Researching Behaviors of Internet Shopping - Research Paper Example

Researching behaviors of internet shopping Affiliation with more information about affiliation, research grants, conflict of interest and how to contact Outline: 1. Introduction 2. Literature review 3. Research problem 4. Research design 5. Research questions 6. Research methods 7. Deficiencies in research Abstract: Internet shopping is one of the most advanced shopping methods which is used in the present day and it has become highly popular. Internet shopping is highly recognized and is a highly controversial topic and therefore needs research in order to state clearly whether internet shopping is beneficial or not. This study attempts to consider factors of population like gender, the local area, the present mode of shopping, the current and future trends in internet shopping etc. Internet shopping is highly prevalent in the US and is one of the key shopping facilities which need to be exploited. For this research a lot of literature has been analyzed in depth and quantitative research design will be used for the purpose of conducting this research. This research will be conducted with full authenticity and all areas regarding the current and future trends in internet shopping will be investigated. RESEARCHING BEHAVIORS OF INTERNET SHOPPING Introduction: The internet has become accessible to public for over twenty years by now. It came upon the scene and has exploded in popularity like few things have ever done in the history of mankind. Since the introduction of the World Wide Web, its value in the area of commerce as well as human life has been growing. Skeptical at first, online consumerism has steadily increased and, along with it, has come some positive and negative behaviors. Online business has been the most distinctive feature in this internet era. The internet is used by all types of people on a daily basis for multiple purposes. Internet shopping is one of the most accepted forms internet activities after email and browsing. Online business is the process of buying products through the internet. This has become the easiest way to purchase various items people want, without physically visiting the shop. When the customers wish to buy a product or service, they will explore it online and further make an evaluative learning about the product. This online shopping allows the consumers to search for information about the product and its prices. It opens a vast opportunities for the shoppers to study the product details. There will be several collections of items from books, prints, games to electronics, household materials, etc. They will be better attracted by learning the facts about the products they intended to buy. Then they assess other options available and lastly make a decision to buy the one that most suits their needs, considering all aspects of the product. After, this, the money transaction is done and then the materials are provided. The instances of people who make online shopping are increasing nowadays. The knowledge about the internet and computer, the educational stage and returns are some of the dominant predictors of the phenomenon of internet shopping. Better online corporations recognize the requirements of customers and they offer various products that can catch the attention of shoppers and thereby the consumers. “The main advantage of online shopping is that it allows people to browse through many items and categories without leaving their house, to compare the prices of as many shops as they want, and also to order as many items as they can afford without having to worry about how they will transport them, because the online shopping websites also deliver the things to the buyers home.” (Fabiola, 2010, para.3). The most important difference from the ordinary business to the online shopping is there is no pressure on the sellers or buyers. There will be lot of shelf space in online business and customers can easily choose products that satisfy them. Using the internet tools available, customers can compare the goods and their overheads and various characteristics to formulate a better verdict and there is no much effort needed for all these activities. Internet itself provides different choices to purchase the products. Customers basically are the rely on the aspect of products quality. This increases its demand in the online market and if the websites furnish exact details, it will capture the attention of the customers. Despite the benefits that come with online shopping, it also ails from certain disadvantages. “Identity theft is the most key worry for those who fear about online shopping. But threat of identity theft with online shopping through a secure website is comparatively little. Most highly regarded online retailers will give a secure website for shoppers. If the client is unsure about the security there is always a choice of calling customer service to leave the order. One more worry is about dealing with returns.” (Advantages and disadvantages of online shopping, 2008, para.3). However, if one takes proper precautions, the disadvantages can easily be overcome. Literature review: The purpose of this research is to understand how individual behaviors affect online consumerism. According to Lars Perner, consumer behavior is defined as “the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society” (2008). By identifying the behaviors that support online buying and those which do not, companies can increase profits and will ensure their share of market, as electronic trade may well outgrow traditional buying in not so distant future. There are many variables to consider when outlining the behaviors of internet consumerism. According to Delia Vazquez and Xingang XU, online consumer behavior is affected by three main things: “attitudes towards online shopping, motivations, such as price, convenience