Abstract
Consumers actively purchase impulse goods and shopping goods using the Internet, but for specialty goods, they primarily use the Internet at the level of information search. In particular, consumers frequently hesitate to purchase specialty goods which require an extended decision-making process with a high level of buying intent and pre-thought, and tend to make the final purchase at a store. Sometimes, consumers experience cognitive dissonance and feel discomfort after purchasing. This paper asserts that it is possible to use information and communication technology (ICT) to aid the purchasing decisions of consumers, by decreasing or eliminating the hesitation and cognitive dissonance experienced by consumers in the process of making a purchasing decision.
