Consumers often act on information

Consumers often act on information that is less than
complete and far from perfect. As a result, they are
often faced with at least some degree of risk or
uncertainty in their purchasing decisions. However, risk
is not the only factor consumers are sensitive to in the
context of an Internet purchase; the perceived benefit
provides consumers with an incentive for purchase
behavior [137]. Combining perceived risk and perceived
benefit, Tarpey and Peter [119] provided a
valence framework which assumes that consumers
perceive products as having both positive and negative
attributes, and accordingly consumers make decisions
to maximize the net valence resulting from the negative
and positive attributes of the decision. This framework
is consistent with Lewin's [89] and Bilkey's [17,18]
theories, which provide a theoretical framework for this
study.
2.1.1. Purchase and intention to purchase
Drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model [45],
Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) [51], and Theory of
Planned Behavior [5], many e-commerce studies have
shown that consumer intentions to engage in online
transactions are a significant predictor of consumers'
actual participation in e-commerce transactions [116].
The relationship between intention and behavior is
based on the assumption that human beings attempt to
make rational decisions based on the information
available to them. Thus, a person's behavioral intention
to perform (or not to perform) a behavior is the
immediate determinant of that person's actual behavior
[3]. Based on the intention–behavior relationship, we
argue that behavioral intention, or more specifically
intention to purchase (INTENTION) from a certain
vendor through the Web, is a predictor of a consumer's
actual behavior or purchase decision (PURCHASE).2
Therefore:
Hypothesis 1. A consumer's intention to purchase
(INTENTION) through a vendors' Website positively
affects the purchase decision (PURCHASE).