Lan NGUYEN, Hoa Chi LE, Thuy Thu NGUYEN / Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business Vol

8 No 9 (2021) 0131–0141 131

Print ISSN: 2288-4637 / Online ISSN 2288-4645
doi:10.13106/jafeb.2021.vol8.no9.0131

Critical Factors Influencing Consumer Online Purchase Intention

for Cosmetics and Personal Care Products in Vietnam

Lan NGUYEN1, Hoa Chi LE2, Thuy Thu NGUYEN3

Received: May 15, 2021  Revised: July 24, 2021  Accepted: August 02, 2021

Abstract
With the rapid development of the Internet, online shopping has grown so fast that almost any good or service can be sold online today.
The popularity and rapid growth of e-commerce signal a huge market opportunity for e-retailers. From the organizational perspective, it is
necessary to evaluate and explore what drives customers to buy their products or to use their services. This study, therefore, aims to explain
the online purchase intention and its determinants of Vietnamese customers for cosmetics and personal care products. Quantitative data was
collected from an online survey conducted among university students, then was put into SPSS and AMOS for further analysis. Descriptive
statistics, Cronbach’s alpha test, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), regression analysis, and SEM were used to examine data from 434 valid
answers. The research findings reveal that four factors positively affect purchase intention: Shopping enjoyment has the most significant
impact, followed by trust, benefit, and website quality. On the other hand, perceived risk negatively influences purchase intention. While
the cosmetics and personal care industry is thriving with a huge number of producers and consumers throughout the world, this study
contributes to the existing literature in terms of capturing customers’ needs and developing effective strategies to attract more online users.

Keywords: Consumer Behavior, Purchase Intention, Online Shopping, E-Commerce, Vietnamese Market

JEL Classification Code: E44, F31, F37, G15

1. Introduction
In 1992, the Internet became a magical portal into retail e-commerce sales amounted to US$ 3.53 trillion,
the techno-future, ushering in a new era of commerce and e-retail revenue is expected to rise to US$ 6.54 trillion
and trade. After its progression into a global network in 2022 (Leong et al., 2018). The continuous growth in
of connectivity, the Internet has grown from a technical revenue shows that e-commerce has tremendous business
technology system into a helpful marketing tool for both potentials. This significant increase is due to an increase
domestic and international markets. During that time, in mobile Internet usage as well as the proliferation of
electronic commerce then developed globally and became social networking sites (Leong et al., 2018). Thus, it is not
well known as e-commerce. According to Statista, global shocking that 53% of Internet users worldwide used mobile
devices for online shopping in 2017. These days, owing to
the enormous increase of Web users and online transactions,
e-commerce is deemed the key component of the modern
First Author and Corresponding Author. Faculty of Accounting and
1
business environment (Lu & Wang, 2018). Compared to
Auditing, Van Lang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam [Postal
Address: 45 Nguyen Khac Nhu Street, Co Giang Ward, District 1, Ho conventional shopping, which is typically associated with
Chi Minh City, Vietnam] Email: [email protected] crowding, congestion, time constraints, parking space,
School of Information Technology and Digital Economics, National
2
or travel costs, purchasing online is preferable because it
Economics University, Vietnam. Email: [email protected]
NEU Business School, National Economics University, Vietnam.
3 is much more convenient. E-commerce, therefore, helps
Email: [email protected] customers control everything and enables them to purchase
products or services online from anywhere.
© Copyright: The Author(s)
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Today, e-commerce can be sustained at a much lower
Non-Commercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits
unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
cost than traditional business models. It has become an
original work is properly cited. extremely important channel for retailers, powered by
132 Lan NGUYEN, Hoa Chi LE, Thuy Thu NGUYEN / Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business Vol 8 No 9 (2021) 0131–0141

