Clothing and Textiles Research

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Testing the Behavioral Intentions Model of Online Shopping for Clothing

Youn-Kyung Kim, Eun Young Kim and Shefali Kumar
Clothing and Textiles Research Journal 2003 21: 32
DOI: 10.1177/0887302X0302100104
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Testing the Behavioral Intentions Model

of Online Shopping for Clothing
Youn-Kyung Kim
Eun Young Kim
Shefali Kumar
Abstract
This study tested the predictability of modified Fishbeins behavioral intentions model in the context of online
shopping for clothing. Specifically, the study examined the relative importance of attitude and subjective norm in
influencing consumer intention to shop for clothing online. A mailing survey was conducted with 303 adults who
had a computer at home and had access to the Internet in the United States. Data were analyzed to estimate the
behavioral intention model of online shopping (i.e., measurement model and structural model). Attitude toward
online shopping was composed of two factors: product and convenience and service. The results supported the
modified behavioral intentions model; both attitude and subjective norm influenced behavioral intention. Implications are drawn for online retailers of clothing.

Kim, Y-K, Kim, E. Y., & Kumar, S. (2003). Testing the behavioral intentions model of online shopping for clothing.
Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 21(1), 32-40. Key Words: online shopping, behavioral intention, attitude,
subjective norm, clothing.

Consumers have more shopping choices than ever before, with diverse retail formats such as discount stores,
category killers, factory outlet stores, catalogs, television or
Internet shopping (Szymanski & Hise, 2000). These increased shopping choices pose special challenges for online
retailers, who need to reexamine and perhaps radically revise their marketing strategies to target customers precisely
and secure a competitive advantage.
Internet shopping has been viewed as an opportunity
for functional shopping because it concentrates on repeat
purchases and unglamorous staples (Pavitt, 1997). Fast-selling products on the Internet have been those products about
which the shopper already has sufficient information, such
as CDs, books, towels and linens, computer hardware and
software, and most items from the supermarket or pharmacy
(Wadsworth, 1997). However, as technology improves, items
(e.g., apparel, jewelry) previously thought to be salable only
in a touch-and-feel environment are enjoying widespread
sales via the Internet (Anonymous, 1999). In fact, apparel

Authors Addresses: Youn-Kyung Kim, School of Merchandising and

Hospitality Management, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
76203-1100; Eun Young Kim, Department of Clothing and Textiles,
Chungnam National University, Taejon, Korea; and Shefali Kumar,
School of Merchandising and Hospitality Management, University of
North Texas, Denton, TX 76203-1100.

32

Clothing and Textiles Research Journal

ranks in the top five product categories sold through the

Internet in the United States (Global Online Retailing Report, 2000).
Given the rapid growth and considerable optimism of
Internet retailing of clothing products, researchers have studied important attributes and attitudes toward online shopping for clothing. For example, Harden (1992) conducted
a series of focus group interviews to examine consumer attitudes toward electronic online shopping for apparel. She
found that participants viewed electronic online shopping
as lacking compatibility with their lifestyles, as lacking relative advantage beyond other in-home shopping methods,
and as complex to use. This finding is not surprising, because this study was implemented immediately after the
Internet was open to commercial traffic in 1991. Kunz
(1997) reported that consumers valued merchandise quality, merchandise variety, and customer service when choosing to patronize the Internet as a shopping medium. According to Taylor and Cosenza (2000), when shopping
online for womens clothing, the functional attributes such
as price, ease of movement within the site (e.g., clicking
links for navigation), and ease of returning products stood
out in importance. Taylor and Cosenza (2000) concluded
that attitude toward Internet shopping played a definitive
role in differentiating Internet-only shoppers and crossshoppers from store-only shoppers for purchases of clothing. Shim, Eastlick, and Lotz (2000) found that the attitude
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of consumers toward online shopping for sensory experiential products, such as apparel or accessories, was not as
positive as the attitude for cognitive products, such as books
and computer software.
The predictive power of Fishbeins behavioral intentions model has been demonstrated across a broad range of
topics, such as brand choice (e.g., Bass & Talarzyk, 1972;
Ryan, 1982) and service usage (e.g., Ryan & Bonfield, 1980).
Researchers have suggested that the relative importance of
the attitudinal and normative factors and their effects in the
model are contingent upon the situation under study (Crosby
& Muehling, 1983; Ryan, 1982). In addition, the model has
been useful in ascertaining those relative magnitudes that
are likely to change for different products, brands, or in
different situations (Ryan & Bonfield, 1975). Accordingly,
the behavioral intention model needs to be tested for its
applicability to online shopping for clothing.
Fishbeins behavioral intentions model was utilized by
Shim and Drake (1990), who investigated consumers inhome buying activities for apparel products based on an electronic shopping mode via the Internet or videotex on TV.
The authors identified predictors of the intention to buy
clothing products if they were available online. However,
their study was conducted prior to the launching of online
shopping for consumers; thus the results may not be applicable to the current consumer market.
The purpose of this study was to revisit Fishbeins behavioral intentions model to test its predictability in the
context of online shopping for clothing products. The present
study, by using the computer software LISREL 8 (Jreskog
& Srbon, 1993), a more powerful way to capture the theory
richness than earlier regression testing (Ryan, 1982), expands
the behavioral intention paradigm. This study explicitly
models variable interdependencies for assessing the relative
importance of attitude and subjective norm in affecting
consumer intention. The outcome of this study will determine the role of behavioral intention in forecasting online
consumption demand. Based on the results of consumers
attitudes toward online shopping, online retailers can evaluate how their strategies are performing to meet the needs of
online consumers, and make adjustments to improve the
effectiveness of marketing their products or services online.

Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework draws on the behavioral intentions model proposed by Fishbein and Ajzen (1975).
Fishbein and Ajzen postulated that behavioral intention is
the function of two components: an attitudinal (or personal)
component (Ab) and a subjective norm (or social) component (SN). These two components influence behavioral intention (BI), which is a precursor to behavior (B). The theory
can be depicted as B ~ BI = Ab (w1) + SN (w2), where w1 and
w2 are weights that reflect the relative influence of the Ab
(attitude toward performing behavior B) and SN (subjective
norm) components on BI.
Attitude toward performing a behavior is based on the
summed set of underlying salient beliefs (bi) associated with

the attributes and the evaluation (ei) of these beliefs by consumers (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). It can be expressed as Ab
n

b e . In testing the Fishbein model for its validity, many

i i

i =1

researchers (Bass & Talarzyk, 1972; Bass & Wilkie, 1973;

Mazis, Ahtola, & Klippel, 1975; Sheth, 1973) have suggested
that the importance of the attribute rather than its evaluation
offered better predictability of behavioral intention. Thus,
we propose that the first component, a consumers attitude
towards online shopping (A), is based on the summed set of
the belief (Bi) in the Internets attributes weighted by the
importance (Ii) of these attributes. The function can be repn

resented as A = BiIi , where Bi is the probability that an

i =1

individual believes that the Internet has attribute i, and Ii is

the importance that the attribute i is to the individual in a
general shopping context. The second component, subjective norm (SN) consisting of normative belief (NB) and motivation to comply (MC) represents the influence of important others. These determinants of SN can be represented as
n

SN = NBj MCj . However, we modified SN from the

j =1

original Fishbein model by replacing motivation to comply

(MC) with social approval (SA). According to Shim and
Drake (1990), when the subcomponents of subjective norm
(i.e., normative belief and motivation to comply) were entered separately in the regression test, motivation to comply
was not a significant predictor of the behavioral intention to
purchase apparel via the electronic shopping mode. It also
can be postulated that, because online shopping is still an
innovative mode compared to store shopping, consumers
behavioral intention might be more induced when online
shopping is socially acceptable. Thus, in this study, SN
consisted of the two subcomponents: (a) normative belief
(NB) that is an individuals perception of what specific individuals who are important to him think he should perform
the behavior and (b) social approval (SA) that is an
individuals perception of whether specific individuals who
are important to him approve the behavior. Normative belief (NB) might be reflective of a social pressure of online
shopping from individuals referents, whereas social approval (SA) reflects a social conformity to important others
behaviors. Although most consumer shopping via the Internet is conducted at home and without individuals having to
worry about what others might think, important others
opinions about online shopping might influence individuals intentions toward online shopping (Jones &
Vijayasarathy, 1998). Thus, the function can be depicted as
SN = NB + SA, where NB is the respondent normative
belief that most people who are important to the respondent
would think the respondent should shop online, and SA is
the respondents belief that most people who are important
to the respondent would approve of online shopping. Accordingly, the modified behavioral intention model can be
n

illustrated as: B ~ BI = BiIi (w1) + [NB+ SA] (w2), where

i =1

B is overt behavior of online shopping for clothing and BI

is behavioral intention to purchase clothing online.

