ perceived risk is associated with personality traits, depending on the level of

internal locus of control (whether individuals believe themselves to be the masters of their own fate), or

external locus of control (whether they feel at the mercy of external forces). Thus, locus of control can

reflect differences in perceptions of control at an individual level. For example, internals are linked with

higher levels of need for achievement, their purpose of planning is to try and control their environment in

order to achieve their goals. As a result, internals tend to focus on a task, and they are also time-framed and

action-oriented [42, 96]. By contrast a greater concern for externals is harmony, and their decision-making

seeks to facilitate harmonious relationships with nature and other people. Therefore, externals are

relationship-oriented. In addition, externals are more likely to take their cues from the physical and social

surroundings [39, 41, 26], and are also more associated with momentary moods and affective states [46].

There is consistency between the characteristics of polychronic-oriented individuals (whose core values tend

to concentrate on social surroundings and relationships) and those with an external locus of control (whose

value structures also tend to include relationships), which suggests a positive link between polychronic time

orientation and external locus of control. Further, it is well-established that Asian consumers (e.g. Chinese,

Japanese, Korean), whose culture is polychronic-oriented, tend to have a locus-of-control which is more

external in orientation than for people in the U.S. and European countries whose culture is monochronic-

oriented and tend towards a more internal locus of control [41, 39, 101]. This discussion leads us to propose

a positive association of polychronic-orientation with external locus of control. The more polychronic-

oriented an individual, the higher level of external locus of control they will have. Thus, we hypothesize

that:

H1d: Polychronic time orientation is positively related to external locus of control.

Past-Future Time Orientation and predictors of intention to shop online

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Past-future time orientation describes individuals’ tendencies to think about past events as distinct from

current or future ones [1]. Future time orientation refers to a tendency to see events that will occur in the

future, rather than those related to the past or present. Contrary to their past-oriented counterparts, future

oriented people place more value on time and the task in hand, and they tend to be goal-oriented, and more

secure and confident in shopping [99]. In addition, they perceive less risk and are more open to adopting

new technology [108], and are more likely to adopt innovative products, including online shopping [13, 15,

17]. Discrepancies between past and future-oriented people should be reflected in their perceptions of trust

in online shopping. For example, researchers [32, 36, 66] have identified numerous elements of website

design (e.g. site navigation, load time, visual cues, social presence), which may help to develop trust,

especially where they build trust into each step of the purchase process. For instance, site navigation is key

to turning first-time visitors into frequent buyers. Load time can make or break a user’s trust in retailers’

brand, and help users develop an initial sense of trust or distrust very quickly. It is widely recognized that

visual cues can play a role in what and how customers trust due to their “picture superiority effect”, or ‘snap

judgment effect’ [66]. Also, social presence (e.g. social media, and online reviews/ ratings) plays an

increasingly important role in building users’ trust online, as consumers typically seek assurance of an

organization’s credibility before engaging with them [32, 36].

The above discussion demonstrates how design of online shopping channels can foster initial trust in

Internet retailers. This can particularly help generate trust for future-oriented individuals, whose

values/goals are more focused on new technologies and saving time. Thus, we suggest that future-oriented

people will have higher trust toward an Internet retailer. We therefore hypothesize that:

H2a: Future time orientation is positively related to perception of online trust.

There is some evidence that future-oriented people tend to view themselves as opinion leaders and

take a broader perspective of events [74, 99]. Also they tend to be more positively involved in their job, and

value time more than the pursuit of money. By contrast, they are less likely to seek contact with commercial

intermediaries and more likely to spend time hanging out with friends in stores [13]. Thus, we suggest that

future oriented people are more likely to take full advantages of online websites and social networks that

allow users to communicate from remote locations. As such, they may better manage their time, and

15
continue to play a leading role in their exchanges with others without wasting their precious time hanging

out with friends in face-to-face retail settings. This also enables them to effectively use new technologies in

the process of shopping, for example by obtaining information and opinions about products through social

media. This group is also likely to avoid direct contact with salespersons in physical stores when shopping.

On the basis of the observations discussed above, we suggest a positive relationship exists between future

time orientation and online social interactions. Hence, we hypothesize:

H2b: Future time orientation is positively related to online social interactions.

As noted above, future-oriented people place more value on time, and are highly motivated to

achieve their personal goals, which they seek to achieve by mobilizing all available resources. In response

to multiple demands on their time, they should have little time available for shopping, as well as for their

personal care needs and leisure time activities. Even if they have time, they may prefer doing another task

rather than spending time hanging out with friends or in community activities [9]. Furthermore, studies have

suggested that future-oriented people tend to have lower levels of novelty and sensation seeking than past-

oriented individuals due to perceived lack of time. In the same vein, they are also more associated with

buying a product rather than thinking about the need which the product will satisfy [39, 41, 60, 117].

