Consumer Behaviour of University Students towards Online Shopping - Dissertation Example

Electronic commerce is widely considered to be one of the most fundamental components of Internet usage. Online shopping has also been noted as third of the most popular activities conducted through the Internet, after web browsing and messaging. Online shopping has gained much considerable attention compared to common Internet activities, such as obtaining news or entertainment information (Foucault, and Scheufele 2002). In 2001, almost 50% of Internet users made their purchases through online shopping with which more than half of these reported that they typically purchase 1 to 10 online goods annually.

Establishing efficient interactions between consumers and websites has become an important concern for companies who utilize electronic commerce as a means of increasing the reliability of their online transactions.Understanding the needs of consumers along with the factors that can influence their intentions, attitudes, and behaviors with regards to online shopping is of great importance to establish efficient transactions. It is most likely that consumers will interact with and make use of websites in various ways, thereby having various perceptions.

For instance, Cheung and Lee (2003) pointed out that the unique characteristics of an individual can influence behavior towards online shopping. Wu (2005) also asserted that the goals of consumers are strongly associated with their intentions of purchasing and revisiting the website. Because consumer characteristics are essential and are used to describe the consumer, such as demographic characteristics (e.g. culture, gender, age), these will highly influence their behavior and attitudes towards exchanging business through the Internet (Wolfinbarger and Gilly 2001).

Specifically, Mohd Suki et al. (2006) reported that Internet shoppers in developing countries are often young, have received a high level of education, and are wealthy. In addition, distinct personalities among consumers strongly affect their perceptions of their own online shopping behaviors, particularly the utilitarian and hedonic orientations. Previous studies, such as that of Muylle, Moenaert, and Despontin (2004), have pointed out the advantages of online stores that are characterized by the thoughts and beliefs of consumers with regards to the possible offers of an online store, such as increased convenience and reliability.

These perceived benefits have been shown to persuade individuals in making their purchases online, hence the need to understand as well the ways with which consumers perceive the advantages of an online store as this can influence purchase decision making. Online shopping behavior that has also been referred to as online buying behavior is characterized by the process of buying goods and services by means of the Internet (Monsuwe, Dellaert, and De Ruyter 2004). Such a process is comprised of a number of steps that are similar to those of conventional shopping behavior.

As the online shopping process is followed, consumers identify their need for a particular product or service, hence using the Internet and seeking information to address such need. However, instead of conducting an active search, potential consumers, at times, pay more attention to information about the goods and services that are related to their felt needs (Rohm and Swaminathan 2004).