quicker delivery, lower prices, and faster buying time. market and consumers’ purchasing habits to fulfill
Additionally, e-commerce entails little extra investment customers’ needs, thus converting potential visitors into
(a website is adequate) from businesses and allows access to customers, and increasing current consumer purchases
markets generally regarded as out of reach (Hernández et al., (Forsythe & Shi, 2003). In the context of e-commerce,
2009). With the benefits and opportunities that e-commerce identifying key factors that affect customers’ purchase
provides, companies can expand their businesses all over intention helps e-retailers attract more browsers and
the globe and connect to individuals worldwide. The success enable their websites to reach customers more efficiently.
and development of global e-commerce platforms such as So far, many researchers and practitioners have studied
Amazon, Alibaba, Shopee have set an example for businesses antecedents of online purchase intention (Dachyar &
to change their business model from brick-and-mortar to Banjarnahor, 2017; Choon Ling et al., 2011); however,
brick-and-click (Hernández et al., 2009). Many companies only a small proportion of studies has been conducted in
have had online stores to enable customers to browse Vietnam, and knowledge of online shopping in Vietnam
information and purchase products/services at a comparatively is still limited (Phuong & Dat, 2017). Furthermore, these
low cost through direct contact (Kim et al., 2005). studies just reviewed the general e-commerce market instead
In Vietnam, purchasing Internet-based products is of specific industries like cosmetics and personal care. With
increasing at an exponential rate. Approximately 66% of the circumstances of online cosmetics and personal care
the Vietnamese population are Internet users, and 47% purchases, this study examined variables that have rarely
took part in online shopping and made online transactions been mentioned in previous research. The results are also
(Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency, 2020). different in that it focuses on the millennial generation, as
Vietnamese online market generated a sale of US$12 billion opposed to previous studies, which include all generations.
in 2019 with an estimated growth of 29% in the following Purchasing online has accelerated, particularly during
years until 2025 (Vietnam E-commerce Association, the global crisis of COVID-19, and it may result in a
2020). Among the most popular items of e-commerce, the massive shift in purchasing behavior across the entire
cosmetics and personal care market are considered one of market. For experience and touch products like cosmetics
the strongest sales conductors. Vietnam’s beauty market and personal care, such a focus elaborates complicated
had a value of $2.35 billion in 2018 with a wide range issues in identifying key factors that affect customer
of distribution networks, supported by the flourishment of behavior and provides successful beauty direct marketing
cosmetics stores and the rise of online distribution channels. strategies. Considering the potentials for strong expansion of
Accordingly, about 34% of purchase is performed in online the Vietnam e-commerce market, the findings also suggest
web stores and department stores, and 26% of Vietnamese strategic directions for beauty companies to sell products
shopped for beauty products once every two to three months more effectively.
online (Vietnam E-commerce Association, 2020). Higher The rest of this paper is structured as follows.
living standards, a steady rise in average income, and the rapid In Section 2, the research problem statements and hypotheses
development of social networks have all contributed to the are presented. In Section 3, the questionnaire design and
cosmetics and personal care market’s robust revenue growth. sample analysis are listed. In Section 4, data collection and
Notably, easy access to the Internet, especially by using mobile analysis are examined. Finally, conclusions and discussions
phones, allows customers to stay up-to-date with beauty trends are organized in Section 5.
faster and search for product information more easily.
Despite the benefits and positive outcomes that 2.  Literature Review
e-commerce brings, consumers are still reluctant
to purchase on e-commerce websites (Dachyar & One of the most vital business issues is understanding
Banjarnahor, 2017). Customers’ hesitation to purchase consumers’ behavior and convincing them to purchase
arises from several problems with online shopping. Trust products more. To predict customers’ behavior correctly, so
in online payment methods is still low because only a many studies on the importance of purchase intention have
small proportion believes that online shopping is safe. been carried out. Purchase intention is defined as a measure of
Most Internet users only use the Internet to search for the strength of one’s intention to perform a specific behavior
information, price, and reviews about products, but they or make the decision to buy a product or service. (Truong,
hesitate to make online payments or product reservations. 2018). According to Ajzen (1991), intentions are assumed
They would prefer shopping in the physical stores and to show how individuals are inclined to carry out certain
buying items they saw on the site to purchasing online. behaviors; if people have a greater intention to buy something,
Additionally, lack of purchase intention is a significant they are more likely to make the actual purchase. The theory
challenge to the growth of e-commerce. Therefore, of reasoned action (TRA) suggests that customer behavior
businesses must investigate various aspects of the online can be predicted from the intention that corresponds directly
 Lan NGUYEN, Hoa Chi LE, Thuy Thu NGUYEN / Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business Vol 8 No 9 (2021) 0131–0141 133

