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The effect of perceived usefulness Perceived

usefulness of
of recommender systems recommender
systems
and information sources
on purchase intention
Daniel Mican and Dan-Andrei Sitar-Taut Received 18 August 2022
Revised 11 December 2022
Department of Business Information Systems, Babeș-Bolyai University, 23 January 2023
Cluj-Napoca, Romania Accepted 24 February 2023

Abstract
Purpose – The current study aims to empirically analyze the influence of different information sources,
together with the persuasiveness of recommender systems (RSs) on the consumer’s purchase intention (PI).
It also expands the research on RSs from the point of view of consumer behavior and psychology, considering
perceived usefulness and relevance. In addition, it analyzes how different types of personalized
recommendations, along with non-personalized ones, influence PI.
Design/methodology/approach – The proposed model has been validated using partial least squares
structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), based on the data collected from 597 online shoppers.
Findings – This study proves that both information search and RSs influence PI, being complementary rather
than mutually exclusive. Recommender systems’ findings indicate that the PI is primarily influenced by
the perceived relevance of RSs, the information provided by manufacturers and reviews. Moreover, only the
influence of the perceived usefulness of personalized recommendations strongly affects PI. Conversely,
non-personalized recommendations do not affect PI.
Practical implications – Developers should focus on increasing the perceived usefulness and relevance of
RSs. Thus, they could adopt the hybridization of RSs with the aggregation of both personal shopping behavior
and social network contacts. It should integrate information signals from multiple sources to include sentiment
extracted from reviews or links to the manufacturer’s page. Furthermore, the recommendation of discounted
products must be only for products preferred by customers, because only these influence the PI.
Originality/value – This research provides a structural model that examines together, for the first time, the
influence on the PI of the main RSs and sources of information.
Keywords Purchase intention, Decision-making, Recommender systems, Online information sources,
Online shopping behavior
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
Choosing the right product online is a complex and time-consuming task due to the many
sources of information, products and store alternatives. Consequently, a buyer cannot evaluate
all available options. Thus, consumer behavior and purchase intention (PI) have been intensively
studied by academic and industry researchers (Khan et al., 2022; Liao et al., 2021; Long et al., 2022;
Riaz et al., 2020; Zhou, 2020). Before making a purchase decision, shoppers search for product
information online, weigh several alternatives and may analyze product reviews from other
customers. According to Floyd et al. (2014), more than 70% of online shoppers trust product
reviews from customers or experts and contribute significantly to their decision-making process
(Liao et al., 2021). Furthermore, electronic word of mouth (eWOM) (Chen et al., 2016; Mart
ın-
Vicente et al., 2014) and online advertisements (Rezola et al., 2016) can also influence

Funding: This paper was supported by European Regional Development Fund through the Operational
Program Competitiveness (POC) 2014-2020, Priority Axis: Research, Technological Development and Kybernetes
Innovation (RDI) in support of economic competitiveness and business development, project © Emerald Publishing Limited
0368-492X
“Recommender systems for big data”, POC/62/1/3/108954. DOI 10.1108/K-08-2022-1145
K decision-making behavior. Another significant impact on the buying behavior of consumers
who want to make an informed purchase decision is the characteristics of the products on the
manufacturer’s website (Chen et al., 2016). Lastly, when all the research and documentation on
utility, available features or desired quality are done, questions about price arise. Therefore,
Spaid et al.’s (2019) information sources that offer price aggregations along with Sato et al.’s
(2015) special offers and discounts are among the most popular ones.
From a different perspective, recommender systems (RSs) are used by companies to aid
customers reduce the time spent searching for the right product. Personalized content delivery
has become an extremely publicized topic for professionals and scholars (Ha et al., 2022; Mican
et al., 2020; Qi et al., 2020). Consequently, RSs play an important role in the evaluation of
alternatives step of the purchase process or may be those that trigger the whole process (Lu et al.,
2015). Moreover, recommendations have a positive impact on sales and influence the purchase
decision (Chen et al., 2004; Lu et al., 2015; Pathak et al., 2010). Therefore, a series of RSs (Pathak
et al., 2010; Sato et al., 2015; Sitar-Taut and Mican, 2020) have been developed, which, based on
different approaches, provide personalized information to shoppers on the fly.
Identifying the perceived usefulness of different types of online information and
understanding how this information influences PI is essential for marketing managers (Chen
et al., 2016). To understand the predictors of customers’ behavioral intention, previous studies
have focused on the effect of online information sources (e.g. ratings, reviews, eWOM) (Chen
et al., 2016; Riaz et al., 2020), of different types of reviews (Floyd et al., 2014), or the effect of
web advertisement on online PIs (Shaouf et al., 2016). On the other hand, the vast majority of
studies in the field of RSs have focused mostly on improving the accuracy of algorithms
(Yang, 2018). Some researchers have dealt with how RSs in general (Chen et al., 2019b; Pathak
et al., 2010; Sato et al., 2015) or in particular the social ones (Virdi et al., 2020; Yang, 2018), or
those that take into account the user’s history (Choi et al., 2017) influence the PI. However,
these studies have not fully elucidated the psychological factors that determine consumer
motivation (Venkatesh et al., 2021). In addition, another important aspect is the relevance of
recommendations offered by RSs and the degree to which they influence purchase decisions
(Xiao and Benbasat, 2018). Interestingly, no previous studies have attempted to empirically
analyze the influence on PI of different information sources, along with different types of RSs.
Moreover, few studies in the field of RSs have focused on analyzing the perception of users
and the psychological factors (Yang, 2018). In addition, the study of non-personalized RSs
became important in the context in which the collection of personal data used in RSs faces a
series of increasingly strict regulations (Mican et al., 2020; Venkatesh et al., 2021).
Thus, the current study aims to fill the existing literature gap, by theorizing and
empirically validating the influence of different information sources, together with the
persuasiveness of the recommendations on the consumer’s PI. In other words, it studies the
extent to which the attitude of online shoppers regarding the perceived usefulness of different
types of personalized and non-personalized RSs, respectively the relevance of the
recommendations, on the one hand, and the information sources, on the other hand,
influence PI. Moreover, the proposed model aims to shed further light on the emerging field of
integrated models of purchase behavior and decision-making. The model was validated using
PLS-SEM and data collected from 597 online shoppers.
The results of this study provide several key implications for theory and practice. Thus,
the PI is influenced especially by the perceived relevance of RSs (PRRS), the information
provided by the manufacturers and online reviews. Also, the influence of perceived
usefulness of personalized recommendations has a strong effect on PI and is mediated by the
PRRS. Moreover, the outcomes highlight the fact that RSs that offer non-personalized
recommendations do not affect PI. eWOM, price and discounts for favorite products also
influence consumer behavior and PI. Online store managers and RSs developers should opt
for the hybridization of RSs by aggregating not only personal shopping behavior, but also
that of friends and influencers that consumers follow on social media. As well, developers Perceived
should capture informative signals from several sources (reviews, comments, manufacturers’ usefulness of
pages) to be able to generate different explanations within the RSs. In addition, when
discounted products are recommended, it should be considered that only discounts for the
recommender
preferred products influence the PI. systems

