Consumers make purchasing decisions after consulting various information sources. This study investigates the relationships between customers’ information sources, attitudes toward information source and the website, risk aversion, ambiguity intolerance, purchase intention, and hesitation. This study targets consumers using cell phone, laptop and power bank in Malawi. Thus, this study divides into three products and collects 296, 295, and 343 samples for cell phone, laptop, and power bank, respectively. This study indicates that consumers’ information sources have a significant and positive effect on attitude toward information source and the website. Furthermore, consumers’ information sources have a significant and positive effect on purchase intention and a negative effect on hesitation. Attitudes have a significant and positive effect on purchase intention and a negative effect on hesitation. Uncertainty avoidance has a significant and negative effect on purchase intention and a positive effect on hesitation. Finally, this study confirms that attitudes mediate the relationship between consumers’ information sources and purchase decisions and risk aversion moderates the relationship between consumers’ information sources and attitudes.

Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Research Background 1
1.2 Research Motivation 3
1.3 Research Questions and Objectives 6
1.4 Research Gaps 7
1.5 Contributions of the Study 9
1.6 Sampling Scope and Subjects 12
1.7 Research Procedure 12
Chapter 2 Literature Review 15
2.1 Stimulus Organism Response (S-O-R) Model 15
2.2 Consumers’ Information Sources (CIS) 16
2.3 Attitude towards Information Source and Websites 18
2.4 The Relationship between Consumers’ Information Sources and Attitudes 19
2.5 Purchase Decisions (PD) 20
2.6 The Relationship between Consumers’ Information Sources and Purchase Decisions 21
2.7 The Relationship between Attitudes and Purchase Decisions 22
2.8 Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) 23
2.9 The Relationship between Uncertainty Avoidance and Purchase Decisions 23
2.10 The Mediation Effects and Moderation Effect 24
Chapter 3 Methodology 29
3.1 Research Frameworks and Hypotheses 29
3.2 Operational Definitions and Measurement of Constructs 40
3.3 Questionnaire Design 49
3.4 Data Collection 50
3.5 Data Analysis Method 51
3.6 Common Method Variance 54
3.7 Pilot Study Results 54
Chapter 4 Data Analysis 61
4.1 Formal Survey 61
4.2 Descriptive Statistics 61
4.3 Common Method Variance 85
4.4 Reliability and Validity Analysis 89
4.5 Structural Model 110
4.6 The Mediation Effect 119
4.7 The Moderation Effect 125
Chapter 5 Conclusion and Suggestions 131
5.1 Research Conclusion 131
5.2 Research and Managerial Implications 136
5.3 Research Limitations 139
5.4 Future Research Suggestions 139
References 141

1. Anderson, J. C. and Gerbing, D. W. (1988), “Structural equation modelling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach,” Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 103, No. 3, pp. 411-423.
2. Anvar, M. and Venter, M. (2014), “Attitudes and purchase behaviour of green products among Generation Y consumers in South Africa,” Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 5, No. 21, pp. 183-184.
3. Bajpai, S. and Bajpai, R. (2014), “The goodness of measurement: Reliability and validity,” International Journal of Medical Science and Public Health, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 112-115.
4. Bei, L. T., Chen, E. Y. I. and Widdows, R. (2004), “Consumers’ online information search behaviour and the phenomenon of search vs. experience products,” Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Vol. 25, No, 4, pp. 449-467.
5. Bentler, P. M. and Wu, E. J. C. (1993), EQS/ Windows User’s Guide, BMDP Statistical Software, Los Angeles, CA.
6. Bialocerkowski, A. E. and Bragge, P. (2008), “Measurement error and reliability testing: Application to rehabilitation,” International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation, Vol. 15, No. 10, pp. 422-427.
7. Biswas, D. (2004), “Economics of information in the Web economy-towards a new theory?” Journal of Business Research, Vol. 57, No. 7, pp. 724-733.
8. Blackwell, R. D., Miniard, P. W. and Engel, J. F. (2001), Consumer Behaviour, Harcourt College Publishers, Fort Worth, TX.
9. Bloch, P. H. and Richins, M. R. (1983), “Shopping without purchase: An investigation of consumer browsing behaviour,” Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 10, pp. 389-393.
10. Borgatti, S. P. and Cross, R. (2003), “A relational view of information seeking and learning in social networks,” Management Science, Vol. 49, No. 4, pp. 432-445.
11. Briley, D. A. and Williams, J. D. (1998), “Emotive and cognitive effects of culture,” Asia Pacific Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 3, pp. 26-29.