Consequently, we suggest that future-oriented people are less willing to allocate time for online browsing

activities. Instead, they will seek solutions to allow more time to achieve their important goals. This may

lead them to seek products and services (e.g. online shopping) that enable them to buy quickly, thereby

giving them more time available to achieve their important personal goals. The more future-oriented an

individual, the lower the levels of enjoyment they will perceive from online browsing experience they will

have. This discussion suggests that:

H2c: Future time orientation is negatively related to online browsing experience.

Further, in future-oriented cultures, typified by Western countries, people tend to have a high internal

locus of control [39, 41] compared to people from past-oriented cultures such as eastern cultures. Bergadaà

[13] additionally shows that future-oriented people tend to not believe in fate, judging themselves to be

responsible for their own future. In contrast, Asians, whose cultures are past-oriented, tend to be more

external in their locus of control than individuals in Americans and other Western cultures [49]. The

16
argument that Chinese have a more external locus of control has been empirically validated [22, 42]. We

build on previous strands of research to suggest that future time orientation is negatively related to external

locus of control.

H2d. Future time orientation is negatively related to external locus of control.

Antecedents of intention to shop online

Several studies suggest that perception of trust positively influences intention to shop online [43, 58, 92]. .

A further stream of research has found increasing empirical evidence of a significant positive link between

social interaction and intention to shop online [30, 71]. However, most previous studies have focused on the

beneficial side of social influence for an Internet retailer [75, 76, 111], or the positive influence of social

influence for certain products such as apparel [44]. The most recent research argues that social influence

may have a negative nuance, or even positive consumer reviews may have negative consequences for

Internet retailers if a former customer’s recommendation contradicts that of a recommender system [10].

Thus, it is important for Internet retailers to identify how positive social interactions (referring to the quality

of social interactions associated with enjoyment of feelings and positive mood that create meaningful

relationships and social life, and contribute to the sense that one's life has meaning and social development)

influence e-shopping adoption. This discussion suggests that, positive social interaction through websites or

social media platforms with friends and family, will have positive influence on users’ intention to shop

online. Moreover, several studies focus on the role of browsing on online-shopping adoption. For example,

Xu-Priour et al. [113] find that browsing experiences influence intention to shop online for French and

Chinese websites users. Wang [110] also observes that frequency of browsing online is positively

associated with online purchase intention. In line with this discussion, we suggest that browsing

experiences, influenced by time orientations, will have a positive influence on users’ willingness to adopt e-

shopping. We therefore hypothesize that:

H3a: Trust is positively related to intention to shop online.

H3b: Social interactions are positively related to intention to shop online.

H3c: Browsing experience is positively related to intention to shop online.

17
 As outlined above, locus of control may also be a relevant research topic with respect to online

shopping. Online shopping can provide users with a sense of control over a virtual retail environment

through its system of goals and achievements. People with high internal locus of control generally perceive

lower risk, and tend to expect to exercise a certain amount of autonomy over their work. They also tend to

strongly believe in their ability to influence the world and have autonomy in their own behaviors in which

they can control their own destiny. Chak and Leung [21] observe that players of online games are

particularly drawn to playing such games by experiencing a sense of being in control while playing. In

addition, they enjoy the illusory power or the pleasurable feeling of being able to control the world inside

the computer. In contrast, people with high external locus of control generally perceive high risk, and tend

to believe that their outcomes are determined by chance and powerful others or by fate. Thus, we suggest

that users with external locus of control are less likely to adopt e-shopping, since they might tend to believe

that once they perform e-shopping, their fate will be controlled by the Internet retailers, and the chance of

their information being stolen or the risk of an order not being fulfilled is perceived as high. They may

believe that their transaction will be determined by chance, depending on whether they are lucky enough to

deal with a good or a bad e-retailer. This belief might lead to perceived lack of control in a loss situation (if

they meet a bad Internet retailer). Accordingly, they will perceive high risk in virtual retail environments

and we suggest they will be less likely to adopt e-shopping. From this discussion we hypothesize:

H3d: External locus of control is negatively related to intention to shop online.

Table 1 summarizes characteristics and behaviors of both dimensions of time orientations from past

research and connections between constructs within our hypotheses.

Insert Table 1 about here

METHODOLOGY AND DATA

We first define a research approach before developing measurement instruments and data collection

methods.

Research approach

Initial qualitative research was undertaken which informed a second quantitative stage. Insights obtained

during the qualitative stage confirmed that the four factors outlined above are clearly associated with
18
customer’s intention to adopt online shopping. In particular, they are directly related with time. For

instance, some respondents, who like doing several things online simultaneously, strongly expressed their

positive attitudes towards online shopping and evaluated more favorably that online shopping allows them to

shop at any time, thereby enabling them to do other things such as watching TV, and chatting with friends or

family about products or e-retailers when shopping. In addition, they also appreciate more the online

browsing, navigating and networking platforms that allow them to keep contact with e-retailers, allowing

them to build good relationships with e-retailers and trust in them. Many argue that factors such as load

time, search engines usability, online reviews and social media as well as new products, attractively

presented, are important in individuals’ e-adoption decisions. Particularly, those who adopt a structured

routine and favor effective organization, give more thought to the time-saving convenience of searching and

comparing prices online (e.g. the hours saved that would otherwise have been spent traveling from home or

work to stores). Such individuals seek to plan their daily activity in a structured way, and finish what has

been started or planned on time.

