International Journal of E-Business Development (IJED)

Attitudes toward Online Shopping: A Comparison of Online Consumers in China and the US
*

Department of Marketing, Howard University, 2600 6th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20059, USA Department of Marketing, The George Washington University, Funger 301D, 2201 G Street, NW, Washington DC, 20052, USA ^ Department of Marketing, Towson University, Stephens Hall 123, 8000 York Road, Towson, MD 21252, USA 1 gong.gw@gmail.com; 2maddox@gwu.edu; 3rstump@towson.edu market, one that is striving to transform its economy from being manufacturing-based to technology-based. The Chinese government has attached great importance to e-tailing in spurring economic growth and recently has released a series of policies to regularize and guide Internet and e-tailing development (6). Furthermore, China has overtaken Japan as the world's second-largest economy and is predicted to replace the US as the world's top economy in roughly a decade (12). Collectively, all of these factors bode well for an improving etailing environment in China. The focus of this study is to examine whether online consumers in China and the US share similar attitudes with regard to online shopping. While there is a wealth of research focusing on online shopping behaviour in Western countries, relatively little research has compared consumer attitudes toward online shopping across nations. Reflecting the call by Van Slyke, Belanger and Sridhar (13) for more cross-cultural comparison research on consumers’ e-tailing attitudes and behaviour, the present study examines this phenomenon in national cultures that reflect the East versus the West, namely China and the U.S.A, respectively. This paper intends to begin filling this knowledge gap. Drawing on theories of national culture, along with diffusion of innovation theory and the literature on perceived risk in