2. Theoretical foundation, hypotheses development

Studying the users’ attitudes toward what matters to them in the decision to purchase
products and services has attracted considerable attention. Different sources of information
available in the online environment have a strong impact on PI (Liao et al., 2021; Riaz et al.,
2020; Tran, 2020). Even if time-consuming, in the pre-purchase stage, people search for
information on the internet, which ultimately affect consumers’ buying intentions and
determine their purchasing decision (Riaz et al., 2020; Spaid et al., 2019). To shorten the
amount of time consumed by online shopping and increase consumer satisfaction,
researchers and professionals created a series of RSs that optimize the whole buying
process (Bobadilla et al., 2013; Mican et al., 2020).

2.1 Recommender systems

RSs are powerful tools that redefine the world of e-commerce (Schafer et al., 2001; Sitar-Taut and
Mican, 2020), and many of the largest e-commerce sites use RSs to assist consumers in finding the
products they want. An RS learns from customers and suggests the most valuable and useful
items of all available products (Bobadilla et al., 2013). Therefore, an RS can reduce information
overload by offering relevant alternatives to the customer in a personalized way (Lu et al., 2015;
Sitar-Taut et al., 2021). The recommendations significantly and positively influence sales, because
they reduce search costs and the uncertainty associated with the purchase of unknown or poor-
quality products (Pathak et al., 2010). Moreover, recommendations positively influence the sellers’
cross-selling efforts for less popular products that shoppers otherwise would have missed (Chen
et al., 2004).
2.1.1 Recommender systems classification. According to the main philosophy behind the
category of suggested products, there are many RS types used in the e-commerce industry.
Therefore, Mican et al. (2020) made a classification of RSs from the perspective of online buyers,
which is based on the types of RSs identified in online stores, without taking into account the
implementation algorithms. Thus, there are four categories based on: personal online shopping
behavior, social/others’ online shopping behavior, general trends and special offers. These
categories include the main RSs that can be identified in industry. However, it must be stated that
e-commerce sites usually offer a hybridization of different classic RSs to provide the most relevant
recommendations (Virdi et al., 2020). Therefore, in Figure 1, a taxonomy of RSs can be seen.
One of the most used RS types is the one that relies on the usage data from users’ browsing
sessions. The session is stored and allows the return to visited products (N
un~ez-Vald
ez et al.,
2012). Purchase history can also be used to recommend products by making predictions for
future shopping behavior (Schafer et al., 2001). Thus, it is likely that a customer who
purchased books from one author will buy new titles published by the same author (N
~ez-
un
Vald
ez et al., 2012). More recently, semantic RSs have been implemented allowing product
comparisons based on complex data structures (Mart
ın-Vicente et al., 2014).
A newer category is represented by social RSs that use information from social networks
(Yang, 2018). This includes preferences for certain products or products purchased by social
friends or those they follow (Virdi et al., 2020). Social influence plays an important role in
product marketing, revealing that friends tend to select the same articles and give similar
ratings (Mart
ın-Vicente et al., 2014). Moreover, the incorporation of social information helps
K