The findings of the qualitative stage of the study guided the selection of constructs for the quantitative stage.

A survey instrument used previously validated and adapted items to measure the constructs which are the

focus of the conceptual model. To avoid divergence of responses which could be related to differences in

category of products bought online rather than to differences in individuals’ browsing and buying behaviors,

we studied one product category: cosmetics (i.e. skincare, eye care, lipstick, make-up, foundation and

mascara). Cosmetics were chosen for two reasons. First, they are among the few defined in Nelsons’ goods

classification scheme [85, p.738-39]) as experience goods (i.e., those goods for which information search is

more costly and/or difficult than direct product experience, or goods which are dominated by attributes that

cannot be known until after purchase and use). Despite reports of associations between specific product

attributes and users’ web browsing behavior for fashion products [90], few efforts have been made to

identify such associations for cosmetic products in online shopping contexts. Secondly, the chosen

cosmetics categories all have experience and credence qualities. Importantly, customers typically browse or

socialize with others in online web sites or stores before purchasing, and this was confirmed by the

preliminary qualitative research and the findings of the literature review.

19
Instrument Development

In the preliminary qualitative stage, information was gathered from contributors to online forums in order to

better understand meanings they attributed to typical e-shopping, website browsing and navigation

experience. The selected forums included online search / review sites (e.g. baidu.com), websites of

cosmetics companies which included community forums, and social networks (e.g. renren.com,

kaixin001.com and QQ.t.qq.com) and represented forums popular with Chinese users. Comments were

translated from Mandarin to English and back translated. Comment analysis sought to identify specific

enjoyable online social and browsing activities that contributors had performed for cosmetic products. In

addition to passive observation of comments posted by forum users, the researchers participated in the

forums by posing questions, inviting contributors to express their frequency of Internet use, and their

opinion of online retail channels. They were also asked to comment on their motivation to use an Internet

retailer, their trust perception, their beliefs and perceived control as well as their timestyles: for example,

whether they primarily sought instant gratification from a category of cosmetic product, or evaluated the

long-term benefits that it would provide. Although the nature of online forums makes it difficult to specify

contributors’ demographics, it is believed from users’ profiles and the forums’ target audiences that

contributors were mainly females and represented a broad range of age groups and professions.

For the quantitative survey instrument, we selected and adapted well-established measures which had

been identified and tested in many studies in the past (see Appendix A). We adapted the scales of Kaufman-

Scarborough and Lindquist [57] to measure polychromic-monochronic orientation (3 items), and Usunier

and Valette-Florence’s [107] scale to measure past-future time orientation (4 items). Jarvenpaa et al.’s [53]

scale was used and modified to measure trust perception (3 items). We adapted Arnold and Reynolds [6]

scale for hedonic motivation to measure social interactions (3 items). Our intention here was to capture the

importance of shopping with others as an indicator of social norm to the respondent. Items to measure

online browsing experience were derived from studies by Bloch and Richins [16], and adapted on the basis

of our exploratory study (6 items). We adapted Spector’s [103] scale to measure locus of control (5 items).

For the constructs timestyles and locus of control, high scores represent polychronic, future time orientation

and external locus of control. Intention to shop online is measured by the amount of money allocated by

20
respondents when they are willing to get involved in a cosmetic product purchase [91]. That is, respondents

were asked to allocate the proposition from a measurement scale of 0-100 units (yuans) for an online

transaction (e.g., willingness to buy, intention to buy) in respect of buying their cosmetic products online for

a period of 12 months. To encourage maximum accuracy, an example of a question and possible answer

with a detailed explanation was given to respondents during the interviews.

In total, scales for 25 items were generated (Appendix A). Among socio-demographic questions, age

and subjects’ income could potentially affect Internet behaviors. Particularly, time values may be perceived

differently depending on age, so we computed a six level indicator for age (coded 1 for the youngest group

and 6 for the oldest group), and nine level relative income variables (coded 1 for the lowest income group

and 9 for the highest) that approximately divided respondents into 6 age groups and 9 income groups. We

used back-translation to ensure the instrument’s internal consistency, undertaken by two Chinese bilingual

translators. Certain items were negatively scored, and we mixed the order of items for various scales to

avoid bias. A pre-test was performed, comprising working females aged 18 through 50 years and from

similar demographics as in the final survey. Additionally, several experts in marketing research were asked

to identify items that were confusing, difficult to respond to, or not applicable to the usage of respondents.

We believe that the process of pre-testing improved the validity of our research instrument.

