THE ROLE OF WORD-OF-MOUTH AS A MODERATOR IN INFLUENCING THE ADOPTION OF ONLINE PHARMACY IN SAUDI ARABIA

Abstract

There is a low level of adoption and acceptance of online pharmacies in Saudi Arabia; only very limited Saudi Citizens are aware of the existence of online pharmacies and even fewer number of Saudis accessed and bought medicines using online pharmacy systems. Therefore, the online pharmacy business is facing a great challenge in adaption in Saudi Arabia; despite many attempts on using web applications that mimic the actual pharmacy operations; such attempts still preliminary and need more theoretical modelling and practical enhancements to trust, reliability, efficacy, and other factors of success. Thus, the primary objective of the present study is to investigate the factors influencing the adoption of online pharmacy in Saudi Arabia: the moderating role of word-of-mouth. This study carries out under the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Usage of Technology–2 (UTAUT-2) to examine the perception of customers on adapting online pharmacy. The most important factors such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence, facilitating condition, habit, and hedonic motivation were considered from existing literature to observe their influence on adopting online pharmacy among Saudis. To test the proposed model, 425 cases were gathered from individuals using Purposive sampling technique to be used to collect the data. The data were analyzed using SPSS and Structural Equation Modeling-Smart-PLS. Thus, the findings suggested that (the perceived expectancy, the effort expectancy, social influences, the facilitating condition, the hedonic motivation, trust in technology, as well as technological awareness) significantly influence behavioural intention. On the other hand, habit and perceived risk showed insignificant results. Regarding, the direct effect of behavioural intention on the online pharmacy adaption indicated a positive relationship. Most importantly, the moderation role of recommendation words of mouth was found to strengthen the positive relationship between behavioural intention and the online pharmacy adaption such as that the relationship is stronger when recommendation words of mouth are high than low. A detailed discussion of the findings, contribution, conclusion, recommendations, and future research directives to be added at the end of the report.