Psychological Antecedents of Digital Purchase Decisions: A Structural Model of Cognitive Processing, Perceived Risk, and Trust Among Online Consumers

Abstract

The digital marketplace has transformed how consumers evaluate information and make purchase decisions, elevating the role of psychological factors in online consumption. This study examines how three psychological constructs cognitive processing, perceived risk, and trust jointly shape online purchase decision-making. Grounded in consumer psychology and behavioural decision-making theory, the study follows a quantitative, descriptive-analytical design. Data are collected via a structured questionnaire administered to active online consumers and analysed using reliability testing, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modelling (SEM).
Cognitive processing is expected to positively affect purchase decisions, perceived risk to exert a negative effect, and trust to positively influence decisions while partially mediating the negative effect of perceived risk. (Final findings must be reported once the collected dataset is analysed.) The reliance on convenience sampling and self-reported data limits generalisability; the proposed model nonetheless offers a unified lens for integrating cognitive, risk, and trust-based explanations of digital consumer behaviour. The findings offer e-commerce platforms and digital marketers concrete levers — trust signals, risk-reduction cues, and decision-support tools — for improving conversion and customer confidence.