Data Collection

The survey instruments were administered to 538 Chinese website users living in Shanghai, the largest city

of China, with the country’s largest cosmetic market [50]. We chose China as our research sample for

several reasons. First, China has become the world’s largest online market with 649 million Internet users in

December 2014, a growth of 11.4% from the year before, representing a penetration rate of 47.9% [25], and

specificalaly, has the largest online cosmetics market [50]. Second, as mentioned, past research has tended

to focus on the US market, and we sought to provide further insight by contributing knowledge based on an

Asian country. Moreover, Hall [39, 41] classified China as a high polychronic-oriented culture. Klukhohn

and Strodbeck [60] also indicate that “China was a society which gave first-order preference to the past-time

orientation”. Third, China is a society in transition, and Chinese values have changed due to markets and

media globalization, and the increasing movement of people between western countries and China. There is

21
increasing fragmentation of segments and subcultures within its population [23, 115]. Furthermore, many

western brands have been made available to Chinese consumers through online media, and cosmetics

bearing a foreign brand name have come to be associated with a range of functional and hedonistic benefits

[89]. Finally, China was chosen because of its status of a rapidly developing country in which globalization

has resulted in challenges to individuals’ traditional values. This is especially true in respect of time values,

with some evidence that younger generations view time pressures quite differently to previous generations

who may have been more accustomed to more leisurely timestyles [115]. The widespread adoption of

Internet communication by younger generations has brought new perspectives of time orientation, including

appeals to instant gratification [61, 79]. Thus, the present study makes a contribution in the context of an

increasingly complex landscape of online markets and diversity of online users.

A filter question was used to ensure that all respondents had used the Internet to browse for

information on cosmetics (from company websites, social media etc) and had purchased cosmetic products

in stores or online in the last 12 months.

Interviews were performed face-to-face, and respondents were asked to complete a questionnaire that

lasted about 15 minutes. The questionnaires were collected by the corresponding author. Most of the

participants were aged 25-35 years. These characteristics corresponded closely to previously published

studies of the cosmetics markets in China that the largest segment of cosmetics consumers was women aged

25–35 [25, 50], and this, combined with a reasonably large sample, is likely to mitigate any bias that may

have resulted from a convenience method of sampling. In total, 377 usable responses were obtained for

testing the hypotheses. This high response rate of 70% can be attributed to use of the Dillman Total Design

Survey Method [31] such as a booklet-type questionnaire and introductory letter Respondents were offered

a small gift as a token of gratitude for their cooperation.

Results

Measurement Model Assessment

Appendix A shows the results of confirmatory factor analysis using likelihood estimates with Amos, which

includes the individual composite reliabilities, and average variances extracted by the constructs, together

with factor loadings that were all greater than +0.55. However, the values of AVEs of two constructs
22
(Social interactions and browsing experience) are below the suggested level 0.5 [35]. This can be explained

by the local culture (e.g. people in China are relatively less rigorous and motivated to answer

questionnaires). This can also be explained by the nature of the items selected for the two constructs (e.g.

items developed in this study were adapted from constructs referring to buying in both physical and online

stores).

However, the values of composite reliabilities of all factors are above 0.70 [35]. In addition, the t-values

for the item loadings of all factor measures are all significant ranging from 8.47 (P<0.001) to 12.01

(P<0.001). These results suggest that our research sample had acceptable levels of convergent validity and

reliability [35, 38, 87]. Further, they also show that the average variance extracted for each construct is

greater than the squared correlations between constructs, thus supporting discriminant validity [103]. To

assess common methods bias, we performed Harman’s one-factor test [94, 95]. The expected six factors

were extracted. No single factor accounted for a majority of the covariance. Table 2 reports means and

standard deviations, as well as the results for discriminant validity of the dependent and independent

variables of our model.

Insert Table 2 about here

Structural Model Assessment

To test our hypotheses, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used with a maximum-likelihood

estimation procedure using AMOS. Results are shown in Figure 2 and Table 3 (with standardized structural

coefficients of the indirect, direct and total effects, see in online supplement file). Our sample produced a

good fit (x2=426.74; dl= 227; CFI=0.92; RMSEA=0.048; SRMR= 0.064), suggesting the hypothesized

model fits the data well [38].

Figure 2 about here

As indicated in Figure 2 and Table 3, results show significant associations among eight of 12

proposed relationships, even when controlling for age and income. Consequently, eight of our 12

hypotheses were supported and four were not supported (H2c, H2d, H3c and H3d). The proposed positive

relationships between polychronic-monochronic/future-past time orientation and our four consumer

characteristics , including trust perception (H1a, H2a), social interaction (H1b, H2b), browsing experience

23
(H1c), and external locus of control (H1d), were all supported. The respective path coefficients providing

support for these hypotheses were βɤ11/ βɤ21= 0.27/0.15, P<0.01/ P<0.05; βɤ12/ βɤ22= 0.26/0.18, P<0.01 for

both; βɤ13=0.15, P<0.05; βɤ14=0.39, P<0.01 for the effects of polychronic/future time orientation on trust,

social interaction, and for the effects of polychronic time orientation on browsing and external LOC,

respectively. However, contrary to H2c and H2d, the associations of future time orientation with browsing

experience (βɤ23 = 0.03, P>0.1) and external locus of control (βɤ24 = 0.07, P>0.1) are positive and not

significant. These results failed to support the hypothesized relationships in H2c and H2d. Further, results

can also support the proposed positive relationships between trust (H3a: βɤ31= 0.16, P<0.01), social

interaction (H3b: βɤ32= 0.20, P<0.01) and intention to shop online. But contrary to H3c (which suggests a

positive association between browsing and intention) and H3d (representing a negative association between

external LOC and intention), our findings show that both effects of browsing (βɤ33=0.01, P>0.1) and external

LOC (βɤ34=-0.06, P>0.1) on intention to shop online are not significant. Thus, H3c and H3d cannot be

supported. A summary of results of hypotheses tests is given in Figures 2.