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Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) separated attitudinal and subjective norm variables, despite the possibility that attitude is
highly inter-correlated with subjective norm. However, several researchers (e.g., Ryan, 1982; Ryan & Bonfield , 1975;
Warshaw, 1980) claimed that subjective norm was more
correlated with attitude than with behavioral intention.
Miniard and Cohen (1979) also discovered conceptual difficulties in separating those two components (i.e., attitudinal and normative). Hence, this study posits that attitude and
subjective norm are inter-correlated, which expands the
Fishbeins behavioral intention model.

variations in behavioral intentions related to online shopping context.

For predicting the behavioral intention to shop online,
the model is based on the following three hypotheses:
H1 Attitude towards online shopping has a positive causal
effect on behavioral intention to purchase clothing online.
H2 Subjective norm in relation to online shopping has a
positive causal effect on behavioral intention to purchase clothing online.
H3 Attitude toward online shopping is correlated positively
with subjective norm in relation to online shopping.

Research Model and Hypotheses

Methods

The research model in this study was developed to

examine consumers behavioral intention toward online
shopping based on a modification of Fishbeins behavioral
intentions model (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). Our research
model depicted in Figure 1 illustrates the causal relationships among three variables (attitude, subjective norm, and
behavioral intention) in the context of online shopping. In
this causative relationship, attitude (1) and subjective norm
(2) are assumed to predict behavioral intention (1). In
addition, the individual attitude and subjective norm components are assumed to be interdependent in explaining

Measures
To test the research model, three main variables were
developed: behavioral intention, attitude, and subjective
norm. Respondent characteristics were measured for descriptive purposes.
Behavioral intention. Behavioral intention reflects an
individuals likelihood of engaging in the behavior of interest (Ajzen & Madden, 1986). Behavioral intention was
measured with the question Do you intend to purchase
clothing via the Internet in the next 6 months? on a 7-point
rating scale (1 = very unlikely, 7 = very likely).

X1

X2

1X

attitude
toward online
shopping
(1)

2X 2

11

12

X3

behavioral
intention
(1)

3X

1Y
Y1

12
subjective
norm
(2)

X4

X1, X2: indicators of attitude toward online shopping

X3: normative belief of online shopping
X4: social approval of online shopping
Y1: intention to purchase clothing online

: latent endogenous variables

Y: observed indicators of
Y: coefficients relating Y to
: latent exogenous variables
X: observed indicators of
X: coefficients relating X to
: coefficient matrix for latent exogenous variables
: correlations of latent exogenous variables
: standardized error of X variables
: standardized error of Y variables

Figure 1. The proposed behavioral intentions model of online shopping for clothing.
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Attitude. The measure of attitude consisted of belief in

attributes concerning online shopping and importance of
these attributes. For measurements of belief and importance,
15 items were adapted from the literature (Breitenbach &
Van Doren, 1998; Kunz, 1997; Seitz, 1987; Shim & Drake,
1990). The respondents belief toward each attribute was
assessed with the question How likely is it that online shopping will lead to attribute? on a 7-point rating scale (1 =
not at all, 7 = very likely). The importance for each attribute
was rated on a 7-point rating scale (1 = very unimportant, 7
= very important), with the question How important is each
of the following attributes when you decide where to shop?
To obtain the measure of attitude, each score of the 15
belief items was multiplied by the correspondent importance
score for each belief item. Then principal component factor
analysis with varimax rotation was employed to identify the
underlying dimensions of the group of attributes. Only the
factors with an eigenvalue of higher than 1.0 were retained.
Items that loaded on a factor above .5 were retained in that
factor. Factor analysis produced two factors of attitudes toward online shopping that accounted for 63.7% of the total
variance. Factor 1 was labeled product and convenience and
was composed of eight items. Factor 2 was labeled service
and included five items (see Table 1). A score for each participant on each attitude factor was obtained by summing
raw scores of all items divided by the number of items in
each factor.

