Psychological situations, dual-process evaluation and purchase decision-making in cross-border e-commerce

Purchase decision-making in cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) is inherently complex and dynamic, largely due to consumer situations shaped by geographical, cultural, institutional, linguistic, and social separation between sellers and buyers. This study aims to unpack the mechanisms underlying consumers’ purchase decision-making in CBEC through a situationist perspective.

Drawing on the stimulus–organism–response model, this study integrates five aspects of consumer psychological situations—website design, interactivity, tolerance to wait, purchase goal, and habit—as stimuli; dual-process evaluation (cognitive and affective satisfaction) as the organism; and purchase intention as the response. Survey data were collected from 417 experienced Taiwanese customers of a large U.S.-based CBEC platform and analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The results confirm the consumer relevance of the identified situational factors in CBEC purchase decisions and reveal the complementary yet distinct mediating roles of cognitive and affective satisfaction in linking these situational influences to purchase intention. Notably, cognitive satisfaction exhibits a stronger overall mediating effect than does affective satisfaction in both informative–aesthetic and task-oriented situations.

This study proposes a situational framework that offers new theoretical insights into the complexity and dynamism of consumer purchase decision-making in CBEC. The findings offer actionable implications for international e-commerce management and digital marketing by highlighting how consumer psychological situations can be strategically managed to stimulate purchase intentions.

Although prior research acknowledges the importance of consumer situations, their specific roles in CBEC decision-making remain underexplored. By adopting a situationist lens, this study offers an explanation for inconsistent findings in the literature and advances understanding of CBEC purchase behavior.