Figure 1.
Recommendation
systems and their
development

overcome the deficiencies of classical RSs (Virdi et al., 2020; Yang, 2020). Among the earliest
examples of RSs were those based on statistical data that make recommendations that are
alike to each client, without personalization, based on statistical summaries in the form of
best-sellers, top brands and trend products (Schafer et al., 2001). In addition to user
preferences for a particular product, discounts can have a significant influence on the
purchase decision, sometimes causing online shoppers to change even products that are
already in the shopping cart (Sato et al., 2015).
2.1.2 Perceived usefulness and perceived relevance of recommender systems, and the
influence on purchase intention. The concept of perceived usefulness is well-known in
literature and is seen as the degree to which a person believes that the use of technology
would increase his performance, having a substantial impact on behavioral intentions
(Fu et al., 2018). Thus, perceived usefulness of online reviews was found to be significantly Perceived
and positively correlated with trust and consumer PI (Ventre and Kolbe, 2020). Also, usefulness of
perceived usefulness and personalization are significant predictors of customers’ PI in AI-
based automated stores (Harrigan et al., 2021). In the case of movie tickets, perceived
recommender
usefulness and perceived enjoyment for members and the community platform had positive systems
effects on users’ online PI (Fu et al., 2018; Harrigan et al., 2021). In addition, there is a link
between perceived usefulness and perceived relevance (Lazuras and Dokou, 2016; To and
Tang, 2019), and, furthermore, both have effects on students’ intention to participate in the
evaluation of computer courses (To and Tang, 2019), respectively, on the intention of mental
health professionals regarding online counseling (Lazuras and Dokou, 2016).
The research carried out by Chen et al. (2019a, b) reveals the fact that the more
competent an RS is in assisting users discover useful information about products, the more
it is perceived as having a better quality of recommendations, and they had a higher
intention to buy the chosen product. Moreover, Choi et al. (2017) show that explained
recommendations affect user satisfaction and increase PI. The perceived usefulness of RSs
plays a leading role in influencing buying impulses by affecting consumer experience and
satisfaction, which can often lead to unplanned purchases (Lu et al., 2015). In addition,
Yang (2018) reveals the fact that persuasiveness and completeness of the
recommendations were strong predictors of trust in recommendations and perceived
value, and these are strong antecedents of the PI. On the other hand, Mican et al. (2020)
indicate that the perceived usefulness of an RS influences the extent to which users
consent to the collection of personal data and has an impact on the general relevance of RSs
for e-commerce users. Moreover, Tam and Ho (2006) consider that the influence of a
personalization system is mediated by the relevance of the content, which in turn affects
the attention, cognitive processes and decisions of web users in various ways. Considering
the above theories, the following constructors were used: perceived usefulness of personal
online shopping behavior (PUPOSB), perceived usefulness of others’ online shopping
behavior (PUOOSB), perceived usefulness of general trends (PUGT), perceived usefulness
of special offers (PUSO) and hypotheses were issued:
H1. PUPOSB has a direct and positive relationship with the PRRS.
H2. PUOOSB has a direct and positive relationship with the PRRS.
H3. PUGT has a direct and positive relationship with the PRRS.
H4. PUSO has a direct and positive relationship with the PRRS.
Perceived relevance is seen as the extent to which consumers perceive that personalized
information is addressed to them to help achieve their personal goals (Alalwan, 2018). Thus,
perceived relevance is considered the main factor influencing PIs for products presented in
advertisements (Nasir et al., 2021). Therefore, the more customers feel that advertisements are
related to their preferences and interests, the more inclined they will be to buy the products
presented in social media advertisements (Alalwan, 2018).
RSs have the potential to help customers make effective purchase decisions (Xiao and
Benbasat, 2018). The relevance of the content offered by the RS affects the attention, cognitive
processes and decisions of users, and offering relevant choice options helps them in making
purchase decisions (Whang et al., 2022). Furthermore, Chen et al. (2019a, b) revealed that
serendipity, timeliness and relevance of recommendations can directly affect user PI. On the
other hand, Ku and Tai (2013) show that the PI is primarily affected by the consumer’s
attitude toward the recommended product, and this attitude is mainly determined by the
relevance of the recommendation for personal interests. Considering this, the following
hypothesis was offered:
K H5. PRRS has a direct and positive relationship with PI.

2.2 Information search

2.2.1 Perceived relevance of randomly displayed ads (PRRDA). Advertisements or banners
displayed on a website should influence information search behavior (Sitar-Taut et al., 2020)
and impact PI (Boerman et al., 2017). Though, online buyers’ reactions to ads differ between
individuals. Online advertisements can reduce the time spent in prior-purchase stages if they
are well-tailored according to the user profile and needs (Rezola et al., 2016). On the other
hand, they can trigger intrusiveness and disturbance alarms, and consequently, negatively
impact PI (Boerman et al., 2017). Because many of them are or were irrelevant, annoying or
aggressive, most or the next online advertisements may be blocked or simply ignored by
users (Goldstein et al., 2014). Online advertisements have a negative influence on women
shoppers, as they may feel disturbed in their shopping objectives. However, they may have a
positive influence on men shoppers (Shaouf et al., 2016). Though, the effect of online
advertisements is controversial. Consequently, we issued the following hypothesis:
H6. PRRDA has a direct relationship with PI.
2.2.2 Electronic word of mouth. The development of social networks has led to eWOM, where
messages can be directed to many online customers. Many consumers rely on social networks
to search for information and opinions or to share their experiences with a particular brand or
product (Liao et al., 2021). According to Chen et al. (2016), eWOM information about a brand
has a positive influence on consumer attitudes toward that brand, and customers’ attitudes
influence the PI. The content of eWOM significantly affects the consumers’ intention to buy a
product (Wang and Yu, 2017) and fully mediates the relationship between perceived risk and
online PI (Liao et al., 2021). Therefore, the following hypothesis was formulated:
H7. eWOM has a direct and positive relationship with PI.
2.2.3 Manufacturer’s product information (MPI). The availability of captivating product
pictures, relevant and detailed product information, service and return policies, or product
specification sheets, have a positive influence on PI (Chen et al., 2016; Chen and Zhang, 2015).
A solid brand image must remain intact even if it is propagated through various channels,
including social networks (Lodkaew et al., 2018). Additionally, for time-constricted or
impulsive purchases manufacturer name or brand, product or service, information plays an
important role (Chen et al., 2016; Chen and Zhang, 2015). Contrarily, their lack may lead to the
opposite effect. Therefore, the following hypothesis was framed:
H8. MPI has a direct and positive relationship with PI.
2.2.4 Customer reviews and comments (RCs). Customer reviews are part of the world of
e-commerce. According to Lin (2014), 85% of consumers read online reviews before buying
and 65% said that reviews influence their purchasing decisions. Furthermore, aggregations
of positive reviews that incorporate only some negative reviews are most successful in
influencing purchasing attitudes (Purnawirawan et al., 2015). Also, Tran (2020) emphasizes
the positive effect of online reviews on PI. Therefore, the following hypothesis was provided:
H9. RCs have a direct and positive relationship with PI.
2.2.5 Discount and price information (DPI). The buyer’s sensitivity to price and discounts,
respectively, the price hunt is a popular behavior in the purchase process (Spaid et al., 2019).
It is rational and instinctual to search for the best price. The brand and the store can only be a
reliable source for the reference price (Spaid et al., 2019), but the purchase decision may not
yet be completed. Discounts may attract customers (Sato et al., 2015), and their psychological
effect can be stronger than the price and the brand of the item. In addition, discounts are Perceived
preferred by consumers, are perceived as attractive and affect intention to buy (B€
uy€ukdag usefulness of
et al., 2020). Therefore, the next hypothesis was delivered:
recommender
H10. DPI has a direct and positive relationship with PI. systems
Considering the analyzed theory, the hypotheses issued above are integrated into the
research model presented in Figure 2.

