How Does Online Shopping Affect Women's Attitude towards Purchasing Fashion Products - Research Paper Example

Name: Professor’s name: Course: Date of submission: Research proposal Working Title “How does online shopping affect women’s attitude towards purchasing fashion products” Introduction to the Research Topic and Research Question Online shopping is one of the basic sets of ecommerce which have become part and parcel of the modern man’s lifestyle. While online stores still face very stiff competition from in-stores, there have been quite some major enhancements in the online shopping systems that have been made in the bid to ensure customer retention. There is a wide variety of products which shoppers enjoy from online stores and a point of interest would be the fashion products purchased by women. Conducting research on the overall existing statistics related to the purchase of fashion products in the online stores would prove to be of utmost importance to those who operate in this field. The study on the basic organisation of online stores and how its structure would affect women’s attitude towards their purchasing of fashion products would be quite invaluable to the owners of the online stores. In the course of this research, it is my general expectation to unearth the concealed facts that are largely ignored by the online shoppers whether positive or negative in nature which would impact on their future choices. My research is also bound to covers the reasons for or against shopping in either online stores or in-stores. The clear cut differences for each would be brought up by having to look in to the advantages and disadvantages linked to either and then making an analysis to come up with the most superior of the two. Having raised my interest towards identifying the possible effects of online shopping on women’s attitude towards the purchase of fashion products, it would be important to address the same for in stores, though not having to go into details as such. Literature review and research Questions The question as to how much impact that online shopping that has on women’s attitude towards purchasing fashion products can be addressed by having an in-depth study of the reasons for and against online shopping, which would basically attribute to existence of the differing attitudes. Reasons for online shopping The first major reason why many shoppers in the modern society prefer doing their shopping in online stores is convenience[Mil14][Vij16]. The fact that shoppers can obtain the items they want without having to walk out of their apartments or to withstand long queues goes to explain how convenient this mode of shopping is. The unlimited shopping time frame also attracts many consumers of the products sold by the on-line stores. A second reason why shoppers are more inclined to do their shopping online arises from the fact that many items in the on-line stores come at better prices[Sap16]. This can be explained by the owners of most online stores obtaining most of their items from manufacturers or producers. Price cuts also arise from the discounts offered upon shopping in the online stores through the available websites. Another reason that can explain the preference for shopping in online stores is due to the availability of a variety of products[Mil14]. Most online store owners are compelled to stock a number of brands and products in order to ensure that the consumers have a wider variety to choose from. Related to the availability of a variety of products to choose from is the fact that consumers can easily compare prices[Mil14]. This enhances their ability to stick on their budgets and to make savings from items of equivalent quality that are cheaper. Online shopping is also a preferred shopping mode when it comes to purchasing discreet items such as adult toys. Most people can, without creating a scene, purchase such items to their convenience[Sap16]. Reasons why people are afraid of shopping online The first reason as to why people avoid doing online shopping is because they are afraid that their credit card information would fall in the wrong hands. When shoppers are not able to establish how safe a shopping website is, they tend to fall back[Sap16]. A related reason is the fear of personal information such as contacts and addresses spilling out to the public more so for prominent people. Such shoppers may be cautious with the amount of information they want reaching the public thus may look for other modes to shop other than online shopping [Gil15]. Consumers may be less inclined to do their shopping online if they are not provided with a tracking number which enables them to track their orders. Such may be the cause of worry that many consumers may not be willing to put up with hence will not settle on shopping online for their products[Gra11]. Connectivity is also a paramount issue that would influence the statistics related to online shopping[Gra11]. To most people, it is better to withstand long queues than to put up with slow internet which may lead to websites taking ages to load. Related to this is when one loses connection to the internet while “loading” their carts[Bri13][Sel14]. This leads to everything being pulled from shopping carts hence some people will choose to invest no time in online shopping with the fear that such an act is possible. There is also a section of shoppers who prefer to view the product as it is and have a feel of it as this makes the item real. This is lacking factor when it comes to items available thus cutting off quite a significant number of potential shoppers. The above factors combined tend to influence the attitude