Online Promotion as a Moderator of Perceived Value and Purchase Intention in Online Shopping: A Preliminary SOR-Based Conceptual Study

HRMARS - With the rapid growth of online shopping in the United States, particularly on platforms such as Amazon.com, e-commerce retailers are increasingly focusing on strategies to enhance consumers’ perceived value and online purchase intention. Therefore, this study proposes that key marketing factors, namely brand, perceived price, perceived risk, and content quality, can significantly influence consumers’ purchase intention through perceived value, while online promotion is introduced as a moderating variable that strengthens the relationship between perceived value and purchase intention. In this study, these factors are conceptualized as multidimensional stimuli, where perceived price and perceived risk represent cost-related cues, while online promotion and content quality represent marketing communication stimuli, all guided by the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S-O-R) model. Specifically, this research extends the S-O-R framework by positioning perceived value as the core organism that mediates the relationship between external marketing stimuli and online purchase intention. At the same time, online promotion is introduced as a moderating variable that strengthens the relationship between perceived value and purchase intention by enhancing perceived benefits and creating urgency in decision-making. This study aims to provide a clearer understanding of how different e-commerce stimuli interact to shape consumer evaluations and behavioural responses in the context of Amazon.com online shopping. The findings are expected to offer valuable insights for e-commerce platforms, digital marketers, and online sellers in designing more effective marketing strategies that enhance perceived value and ultimately improve consumers’ purchase intention in highly competitive online environments.