Determinants of on-line channel use for purchasing financial products

On-line shopping is expected to experience exponential growth in the coming decades, but few researchers have examined consumers' motivations for usin g on-line channels. The current study investigates the determinants of cons umer use of on-line channels to purchase financial products. There are thre e key findings. First, consumers who experience conflict with their Financi al agents are more likely to use the on-line channel. This suggests that co nflicting relationships can make the two channels competitive rather than c omplementary. Second, consumer willingness is an important predictor of on- line information search. Third, consumers who use the on-line channel for i nformation search are more likely to use it for transactions. The last two findings indicate that consumer adoption of the on-line channel is a stagew ise process.