3. Research methodology
3.1 Survey instrument and measurement scales
In the questionnaire used to collect the data necessary for this study, eleven constructs have
been selected or adapted from the literature. For the PI, which is the dependent variable, the
scale was adapted from (Chen et al., 2016; Riaz et al., 2020; Tran, 2020). Five constructs
influencing PI focus on information-search behavior and have been derived from the related
literature. They are PRRDA (Goldstein et al., 2014; Shaouf et al., 2016), eWOM (Chen et al.,
2016; Wang and Yu, 2017), MPI (Chen and Zhang, 2015; Lodkaew et al., 2018), RC (Floyd et al.,
2014; Tran, 2020) and DPI (B€ uy€ukdag et al., 2020; Spaid et al., 2019). In addition, five RS-
related constructs proposed and validated by Mican et al. (2020) have been added: PUPOSB,
PUOOSB, PUGT, PUSO and PRRS.
All items used in the current survey use a 5-point Likert scale, in which a score of one
indicated “strongly disagree” or “totally unimportant”, and five indicated “strongly agree” or

Figure 2.
Research model
K “totally important”. The 5-point Likert scale was chosen in the present study because it is
preferred by researchers because it reduces the level of frustration of the respondents,
increasing the response rate and the quality of the response (Sachdev and Verma, 2004).
The used scales were evaluated in terms of reliability and convergent validity (see Table 2).

3.2 Sampling and data collection

An online survey, filled in anonymously and voluntarily, was used to collect the data needed to
conduct this study. The selection criteria for the final sample of the participants were: having
placed at least one order in online stores in the last year, having searched for information about
products online before buying and having knowledge about the RSs. Of the total responses
received to the questionnaire used for the study, 597 responses were considered valid and were
used for further analysis. To assess our analysis’s sample size, we applied Faul et al.’s (2007)
methodology assuming an effect size f2 of 0.15, alpha of 0.05, power of 0.95 and six predictors for
the PI latent variable. The required sample size is 146, and with 597 observations, our sample
surpasses this threshold. Table 1 shows the demographic profile of the sample in terms of
gender, age, online shopping frequency and favorite online shopping device.

4. Data analysis, results

To assess the working hypotheses, the partial least squares structural equation modeling
(PLS-SEM) methodology was employed by Hair et al. (2017). We consider this analysis
method to be suitable for our scenario due to its rapidly increasing usage in many fields, even
though it remains scarce with RSs literature (Mican et al., 2020). In the case of the current
study, PLS-SEM was considered an appropriate method of data analysis, considering the
exploratory nature and the objectives focusing on prediction. The structural model is shown
in Figure 2 and all analyzes were run in SmartPLS version 3.3.3 (Ringle et al., 2015).

4.1 Measurements assessment

The assessment of reflective measurements for reliability and convergent validity is
presented in Table 2. The relationships between constructs and indicator variables are
indicated by outer loadings, and all values are greater than the limit of 0.7 (Hair et al., 2019).
Hence, the reliability indicator is established for all calculations. Concerning internal
consistency reliability, all composite reliability values and Cronbach’s alpha are greater than
the critical value of 0.7 (Hair et al., 2017). As a result, it can be confirmed that all the results
obtained are internally consistent. In addition, because all values calculated for the AVE are
greater than the minimum boundary of 0.5 (Fornell and Larcker, 1981), it can be stated that
there is an adequate level of convergent validity.
Besides, the discriminant validity of the utilized scales was evaluated using the
heterotrait-monotrait ratio of correlations (HTMT). All the values calculated for HTMT are
lower than Henseler et al.’s (2015) traditional limit of 0.85, as can be seen in Table 3.
Consequently, discriminant validity is accepted among all sets of constructs.

4.2 Structural model assessment

The variance inflation factor (VIF) was employed to assess the collinearity of the formative
indicators (Hair et al., 2019). The VIF values for all combinations of endogenous constructs
and the corresponding exogenous constructs can be observed in Table 4 and are all below the
threshold of 3 (Becker et al., 2015). Consequently, no collinearity issues are present between
the predictor constructs in our structural model. In addition, two common method bias tests
were used for assessing the common method variance. The first is using the VIF collinearity
approach with a random dependent variable (RAND) (Kock and Lynn, 2012) and the second is
using the full collinearity approach via VIFs (Kock, 2015). The resulting VIF values for both
Respondent’s demographic Category Total %
Perceived
usefulness of
Gender Male 237 39.70% recommender
Female 360 60.30%
Age 18–24 485 81.24% systems
25–34 87 14.57%
35þ 25 4.19%
Online shopping frequency More than one order per week 9 1.51%
One order a week 53 8.88%
About 5–6 orders per year 309 51.76%
About one order per month 186 31.16%
About one order a year 40 6.70% Table 1.
Favorite online shopping device Personal calculator (Laptop/Desktop) 394 66.00% Sample
Mobile device (Phone/Tablet) 203 34.00% demographics
Source(s): Author’s Work (n 5 597)

Latent reflective Reflective Outer Cronbach’s Composite Average variance

variable indicators loadings alpha reliability extracted (AVE)

