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

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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

ABSTRACTii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background of the Study1

Research Objectives3

Structure of the thesis3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW4

Consumer Behaviour Theories4

Online Consumers6

Online Purchasing and Consumer Behaviour6

Current Trends in Online Shopping8

Rapid growth of e-commerce's share of total retail sales8

Continued growth of online sales volume8

Increasing number of people switching to online retailing8

Increasing demand in web sites with customer services10

Impersonalisation and Failures of Online Shopping or Purchasing10

Consumer Perception and Behaviour Regarding Online Shopping12

Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)14

Perception of Ease of Use15

Perceived Usefulness16

REFERENCES19

APPENDIX23

Appendix A: Consent form23

Appendix B: Questionnaire Survey24

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

The internet is an instrument that can be used for various purposes. In recent times, there has been an intense use of the internet in the realm of business, especially marketing. The industries are capable of benefiting extremely from the use of the internet, including various companies in the computer industry that are keen on marketing their services to a wider range of people also consumer and client can get the benefits to decrease the cost by using internet. Multimedia systems are being developed for a surprising and ever increasing number of applications (Jayawardhena, Wright and Dennis 2007, p. 515).

Even with these advancements, Internet marketing, sometimes called digital or interactive marketing, remains in its infancy. That will probably not remain for long. With the new tools and media being developed, advertisers will find more cost effective ways of reaching their potential audiences (Jayawardhena, Wright and Dennis 2007, p. 515). To attract these potential audiences, websites and search engines will find new ways of attracting viewers. In the process, they will create “new” forms of providing information and entertainment, altering the way people uses their leisure time, more than the Net already has. Will it ever become the dominant form of ...