in terms of action, objective, and context to that customer’s that e-business will not behave opportunistically (e.g., taking
behavior (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). A considerable number advantage of a situation) (Hong & Cha, 2013). In e-commerce,
of authors also have acknowledged that purchase intention vendors are responsible for delivering useful information
is a significant predictor for the actual decision to buy (Kim and helping customers to achieve their goals successfully.
et al., 2008). In the context of e-commerce, purchase intention When there is a considerable degree of threat and uncertainty
is concluded to highly impact online shopping behavior and in online transactions, the importance of trust is even more
finally leads to action in real life. important (Kim et al., 2008). In purchasing online, several
Over the past decade, both internal and external parties will typically be involved, leading to different “trust
factors are explored as influences on online purchasing objectives” to be evaluated (Hsu et al., 2014). While Kim
intention. However, unlike simple IT adoption, online et al. (2008) proposed that the company’s reputation, privacy
beauty buying behavior entails not only IT adoption but issues, security concerns, and information quality greatly
also hedonic consumption activity. Online consumers, influence customers’ trust, Jarvenpaa et al. (2000) found that
especially millennials, must possess the characteristics of an online shop’s size and reputation determine consumer
both hedonic-oriented IT adopters and buyers. In this study, trust in the website. Thus, we hypothesize the following
the authors examine five variables, which are trust, benefit, regarding trust for online purchase intention.
perceived risk, shopping enjoyment, and website quality in
relationship with purchase intention. Specifically, trust is H1: Trust is positively related to online purchase
believed to be the most critical factor in securing customer intention.
loyalty, engagement, and strongly related purchasing
intention (Hsu et al., 2014). Hong and Cha (2013) further 2.2.  Website Quality
noted that e-commerce companies should reduce the
perceived risk due to the importance of risk reduction in Undoubtedly, for companies, a Website is a valuable tool
online purchase intention (Crespo et al., 2009). Furthermore, for promoting their products and services to generate revenue
online marketers should emphasize the advantages of online from potential customers. Customers’ online purchase
purchasing, either directly or indirectly, because the greater intention tends to be impacted by their understanding of
the benefits of online buying are regarded by consumers, the website quality. Therefore, companies ought to build
the greater their intention to use the Internet for information appealing websites with useful content to draw more
search (Kim et al., 2004). Enjoyment also needs to be further customers to their businesses. Multiple website layers,
studied as it is found to be a strong indicator of intention functionalities, qualities, and user ability to distinguish
towards online shopping (Rehman et al., 2013). If consumers between different website characteristics are the factors for
enjoy their online shopping experience, they have a more estimating website quality (Al-Qeisi et al., 2014). In addition,
optimistic outlook on online shopping and are more likely to relevance, usefulness, up-to-datedness, and consistency of
embrace the Internet as a shopping channel. information are significant quality features of information
However, academic studies on five distinct stated websites. To be more specific, the aesthetic and layout
significant features in the link with online purchasing intention design of the websites have a huge effect on their appearance
for the cosmetics and personal care sector in Vietnam appear (Sánchez-Franco & Roldán, 2005), which, in turn, affects the
to be lacking. Thus, this research tries to better understand the emotional responses of users. Effective navigation increases
role of various factors in the intention of beauty shopping. the ability of users to predict and conceptually go through
website controls. And a viewer with a positive experience
2.1. Trust of a website is more likely to become a potential customer.
Perceived website quality is related to trust because
Numerous studies have attempted to explain the strong using the website is the first perceptual glimpse of the
influence of trust on the customers’ intention to purchase vendor’s existence, reinforcing first impressions. As a result,
online. Trust is claimed to be a crucial factor for a company’s if customers find the website to be of high quality, they are
success in e-commerce (Lu et al., 2010). Furthermore, more likely to have a high level of trust in the online retailer’s
Lee and Choi (2011) add that trust plays a vital role in competence, authenticity, and benevolence, as well as feel a
promoting exchange relationships and improving the long- desire to buy. Distrust is a concern that e-commerce businesses
term relationship. Consumers do not want to participate in must address in terms of infrastructure and payment systems.
e-commerce because of a lack of trust (Kim et al., 2008). If an e-retailer can provide a high level of convenience when
Trust is defined as the extent to personal assurance that the purchasing online and build a payment system that can be
online stores will fulfill their commitments, act as anticipated, used by a large number of people, it is likely that more people
and pay attention to their buyers (Dachyar & Banjarnahor, would shop online, whether payable in cash or uses the bank
2017). Trust is also characterized as the consumers’ faith accounts (Wang et al., 2015). Therefore, we hypothesize
134 Lan NGUYEN, Hoa Chi LE, Thuy Thu NGUYEN / Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business Vol 8 No 9 (2021) 0131–0141

