TY - JOUR T1 - The Impact of Choice Overload and Decision Fatigue on Cart Abandonment in Online Shopping TT - Online Alışverişte Aşırı Seçenek Yükü ve Karar Yorgunluğunun Sepeti Terk Etme Üzerindeki Etkisi AU - Özer Canarslan, Nur PY - 2025 DA - December Y2 - 2025 DO - 10.26466/opusjsr.1743550 JF - OPUS Journal of Society Research JO - OPUS TAD PB - İdeal Kent Yayınları WT - DergiPark SN - 2791-9862 SP - 1333 EP - 1348 VL - 22 IS - 6 LA - en AB - This study examines decision-making processes that challenge individuals' cognitive and emotional limits in a digitalized consumption environment from a multidimensional perspective. It is hypothesized that the overload of choices faced by consumers in online shopping is linked to increased decision fatigue, and that this fatigue is associated with a higher likelihood of cart abandonment. The research examines individuals’ internal cognitive responses to environmental stimuli and their behavioral consequences within the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model. In the model, choice overload is considered an external stimulus, decision fatigue an internal organismal response, and cart abandonment a behavioral outcome. In this quantitative study, data were collected through an online survey of 321 participants from Türkiye who had experienced cart abandonment in the last three months. The analysis used partial least squares (PLS-SEM), beginning with an assessment of the measurement model's validity and reliability, followed by the evaluation of hypotheses through the structural model. The findings show that decision fatigue plays a significant mediating role in the relationship between choice overload and cart abandonment behavior. This research offers theoretical and practical contributions in terms of consumer welfare and user experience design by revealing the invisible mental pressures of digital consumption behaviors. KW - choice overload KW - decision fatigue KW - online shopping cart abandonment KW - s-o-r model N2 - Bu çalışma, dijitalleşen tüketim ortamında bireylerin bilişsel ve duygusal sınırlarını zorlayan karar süreçlerini çok boyutlu bir bakış açısıyla ele almaktadır. Çevrimiçi alışverişte tüketicilerin karşılaştığı aşırı seçenek yükünün, zihinsel kaynaklarını tüketerek karar yorgunluğuna yol açtığı; bunun da alışveriş sürecinin tamamlanmamasıyla, yani sepeti terk etme davranışıyla sonuçlandığı varsayılmaktadır. Araştırma, bireyin çevresel uyarıcılara verdiği içsel bilişsel tepkileri ve davranışsal sonuçlarını S-O-R (Uyarıcı–Organizma–Tepki) modeli çerçevesinde ele almaktadır. Modelde, aşırı seçenek yükü dışsal bir uyarıcı; karar yorgunluğu içsel bir organizmal tepki; sepeti terk etme ise davranışsal bir çıktı olarak değerlendirilmiştir. Nicel araştırma yönteminin benimsendiği çalışmada, veriler çevrimiçi anket yoluyla Türkiye’de yaşayan ve son üç ay içinde sepet terk etme deneyimi yaşamış 321 katılımcıdan toplanmıştır. Analiz sürecinde yapısal eşitlik modellemesi (PLS-SEM) metodu kullanılmış; önce ölçüm modelinin geçerliliği ve güvenilirliği test edilmiş, ardından yapısal model üzerinden hipotezler değerlendirilmiştir. Bulgular, karar yorgunluğunun aşırı seçenek yükü ile sepeti terk etme davranışı arasındaki ilişkide anlamlı bir aracı rol üstlendiğini göstermiştir. Araştırma, dijital tüketim davranışlarında görünmeyen zihinsel baskıları açığa çıkararak tüketici refahı ve kullanıcı deneyimi tasarımı açısından hem teorik hem uygulamalı katkılar sunmaktadır. CR - Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Muraven, M., & Tice, D. M. (1998). Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(5), 1252–1265. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.5.1252 CR - Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.2nd ed. CR - Danziger, S., Levav, J., & Avnaim-Pesso, L. (2011). Extraneous factors in judicial decisions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(17), 6889-6892. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1018033108 CR - Ding, Xiaoyan; Zhang, Xin; and Wang, Gaoshan, "Do you Get Tired of Shopping Online? Exploring the Influence of Information Overload on Subjective States towards Purchase Decision" (2017). WHICEB 2017 Proceedings. 7. https://aisel.aisnet.org/whiceb2017/7 CR - Donovan, Robert J. and John R. Rossiter (1982). "Store Atmosphere: An Environmental Psychology Approach." Journal of Retailing, 58(Spring): 34-57. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-4359(94)90037-X CR - Egeln, L. S., & Joseph, J. A. (2012). Shopping cart abandonment in online shopping. Atlantic Marketing Journal, 1(1), 1. https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/amj/vol1/iss1/1 CR - Eppler, M. J., & Mengis, J. (2004). The Concept of Information Overload: A Review of Literature from Organization Science, Accounting, Marketing, MIS, and Related Disciplines. The Information Society, 20(5), 325–344. https://doi.org/10.1080/01972240490507974 CR - Erdil, M. (2018). Factors affecting shopping cart abandonment: Pre-decisional conflict as a mediator. Journal of Management Marketing and Logistics, 5(2), 140-152. https://doi.org/10.17261/Pressacademia.2018.845 CR - Eroglu, S. A., Machleit, K. A., & Davis, L. M. (2001). Atmospheric qualities of online retailing: A conceptual model and implications. Journal of Business Research, Special Issue on Retail Strategy and Consumer Decision Research, 54, 177 – 184. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0148-2963(99)00087-9 CR - Fornell, C and DF Larcker (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 34(2), 161–188. https://doi.org/10.2307/3151312 CR - Garson, G. D. (2016). Partial Least Squares: Regression and Structural Equation Models. Statistical Associates Publishing. CR - Hair, J, B Black, B Babin, R Anderson and R Tatham (2010). Multivariate Data Analysis, 7th edn. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. CR - Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C., & Sarstedt, M. (2017). