Price search behaviour in digital markets – A perspective from Romania

Price represents a source of information customers may rely on in the buying decision making process. The literature in this area shows that on the Internet, the process of searching for price information is more complex than on traditional stores, being influenced by various factors. This paper aims to identify and describe the relations between two categories of variables. On the one hand there are the variables related to the price searching behaviour on the online environment, and on the other hand there are the variables related to the buying process. This research is based on a survey, the sample consisting of 1112 online buyers. The relationships between these variables were represented through a conceptual model based on a structural equation modeling approach. The main findings of the research show that the more a customer searches for price information online, the more he/she acquires abilities to search, becoming more predisposed to perceive a better value from shopping online and intending more to purchase from the Internet. The managerial implications concern the communication strategies adopted by online stores, the information provided by them influencing the perceived value of doing online shopping and the buying intentions on the Internet.