Table 1. Factor Analysis: Attitude Toward Online Shopping

Factor label and items
Product and convenience
Access to a variety of brands
Variety of merchandise
Up-to-date/fashionable items
Convenience
Saving time
Reasonable price
Good quality of the merchandise
Adequate sales information
Service
Good customer service
Ease of credit for guaranteed
or defective merchandise
Ease of payment options
Ease of navigation
Reduced risks

Factor
loading

Eigenvalue Variance

.84
.83
.74
.66
.63
.62
.60
.59

7.19

.81

1.10

34.23

29.51

.91

.87

.81
.78
.66
.61

Subjective norm. Subjective norm was measured with

two variables: normative belief (NB) and social approval
(SA). NB was measured by the question How likely it is
that most people who are important to you would think you
should shop online? SA was measured by the question How
likely is it that most people who are important to you would
strongly approve of your shopping online? Both of these
variables were measured on a 7-point scale (1 = very unlikely, 7 = very likely).

Sample and Data Collection

A mailing list of addresses for 3,000 adults who had a
computer at home and had access to the Internet in the
United States was purchased from a mailing list broker who
had a nationwide database. The survey was mailed to each
individual followed by a reminder postcard after a week.
The URL for the survey was also provided on the postcard.
A total of 340 responses were received by mail and 275
were usable. Thirty-eight respondents who received surveys by mail responded to the questionnaire online; of these,
28 were usable. Thus, the data from a total of 303 individuals were analyzed.
The majority of the respondents were male (70%). The
majority of the respondents (79%) were 35 to 54 years old
and 51.5% of these were between 45 and 54 years old. Approximately 67% of the respondents reported an annual
household income of $90,000 and over. Most (93.1%) were
married or living with a partner. Forty-three percent of the
respondents indicated their highest level of education was a
graduate degree and 34% was a bachelors degree. The
majority (87.8%) was Caucasian and approximately half of
the respondents (51%) worked in professional or technical
areas. A total of 64.7% of the respondents had one or two
children living with them. The largest percentage of the
respondents (31.7%) lived in the suburbs of a large central
city, followed by a small city, town, or village (27.4%). Most
of the respondents (70.6%) used the Internet for five or more
hours per week. The highest percentage of the respondents
(33.1%) spent $100 or less per month on the Internet, followed by $701 or more (28.1%), $301 to $500 (16.2%), and
$101 to $300 (15.2%). Among the respondents, 42.3% previously purchased clothing online at least once. Although
the response rate of this study was low (10.1%) suggesting
the possibility of nonresponse bias, the characteristics of the
sample are similar to those of online shoppers in previous
studies in that they tend to be male, have high socioeconomic status, and are white (Bellman, Lohse, & Johnson,
1999; Global Online Retailing Report, 2000).
Data Analyses
To test the hypotheses, the maximum-likelihood estimation procedure was used via LISREL 8 that consists of
the measurement model and the structural model (Jreskog
& Srbom, 1993). Delineating the patterns of relationships
among constructs was the focus of the study. Therefore, a
correlation matrix (see appendix) was used for estimating
the measurement model and structural model. The measurement model assessed how the latent variables (i.e., attitudes, subjective norm, and behavioral intention) are
measured in terms of observed indicators (X and Y variables) and the structural model applied the causal relationships among these latent variables to test the hypotheses
(see Figure 1). Following recommendations by Jreskog
and Srbom (1989), a conservative error measurement was
established for a single-item scale (i.e., behavioral intention). That is, the computed standardized error of behavioral intention to purchase clothing online (Y-variable) is
fixed at .13. The overall fit of model was assessed by several indices such as 2-values, goodness of fit index (GFI),
adjusted goodness of fit index (AGFI), and root mean
squared residual (RMR).

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Results and Discussion

ping is perceived important when it becomes a social norm

and gains social approval.