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLSSEM). SAGE publications, Incorporated. CR - Hair, J. F., Risher, J. J., Sarstedt, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2019). When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. European business review, 31(1), 2-24. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-11-2018-0203 CR - Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2015). A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43, 115-135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-014-0403-8 CR - Hickman Jr, R. L., Pignatiello, G. A., & Tahir, S. (2018). Evaluation of the decisional fatigue scale among surrogate decision makers of the critically ill. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 40(2), 191-208. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193945917723828 CR - Huang, G. H., Korfiatis, N., & Chang, C. T. (2018). Mobile shopping cart abandonment: The roles of conflicts, ambivalence, and hesitation. Journal of Business Research, 85, 165-174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.12.008 CR - Iyengar, S. S., & Lepper, M. R. (2000). When choice is demotivating: Can one desire too much of a good thing? Journal Of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(6), 995. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.79.6.995 CR - Kukar-Kinney, M., & Close, A. G. (2010). The determinants of consumers’ online shopping cart abandonment. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 38, 240-250. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-009-0141-5 CR - Malhotra, N. K. (1982). Information load and consumer decision making. Journal Of Consumer Research, 8(4), 419-430. CR - Mehrabian, A., & Russell, J. A. (1974). An approach to environmental psychology. The MIT Press. CR - Mitchell, V.-W., Walsh, G., & Yamin, M. (2005). Towards a conceptual model of consumer confusion. ACR North American Advances, NA-32, 143–150. http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/9058/volumes/v32/NA-32 CR - Mittal, B. (2023). The psychology of online shopping cart abandonment: a scrutiny of the current research framework and building an improved model of the online shopper journey. Electronic Commerce Research, 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-022-09667-0 CR - Moksony, F. (1999). Small is beautiful. The use and interpretation of R² in social research. Szociológiai Szemle, Special Issue, 130–138. CR - Natal, G., & Saltzman, B. (2022). Decisions, decisions, decisions: decision fatigue in academic librarianship. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 48(1), 102476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2021.102476 CR - Ozili, P. K. (2023). The Acceptable R-square in Empirical Modelling for Social Science Research. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4128165 CR - Öztürk, E., & Şahin, A. (2020). Tüketicilerin Karar Verme Tarzlarinin Sanal Alişveriş Sepetini Terk Etmelerine Etkisi. Çukurova Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 29(3), 70-90. https://doi.org/10.35379/cusosbil.626470 CR - Park, C., & Lee, T. M. (2009). Information direction, website reputation and eWOM effect: A moderating role of product type. Journal of Business research, 62(1), 61-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2007.11.017 CR - Pignatiello, G. A., Martin, R. J., & Hickman Jr, R. L. (2020). Decision fatigue: A conceptual analysis. Journal Of Health Psychology, 25(1), 123-135. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105318763510 CR - Roy, R., & Shaikh, A. (2024). The impact of online consumer review confusion on online shopping cart abandonment: A mediating role of perceived risk and moderating role of mindfulness. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 81, 103941. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2024.103941 CR - Sarıakçalı, N., & Kırpık, G. (2022). Hickman’ın Karar Yorgunluğu Ölçeği’nin Türkçe’ye Uyarlanması ve Covid-19 Sürecinde Bir Araştırma: Türkiye Örneği. Abant Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 22(3), 1171-1185. https://doi.org/10.11616/asbi.1146908 CR - Schwartz, B. (2004). The paradox of choice: Why more is less. New York: HarperCollins. CR - Sproles, G. B., & Kendall, E. L. (1986). A methodology for profiling consumers' decision‐making styles. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 20(2), 267-279. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6606.1986.tb00382.x CR - Temel, E. (2023). Kafam Çok Karıştı! Sonra Bakarız… Online Alışveriş Sepetini Terk Etme Davranışının Oluşumunda Seçim Paradoksu, Duygusal Kararsızlık ve Tereddüt. İnternet Uygulamaları ve Yönetimi Dergisi, 14(2), 26-53. https://doi.org/10.34231/iuyd.1331374 CR - Vohs, K. D., Baumeister, R. F., Schmeichel, B. J., Twenge, J. M., Nelson, N. M., & Tice, D. M. (2018). Making choices impairs subsequent self-control: A limited-resource account of decision making, self-regulation, and active initiative. In Self-regulation and self-control (pp. 45-77). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.94.5.883 CR - Walsh, G., Hennig-Thurau, T., & Mitchell, V. W. (2007). Consumer confusion proneness: scale development, validation, and application. Journal of Marketing Management, 23(7-8), 697-721. https://doi.org/10.1362/026725707X230009 CR - Wang, S., Cheah, J. H., & Lim, X. J. (2022). Online shopping cart abandonment: A review and research agenda. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 47(2), 453-473. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-01-2018-2510 CR - Wang, Y., Mo, D. Y., & Ho, G. T. (2023). How Choice Fatigue Affects Consumer Decision Making in Online Shopping. In 2023 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM) (pp. 0128-0132). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/IEEM58616.2023.10406866 CR - Wilson, W., & Ndoro, T. T. R. (2023). Drivers of online shopping cart abandonment in South Africa. Expert Journal of Marketing, 11(1). https://marketing.expertjournals.com/ark:/16759/EJM_1106ndoro67-77.pdf UR - https://doi.org/10.26466/opusjsr.1743550 L1 - https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/5059665 ER -