and hedonic motivations, and online information search.” (2009, p.409). If a person is positive about the experience of shopping on the internet, then that attitude will affect the outcome of purchasing online. Also online consumers feel more in control when they can search with relative ease obtain better, prices and special offers. This price comparison is in itself, a great motivational tool as buyers feel that they will get the best bargain. The fact that more information is available online concerning products also allows the consumer to feel that better information, will lead to better decision making on their part. Other variables to consider in online consumer behavior are online experience, sexual preference, and the primary place in which the internet is accessed. A study performed by Cuneyt Koyuncu and Donald Lien, research shows that all three of these had “large statistically significant effects on online shopping” (2003, p.721). They conclude that consumers, who had more experienced with the internet, feel more comfortable navigating it. Consumers also feel safer in using the internet at their residences or on the job, rather than on community computers. Sexual preference, according to their research, shows that bisexuals bought online in greater numbers than heterosexuals. This behavior may have resulted because of the bias existing in the society against this portion of the population. The survey which supports this data has been conducted by Georgia Institute of Technology. Unlike shopping in a store on-site, making purchases online has other positive aspects associated with it. According to Anthony Ammeter and Donghyun Kim, “one of the most important traits of online shopping is bidirectional communication capability” (2008, p.9). They go on further to explain how online shoppers have greater potential to communicate with those they are buying from. This communication can take place in such ways as bulletin boards and e-mails. This gives consumers a perception of personalized assistance. In contrast to this scenario, is the fact that vendors are losing their ability to maintain a high level of customer service on-site. The employees many shoppers encounter seem more to be filling a spot than actively engaging in helping consumers with purchases or becoming knowledgeable about what they sell. Online consumerism is not however without its limitations. Set forth in the research by Janda Swinder were some concerns. She states in her article that there were “four consumer online concerns, identified as privacy, security, credibility, and virtual experience” (2008, p. 339). Each of these factors is considered when people think of making online purchases. All of them have all shown to have negative effects on consumer purchasing. It is relatively simple for information to be collected from consumers whenever log onto a site or make a purchase. Some information, such as name, address, phone number and credit card numbers are gathered through direct questioning and other information are gathered through tracking software. This transference of information makes some consumers nervous and they do not want to take any risk. Another point to consider is the credibility of the person or business one is dealing with. Questions arise about trust, description of merchandise, warranties, shipment, returns, and follow-up correspondence. Motivators of this type of behavior include the very key ingredients of online shopping. These motivations are the following: items may be purchased at any time, shopping can be done frequently, a broader variety exists, and also purchases may be brought in private. The overall findings concluded, as the researchers had hypothesized that compulsive buying strongly affects consumers’ decisions to make purchases using the internet. Research group acknowledges that one of its weaknesses is the sample population of consumers, who are relatively wealthy women that frequented expensive internet retailers. I believe, as they do, that this assessment represents a bias against the general population. The research also only tracked the behavior of women. Compulsive online consumer behaviors are not gender specific and, therefore, this research, in my opinion, is somewhat flawed. Another weakness noted in this study is the amount of people surveyed in the first example with a total number of a little over 300. I do, however, think that one of this study’s greatest strengths is broad base of surveys conducted (2009). There are differences in online behaviors as identified by gender in the research of Janda (2008). Main differences account for shopping behaviors, attitudes to technology, and processing of information. Women are found to be more vulnerable to risks and perceived risks than male population. It is also found that women used the internet less often and are less confident about their online ability. Females are found to enjoy the experience of shopping than men. Women lean more toward the sites which provided information and education about items. According to Pablo Palatnik, in an internet survey of 100 people, the amount of websites in which consumers brought from was divided into three divisions. Standard websites garnered 64.3% of sites where consumers shop most, followed by auction based websites which accounted for 32.1% of the share. The final category, with 3.6% was listed in the category of search engines (2008). Because online participation is increasing in the way of auctions, new studies are highlighting this venue. In research done by Christy Crutsinger, Sua Jeon, and Haejung Kim, identified seven motivators of online auction participants. These motivators were, “search costs, product assortment and price, brand equity, transaction costs, customer orientation, perceived quality, and social interaction” (2008, p.31). Never before has there been such a vehicle for