PRRDA PRRDA1 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000

DPI DPI1 0.859 0.776 0.895 0.811
DPI2 0.940
MPI MPI1 0.889 0.732 0.882 0.789
MPI2 0.887
PRRS PRRS1 0.817 0.752 0.858 0.669
PRRS2 0.784
PRRS3 0.851
PUSO PUSO1 0.966 0.931 0.967 0.935
PUSO2 0.968
PUGT PUGT1 0.815 0.830 0.883 0.654
PUGT2 0.804
PUGT3 0.783
PUGT4 0.832
PUOOSB PUOOSB1 0.793 0.811 0.875 0.638
PUOOSB2 0.823
PUOOSB3 0.770
PUOOSB4 0.808
PUPOSB PUPOSB1 0.813 0.781 0.859 0.604
PUPOSB2 0.758
PUPOSB3 0.826
PUPOSB4 0.706
PI PI1 0.852 0.705 0.870 0.771
PI2 0.903
Table 2.
RC RC1 0.910 0.793 0.906 0.828 Convergent validity
RC2 0.910 and internal
eWOM eWOM1 0.943 0.881 0.944 0.894 consistency
eWOM2 0.948 assessment of the
Source(s): Author’s Work reflective variables

methods were much lower than the 3.3 threshold (Kock, 2015; Kock and Lynn, 2012).
Concluding, according to the methods employed, the biases concerns are eliminated.
In what follows, the structural model was evaluated and the statistical significance of the
relationships within the constructs was analyzed. Also, the extent of the path coefficients was
K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

PRRDA
DPI 0.028
MPI 0.296 0.069
PRRS 0.541 0.049 0.341
PUSO 0.187 0.079 0.099 0.194
PUGT 0.210 0.076 0.212 0.310 0.415
PUOOSB 0.302 0.042 0.143 0.374 0.249 0.572
PUPOSB 0.255 0.043 0.217 0.503 0.216 0.382 0.452
Table 3.
Discriminant validity PI 0.075 0.129 0.247 0.171 0.174 0.139 0.120 0.273
assessment for the RC 0.051 0.030 0.188 0.072 0.085 0.030 0.104 0.074 0.242
reflective variables eWOM 0.083 0.031 0.092 0.115 0.189 0.199 0.266 0.210 0.170 0.242
(HTMT criterion) Source(s): Author’s Work

assessed. The graphic representation of the proposed structural model, containing the path
coefficients and p-values illustrated for the inner model, is depicted in Figure 3.
Table 5 presents a summary of the results in which we can observe the total effects for our
hypotheses, as well as the indirect effects between the constructs. As the results show, of the
ten hypotheses that have been formulated and assessed, eight of them have been statistically
significant and therefore accepted.
To assess the model goodness of fit, it was computed the standardized root mean square
residual (SRMR) indicator. The resulting values, SRMR 5 0.052 for the saturated model, and
in addition, SRMR 5 0.062 for the estimated model, are below the 0.08 threshold (Hair et al.,
2017), indicating the model’s good fit.
The final analyzes address the model’s explanatory and predictive power, employing the
PLSpredict procedure (Shmueli et al., 2019). Specifically, all Q2 values are positive, indicating
that the model outperforms a naı€ve item-average benchmark. More importantly,
the prediction error of the PLS-SEM results (RMSE) is smaller than the prediction error for
the linear benchmark model (LM) for all indicators. This means that the proposed model has
high predictive power.

5. Discussion and implications

5.1 Discussion of results
The broad objective of this study was to investigate the complex relationships between the
phases preceding the PI during the online shopping process. Specifically, we analyzed the
impact of the perceived usefulness of the main RSs types on the PRRS, the way the latter
impacts PI, and how this is also influenced by the main information search sources.
The structural model showed that eight hypotheses were accepted (H1–H2, H5–10) and two
(H3, H4) were rejected, as Table 5 indicates. All hypotheses are discussed in detail in the
remainder of this section.
Perceived usefulness is closely correlated with perceived relevance and both have
important effects on users’ behavioral intention (Lazuras and Dokou, 2016; To and Tang,
2019) and personalized recommendations in influencing PI (Choi et al., 2017; Lu et al., 2015;
Yang, 2018). In the case of the first two hypotheses of the current research, the influence of the
perceived usefulness of recommendation systems that offer personalized recommendations
to users was treated. Following data analysis, PUPOSB has the strongest effect on
PRRS.Therefore, hypothesis H1 was confirmed (p < 0.001). Moreover, PUPOSB has the most
important influence on the PI, as the value of the indirect effect reveals, and PRRS mediates
this relationship. By nature, human beings try to have, be, or behave similarly to people with
 PRRDA DPI MPI PRRS PUSO PUGT PUOOSB PUPOSB PI RC eWOM RAND

PRRDA 1.327 1.412

DPI 1.004 1.021
MPI 1.124 1.150
PRRS 1.317 1.504
PUSO 1.158 1.165
PUGT 1.483 1.250
PUOOSB 1.413 1.217
PUPOSB 1.180 1.225
PI 1.106
RC 1.074 1.066
eWOM 1.054 1.068
Source(s): Author’s Work
recommender
Perceived

systems
usefulness of

values)
Table 4.

