Consumers’ rational attitudes toward online shopping improve their satisfaction through trust in online shopping platforms

Currently, online shopping has become one of the main consumption methods, with online retail sales reaching 13.79 trillion yuan in 2022. However, not all consumers are satisfied with their online shopping experiences. This study proposed that consumers’ rational attitudes toward online shopping were an important influencing factor for their satisfaction. Additionally, consumers’ trust in online shopping platforms is a mediator in the above relationship. Two studies were conducted to investigate this proposition. In Study 1, participants’ rational attitudes were first operationalized by a procedure to approve their decisions. Then, their rationality, trust in online shopping platforms, and consumer satisfaction were measured. It was found that participants’ rational attitudes improved their satisfaction through the mediating role of their trust in online shopping platforms. Study 2 further examined the hypotheses by providing participants with either budget alert information or no information. The results showed that such alert information increased participants’ rationality and supported the findings of Study 1. Based on the results, rational consumers are more likely to be satisfied with their consumption, and trust is a key mechanism. Therefore, online shopping platforms and retailers should make efforts to improve consumers’ rational attitudes and protect their rights and interests to obtain consumers’ trust and a win‒win result between themselves and consumers.