A cross-cultural investigation on second-hand online shopping behaviour

The advent of Internet facilitated the emergence of sustainable consumption where consumers can easily buy second-hand products through websites or applications. As a cross-cultural study, this research aims to investigate under what circumstances customers buy second-hand products through online environment. A fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) was used on a set of factors by seven marketing professors to rank the most important variables (based on literature review) associated with second-hand online shopping behavior from which price, brand nostalgia, eco-consciousness, need for uniqueness, and brand involvement were identified. Furthermore, to examine the customers’ perspective towards the extracted factors, this study used a survey approach from a sample of 261 Malaysian and 317 French online shoppers. Structural equation modelling was applied to assess the measurement and structural models. While price, eco-consciousness, and brand involvement are found as the main factors conducive to second-hand online shopping amongst Malaysians, the results of French sample indicate that price, need for uniqueness, and brand involvement are the most significant variables. The results also imply that the sense of nostalgia is not relevant to second-hand online shopping in both cultural settings.