The Impact of culture and Lifestyle on Saudi customer's behavior towards online shopping

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.

DECLARATION

I [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

Abstract

This thesis is based on the qualitative and the quantitative research methods with the help of the primary and the secondary data complied to find out the impacts of Impact of culture and Lifestyle on Saudi customer's behavior towards online shopping. The online shopping industry of Saudi Arabia is no as vibrant as in many western countries. One of the important factor that has been the reason for the hindrance and the lesser use of the online shopping methods. The culture and the lifestyle of Saudi Arabia are different as compared to other Muslim countries. Being one of the most countries and the centre of the Muslim activities, it has many trends and culture that are different from many other region of the world. There are many variables like education, gender, religion, lifestyle and more precisely the culture of the country that affect the online shopping industry to the most. This dissertation comprises of the systematic method that was carried out in order to answer the research question. The research question is centrally comprises of few parts. The quantitative search is carried out in order to gather the statistics and the demographics regarding the online industry trends. The methodology adopted is the mixed method research, that is, qualitative as well as quantitative method. It has been concluded with the help of the literature reviews and the quantitative data, the impact the culture and the lifestyle of the people has made on the online shopping industry.

Table of contents

Acknowledgementii

Declarationiii

abstractiv

1.1background of the study1

1.2problem statement2

1.3objectives of the research project4

1.4rationale of the study4

1.5significance of the study6

1.6research questions8

chapter 2: literature review9

2.1introduction9

2.2background of the topic9

2.3e-commerce or online shopping11

2.4relevance and significance11

2.5defining online business and shopping12

2.6impacts of online shopping12

a.Culture15

b.Approach to the society regarding culture17

c.Culture-free model18

d.Effects of culture on online shopping18

e.Individualism (idv)20

f.Uncertainty avoidance (uai)21

g.Culture and the reaction of the society on the online shopping22

h.Researches and experimentations22

i.Cultural influence model by straub, et al. (2001)23

j.Relationship between life style and gender24

k.Lifestyle and the socio economic status29

l.Education31

2.7shopping orientation34

2.8motivation to shop online35

2.9attitude towards shopping online36

2.10online shopping experience37

a)perceived risks38

b)financial risk38

c)product risk39

d)convenience risk39

e)non-delivery risk41

2.11demographics41

chapter 3: research methodology42

3.1research design42

3.2data analysis methods43

3.3research approach: deductive43

3.4research strategy44

3.5research question45

3.6population and sampling46

population46

sampling frame46

3.7data collection methods and tools47

3.8qualitative data methods48

3.9quantitative data methods50

chapter # 4: discussion and analysis52

4.1introduction52

4.2economic status of saudi arabia52

4.3culture of saudi arabia54

4.4gender segregated society54

4.5rate of literacy, gender and education55

chapter # 5: quantitative findings56

5.1demography of data56

5.2highest level of education achieved59

5.3crosstabs60

i.Gender * select the highest level of education achieved?60

ii.Gender * years of using the internet61

iii.Gender * frequency of online purchases63

iv.Gender * what was your average spend on your last purchase online?64

v.Age group * years of using the internet65

vi.Age group * daily usage of personal computer66

vii.Age group * frequency of online purchases67

5.4motives for online shopping68

i.It is convenient68

ii.It saves time69

iii.Online shopping because it offers lower prices70

iv.Ease of online buying ...