Interestingly, results also show significant associations between age and all the endogenous variables

of this study (β=0.13, P<0.05 for trust, β=0.13, P<0.05 for social interaction; and β=0.28, P< 0.01 for

external LOC, respectively), with the exception for browsing (β=-0.05, P>0.1). Further, income was found

to be negatively associated with trust and browsing (β=-0.13, P<0.05 for both). As shown in Table 3, of the

total effects of all predictors of intention to shop online, social interaction exhibited the strongest direct

impact (βɤ32=0.20), followed by trust perception (βɤ31=0.16), polychromic time orientation (β= 0.07) and age

(β=-0.09). Moreover, polychronic time orientation had a stronger indirect effect (β=0.07, P<0.05) through

trust, social interaction, browsing and external LOC than the indirect effects of future time orientation

(β=0.05, P<0.05) (through trust and social interaction) on the intention to shop online. Interestingly, income

is indirectly related to intention (β=-0.06, P<0.05), and both dimensions of time orientations are related to

each other (ɤ=0.29, P<0.01). We discuss these results in the next section.

Discussion

The findings of this study contribute to the literature on consumer segmentation or user typology studies in

several ways. First, from a theoretical point of view, this study contributes by developing and empirically
24
testing a comprehensive framework of online shopping behavior which incorporates individuals’ time

orientation. Recent studies have increasingly highlighted the role of time in online information searching,

online leisure activities and online shopping, but have provided limited empirical evidence to support these

relationships in a comprehensive model [17, 26, 112, 113]. Our findings extend and empirically validate

TPB by adding dimensions of timestyles, browsing and locus of control in an extended model. Our results

provide evidence that time orientation indirectly influences e-shopping adoption through four major

antecedents of online consumer purchasing behavior: trust, social interaction, browsing experience and the

presence of an external locus of control. We have tested our hypotheses specifically within a context of

experience goods in an emerging country. We have also redressed the balance of empirical studies in this

field which have tended to use data from western developed cultures.

Specifically, our results are consistent with our earlier discussions about subcultural differences

within society and their influences on online shopping [e.g. 13, 37, 39, 41, 60, 68, 99]. Our findings also

extend consumer segmentation studies in the context of e-commerce [18]. More importantly, the present

study contributes to characterization of the nature of online user behavior and distinctive user types based on

their timestyles. This is important, because it allows us to achieve a common framework with the basic

criterion of time to understand user behavior. Our results also extend previous research on user typologies

which mainly focus on factors determining media behaviors, or oversimplified explanations of media

behavior [18, 77, 116], or the role of time perceptions in shopping time, which ignore the important role of

time orientations in the specific context of online shopping [80, 27, 113]. Finally, our results extend

previous studies that have mainly focused on unidimensionality of timestyles [17, 112, 113] and ignored the

multidimensionality of timestyles.

Several interesting contributions to knowledge arise from these findings. First, literature suggests

links between harmonious relationships, trust and guanxi [52]. Our findings provide theoretical evidence for

the antecedent reason of the link between a harmonious relationship and trust from a user typological

perspective. Polychronics focus more on relationships [26, 41] and they are also positively associated with

trust (confirmed in this study), suggesting that a harmonious relationship may be a mediator variable that

mediates the relationship between polychronics and trust. Otherwise, polychronicity may be an antecedent

25
of trust and harmonious relationships. In the same vein, our findings, combined with the associations

between polychronics-relationship orientation [26] and between trust-guanxi [52], suggest that trust may be

a mediator between polychronics and guanxi. As Chinese people tend to concentrate more on polychronic

and long term orientation, based on our findings, this emphasis should lead to greater concern for trust,

browsing and social interactions when shopping online, from which individuals gain enjoyment and build

trust in vendors' websites.

Further, the positive influences of future time orientation suggest that, for “digital natives”, these

characteristics may result in behaviors such as having more trust and willingness to use new technologies,

perceiving more enjoyment from being opinion leaders in social websites and the development of

investment in professional and social relations. However, unlike hypothesis H2c, the non-significant and

positive effect of future time orientation on browsing experience may be due to the role of the popularity of

Internet browsing, search and navigating activities in China (mentioned above), which means that online

browsing and navigating activities play a vital role in Chinese users’ daily life and online shopping. In

addition, Chinese people view online browsing as entertainment and leisure activities, and generally

speaking, they demonstrate positive attitudes toward e-browsing activities. This discussion suggests that

Chinese users generally enjoy browsing regardless of whether they are past or future oriented. This may

lead to a less negative effect of future time orientation on browsing experience and may even arouse positive

effect.