12. Chang, H., Eckman, M. and Yan, R. (2011), “Application of the Stimulus-Organism-Response model to the retail environment: the role of hedonic motivation in impulse buying behaviour,” The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 233-249.
13. Cheung, R. C. T. (2006), “Case study of a successful Internet advertising strategy in Hong Kong: A portal for teenagers,” Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 393-405.
14. Cho, C., Kang, J. and Cheon, H. J. (2006), “Online shopping hesitation,” Cyber Psychology and Behaviour, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 261-274.
15. Cui, X. and Lai, V. S. (2013), “E-Loyalty to online auction websites: A Stimulus Organism Response model,” Proceeding of the Pacific Asia Conference on Information System (PACIS), June 18, Jeju Island, South Korea.
16. Cui, Y. and Roto, V. (2008), “How people use the Web on mobile devices,” International World Wide Web Conference Committee, International World Wide Web Conference Committee (IW3C2), April 21-25, Beijing, China.
17. De Mooij, M. and Hofstede, G. (2002), “Convergence and divergence in consumer behaviour: Implications for international retailing,” Journal of Retailing, Vol. 78, No.1, pp. 61-69.
18. De Mooij, M. and Hofstede, H. (2011), “Cross-cultural consumer behaviour: A review of research findings,” Journal of International Consumer Marketing, Vol. 23, pp. 181-192.
19. Dowling, G. R. and Staelin, R. (1994), “A model of perceived risk and intended risk-handling activity,” Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 119-134.
20. Drost, E. A. (2011), “Validity and reliability in social science research,” Education Research and Perspectives, Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 105-124.
21. Engel, J. F., Blackwell, R. and Miniard, P.W. (1986), Consumer Behaviour, Dresden Press, New York, NY.
22. Eroglu, S. A., Machleit, K., A. and Davis, L. M. (2001), “Atmospheric qualities of online retailing: A conceptual model and implications,” Journal of Business Research, Vol. 54, pp. 177-84.
23. Fatima, S. and Lodhi, S. (2015), “Impact of advertisement on buying behaviours of the consumers: Study of cosmetic industry in Karachi city,” International Journal of Management Sciences and Business Research, Vol. 4, No. 10, pp. 2226-8235.
24. Fornell, C. and Larcker, D. F. (1981), “Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error,” Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 39-50.
25. Gaski, J. F. and Nevin, J. R. (1985), “The differential effects of exercised and unexercised power sources of marketing channel,” Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 130-142.
26. Gerber, C., Ward, S. and Goedhals-Gerber, L. (2014), “The impact of perceived risk on online purchase behaviour,” Risk Governance & Control: Financial Markets & Institutions, Vol. 4, Issue 4, pp. 99-106.
27. Goldsmith, R. E. and Horowitz, D. (2006), “Measuring motivations for online opinion seeking,” Journal of Interactive Advertising, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 2-14.
28. Goodwin, N., Nelson, J. A., Ackerman, F. and Weisskopf, T. (2008), Microeconomics in Context (2nd Ed.), Routledge, New York, NY.
29. Guo, C. (2001), “A review on consumer external search: Amount and determinants,” Journal of Business and Psychology, Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 505-519.
30. Hair, J. F. Jr., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J. and Anderson, R. E. (2010), Multivariate Data Analysis (7th Ed.), Prentice-Hall Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ.
31. Hajli, M. N. (2014), “A study of the impact of social media on the consumer,” International Journal of Market Research, Vol. 56, Issue 3, pp. 387-404.
32. Hawkins, D. I., Best, R. J. and Coney, K. A. (2004), Consumer Behaviour: Building Market Strategy (9th Ed.), McGraw-Hill, Irwin, OH.
33. Hayes, A. F. (2013), Introduction to Mediation, Moderation and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-based Approach, Guilford Press, New York, NY.
34. Heale, H. and Twycross, W. (2015), “Validity and reliability in quantitative studies,” Evidence Based Nursing, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 66-67.
35. Hofstede, G. and Hofstede, G. J. (2005), Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, Revised and Expanded (2nd Ed.), McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
36. Hofstede, G., Hofstede G. J. and Minkov, M. (2010), Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind (3rd Ed.), McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
37. Honkanen, P. and Verplanken, B. (2004), “Understanding attitudes towards genetically modified food: The role of values and attitudes strength,” Journal of Consumer Policy, Vol. 27, Issue 4, pp. 401-420.
38. Hsu, C. L., Lin, J. C. C. and Chiang, H. S. (2013), “The effects of blogger recommendations on customers online shopping intentions,” Internet Research, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 69-88.