buying and selling merchandise and services. Online Auctions and similar tactics are tapping into this relatively new trend. More than 1,660 sites have been procured and are available to cater to this type of consumers. According to this research, the following results show that “search costs were the most important motivation followed by product assortment/price, brand equity, transaction costs, customer orientation, and perceived quality. Social interaction was the least important motivation associated with online auction behaviors” (2008, p. 36). A more detailed research is called for in order to fully understand online consumer behavior so far it relates to auctions. Another aspect of online consumer behavior that needs to be considered is something often overlooked, relating to aesthetics. Researchers have found that consumer satisfaction enhanced by web design contributes in a positive way to online consumer behavior. Yuan Gao believes that a crucial aspect of online behavior has to deal with perception. He defines perception as, “a three step process that involves selection, organization, and interpretation of the information received in a meaningful way” (2005, 183). If the perception is positive to what is seen and read online, the overall experience also tends to be positive. According to the article, “Does Gender Moderate the Effect of Online Concerns on Purchase Likelihood,” web site aesthetics which include, “ease of use, design, and personalization” are important. The attractiveness and organization of the website sends an instant message to the consumers and influences them in issues of trust and confidence. It also enhances customer satisfaction.” (2008, p.341). A major part of aesthetics is how information is arranged on the web page. Too much information can overwhelm a consumer while too little can decrease consumer’s confidence. J M Stibel conducted research which includes this topic of interest. Tests performed by him showed how online information presentation fails in many ways. His results shows clearly that “category information presented in an alphabetical list allowed consumers the ability to navigate to their destination much faster than when they were asked to traverse a hyperlinked hierarchy” (2005, p.149). This implies an idea that simplicity is the key. Consumers want to navigate with the least amount of effort. Clarity in the web design gives consumers the confidence in their ability to do surf across the site. This research led Stibel to identify a mental model of consumers, which concluds that people wanted information presented in concise and understanding ways. The ability of online businesses to do this is imperative because it leads to a “more intuitive and compelling online experience (2005, p.149). There is a sub-group of online consumers that have been recently identified. This group has been termed, the “net-geners or net generation.” This term is defined as, “ndividuals born between 1977 and 1997 and is the first generation to grow up surrounded by digital media and the Internet” (Donghyun Kim & Anthony Ammeter 2008, p.7). This group understands technology and is comfortable with internet commerce. The net-geners are the first generation that will actually surpass the baby-boomers in population size. Because of their knowledge and their numbers, it is safe to say that business as usual is in for a transformation. As the elderly portion of our population die and new individuals are born, this new way of doing business will be the reality that is known throughout life. The sky is indeed the limit in the progression of online consumerism. References Advantages and disadvantages of online shopping. (2008). Articles Base. Retrieved November 12, 2010, from http://www.articlesbase.com/shopping-articles/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-online-shopping-409165.html Cuneyt, K., & Donald, L. (2003). (Pablo, 2008) E-Commerce and Consumer’s Purchasing Behavior (Volume 35, Issue 6 ed.). Applied Economics. Retrieved from http://www.informaworld.com Donghyun, K., & Ammeter Anthony P. (2008). Examining Shifts in Online Purchasing Behavior: Decoding the Net Generation. The Dream Catchers Group, LLC 2007. Retrieved from http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1559955801.html (Jeon, Crutsinger, & Kim, pp. 31-40) Fabiola, G. (2010). The many advantages and online shopping. Ezine Articles. Retrieved November 12, 2010, from http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Many-Advantages-And-Benefits-Of-Online-Shopping&id=337891 Janda, S. (2008). Does Gender Moderate the Effects of Online Concerns on Purchase Likelihood? (pp. 339-358). Volume 7, Issue 3: Journal of Internet Commerce. Retrieved from http://www.informaworld.com Jeon, S., Crutsinger, C., & Kim, H. (2008). Exploring Online Auction Behaviors and Motivations (Cuneyt & Donald, 2003) (pp. 31-40). 2: Journal of Family and Consumer Science. Retrieved from http://www.highbeam.com Kukar-Kinney, M., Ridway, N. M., & Monroe, K. (2009 (Perner, 2008). The Relationship Between Consumers Tendencies to Buy on the Internet Compulsively and Their Motivations to Shop and Buy on the internet (Volume 85, Issue 3 ed., pp. 298-307). Journal of Retailing. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com Pablo, P. (2008). (Kukar-Kinney & Their Motivations to Shop and Buy on the Internet, 2009, pp. 298-307) Online Shopping Consumer Behavior Research Report. Retrieved from http://www.palatnikfactor.com Perner, L. (2008). (J. & Stibel, 2005, pp. 147-150 (4)) Consumer Behavior: The Psychology of Marketing. Retrieved from http://www.consumerspyschologist.com Stibel, J. M. (2005). Mental Models and online Consumer behavior: Behavior and Information (Volume 24, Number 2 ed., pp. 147-150 (4). Behavior and Information Technology: Taylor and Francis Ltd. Retrieved from http://www.ingentaconnet.com Read More