the following regarding website quality for online purchase The benefit is described as the extent to which a consumer
intention and website quality for trust. will get advantages from the online transaction with a
specific website (Dachyar & Banjarnahor, 2017). Many
H2: Website quality is positively related to online studies (Mandilas et al., 2013; Tanadi et al., 2015) have
purchase intention. presented persuasive evidence about the significant role of
H3: Website quality is positively related to trust. benefit or its identified factor in increasing the behavioral
intention to purchase on the Internet. The perceived value of
2.3.  Perceived Risk online shopping can be determined by the level of product
satisfaction and the advantage of online shopping (Tanadi
Perceived risk is considered a salient factor to influence et al., 2015). Individuals measure the value between what
consumer behaviors when purchasing online. This is because advantages are obtained and what sacrifices are made by
online shopping generally entails greater uncertainty levels performing activities based on utility’s net gain. Margherio
than in-store shopping (Chiu et al., 2009; Jarvenpaa et al., (1998) stated that customers purchase on the Internet because
2000). Risk is explained as a customer’s belief of uncertainty they perceive benefits such as expanded convenience, cost
regarding possible consequences from online transactions savings, time savings, diversity of products, and payments
(Kim et al., 2008). Despite many benefits of online shopping, to choose from compared to conventional shopping. When
buyers are unable to observe, touch or experience the items buyers benefit from an online transaction with certain
before deciding to purchase (Al-Debei et al., 2015). They websites, they are more likely to conduct online payments.
appear, therefore, to perceive a greater degree of risk. Hence, Therefore, it could logically explain that one of the most
it can be expected that the greater the worries of customers, important factors influencing consumers’ willingness to buy
the lower the intention of shopping online. Researchers online is the utility and rewards of doing so. For this reason,
have investigated different risks relating to online purchase we hypothesize the following regarding the benefit of online
intention; for example, Jacoby and Kaplan (1972) classified purchase intention.
perceived risks into seven functional categorizations:
financial risk, performance risk, physical risk, psychological H5: Benefit is positively related to online purchase
risk, social risk, time risk, and opportunity cost risk. In the intention.
context of e-commerce, three types of risk are assumed to
be prevalent: financial risk, product risk, and information 2.5.  Shopping Enjoyment
risk (Bhatnagar et al., 2000). It is normal for buyers to be
reluctant to purchase on the Internet when they notice the For the e-commerce context, hedonistic motivation is an
risks that could be unbearable compared to the traditional important and frequently studied element in the acceptance
shopping method with the instantaneous shopping transaction of information systems. Perceived enjoyment has a direct
(Dachyar & Banjarnahor, 2017). When the transaction is impact on the online purchase intention, thus making
carried out, the e-vendors collect identities, email addresses, websites more enjoyable would provide many benefits
and purchasers’ contact information. Some vendors may to online retailers (Van der Heijden & Verhagen, 2004).
leak out data to spammers, salespeople, and advertising Enjoyment is an adaptive reaction and an inherent motivation
agencies (Kim et al., 2008). In various ways, the prohibited that refers to the performance of a task without any obvious
gathering and sale of personal information could affect reinforcement apart from the process of conducting it.
actual users, from simple spamming to deceptive credit card Enjoyment represents the hedonic or intrinsic characteristics
payments and identity fraud. As a result, lack of privacy is of IT usage (Chiu et al., 2009). Online shopping enjoyment is
a primary concern for many online users (Katawetawaraks defined as perceived satisfaction emerging from the website
& Wang, 2011). In other words, if consumers perceive experience, the level to which customers generally perceive
online shopping as risky, their intention to shop online will the behavior of using the website as enjoyable. Shopping
decrease. Therefore, we hypothesize the following regarding enjoyment is correlated with temporary emotional reactions
perceived risk for online purchase intention. such as fulfillment, joy, and dominance (Koufaris et al.,
2001). Consumers who love shopping get pleasure from
H4: Perceived risk is negatively related to online shopping and spend time browsing for items (Seock & Bailey,
purchase intention. 2008). The pleasure derived from visiting a website may
increase online purchase intent amongst buyers by adding to
2.4. Benefit a pleasurable shopping experience, and it is therefore critical
for web-based businesses to comprehend the influence of
Although the Internet poses some dangers, it offers website enjoyment. Entertainment components should be
tremendous benefits to customers from a different perspective. introduced to websites to attract consumers who appreciate
 Lan NGUYEN, Hoa Chi LE, Thuy Thu NGUYEN / Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business Vol 8 No 9 (2021) 0131–0141 135