In the same vein, another unexpected finding shows that the effect of future time orientation on external

locus of control is positive and non-significant. This result may be due to our research data of Chinese

users. As cited in a previous study [49], Asians tend to be more external in their general locus of control

than Americans or members of other Western cultures. This may be particularly true with online purchases,

which involve some level of risk and uncertainty. This discussion implies that Chinese users are generally

external in their locus of control, regardless of whether they are past or future oriented. Another explanation

of this unexpected result may be the dramatic changes in Chinese personal characteristics, due to rapid

economic transition and integration of western culture [113, 115]. This change may lead individuals to have

strong attitudes both about the past [1, 60] and future time orientation [39, 54], and accordingly, this may

26
lead to a less negative effect of future time orientation on external locus of control, and may even result in a

positive effect. This may be especially true for young people, or “digital natives”, as they are typically more

influenced by exposure to culturally diverse messages communicated through online media [115], making

those with an external locus of control appear to have relatively less concern for the impact of unforeseen

external factors, or they may have become bi-cultural [115]. Our findings of a significant correlation

between both dimensions of time orientations empirically support Graham’s argument [37] that a person can

operate within different sets of time perceptions. This suggests that the more people tend to be polychronic-

oriented, the stronger the effects of trust, social interactions, browsing experience, and external locus of

control on outcome behaviors will be. Further, the more future-oriented a culture, the greater the effects of

trust and social interactions on intention to shop online will be. As China and Asian Pacific countries tend

to be highly polychronic and long-term / future-oriented [37], our study extends the existing literature on

online shopping by providing additional insights to segmentation variables and user type variations based on

their timestyles. We suggest that timestyles can be used as effective segmentation variables in large, diverse

online markets..

Our findings also provide empirical evidence that trust and social influence are predictors of intention to

shop online [51, 76, 92, 111, 113]. This is consistent with our earlier discussion about the rapid

development of Chinese online social networking, where buyers increasingly seek information about

products and brands, thereby developing their trust in Internet retailers and facilitating their purchase

decision. This may be one of the main reasons for the highly developed social media and online shopping

channels in China.

Surprisingly, the effects of browsing and locus of control on intention are not significant. These

unexpected results may be due to the type of cosmetic product studied in this research (an experience good),

for which information search is more costly and/or difficult than direct product experience. For buying this

kind of product, people may have less concern for online browsing, and other factors such as social

interaction and trust perception may be have a bigger effect on intention to use online shopping. In a similar

vein, the type of product may also affect locus of control and its impact on online purchase intention. As

27
internals in general search more than externals, and they also have restrictive beliefs about the marketplace,

and see greater benefits resulting from search compared to their external counterparts [44, 62, 72].

It is worthwhile to note that our findings support past findings about demographic differences in users’

e-shopping adoption. In accordance with previous studies [14, 64, 104], our findings show that younger and

wealthier people are more engaged with Internet shopping. Lee, Jung-Wan [65] argue that demographic

factors no longer influence the perceptions of e-commerce benefits and e-commerce adoption in Korea. Our

data cannot support this view. Our results extend research by adding the effect of demographic variables

(age and income) in a model that integrates TPB and Timestyles , and show that these demographic

variables influence the endogenous variable studied in this research. Thus, our findings provide a more

complete picture of how time orientations influence e-shopping adoption.

Specifically, our finding suggests that older users are more trusting. This result contradicts previous

results that older people have become less trusting [14]. This unexpected result may be explained by our

research product-cosmetics. Buying this type of product typically needs prior experience of using it. In

addition, users usually buy their cosmetic products from e-vendors they know. Thus, compared to younger

people, older users might have gained more experiences not only with the products but also with e-vendors,

and accordingly, they may have more confidence in these internet retailers than younger Internet users.

Our findings show a negative effect of income on trust perception, implying that people with higher

income perceive lower levels of trust in e-shopping. This result should not come as a surprise as people with

higher income are in general more educated. According to Blank and Dutton [14], more educated people are

less trusting but they do not perceive greater risks. Following this reasoning, it is not difficult to understand

our finding that Internet users with a higher income are less trusting, but they will be easier adopters of e-

shopping.

Our finding that social interaction is positively associated with age, suggests that older internet users

favor more social interaction online. This finding can be consistent with past arguments that older

millennials (ages 25 to 34) valued social media interactions more highly than younger millennials (ages 18

to 24) and older Internet users are more likely to use online social networks to maintain social relationships

than the younger [25, 127]. Our findings also indicate that the effect of income on social interaction is no

28
longer significant, suggesting that respondents perceive enjoyment from social interaction online regardless

of income levels. This result is also not surprising given the increasingly important social media market in

China (mentioned above).

Online browsers are no longer necessarily young, suggesting Internet users, regardless of age, can

perceive enjoyment from browsing activities online. This result is consistent with our earlier discussion

regarding the increasingly powerful role of online browsing in peoples’ daily lives [e.g. 25,113]. Our

finding that higher income segments spend less time browsing online may be consistent with the argument

(discussed earlier), that people who focus on career success spend less time browsing and shopping [13, 39,

41].