of women shopping online for fashion products. Women are quite particular with the nature of services they receive in online stores and in stores, popularly known as brick-and –mortar stores. Poor PR will push away women shopping for online fashion products while good PR will ensure they keep on shopping at a particular online store[eCo13]. Another underlying factor is how efficiently the online stores are able to handle the flow of their stocks. Women are regular shoppers and if a particular online store keeps on extending the dates for the stocking of a particular product they will tend to opt to look for it in in stores[eCo13]. The appearance of online websites will generally affect how receptive the women will be of the fashion products. Unappealing web stores may never achieve their motive of attracting women shopping for their products. Having a closer look into the available statistics also forms the basis which would back up the above points for or against online shopping. A survey done on 1027 Americans revealed that with the introduction of sales taxes on online purchases, twenty-two percent of that population are less inclined to do shopping on online. Women account for seventy one percent of this population. The poll also realized that 91% of those doing their shopping in stores were influenced by the information for similar products available in website owned by online stores[Sel14]. Of these people, 60 % obtained their information from email promotions, 59 % from online coupons and 52 % from online circulars[Sel14]. Women are generally known to be impulse buyers. Statistics from the poll conducted on the 1027 Americans reveals that 65 % of online shoppers make purchases on impulse. Social media also plays an important role since 22% of online shoppers attribute Facebook to being the reason they did shop online while 13% cite Twitter and Pinterest[Swi13]. My research would also go a long way into encompassing the following research questions which are important in addressing the research problem stated above: 1. Do female consumers prefer purchase fashion product online or in-store? 2. What are factors that encourage female consumers to purchase fashion products online or in store? 3. What risks do consumers concern when female consumers purchase fashion products online? 4. How do these factors influence female consumers’ attitudes whether buying fashion products online or not? Methodology My research problem is interested with coming up with facts and statistics related to the impact online shopping has on the attitude of women shopping for fashion products in online stores, hence being able to come develop approaches that will enable me to have qualitative and quantitative research would come in handy. In utilising the quantitative research approach, I am better placed to come up with statistics that will enable me to make generalisations in my findings. With these statistics it is also possible to test any existing assumptions and theories. Statistics are to be obtained using primary data collections methods that are part of the quantitative research approach I am to use for my study. A questionnaire would be a very preferred method of data collection for this particular research. Questionnaires are common to most literate teens and adults and are a great data collection tool that most researchers utilise in their collection of primary data[Sus13]. Coming up with a mixed questionnaire, i.e. one that is both closed and open ended, presents the participants with an opportunity to give their all their opinions. In order to realize the benefits of using the questionnaires, I will ensure that the questions are well structured for easy understanding by the participants. This will also enhance the ease with which I will analyse the data collected using these questionnaires. An online survey is also a tool that I would hand in hand with the questionnaire as it would be efficient in the amount of time consumed and the money expended in my data collection process. A more passive method of primary data collection that I would include in my study is observation. With this method, my attention will be more directed towards the shoppers in the brick and mortar stores in order to establish how this mode of shopping differs from online shopping. My attention would also be directed towards shopping patterns that women shopping for fashion products in the brick and mortar stores exhibit and how they are related to those of online shoppers. The recordings obtained from observations that I make will be recorded in a notebook that I will carry with me to the field. This provides me with an opportunity to collect data without having to interfere with other peoples’ schedules or having to demand their attention. I plan on having a sample of 400 participants, all of whom are women of different ages, all of whom must be fashion lovers. The most appropriate sampling method for this instance would be subjective sampling since my study is geared towards collecting data from women who are fashion lovers specifically. An age bracket of 18 to 34 years is quite relevant since statistics reveal that women and men in that bracket are more likely to shop online.