shopping enjoyment such as offering users responsive quantitative survey method to distribute and collect data.
communities to motivate customers to buy online (Seock & An online survey was conducted among students in universities
Bailey, 2008). Thus, we hypothesize the following regarding in Vietnam. The student samples’ validity might be questioned
website quality for online purchase intention. because the student population does not appropriately
represent the general population (Yoo et al., 2000). However,
H6: Shopping enjoyment is positively related to online Ahmad (2002) argued that university students reflect one
purchase intention. of the most dynamic age categories in online shopping.
University students, therefore, are considered an adequate
The proposed model (Table 1) contains variables trust, sample to study. A pilot analysis of the questionnaire was
website quality, perceived risk, benefit, shopping enjoyment, carried out to validate the feasibility, consistency, reliability,
and online purchase intention. Overall, we expect that trust, and comprehensiveness of the questionnaire. For easy
benefit, shopping enjoyment, and website quality are likely interpretation, the survey questionnaire is accessible in
to positively influence purchase intention, and perceived risk various sections, written explicitly by using plain language to
negatively affects purchase intention. Furthermore, website encourage participants to provide accurate details.
quality is expected to be positively related to trust (Figure 1). All variables were measured with multiple items, which
are listed in Table 1. The questionnaire has two parts. Part A
3.  Research Methods and Materials is demographic information. Part B is respondents’ feedback
about trust, perceived risk, benefit, shopping enjoyment, and
The impact of trust, perceived risk, benefit, shopping website quality towards online purchase intention. Close-
enjoyment, and website quality on online purchase intention ended questions with a 5-point Likert type, which is a type
has been examined in this research. The authors used the of psychometric response scale in which responders specify

Table 1: Results of Demographics Profile

Demographics Category Frequency (%)

Gender Male 52 12.0
Female 378 87.1
Others 4 0.9
Age 18 or younger 24 5.5
19–25 387 89.2
26–35 23 5.3
Education High school or below 26 6.0
College/University 392 90.3
Graduate school or above 16 3.7
Occupation Student 374 86.2
Working 53 12.2
Unemployed 7 1.6
Monthly income Less than VND 9 million 405 93.3
VND 9–15 million 23 5.3
VND 15–23 million 4 0.9
VND 23–36 million 2 0.5
Frequency of online shopping Every day 8 1.8
Every week 12 2.8
Every month 156 35.9
Few times in a year 179 41.2
Very rarely 79 18.2
136 Lan NGUYEN, Hoa Chi LE, Thuy Thu NGUYEN / Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business Vol 8 No 9 (2021) 0131–0141