variable (Inner VIF

assessment including
random dependent
Collinearity
K

Figure 3.
Graphic representation
of the structural model
relationships

Path coefficient t-value p-value Hypothesis

PUPOSB → PRRS (H1) 0.310 6.207 0.000 Confirmed

PUOOSB → PRRS (H2) 0.135 2.584 0.010 Confirmed
PUGT → PRRS (H3) 0.080 1.863 0.063 Rejected
PUSO → PRRS (H4) 0.046 1.106 0.269 Rejected
PRRS → PI (H5) 0.142 2.884 0.004 Confirmed
PRRDA → PI (H6) 0.168 3.811 0.000 Confirmed
eWOM → PI (H7) 0.095 2.374 0.018 Confirmed
MPI → PI (H8) 0.158 3.503 0.001 Confirmed
RC → PI (H9) 0.121 2.877 0.004 Confirmed
DPI → PI (H10) 0.084 2.309 0.021 Confirmed
PUPOSB → PRRS → PI (Indirect effect) 0.044 2.407 0.016 Yes
PUOOSB → PRRS → PI (Indirect effect) 0.019 1.987 0.047 Yes
Table 5. PUGT → PRRS → PI (Indirect effect) 0.011 1.606 0.109 No
Direct and indirect PUSO → PRRS → PI (Indirect effect) 0.007 0.959 0.338 No
effects Source(s): Author’s Work

whom they share the same interests (Virdi et al., 2020). PUOOSB was proved as having a
direct positive relationship with the PRRS (p < 0.01), thus confirming the H2 hypothesis.
In addition, indirect effects show that PUOOSB influence PI, mediated again by PRRS.
 The results obtained for the first two hypotheses, H1 and H2, are consistent with the ones Perceived
of Mican et al. (2020) in the case of information privacy concerns, and with Lazuras and Dokou usefulness of
(2016), To and Tang (2019) regarding users’ behavioral decisions, regarding the existence of a
direct link between perceived usefulness and relevance in the case of RSs that offer
recommender
personalized recommendations. The findings also confirm previous studies regarding the systems
fact that perceived usefulness influences PI in the case of online stores (Pillai et al., 2020),
online reviews (Ventre and Kolbe, 2020), the purchase of movie tickets (Fu et al., 2018), brands
(Harrigan et al., 2021) or in what online psychological counseling proves (Lazuras and Dokou,
2016). Also, regarding the influence of RSs on PI, the results are in accordance with (Choi et al.,
2017; Lu et al., 2015; Yang, 2018), regarding the influence of buying impulses on unplanned
purchases. Therefore, the more useful information and recommendations are perceived, the
more they influence the intention to purchase the recommended product (Chen et al., 2019a).
Providing personalized recommendations is very popular and is used intensively.
However, it faces a multitude of issues such as the existence of new users whose preferences
and behavioral patterns are not yet known (Bobadilla et al., 2013), the cold-start phenomenon
(Lu et al., 2015), or more recently, the various data privacy issues (Mican et al., 2020;
Venkatesh et al., 2021). Therefore, in these cases, in addition to personalized RSs, online stores
also integrate classic non-personalized RSs (Sato et al., 2015; Schafer et al., 2001). In the case of
hypotheses H3 and H4 from the current research, the influence of the perceived usefulness of
RSs that offer non-personalized recommendations was treated.
In the case of H3 hypothesis, PUGT has a direct and positive effect on the PRRS, but it
turned out to be at the representativeness limit. In consequence, the hypothesis was not
supported (p > 0.05) and, according to indirect effect, PUGT does not influence either PI.
Therefore, we believe that an RS that offers personalized content is preferred over a general
one that is not interested in customer preferences, interests, or habits. The same is true for
hypothesis H4. Therefore, it seems that neither PUSO has an influence on PRRS (p > 0.05) nor
on PI, as shown by the indirect effect. The results obtained for the hypotheses H3 and H4 are
not consistent with the results obtained by (Lazuras and Dokou, 2016; Mican et al., 2020;
To and Tang, 2019), which denotes that, in the case of RSs that offer non-personalized
recommendations, there is no direct link between usefulness and perceived relevance.
Moreover, outputs are in contrast to previous studies on the influence of perceived usefulness
on PI (Harrigan et al., 2021; Pillai et al., 2020; Ventre and Kolbe, 2020). Also, in the case of the
influence of RSs on PI, the results are contrary to those obtained by Chen et al. (2019a), Choi
et al. (2017), Yang (2018). However, it appears that recommendations affect customer decision-
making, and customers buy more items and rate them better when they receive personalized
recommendations compared to non-personalized recommendations (Choi et al., 2017).
A higher level of personalization improves the intention to purchase through a feeling of ease
(Whang et al., 2022). Moreover, the results agree with previous studies, suggesting that
personalized recommendations are more effective than non-personalized ones (Li, 2016).
The assessment of hypothesis H5 revealed that PRRS has a positive influence on PI
(p < 0.01). Regarding the effect of perceived relevance on PI, the results are similar to those
obtained by Alalwan (2018) and Nasir et al. (2021) in the case of advertisements presented on
social networks. Also, the results support previous research (Whang et al., 2022; Xiao and
Benbasat, 2018) according to which RSs help consumers make purchase decisions and have a
strong effect on PI, as earlier research stated (Chen et al., 2019b; Ku and Tai, 2013). Therefore,
the more recommendations help the online shopper discover new, interesting and relevant
products that they would not otherwise have discovered, respectively, the more they trust the
RS, the more it will influence the intention to buy. In other words, the more relevant the
recommendations are and the better they fulfill the interests of the consumers, the more they
lead to more favorable attitudes towards RSs, the recommendations provided, and finally the
purchase of the recommended products.
K In the case of hypothesis H6, PRRDA negatively affects PI (p < 0.001). It seems that
PRRDA should positively affect PI, but only in very specific scenarios, such as using accurate
customization (Rezola et al., 2016) or being mainly addressed to male buyers (Shaouf et al.,
2016). Our survey sample is mainly made up of women (60.30%) and the advertisement
feature does not reach its full potential (mean 2.853, see Table 1), probably due to ad-blockers,
or simply to the old-fashioned information search habit. When used, non-personalized
advertisements again prove the supposed inefficiency, confusing the user during the
shopping process. We may call the phenomenon “unintentional diversion”. Thus, even if
users are aware of the advertisements’ possible utility, their avoidance contravenes the stated
utility, leading to a negative influence on the PI, in line with (Boerman et al., 2017). eWOM has
a direct positive influence on the customer’s intention to buy a product or book a service
directly (Chen et al., 2016; Liao et al., 2021; Wang and Yu, 2017). This aspect is also
demonstrated in the current research, with our hypothesis related to eWOM (H7) being
confirmed (p < 0.05). Therefore, it seems that informal communication with friends and
relatives about different products, their usefulness and their characteristics influence PI.
Thus, the results are consistent with (Chen et al., 2016; Liao et al., 2021; Wang and Yu, 2017).
The quality and completeness of the product information posted on the brand’s website
(Chen et al., 2016; Chen and Zhang, 2015) or officially distributed on social networks (Lodkaew
et al., 2018) have a positive effect on PI. Our model also empirically confirms previous research
in this field. H8 is accepted (p < 0.001) and the path coefficient denotes that MPI represents the
most positive influential information search source for the PI. User reviews are available on
most e-commerce sites, and 65% of the surveyed customers admitted that their purchase
decisions were influenced by this aspect (Lin, 2014; Tran, 2020). Our study confirms that RCs
have a direct and positive relationship with PI, as H9 states (p < 0.01). Therefore, we can say
that both positive and negative reviews influence PI.
The price and the discount represent the most popular and valuable information sources,
positively influencing PI (B€ uy€
ukda g et al., 2020). The H10 hypothesis is also confirmed
(p < 0.05), the output reinforcing results obtained by (B€ uy€ukda g et al., 2020; Sato et al., 2015;
Spaid et al., 2019). In the case of H10, compared to H4, users are looking for a better price,
respectively, a higher discount for the desired product. In the case of H10, the price and
discount impact more the PI because it is possible that the user has already decided on a
particular product and is still looking for a better price for it. In the case of hypothesis H4, the
user receives recommendations for products at better prices or discounts. It is just that they
may not suit the needs and preferences of consumers.

