Quality, value, satisfaction, trust, a

perceived physical intangibility, mental intangibility, and generality for services such is not the case for
goods. Future research should consider how the Internet will affect consumers’ perceived intangibility of
‘virtual’ goods/services be they branded or not. Brands also reduce consumers’ perceived evaluation
difficulty and risk, especially for goods/services with high perceived physical intangibility and generality.
Since mental intangibility associated with branded goods/services only helps reduce perceived social risk,
future research should explore whether other factors influence mental intangibility. While brands reduce
the moderating effects of knowledge and involvement, this finding does not hold true in all cases. Future
research should thus explore the reasons behind these results by studying a varied array of goods/services.
Knowledge and involvement also directly affect consumer evaluation difficulty and perceived risk and act
as moderators. Future research should consider the moderating effects of knowledge and involvement
while controlling for online offerings (i.e., online goods/services held as covariates).
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