Figure 1:  Research Model

their level of agreement to a statement typically in five below 9 million VND each month (93.3%), and 9–15 million
points: (1) Strongly disagree; (2) Disagree; (3) Neither agree VND being only 5.3%. Only 32 of 434 participants (7.4%)
nor disagree; (4) Agree; (5) Strongly agree. have never purchased cosmetics and personal care products
Before the official survey, a test was carried out to check online. However, 15 of them ensured that they plan to make
the questionnaire’s validity and reliability. The collected online purchases. This indicates that e-commerce will
data came from 462 participants, of which 28 questionnaires continue to develop in the future.
were invalid since the respondents provide a lack of online
shopping experience or information. Hence, 434 answers 4.  Results and Discussion
were usable. The data was then analyzed using the analytical
tool Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 4.1.  Reliability and Validity
version 20 and Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS)
version 24. Different types of analyses were executed The mean value for all variables ranges between 3.47
to test the hypotheses, including reliability and validity and 3.96. Website quality has the highest mean (3.96), with
analysis, correlation analysis, and regression analysis. a standard deviation of 0.685, follows by trust, benefit,
The hypothesized relationships among the constructs in the perceived risk, shopping enjoyment, and purchase intention
study were also analysed by employing structured equation with a mean value of 3.94 (SD = 0.633), 3.83 (SD = 0.610),
modelling (SEM). 3.82 (SD = 0.667), 3.60 (SD = 0.719), 3.47 (SD = 0.641)
Based on the survey, 12.0% of the total respondents are respectively. This reveals that respondents have an average
males, and 87.1% are females. In terms of age distribution, level of agreement towards trust, website quality, perceived
participants’ age ranges from 15 to 35 years old, in which the risk, benefit, shopping enjoyment. All the variables score a
majority of them were between 19–25 (89.2%). There are standard deviation lower than 1, which shows that the scores
three education levels listed in the research: a high-school were clustered closely around the mean.
diploma, bachelor’s degree, and master’s degree. Most of Reliability is the most common index to test the stability
the respondents have had an education at diploma level, of items in a questionnaire. It is used to verify whether the
accounting for 90.3% of the total sample. For frequency scale items measure the framework in question; a value
analysis, most of the respondents purchase cosmetics and of 0.70 or higher is considered acceptable (Taber, 2018).
personal care products at least one or more times per year Cronbach’s coefficient alpha was used to test the inter-item
(41.2%), and the second-highest purchase frequency is at consistency of the scale in this study. As shown in Table 2,
least once a month (35.9%). The categories mainly earn the results reliability analysis for all variables is greater than
 Lan NGUYEN, Hoa Chi LE, Thuy Thu NGUYEN / Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business Vol 8 No 9 (2021) 0131–0141 137

Table 2: Results of the Measurement Model

Construct and Indicator Factor Loadings Cronbach’s Alpha

Trust 0.740
TRU1. Seller provides accurate information about products. 0.845
TRU2. The shopping website is popular. 0.684
TRU3. Products come from well-known brands. 0.575
Website Quality 0.742
WEQ1. The shopping website is easy to navigate. 0.868
WEQ2. The layout of the shopping website is attractive. 0.646
WEQ3. The shopping website is easy to use. 0.563
Perceived Risk 0.760
RIS1. Bank accounts can be hacked during online transactions. 0.898
RIS2. Product performance/quality is not up to expectations. 0.750
RIS3. Personal data can be exposed during online transactions. 0.522
Benefit 0.754
BEN1. I can purchase products whenever I like. 0.806
BEN2. I can save money when purchasing online. 0.705
BEN3. I can purchase a variety of products online. 0.628
Shopping Enjoyment 0.794
SHE1. I feel stress relieved when purchasing online. 0.812
SHE2. I like browsing for product information online. 0.769
SHE3. I had an enjoyable time when purchasing online. 0.679
Purchase Intention 0.774
PI1. I will purchase cosmetics and personal care products online. 0.775
PI2. I am positive about purchasing cosmetics and personal care 0.729
products online.
PI3. I will recommend other people to purchase cosmetics and 0.591
personal care products online.