5.2 Theoretical and academic implications

The current study makes several theoretical contributions to the literature. First, previous
studies have focused on analyzing the effect that online information sources (Chen et al., 2016)
or RSs (Chen et al., 2019b; Venkatesh et al., 2021; Yang, 2018) have on PI. Alternatively, Sitar-
Taut et al. (2020) analyzed the behavior of customers regarding the information search and
the acceptance of recommendations in the prior purchase stage. Instead, current research
investigates the influence of both, different types of RSs and information sources, on PI.
The results show that in addition to PRRS, factors such as MPI, RCs from specialists or
customers, eWOM and DPI for desired products are still worth considering in PI assessment.
These findings are consistent with previous research (Chen et al., 2019a;Whang et al., 2022;
Yu et al., 2018) in the case of RSs and (B€
uy€ ukdag et al., 2020; Liao et al., 2021; Lodkaew et al.,
2018) in the case of different information sources.
Second, earlier literature has mostly focused on improving the accuracy of RSs algorithms
(Yang, 2018). Conversely, the present work is one of the few that extends the research in RSs
from the point of view of consumer behavior, reasoning and psychology in the context of
e-commerce. Thus, to provide an interdisciplinary perspective of the effect of RSs on Perceived
consumer behavior, two variables were incorporated, namely perceived usefulness (Fu et al., usefulness of
2018) and perceived relevance (Whang et al., 2022), used mainly in the fields of information
technology and organizational behavior. The outcomes showed that the PRRS has an
recommender
important effect on behavioral intentions and empirically validates existing theories systems
(Chen et al., 2019b; Ku and Tai, 2013). Also, perceived usefulness affects the PI in the case of
RSs based on personal and social online shopping behavior, since the PRRS has a mediator
role. On the other hand, regarding RSs based on general trends and special offers, perceived
usefulness does not affect the PI, and PRRS does not play the mediator role in this context.
Third, previous research has dealt with how RSs in general (Chen et al., 2019b) or social ones
in particular (Venkatesh et al., 2021; Yang, 2018), and those taking into account user history (Choi
et al., 2017) influence PI. In the present case, the study provides a classification of different types
of RSs and how they, together, differently influence PI. Thus, the results reveal that those RSs
that provide personalized recommendations have a strong effect on PI. Conversely, those that
provide non-personalized recommendations do not affect PI. These findings are partially
consistent with previous research (Ha et al., 2022), who stated that recommendations can be
successful in both personalized and non-personalized versions. In addition, the present study
reinforces the theory that recommendations are considered a credible source by people who
avoid online advertising (Ha et al., 2022).
Finally, the results show that the more consumers perceive the recommendations as more
useful and relevant to their interests, the more favorable attitudes they will have towards the
recommended products. Such a positive attitude significantly influences the purchase of
products. Thus, personalized RSs offer significant help in the decision process because users
exposed to personalized content look for fewer details and decide much faster. Therefore, the
results confirm that personalized recommendations have a dominant effect on the decision
mechanism by entering an early stage in the structure of preferences and information
processing (Ku and Tai, 2013). These results are also important in the context where, more
recently, companies are facing increasing problems regarding the collection and use of users’
personal data (Mican et al., 2020).