39. Hulland, J. (1999), “Use of Partial Least Squares (PLS) in strategic management research: A review of four recent studies,” Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 20, No.2, pp. 195-204.
40. Huang, Y. and Oppewal, H. (2006), “Why consumers hesitate to shop online? An experimental choice analysis of grocery shopping and the role of delivery fees,” International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 334-353.
41. Ing, P. and Ming, T. (2018), “Antecedents of consumer attitudes towards blogger recommendations and its impact on purchase intention,” Asian Journal of Business and Accounting, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 293-323.
42. Islam, M., Kang, M. and Yang, S. (2013), “A research to identify the relationship between consumers attitude and mobile advertising,” Proceeding of the Pacific Asia Conference on Information System (PACIS), June 14, Jeju Island, South Korea.
43. Jakobsen, M. and Jensen, R. (2015), “Common method bias in public management studies,” International Public Management Journal, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 1-48.
44. Jöreskog, K. G. and Sörbom, D. S. (1993), A Guide to the Program and Application, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL.
45. Joshi, Y. and Rahman, Z. (2015), “Predictors of young consumer’s green purchase behaviour,” Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 452-472.
46. Leng, C. Y. and Botelho, D. (2010), “How does national culture impact on consumers’ decisions‐making styles? A cross-cultural study in Brazil, the United States and Japan,” Brazilian Administrative Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 260-275.
47. Khan, S. (2012), “The influence of formal and informal sources on consumer buying Behavior,” Global Journal of Management and Business Research, Vol. 12, Issue 12, pp. 1-6.
48. Kiel, G. and Layton, R. A. (1981), “Dimensions of consumer information seeking behaviour,” Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 233-239.
49. Kim, S. H., Park, I. A. and Park, J. S. (2016), “Factors affecting consumer hesitation in purchase decisions,” The Research Journal of the Costume Culture, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 385-398.
50. Klein, L. R. and Gary, G. T. (2003), “Consumer search for information in the digital age: An empirical study of the pre-purchase search for automobiles,” Journal of Interactive Marketing, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 29-49.
51. Kotler P. and Armstrong G. (2011), Principles of Marketing (14th Ed.), Pearson Education Inc., Prentice Hall, NJ.
52. Lam, D. C. S. and Lee, A. Y. C. (2005), “The influence of cultural values on brand loyalty, in ANZMAC 2005,” Proceedings of the Australia and New Zealand Marketing Association Conference, ANZMAC, pp. 163-171, December 5-7, Fremantle, Australia.
53. Lee, S., Sejin, H. and Richard, W. (2011), “Consumer responses to high-technology products: Product attributes, cognition, and emotions,” Journal of Business Research, Vol. 64, No. 11, pp. 1195-1200.
54. Liu, F., Xiao, B. and Cheung, C. M. K. (2015), “Realizing your wishes: Alleviating online shopping hesitation via Peer Consumer Review in Social Shopping Context,” Thirty Sixth International Conference on Information Systems, Fort Worth, TX.
55. MacKenzie, S. B. and Lutz, R. (1989), “An empirical examination of the structural antecedents of attitude toward the ad in an advertising pretesting context,” Journal of Marketing, Vol. 53, pp.48-65.
56. MacKenzie, S. B. and Podsakoff, P. M. (2012), “Common method bias in marketing: Causes, mechanisms, and procedural Remedies,” Journal of Retailing, Vol. 88, No. 4, pp. 542-555.
57. Matto, G. and Kazunga, I. (2015), “Mobile phone and chat apps usage among Malawian University students: LUANAR’s Experience,” Research Report Series (RRS), Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 73-85.
58. Mittal, B. (1994), “Public assessment of TV advertising: Faint praise and harsh criticism,” Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 35-53.
59. Mohajan, H. (2017), “Two criteria for good measurements in research: Validity and reliability,” Annals of Spiru Haret University, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 58-82.
60. Money, R. B. and Crotts, J. C. (2003), “The effect of uncertainty avoidance on information search, planning, and purchases of international travel vacations,” Tourism Management, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 191-202.
61. Morimoto, M. and Trimble, C. (2012), “Consumers’ use of blogs as product information sources: From need-for-cognition perspective,” Marketing Management Journal, Vol. 2, Issue 2, pp. 45-60.
62. Mourali, M., Laroche, M. and Pons, F. (2005), “Antecedents of consumer relative preference for interpersonal information sources in pre-purchase search,” Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Vol. 4, Issue 5, pp. 301-318.
63. National Statistical Office (2015), Survey on the Usage of ICT Services in Malawi, National Statistical Office, Zomba, ZA.
