The Role of Sensemaking of Risk and Relationship to Technology in the Internet Shopping Experience

This study aims to understand the process of constructing meanings around risk and the relationship to technology and to interpret the impact of these meanings on consumers’ online purchasing behavior. Using a phenomenological framework, we investigate the lived experiences of Tunisian consumers in the context of online shopping, and attempt to answer the following central question: “How do the sensemaking of risk and the relationship to technology shape the behavior of online consumers? Data were collected through twenty-three in-depth interviews with consumers. An abductive approach with thematic analysis was used as the method of analysis. The results show that consumers’ online purchasing behavior is often conditioned by the set of meanings that these consumers mutually co-construct in a socio-cultural environment. This study contributes to the customer experience literature by helping managers understand the different behaviors of online shoppers and the factors that affect them. It may also be useful to companies looking to strengthen their digital marketing strategies by enabling them to examine the experiences and behaviors identified by study participants.