Descriptive Statistics: Attitudes and Subjective Norm

Table 2 illustrates the scores of belief, importance, and
attitude. In terms of the product and convenience attitude
factor, the attribute believed most strongly by respondents
was access to a variety of brands (M = 6.1), followed by
variety of merchandise (M = 6.0). The most important
attribute was good quality of merchandise (M = 6.5), followed by reasonable price (M = 6.4). This result supports
previous findings on important or favorable shopping attributes such product quality and low price (Baker et al.,
1992; Blakney & Sekely, 1994) and, in case of online shopping, variety of product (Jarvenpaa & Todd, 1997).
The mean of belief scores for the service attitude factor
(M = 5.0) was lower than that for product and convenience
factor (M = 5.7); however, the importance scores of good
customer service (M = 6.2) and ease of credit for guaranteed or defective merchandise (M = 6.2) were relatively
high. Online service has tended to emphasize customization
of security in credit card purchases and good customer service for ordering, delivering, and payment (Clancy, 2000;
Fornell, 2000; Law & Leung, 2000; Lin, 1999). Overall,
attitudes toward products and convenience (M = 33.6) received higher scores than attitudes toward service (M = 28.0).
The attitude toward reasonable price was the highest (M
= 35.8), followed by access to a variety of brands (M =
35.4) and convenience (M = 35.4). With respect to online
service, the attitude toward ease of navigation (M = 30.8)
was the highest, followed by ease of credit (M = 28.5). In
terms of two components of subjective norm, the mean of
normative belief (M = 4.2) was lower than the mean of social
approval (M = 4.7). The result of means above 4.0 for both
components of subjective norm implies that online shop-

The Measurement and Structural Model

The results of the research model are reported in Table
3 and Figure 2. The measurement model suggests that the
coefficients of attitudes were significant at the .001 level:
X
product and convenience (1 = .96, t = 13.98) and service
X
(2 = .76, t = 12.09). The measurement model indicates
that the product and convenience factor explained attitudes
toward online shopping better than the service factor did.
The coefficients of the two subjective norm indicators were
X
also significantly at the .001 level: normative belief (3 =
X
.88, t = 12.19) and social approval (4 = .83, t = 11.76).
This result suggests that the two indicators (NB and SA)
were valid to measure independently and the weight of NB
was slightly higher than that of SA. Also, the coefficient of
X
BI was significant at the .001 level (1 = .93, t = 19.54).
Consequently, the measurements in the proposed model were
deemed valid in testing the hypotheses.
The research structural equation model generated the
chi-square (2) value of 8.92 with 3 degrees of freedom,
which was statistically significant (p = .03). If the 2- value
is below the significance level of .05, the data do not fit the
model well. However, 2-measure is very sensitive to sample
size, and a large sample can generate a significantly poor fit
even though the model explains the data well (Bagozzi &
Yi, 1988; Lee, 1990). Therefore, we judged the goodness of
fit of the model by the means of alternative fit indexes:
goodness-of-fit Index (GFI), adjusted goodness-of-fit
(AGFI), and root mean squared residual (RMR). These
measures proved a good fit of the model: GFI (.99), AGFI
(.94), and RMR (.025). The squared multiple correlation

Table 2. Descriptive Statistics: Attitudes Toward Online Shopping

Belief1
(Bi)

Importance2
( Ii )

Attitude3
(Bi Ii )

Access to a variety of brands

Variety of merchandise
Up-to-date/fashionable items
Convenience
Saving time
Reasonable price
Good quality of merchandise
Adequate sales information
Total Mean

6.1
6.0
5.8
5.9
5.9
5.6
5.3
5.1
5.7

5.8
5.7
5.3
6.0
5.6
6.4
6.5
5.9
5.9

35.4
34.2
30.7
35.4
33.0
35.8
34.5
30.1
33.6

Good customer service

Ease of credit for guaranteed or defective merchandise
Ease of payment options
Ease of navigation
Reduced risks
Total Mean

4.4
4.6
5.1
5.6
5.2
5.0

6.2
6.2
4.8
5.5
5.1
5.6

27.3
28.5
24.5
30.8
26.5
28.0

Factor

Attributes

Product and convenience

Service

The belief score is based on a 7-point rating scale (1 = not at all, 7 = very likely)
The importance score is based on a 7-point rating scale (1 = very unimportant, 7 = very important).
3
The attitude score is computed by multiplying belief and importance scores for each attribute.
1
2

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value (R2) of .23 for the structural equation model indicated

that the two exogenous variables (attitude and subjective
norm) explained 23% of the variance in the behavioral intention model.

Hypotheses Testing
Hypothesis 1 was supported because attitude toward
online shopping had a positive causal effect on behavioral
intention to purchase clothing online (11 = .33, t = 4.78).