64. Noort, G. V., Kerkhof, P. and Fennis, B. M. (2008), “Compatibility of web content on consumers’ risk, perception, attitudes, and intentions,” Journal of Interactive Marketing, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 58-72.
65. Parker, B. J. and Plank, R. E. (2000), “A uses and gratification perspective on the
Internet as a new information source,” American Business Review, Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 43-49.
66. Peterson, R. A. and Merino, M. C. (2003), “Consumer information search behaviour and the Internet,” Psychology & Marketing, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 99-121.
67. Podsakoff, P. M. and Organ, D. W. (1986), “Self-reports in organizational research: Problems and prospects,” Journal of Management, Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 531-544.
68. Preacher, K. J. and Hayes, A. F. (2008), “Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models,” Behaviour Research Methods, Vol. 40, Issue, 3 pp. 879-891.
69. Ramya, N. and Ali, S. A. M. (2017), “Factors affecting consumer buying behaviour,” International Journal of Applied Research, Vol. 2, Issue 10, pp. 76-80.
70. Ratchford, B. T., Talukdar, D. and Lee, M. (2001), “A model of consumer choice of the Internet as an information source,” International Journal of Electronic Commerce, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 7-21.
71. Rha, J. (2002), Consumers in the Internet Era: Essays on the Impact of Electronic Commerce from a Consumer Perspective, Doctoral Dissertation, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.
72. Roozmand, O., Ghasem-Aghaee, A., Nematbakhsh, N. M. A., Baraani, A. and Hofstede, G. T. (2011), “Computational modelling of uncertainty avoidance in consumer behaviour,” International Journal of Research and Reviews in Computer Science (IJRRCS), special issue, pp. 18-26.
73. Salamah, I. and Ma, H. (2015), “Consumer’s attitude towards website and smartphone advertisements: Case study in Jordan,” International Journal of Management and Applied Science, Vol. 1, No. 10, pp. 15-19.
74. Schumacker, R. E. and Lomax, R. G. (2010), A Beginners’ Guide to Structural Equation Modelling, Routledge, New York, NY.
75. Seock, Y. and Norton, M. (2007), “Attitude toward Internet websites, online information search, and channel choices for purchasing,” Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 571-586.
76. Sharma, P. (2010), “Measuring personal cultural orientations: Scale development and validation,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 38, No. 6, pp. 787-806.
77. Shearman, E., Mathur, A. and Smith, R. B. (1997), “Store environment and consumer purchase behaviour: Mediating role of consumer emotions,” Psychology and Marketing, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 361-378.
78. Smith, S. M. and Albaum, G. M. (2012), Basic Marketing Research: Volume 1, Handbook for Research Professionals, Qualtrics Labs, Inc., Provo, UT.
79. Spears, N. and Singh, S. N. (2004), “Measuring attitude toward the brand and purchase intentions,” Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 53-56.
80. Sundaram, D. S., Mitra, K. and Webster, C. (1998), “Word-of-mouth communications: A motivational analysis,” Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 25, No.1, pp. 527-531
81. Taherdoost, H. (2016), “Validity and reliability of the research instrument; How to test the validation of a questionnaire/ survey in a research,” International Journal of Academic Research in Management (IJARM), Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 28-36.
82. Van Meter, R., Sydral, H. A., Powell-Mantel, S., Grissafe, D. B. and Nesson, E. T. (2018), “Don’t just “Like” me, promote me: How attachment and attitude influence brand related behaviours on Social Media,” Journal of Interactive Marketing, Vol. 43, pp. 83-97.
83. Van Rijnsoever, F. J., Castaldi, C. and Dijst, M. J. (2012), “In what sequence are information sources consulted by involved consumers? The case of automobile pre-purchase search,” Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 343-352.
84. Westbrook, R. A. and Fornell, C. (1979), “Patterns of information source usage among durable goods buyers,” Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 303-312.
85. Yaylc, A. and Bayram, M. (2012), “E-WOM: The effects of online consumer reviews on purchasing decisions,” International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, Vol. 7, Issue 1, pp. 193-211.
86. Yoo, O. and Sarin, R. (2018), “Consumer choice and market outcomes under ambiguity in product quality,” Marketing Science, Articles in Advance, Vol. 37, No. 2, pp. 1-24.
87. Young, M. R., DeSarbo, W. S. and Morwitz, V. G. (1998), “The stochastic modelling of purchase intentions and behaviour,” Management Science, Vol. 44, No. 2, pp. 188-202.
88. Young, W., Hwang, K., McDonald, S. and Oates, C. J. (2010), “Sustainable consumption: Green consumer behaviour when purchasing products,” Sustainable development, Vol. 18, Issue 1, pp. 20-31.