[Chr16] [Bri13]. This age bracket also carries the larger number of women who are likely to utilise fashion product. This is sample that is adequate enough to enable me collect all the data I require. In utilizing the qualitative research approach, I would arrange for ten interviews with women from the 18 to 34 years age bracket who will be available to provide the information I need. I will interview five of the participants over the phone in order to save on time. For these interviews I will be sure to have an audio recording device during the interview. Upon the completion of the interviews, I will then come up with transcripts accompanying the recordings from each participants. I also intend to have a face to face interview with the rest as this will ensure that I will collect more quality data since I can have impulsive additional questions for any sort of clarifications. In the five face to face interviews, I will ensure that I carry appropriate recording devices (a video and audio recorder) after which I will generate the accompanying transcripts for each interviewee. Applying both approaches (Qualitative and Quantitative research approaches) I ensure that my participants generally have the `freedom to express themselves as well as ensuring that the volume of data I collect is sufficient. Secondary data for this research would also be relevant more so in forming the basis for my arguments. For that case, I intend to utilize the sources available online in the form of information available in websites as well as information available in PDF formats. I also intend to go through existing journals in an attempt to refine my objectives for the study and also ensuring that I maintain the focus in the research. Upon the collection of the data, coming up with a mixed method research design will ensure that the data obtained from the quantitative research and that from the qualitative research is integrated to come up with my final research findings which I am to use to make my data analysis. The application of other designs such as explanatory sequential design and inductive analysis will be of great essence in ensuring that the final research is valuable in terms of the data collected and analysed by grounded theory methodology. Applying the explanatory sequential design will make it possible for the analysis of data obtained from the above research approaches in my well defined and purposed phases. For instance, the data that will be collected from the questionnaires will be the basis for the formulation of the interviews. With the grounded theory methodology, researchers are able to conduct research relating to social sciences. Through this research methodology, they are about to come up with data that is in turn analysed that shows a clear picture of the existing patterns and trends in the social settings. The study on the impact of online shopping on women’s attitude towards shopping for fashion products is perfectly lies in the social sciences category. With this method, and beginning with my outlined research questions and the data collected in the explanatory sequence, I would go ahead to identify the major upcoming ideologies that come up with the extraction of data. Analysis of Data The data analysis is a very crucial stage of coming up with the final research report. With proper analysis of data I am bound to come up with just the best conclusions. Having collected my data using the qualitative and quantitative research approaches, application of several data analysis techniques is of necessity. The explanatory sequential design will aid in the collection of data in the early stages of the quantitative research which will help in my coming up with generalisations of the data. The generalized pieces that come up more frequently can be looked into more intensively with the progression of this explanatory sequential design. Coming to the analysis of the qualitative data, it is important to have the responses collected categorized into relevant categories in order to enable me to pick out just the best of each. The transcripts and recordings form part of the data I intend to analyse. The responses obtained from the telephone interviews and recorded will also fall into the categories created. All the responses from all the methods of data collection will then be compiled. These compiled responses will be necessary in the creation of arguments that are viable and that have a basis. Ethical issues As much as the requisite data for this research does not place the participants at risk, it will be important to ensure that basic research protocols regarding to ethical issues are all followed. Thus, it will be important to grant the privacy of the information that I will be obtaining from the participants. All the data collected in form of the responses will be regarded as confidential and will not be disbursed at any moment without the consent of the participant. The study will only involve women who are 18 years and above. All these will be entitled to courtesy and will only require to disburse information they think they are comfortable with letting out. All proper responses won’t be liable to improper judgement. For the interviews that I will conduct, I intend to have a conducive setting for which the participants will not question their security. This goes for the telephone interviews too. I will ensure that I introduce myself appropriately in order to have them build enough confidence with me. Basically, the intent of my research will be made known to all [participants beforehand the participation, after which those who agree to participating will have consent forms to sign. These consent forms grant the participants the freedom to provide just the information they feel they are free with providing as well granting them the right to withdraw at any stage of participation. References Mil14: , (Miller), Vij16: , (Paul), Sap16: , (Madan), Gil15: , (Haylon), Gra11: , (Charlton), Bri13: , (Honigman), Sel14: , (Selz), eCo13: , (eCommerceMILO), Swi13: , (Swirl), Sus13: , (Wyse), Chr16: , (Franco), Bri13: , (Honigman), Read More