the recommended level and shows good reliability with when the correlations between that construct and other
Cronbach’s alpha exceeding 0.7 in each construct. constructs are less than variances extracted by the constructs.
The KMO test and Bartlett’s sphericity test were used in The square roots of the AVEs for the dataset were all greater
the factor analysis process. The results show that KMO is than the correlations presented on the diagonals in Table 3,
0.788 and ensure the requirement 0.5 < KMO < 1. Bartlett thus suggesting that purchase intention and the other four
is 2587.706 with a p-value = 0.000 < 0.05, so all of the factors were clearly distinct. The measurement model was
variables in each component are correlated with each other. first tested to examine the proposed models’ goodness of fit
Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test (Table 4). The model exemplifies good fit to analysed data
the instrument’s convergent and discriminant validity. Both as confirmed by CMIN/df = 1.948 (<3), CFI = 0.954 (>0.9),
indicator loadings and average variance extracted (AVE) GFI = 0.943 (>0.9), RMSEA = 0.047 (<0.06) suggested by
were tested for convergent validity. As shown in Table 3, Hu and Bentler (1999).
all AVE values are higher than the recommended level of
0.5. All five components show high load factor values, 4.2.  Hypotheses Testing and Discussion
and all variables load significantly on only one factor.
The results of this analysis provide indications of the The authors used the Structured equation modeling (SEM)
validity of the model. The discriminant validity is supported technique to test mentioned hypotheses after examining the
138 Lan NGUYEN, Hoa Chi LE, Thuy Thu NGUYEN / Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business Vol 8 No 9 (2021) 0131–0141

Table 3: Results of Model Validity

Construct CR AVE SHE RIS WEQ TRU BEN PI

SHE 0.801 0.574 0.757
RIS 0.778 0.548 0.097* 0.740
WEQ 0.758 0.512 0.156* 0.249*** 0.716
TRUS 0.749 0.502 0.422*** 0.185** 0.322*** 0.709
BEN 0.749 0.501 0.327*** 0.299*** 0.299*** 0.352*** 0.707
PI 0.774 0.533 0.625*** 0.033 0.292*** 0.424*** 0.356*** 0.730
Mean 3.60 3.82 3.96 3.94 3.83 3.47
Std. Deviation 0.719 0.667 0.685 0.633 0.610 0.641
KMO = 0.788 (p-value = 0.000), Bartlett’s = 2587.706
***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01, *p < 0.05.

Table 4: Results of Fit Indices by customers. This result is consistent with the results of
previous research, which show that a major barrier to online
Measure Acceptable Value Index Value shopping is a security issue, as customers are concerned about
CMIN/df 3 1.948
transaction security and data privacy. In addition to this,
customers prefer to touch and feel beauty products before
CFI 0.9 0.954 jumping to purchase decisions. They worry that e-sellers
GFI 0.9 0.943 might deliver low-quality, damaged or fake products. And if
RMSEA 0.06 0.047 problems with products happen, they need to contact online
stores to get support, which is difficult. This result supports
the findings of Mittal (2013).
measurement validity and reliability. As shown in Table 5, In H3, it appears that the greater the advantages of
most of the hypotheses are supported except for H5. For the online shopping perceived by consumers are, the greater
regression analysis, the adjusted R2 is 0.448, which indicates is the intention to purchase products. Benefits come from
that trust, perceived risk, benefit, and shopping enjoyment advantageous attributes of online shopping in comparison
can interpret 44.8% of the variation in purchase cosmetics with brick-and-mortar stores. Consumers agree that they
and personal care products online. This also means that other can organize a suitable time to do shopping online, save
variables should explain the remaining 55.2%. money on sales occasions and buy a variety of products
The results indicate that while trust (β = 0.169, without traveling a far distance. This finding is aligned with
p < 0.05), benefit (β = 0.163, p < 0.05), shopping enjoyment the previous studies that stated benefit has a positive impact
(β = 0.529, p < 0.01) have significant positive effects, on purchase intention (Tanadi et al., 2015; Jarvenpaa &
perceived risk (β = -0.113, p < 0.05) has negative effect Toad, 1996).
on the intention to purchase cosmetics and personal In relation to shopping enjoyment, H4 demonstrates
care products online. However, purchase intention is not that shopping enjoyment has a significant impact on online
influenced by website quality (p = 0.313). On the other purchase intention. This result is consistent with previous
hand, website quality (β = 0.491, p < 0.05) is found to have studies of Rehman et al. (2013) and Chiu et al. (2009), who
a positive relationship with trust. showed that shopping enjoyment is a salient indicator for
In this study, H1 emphasizes that when trust increases, intention to buy online. Consumers enjoying the online
the online purchase intention increases. It can also be shopping experience are more likely to have the intention to
inferred from this finding that customers have a high level of use the Internet as a shopping medium.
trust in cosmetics and personal care stores, and they believe Finally, although H5 indicates that the effect of website
that purchasing on these websites is trustworthy. In other quality on purchase intention is not supported in this study,
words, if customers have a good awareness of company H6 reveals that website quality positively influences trust.
reputation, seller integrity, website popularity, they are more The relationship between trust and website quality is consistent
likely to purchase online. This is in line with the finding of with research conducted by Chang and Chen (2008).
Kim et al. (2008). The result also suggests that website quality provides concrete
In terms of perceived risk, H2 states that purchase clues that can be used to intentionally create consumer trust
intention is negatively correlated with risks perceived in a retailer’s competence and reputation.
 Lan NGUYEN, Hoa Chi LE, Thuy Thu NGUYEN / Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business Vol 8 No 9 (2021) 0131–0141 139