Table 3. Results of Measurement Model and Structural Equation Model

Parameter
(construct and indicator)

Estimates
coefficient

t-value

Measurement
error

.93***

19.54

1 = .13

.96***
.76***

13.98
12.09

1 = .09
2 = .37

.88***
.83***

12.19
11.76

3 = .23
4 = .31

.33***
.27***
.28***
.23

4.78
3.96
4.53

Measurement model
1 (Behavioral intention)
1Y
1 (Attitude toward online shopping)
1X
2X
2 (Subjective norm of online shopping)
3X
4X
Structural equation model
11 (1 1)
12 (2 1)
12
R2 for structural equation
***p < .001
1Y: Intention to purchase clothing online
1X: Attitude toward Product and Convenience
3X: Normative belief of online shopping
12: Correlation between attitude (1) and subjective norm (2)

.09

.37

X1

X2

2X:Attitude toward Service

4X: Social approval of online shopping

.96***

.76***

attitude
toward online
shopping
(1)

.33***

.23

X3

.93***

behavioral
intention
(1)

.28***

.13

Y1

.88***
.27***

.31

X4

subjective
norm
(2)
.83***

*** p < .001

Y1: intention to purchase clothing online

X1: attitude toward product and convenience
X2: attitude toward service
X3: normative belief of online shopping
X4: social approval of online shopping

goodness of fit statistics

2 = 8.92, d.f = 3, p = .03

GFI = .99
AGFI = .94
RMR = .025

Figure 2. The modified behavioral intentions model of online shopping for clothing.
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Consumers who had more favorable attitudes toward online

shopping had higher intentions to purchase clothing via the
Internet in the future. This result implies that consumers
attitudes toward Internet-specific attributes such as convenience, product (e.g., reasonable price, variety of merchandise), and service (e.g., ease of credit for guaranteed or
defective merchandise) are likely to lead to online clothing
purchase. This finding is consistent with the theory of the
behavioral intention model (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) that
postulates that consumers attitudes are determinants of
behavioral intentions.
Hypothesis 2 was also supported because subjective
norm had a positive causal effect on behavioral intention of
online clothing shopping (12 = .27, t = 3.96). Consumers who
perceived the subjective norm of supporting online shopping
were likely to intend to shop for clothing online. Although
several researchers (e.g., Jarvanpaa & Tod, 1997; Shim et
al., 2001) reported no significant influence of subjective norm
or possible disapproval from friends and family for online
shopping behaviors, subjective norm played an important role
to predict online purchase intention of clothing.
Comparing the two predictors (attitude and subjective
norm), attitude influenced behavioral intention slightly more
strongly than subjective norm, which supports several findings that attitude was more important than subjective norm
in predicting purchases of specific products (e.g., toothpaste)
or services (e.g., loan) (Ryan & Bonfield, 1980; Wilson,
Mathews & Harvey, 1975). In particular, this finding is
consistent with Shim and Drakes (1990) and Shim et al.s
(2000) studies that attitude predicted behavioral intention
better than subjective norm in the electronic shopping context. To the contrary, other researchers (Johnson &
Nebenzahl, 1987; Reinstein, 1978; Wilson et al., 1975) noted
that in a specific situation such as actual purchase (rather
than intention), high involvement, and brand evaluation (e.g.,
country of origin) (Johnson & Nebenzahl, 1987; Ryan, 1982;
Wilson et al., 1975), the normative variable is more significant in explaining the behavioral intentions model than the
attitudinal variable. These conflicting reports can be explained by several factors. Online consumers may not be as
highly influenced by the normative variables as consumers
who shop in a store because important others are generally
not with them during the purchase process. In this perspective, online consumers may not be as highly involved as
compared to shopping in a store where they can enjoy several benefits that may not be easily obtained through the
Internet, such as touching and trying products, personally
inspecting the quality of the product, and browsing styles of
fashion or prestige. On the other hand, online consumers
may perceive higher performance risk since they have no
opportunity to try products prior to purchase (Jarvenpaa &
Todd, 1997), and thus they might be more involved in the
stage of evaluation for purchasing sensory or experiential
products (e.g., clothing).
Finally, Hypothesis 3 was supported because the latent
exogenous variables-attitude (A) and subjective norm (SN)were correlated positively (12 = .28, t = 4.53). This result
confirms the previous findings (i.e., Ryan, 1982; Warshaw,
1980) that attitude and subjective norm are not independent
but interdependent in a specific purchase situation, for example, the context of online shopping for clothing in this study.
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Clothing and Textiles Research Journal

