Online Consumer Purchase Intention for Digital Newspapers in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Unparalleled development in information communication technology (ICT) has led people to live in the virtual world.  Smartphone has made peoples’ life more comfortable as they do purchase goods and services while they are on the move. People likely to buy the products online from candy to newspaper. Purchasing newspaper online is currently in a blunder stage, however, steady growth has been reported in the recent past on the purchase of e-newspaper around the world. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the factors that influence the purchase intention of consumers towards digital/e-newspaper in Sri Lanka. Data were collected for this purpose via a structural questionnaire from those who involve online purchasing either in their home or office in Ampara districts of Sri Lanka. 305 sample response were collected and analysed further with Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) using AMOS. The results revealed that Website Quality (WEBQUAL) and Online Customer Reviews (OCR) post a significant positive influence on the Online Consumer Purchase Intention (OCPI) of the digital newspaper. Meanwhile, Paid Content (PC) was negatively associated with the purchase intention of the digital newspaper which indicates that consumer was not ready to pay the content if it is charged. On the other hand, Trust was not a significant factor as long as e-newspaper purchase is concerned which is a noteworthy finding of this study unlike in the other context such as B2B market or B2C market. The findings of this provide some useful contribution to the literature of consumer behaviour and practitioners like newspaper companies to make a strategic decision on the future business model for digital/e-newspaper in Sri Lanka.