Table 5: Results of Hypotheses Testing

Standardized
Hypothesis Path p-value Result
Coefficients
H1 Trust → Online purchase intention 0.169 0.002 Supported
H2 Website quality → Online purchase intention 0.081 0.313 Not Supported
H3 Website quality → Trust 0.491 0.000 Supported
H4 Perceived risk → Online purchase intention -0.113 0.041 Supported
H5 Benefit → Online purchase intention 0.163 0.008 Supported
H6 Shopping enjoyment → Online purchase intention 0.529 0.000 Supported

Overall, shopping enjoyment is the most influential. suggestion for e-vendors is to provide buyers with clear
This result was expected hedonic orientation motives have and updated information about products. Additionally,
a significant effect on Vietnamese online purchase intention. for businesses that only run in the e-market, the Website
Customers want to feel relaxed and pleasured when they is their only means of publicity, and the quality of the
buy items online, especially when they are cosmetics and Website is of major importance. Thus, companies
personal care products. Young customers, mainly millennials should exploit websites’ navigability, usability, and
who have been growing in the digital revolution, have design to increase customers’ trust. At the same time,
distinct characteristics from previous generations. This creating a safe system and a reliable payment mechanism
causes consumers to have high expectations for the experience to alleviate the risks of online shopping is essential for
they receive when using a product or service. They are looking online retailers.
for enjoyment, comfort, social connection, and a pleasurable In this study, the findings also imply that online
experience in addition to gathering information to shop online. marketers should stress online purchase benefits (e.g., time
productivity, accessibility, comparatively lower prices,
5. Conclusion information consistency) directly or indirectly within the
marketing communications process as the benefits of online
This study aims to provide a better picture of shopping perceived by customers are relevant to intention to
variables affecting purchase intention in the e-commerce buy cosmetics and personal care products online.
environment. To be specific, purchase intention for Although this study has explained and provided
cosmetics and personal care products is determined by guidelines for beauty businesses by deriving the scale of
trust, perceived risk, benefit, and shopping enjoyment. different factors influencing customers’ purchase intention,
Furthermore, trust is influenced by website quality. it has some limitations. As behavioral intention development
Based on the proposed model of the linkages between is an ongoing phenomenon, a longitudinal study would
the constructs, the results statistically support most of the perhaps be more appropriate. Besides, this study measured
proposed hypotheses. This study is thus useful in terms of behavioral intention instead of actual consumer behavior.
throwing light on a thriving area in Vietnam namely the To overcome this limitation, future research can investigate
cosmetics and personal care industry and it may pave the factors affecting customers’ actual behavior. Another
way for future research on the topic. limitation can be related to the sample characteristics, which
For the cosmetics and personal care products, the is the gender gap as the majority of the respondents are
findings demonstrate that shopping enjoyment should female in the age group of 18 to 25. Subsequent research
be considered first for predicting customers’ online may wish to address such limitations.
purchase intention. Therefore, online stores should
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