Conclusions, Implications, and Limitations

The results supported Fishbeins behavioral intentions
model in predicting behavioral intention to shop for clothing online. In the model of this study, both attitude and
subjective norm were important in affecting behavioral intention. The result of positive relationships between attitude
and subjective norm implies that behavioral intention is not
a function of independent sets of attitudinal and normative
variables, but of a set of interdependencies between these
variables. Additionally, this finding is not consistent with
previous study findings in which either the attitudinal component (e.g., Ryan & Bonfield, 1980; Shim et al., 2000) or
normative component (e.g., Johnson & Nebenzahl, 1987;
Ryan, 1982) predominated. The results of this study suggest
that, although the power of attitude and subjective norm are
not equivalent in their effects on behavioral intention, both
are important predictors of consumers shopping behavior
in the specific context of online shopping for clothing. The
result of the study also reinforces the proposition that attitude is a function of the relative importance and the belief
of attributes (Bass & Talarzyk, 1972; Bass & Wilkie, 1973;
Cohen et al, 1972; Sheth & Talarzyk, 1972). Attitude toward online shopping was composed of two factors: (a)
product and convenience and (b) service.
Several implications for online retailers of clothing products can be drawn. Above all, the attitudinal component is
a critical concept in the situation of online shopping for
clothing. It suggests that the retail strategy should emphasize developing a set of salient beliefs about the positive
consequences of the behavior. This strategy can be accomplished by emphasizing the benefits in several aspects: product benefits (e.g., reasonable price, a variety of brands or
merchandise, good quality), convenience benefits (e.g., saving time, adequate sales information), and service benefits
(e.g., transaction without risks, and customized service). To
deliver product-related benefits, shopping sites need to
emphasize brand-name products at lower costs and provide
information with detailed product descriptions and a no-cost
return policy. For convenient shopping, online retailers
should make it easy to order and to return products. Valueadded service also can be a selling point through cross-linked
shopping opportunities for related products.
In addition to attitudes, subjective norm was revealed to
be a significant predictor of behavior. Therefore, online retailers should pay close attention to relevant normative influences (e.g., friends, coworkers, family) when selling clothing products. For instance, they may portray group-conformity pressure when they develop a promotion program targeted to these consumers. The message might contain strong
peer group spokesmen and situations that vividly demonstrate
the social rewards involved in online clothing shopping.
Several limitations are to be discussed for further studies. The first limitation is related to conceptualization and
operationalization of attitude and subjective norm. In this
study, the attitude and subjective norm were measured for
online shopping. Future studies may specify the domain of
these constructs to online shopping for clothing. Also, the
attributes of online shopping in this study may not be rep International Textile & Apparel Association, 2005

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resentative of all online shopping attributes including speed,

transaction without risk, and privacy to buy products like
lingerie. In addition, subjective norm was measured as a
single referent (i.e., most people who are important to you)
instead of multiple referents (i.e., specific individuals or
groups who you think are most important). Without specific
referents, respondents may not have been clear who they
need to refer to for the statement, Most people who are
important to me think I should.
The second limitation relates to the variables for testing
the Fishbein model. The squared multiple correlations value
of .23 for structural equation indicates that the two-component Fishbein model containing attitudinal and normative
determinants cannot adequately predict consumers behavioral intention to shop online. As discussed by Crosby et al.
(1983), other variables (e.g., individuals interest, past purchase experience, Internet usage) may mediate the attitudinal and subjective norm for predicting the behavioral intention model in the online shopping. Finally, due to the low
response rate, caution is needed in generalizing the results.
Type of clothing, whether it is functional (e.g., winter
coat, wind jacket) or expressive (e.g, social clothes), and
usage situation (e.g., for self and for others) may influence
attitude and subjective norm in the behavioral intentions
model. Thus, examining whether the validity of the measures and findings holds across different clothing categories
and usage situations has merit.

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Appendix
Correlation Matrix of Research Variables
for Structural Equation Model

Y1
X1
X2
X3
X4

Y1

X1

X2

X3

X4

1.000
.355
.325
.313
.262

1.000
.757
.227
.267

1.000
.120
.177

1.000
.732

1.000

Y1: intention to purchase clothing online

X1: attitude toward product and convenience
X2: attitude toward service
X3: normative belief of online shopping
X4: social approval of online shopping

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