5.3 Practical implications

The current study provides practical insights on consumer behavior to better understand PI and
provides suggestions to decision-makers. To enrich the practical implications, an importance-
performance map analysis (IPMA) was made (Ringle and Sarstedt, 2016), which offers a
prioritization perspective, from the point of view of constructors’ importance and performance in
predicting PI. The results reveal the fact that to improve PI, managers must carry out specific
actions, first regarding PRRS, MPI and RCs from specialists or customers.
The findings also highlight the fact that PRRS mediates the influence of the perceived
usefulness of personalized recommendations on PI. To maximize business opportunities,
online retailers should adopt a personalization strategy that is as adaptable as possible and
sensitive to consumer goals (Whang et al., 2022). Thus, developers should opt for the
hybridization of RSs in which to aggregate both personal shopping behavior and those of
friends and influencers followed on social networks. Store managers should ensure that
customers receive personalized recommendations and promotions according to individual
shopping patterns, to make them feel unique (Pillai et al., 2020) and have a positive impact on
PI (Venkatesh et al., 2021). Moreover, developers should incorporate social cues and consider
the strength of ties, homophily and geographic proximity of network members to provide the
most personalized recommendations (Virdi et al., 2020). The inclusion of social context in RSs
is particularly important when offering new recommendations that increase users’ PI
(Choi et al., 2017).
K Capturing informative signals from several data sources is essential to offer explanations.
Thus, the RS should incorporate links to the product presentation pages on the manufacturers’
websites, which provide detailed and quality information. In addition, producers should be
encouraged to provide pictures and useful information about the characteristics of the products,
and explain how they can satisfy the needs of consumers. Retailers should also make efforts to
manage consumer feedback, as it influences their willingness to make a purchase (Ku and Tai,
2013). One of the strategies to encourage buying behaviors is to change the order in which online
reviews are displayed according to the type of consumption and gender. Because when the
purchase is of a hedonic nature, reviews with subjective expression should be highlighted for male
readers and when the purchase is of a utilitarian nature, for women (Liu et al., 2018). Moreover,
hybrid critiquing systems can incorporate an aggregation of feelings and opinions extracted from
product reviews. They can provide an overview of other customers’ experiences with different
features. In addition, recommendations can be organized into different categories to highlight
representative benefits, in terms of feelings and specifications, and to encourage users to compare
multiple items (Chen et al., 2019a). In the case of recommendations, adopting a strategy to
dynamically adjust the degree of serendipity according to the curiosity of the target user is
beneficial (Chen et al., 2019b). In addition, the current study demonstrated that DPI affect PI, but
only when they are offered for products for which buyers have already expressed interest.

5.4 Limitations and future research

There is no doubt that this research has some limitations, as any other has. It would be
imprecise to say that this is an exhaustive study on PI, RSs, or information search fields, since
we have investigated only the RS types and information search sources discussed here. In our
analysis, we used data from 597 questionnaires collected from students who are online
shoppers. Even if the sample size is not small, we cannot pretend to be able to extrapolate the
results on a global scale due to its limited territoriality, age interval, gender distribution and
generalist product category or store type addressing.
Concerning future study directions, we can state that new data protection regulations
make data retrieval and storage to build profiles within RSs a provocation. This is because
many situational or personal aspects are sensitive and may raise privacy concerns and/or
anxiety regarding personal data disclosure. Currently, there is limited understanding of user
attitudes regarding data retrieval, use, confidentiality and acceptance. Therefore, the
influence of the perceived utility of the different types of RSs on the acceptance of the retrieval
and procurement of the main types of input data handled by these systems should be
examined. These, in addition to privacy and trust issues, constitute the venues for further
research in this field. Furthermore, PI, RSs and information sources could be studied also by
applying the methods presented in (Akg€ ul, 2018; Hashemi and Akg€ ul, 2018).

6. Conclusions
Purchasing intention and online consumer behavior have been intensively studied revealing
that RSs and different types of information that the user searches for or receives influence PI.
Despite the importance of understanding how different antecedents influence PI, no previous
empirical study analyzed together in a structural model the influence of different sources of
information, along with the influence of different types of RSs. In the case of RSs, most
research has focused on improving the accuracy of RS algorithms and not user perceptions.
To fill these gaps, this study empirically investigated the impact of the perceived usefulness
of the main RS types, and how PI is also influenced by the search behavior, respectively, the
main types of information source. In addition, the research investigated RSs from the point of
view of the behavior and psychology of e-commerce consumers. Moreover, we also analyzed
the effect of non-personalized recommendations on PI.
 The results showed that the PRRS positively and significantly influences the PI. Perceived
Furthermore, only the perceived usefulness of personalized recommendations has an impact usefulness of
on PRRS and PI. Therefore, RSs and various information source types are complementary
rather than mutually exclusive in online shopping. Finally, our findings provide academics,
recommender
online retailers and decision-makers with detailed information on the influence that RSs and systems
information sources have on the behavior of online shoppers. We conclude that
personalization is the key for users to find RSs useful and relevant. In this direction, the
hybridization of RSs can represent a good solution. In addition, detailed MPI and RC
information plays a major role in influencing PI. Also, providing price discounts only for
customer-favorite products is essential.

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About the authors Perceived
Daniel Mican is an Associate Professor and PhD supervisor at the Faculty of
Economics and Business Administration, Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, usefulness of
Rom^ania, within the Department of Business Information Systems. He completed his recommender
PhD in 2013 in Cybernetics and Economic Statistics. His research interests are in the systems
field of recommendation systems, social media, web usage mining, collective
intelligence and user behavior. He also works as a consultant project manager and
web developer for FSEGA and companies from Europe and US. His research has been
published in reputable journals such as Social Science Computer Review, Decision
Support Systems, Expert Systems with Applications and Online Information Review.
Dan-Andrei Sitar-Taut is an Associate Professor and PhD supervisor at the Faculty of
Economics and Business Administration, Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca,
Romania. He holds a Ph.D. diploma in Cybernetics and Economic Statistics and is the
author of several books and more than 60 journal or conference papers in journals, such
as Social Science Computer Review, Expert Systems with Applications, Decision Support
Systems, Online Information Review and Information Technology and Management.
Dr. Sitar was manager in 2 national research projects and member in the other 20. He is
member in Online Information Review journal’s Editorial Advisory Board and
reviewer for several JCR-listed journals. Dan-Andrei Sitar-Taut is the corresponding author and can be
contacted at: dan.sitar@econ.ubbcluj.ro

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