The positive associations of external locus of control with age, suggests that older people tend to have a

higher external locus of control. This result provides support to past argument that as people age they will

become more external [96]. In addition, our finding shows a non-significant association between external

locus of control and income, implying that there are no differences between Internet users with a high

external locus of control regardless of their income levels. This result is consistent with the argument that

Asian Chinese people, in general, tend to be more external in their locus of control [22, 42, 49] in an indirect

way.

In practical terms, the increasingly complex media landscape and diversity of users has brought great

challenges for Internet retailers to effectively characterize the nature of media-user behavior and distinctive

user types in their marketing strategy [18]. Our results suggest that time orientation provides a basis for

identifying their target groups and market segmentation which may be particularly useful in rapidly

transforming economies. Polychronic and future-oriented consumers are more likely to be associated with

social interactions and have greater trust in an Internet retailer. This increases their intention to shop online

and the importance for online retailers to manage this group’s online shopping behavior. We conclude that

Internet retailers should take into account the role of time orientation in their marketing strategies and

consider it as an effective segmentation variable. Specifically, marketing strategies that emphasize trust and

social interactions might make the biggest differences in online users high in polychronic and future time

orientation, for example by emphasizing multiple functions of web design, offering social support and

29
establishing and maintaining relationships or “guanxi” between peers, users and sellers, through online

shopping channels.

Guanxi is a key to business and relationship building by Chinese, and a sense of reciprocity can make

those relationships succeed. Thus, Internet retailers might increase their communication output by building

good relationships with consumers, and by developing the comments of other consumers on forums related

to their product and their service. This may enable companies to improve consumers’ trust in buying on-line

and allows for the development of long-term relationships built on social online interactions with customers

[76], and accordingly, leads to improved enjoyment perception and a high level of trust in e-vendors,

thereby, facilitating transitions in polychronic cultures. Offline interpersonal communication can be

reinforced by frequent exchanges online, and social networking can enable the extension of relationships

built on social media platforms to “real-world” communities.

Internet retailers targeting polychronic-oriented users might benefit from understanding how they can

build enjoyable browsing experience online. A good way to achieve this is to reinforce search engine

optimization and achieve higher search-result rankings rather than investing in paid placement advertising,

since “buyers using search engines to look for information tend to trust and follow links displayed in the

editorial section of the search-results page” [98, p9]. Internet retailers should pay more attention to users’

time spent reading, browsing and sharing, than number of visitors to their website -, what matters is the

amount of time that visitors actually spend on a website, from which they gain enjoyment and consequently

engage in purchase behavior. Thus, Internet retailers should seek this opportunity of providing the best

performing shopping engine, through more useful information [71], and web site aesthetics [102], which

may evoke enjoyable web browsing experience, and subsequently, higher intention to purchase. Online

browsing may lead to a purchase offline in a retailer’s store. To better target this type of browser, Internet

retailers should develop integrated omni-channel retailing strategies that facilitates crossover between

online and offline buying.

The strong positive effect of polychronic time orientation on external locus of control and the non-

significant negative effect of the latter on intention suggest that marketing strategies focusing on

polychronic-oriented traits (i.e. may be more susceptible to stress and risk, and leisure-oriented, socially-

30
oriented) might make externals feel less stress or become less responsive to stress. Or, web designs

encouraging shoppers to adopt socially based shopping media such as Groupon and emphasizing the positive

side of social influences or social interactions through social media platforms might help externals (whose

personality traits tend to be vulnerable to stress and are risk averse) improve their ability to withstand stress

or risk. This solution might increase their favorable attitude toward Internet retailers, and also decrease

abandonment rates in e-shopping.

Internet retailers can also facilitate greater trust in them by future-oriented shoppers by reducing

website load times and addressing the issue of trust in the final step of shopping cart purchases, such as

concerns over card security, unexpected shipping costs and being required to create an account before

checking out. This group may also be more willing to become opinion leaders in social networking or to be

at the center of the buzz/news that enables them to develop their values and investment in their career and

social relations [13, 74]. Therefore, social networking platforms should include means for effective content

sharing and communication.

In view of our findings above about the effects of demographic factors, e-vendors should take steps

to improve the level of trust in a time-efficient manner for the higher income market segment. Automated

trust scores may appeal to this group. For older age groups, Internet retailers can benefit more from forming

their favorable attitude toward technology, building an ideal social networking platform that can reduce their

feeling of skepticism about the role of technology in society and their risk perception. This improvement

will accordingly, increase the level of trust for online shopping and consequently, engage in purchase

behavior.

Limitations of this study should be noted and addressed in future research. First, this study can be

extended by investigating other socio-psychological factors such as attitude toward Guanxi [100], and

perceived quality of service [43]. Also, more research is needed on situational factors that might moderate

the effects on the variables of customer e-shopping adoption (e.g regular purchases of cosmetics may be

made online but one-off or novel purchases made in store). Despite the great interest of such research in

working women’s markets, an additional study in other demographic markets (e.g. students) is encouraged.

