Psychological Mechanisms Underlying Online Purchase Intention: The Role of Trust and Perceived Risk

Abstract

Online purchase decisions in electronic commerce are characterised by heightened uncertainty due to the absence of physical interaction and direct product evaluation. To cope with such uncertainty, consumers rely on internal psychological mechanisms when forming purchase intentions. This conceptual paper examines trust and perceived risk as two central psychological mechanisms through which consumers manage uncertainty in online purchasing contexts. Drawing on existing literature, the paper conceptualises perceived risk as a mechanism that amplifies uncertainty and inhibits online purchase intention, while trust functions as a countervailing mechanism that mitigates uncertainty and enhances consumers’ willingness to transact online. By adopting a mechanism-based perspective, this study moves beyond variable-centric explanations and offers a theoretically grounded framework explaining how psychological uncertainty management shapes online purchase intention. The paper contributes to e-commerce literature by clarifying the complementary roles of trust and perceived risk and provides a conceptual foundation for future empirical research.