The Influence of External Contextual Cues on Consumers’ Cross-Border Online Purchase Intentions: A Stimulus-Organism-Response Perspective with Perceived Value Mediation

Abstract

Facilitating consumers’ online shopping behavior constitutes a critical issue for the sustainable development of cross-border e-commerce. Given that existing research has yet to adequately examine the influence of external contextual cues and perceived value on consumers’ cross-border online purchase intentions, this study employs literature induction to identify four key external contextual cues affecting purchase intentions: online promotion cues, content marketing cues, personalized recommendation cues, and social review cues. On this basis, a research framework grounded in the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) model is proposed. Drawing on data from 462 questionnaires, this study analyzes the effects of introducing these four cues into cross-border online shopping contexts on consumers’ purchase intentions, and further examines the mediating roles of perceived functional value and perceived emotional value. The empirical results indicate that all four external contextual cues positively influence consumers’ purchase intentions, with perceived functional value and perceived emotional value serving as significant mediators in these relationships.