Further, even if the current study makes a great effort to extend research by better measuring behavioral

31
intention in a more parsimonious way, further studies may further validate the hypotheses by recording

actual behaviors. There is a need to extend this study by using a different product, so as to test whether its

results can be generalized. Finally, it is also possible that browsing and buying patterns may vary across

retailers, industries [44] and countries. Therefore, the findings of this study need further replication to reach

an accepted premise on the role of time in e-shopping adoption in retailing research addressing user

typology.

Conclusions

Given the recent calls for more research on the nature of media-user behavior, particularly, the common

typology of users [18], the main objective of this research was to classify diverse user behaviors into

meaningful categories of user types based on their time orientations. Specifically, the primary empirical

insights this research provides relate to the following: polychronic-oriented users tend to be positively

associated with trust, social interaction, browsing experience and external locus of control; and indirectly to

intention to shop online through these four variables. In addition, future time orientation is not related to

browsing experience and external locus of control, while it is positively related to trust and social interaction

and indirectly to intention to shop online through these two variables. Finally, trust and social interaction

are positively related to intention to shop online, but the associations of browsing and external locus of

control with intention are found to be not significant. As the first attempt to propose and empirically test a

model of the influence of buyers’ time orientation on online shopping behavior of “digital natives”, in a

large country (China), it is hoped that the resulting typologies illustrated here will be useful to other

researches in this area.

32
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 Table 1

Characteristics of polychronic-monochronic and past-future time orientations

High scores on Low scores on Reference

dimension
Polychronic- Relationship-oriented.
time More related to social surroundings.
orientation
Related more to leisure e-services.
Positively associated with social
interactions and share information
about products or e-vendors online
with others (i.e. friends, family, and
other users); are more likely to
engage in web browsing.
Tend to engage in two or many
activities at a time.
Tend to be spontaneous.
Less related to time pressure
Dimension
Task-oriented. Hall [41; 39]
Less related to social surroundings.
organized spatially and temporally
Less associated with leisure service Cotte and Ratneshwar
offered by e-retailers. [26]
Do not value interruptions. Tend to Hall [41; 39];
more concentrate on the job at hand Xu-Priour et al. [113]
and take time commitments very
seriously.
Tend to engage in one activity at a Kaufman, Lane and
time; be well organized and punctual. Lindquist [57]
More related to time pressure Hall [41; 39]; Xu-
Priour et al. [112]

Easier adoption of Internet use or Less easy adoption of Internet use or Lee [68]; Van
online shopping online shopping. Everdingen and
Waarts [108]; Xu-
Priour et al. [112]
Future Time will be dominant. More More cautious and more uncertain in Klukhohn and
time secure and confident in shopping. shopping. Strodbeck [60];
orientation Graham [37]; Settle
et al. [99]
See themselves as opinion leaders. Prefer following members of the Settle et al. [99];
Less likely to contact with group. Bergadaà [13]
commercial intermediaries.
Easier adoption of new product, Less easy adoption of new product, Bergadaà [13];
technology or Internet, or online technology or Internet. Bouder-Pailler [17]
shopping.
Tend to have long-term time Tend to perceive more fun and Bergadaà [13];
perspective. enjoyment in shopping. Peetsma and van der
Positively related to the More casual shopping habits, more Veen [93]
development of academic leisure-oriented.
achievement in social relations.
More positively involved with
work.
More willing to sacrifice personal
leisure time for personal success.
Have low levels of novelty and Related more to novelty seeking. Settle et al. [99];
sensation seeking. Bergadaà [13]
Positively related to
searching for variety and
new products.
Tend to have a higher internal locus Tend to have a higher external locus Bergadaà [13];
of control. of control. Rotter [96]

43
Figure 1. Theoretical framework for the effects of timestyles on consumer online shopping behaviour

H1a (+) Trust

Polychronic H3a (+)
Time
Orientation
H1b (+)
H1c (+)
Social H3b (+)
H1d (+) Intention to
interactions
shop online

H2a (+) H3c (+)

Future H2b (+) Browsing

time experience
orientation H2c (-)

H3d (-)

H2d (-) External

locus of
control

Effects of timestyles TPB

[1].“+” represent that the hypothesized path relationship is positive.“

[2].“- ”represent that the hypothesized relationship is negative.

44
Figure 2. Results

ɤ11=0.27*** Trust
Polychronic
0.16***
Time
Orientation
ɤ12=0.26*** 0.13** -0.13**
ɤ13=0.15**
Social 0.20*** Intention to
ɤ14=0.39*** interactions shop online

-0.08n.s. 0.01n.s
ɤ21=0.15** 0.13**
-0.06n.s
ɤ22=0.18***
Future Browsing -0.11** 0.09*
time experience
orientation ɤ23=0.03n.s -0.13**
n.s
-0.05
ɤ24=0.07n.s
External
0.03n.s.
locus of
control Age Income
0.28***

* if p < 0.05; **if p < 0.01.

45