Exploring How Intangibility Affects Perceived Risk

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Zhiyong Yang, Professor and Department Head (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: Studies have found that product intangibility increases consumers’ perception of risk. However, most of these studies measured the intangibility and perceived risk constructs unidimensionally. The primary objective of this article is to examine the effects of the multiple dimensions of intangibility on the various types of risk. An empirical investigation revealed that, of the three intangibility dimensions, physical intangibility was the least correlated to the consumers’ perception of risk in most situations, whereas mental intangibility and generality had a great impact on most dimensions of perceived risk. However, there were variations in the strength of the relationships between the intangibility dimensions and the risk dimensions when contrasting goods and services, generic products and brands, and online and offline purchase contexts. Theoretical and practical contributions to the service marketing literature are discussed.

Additional Information

Publication
Journal of Service Research, 6(4), 373– 389
Language: English
Date: 2004
Keywords
intangibility, perceived risk, services marketing, structural equation modeling

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