Consumer's Attitude towards Online Purchasing As Opposed To In-Store Purchasing

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my lecturer who has always shown confidence in me. He has offered his patience, remarks, propositions and understanding. Here I would also like to mention my parents who have always believed in me for all my hard work. My family, including my parents, brother and sister have endlessly supported me during my life and academics. This has helped me in making positive decisions for my life. I would also mention my peers and co-workers and appreciate their collaboration and expert advice on every circumstance. I am also grateful towards my University and my Department, the administrators, faculty members and fellow students for their support throughout this study.

DECLARATION

I declare that the material stated in this dissertation/thesis is original and does not present work of any other scholar or research study conducted in the past. Material in this study is not partially or completely published elsewhere and collected only for the purpose of this study. I also acknowledge that I have complete understanding of the requirements, guidelines, regulations and procedures of the University with respect to the endowment of higher education degree and my research work. Here, I would also like to take the opportunity to declare that I have almost exclusively followed the requirements, guidelines, regulations and procedures of the University regarding this research study.

I certify that the work presented in the dissertation is my own unless referenced

Signature: ____________________

Date: ___________________

ABSTRACT

The Internet has become the fastest growing medium of all time and as customers move online, so do advertisers. Marketing professionals have learned the use of online marketing tools in order to move closer to the customers while adding value to products. This online medium provides several marketing communications channels, informing customers of e.g. new products and services. Companies are moving online media to the core of their programs because of how often consumers use social media for information-gathering purposes. Consumers often use social media to learn about a company, its products, and/or customer care issues. In fact, more than 70% of U.K. consumers use social media to engage in customer care research, read about other consumer opinions, and share their own experiences. Respondents to a 2008 survey state that they use interactive tools such as search engines, online rating systems, and discussion forums to learn about a product or company, in particular to learn about the customer care offered. As a result, U.K. companies are adopting social media tools at a "tremendous speed". The purpose of this study is to analyse the concept of online shopping and explore the perception of consumers regarding online shopping as compared to traditional shopping.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

LIST OF FIGURESVII

LIST OF TABLESVIII

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background of the Study1

Research Objectives3

Structure of the thesis3

Chapter I: Introduction3

Chapter II: Literature Review3

Chapter III: Methodology4

Chapter IV: Analysis and Discussion4

Chapter V: Conclusion and Recommendation4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW6

Consumer Behaviour Theories6

Online Consumers8

Online Purchasing and Consumer Behaviour8

Current Trends in Online Shopping10

Rapid growth of e-commerce's share of total retail sales10

Continued growth ...