Acquiring goods and servicesvia the Internet: Consumershopping perceptionsAcquiring goods and servicesvia the Internet: Consumershopping perceptions Lori N.K. Leonard
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_11/leonard/index.html
Based on Maslow’s hierarchy of humanneeds, Settle and Alreck (1986) identifiedfive areas of consumer needsBased on Maslow’s hierarchy of humanneeds, Settle and Alreck (1986) identifiedfive areas of consumer needs
Physical
Safety
Love and affiliation
Prestige and esteem
Self-fulfillment
Consumer NeedsConsumer Needs
Twice as many people have visited e-commerce sitesto research than have actually made purchases fromsites (Tweney, 1999).
Gender is also an issue when satisfying consumerneeds via the Internet. Women are the primaryshoppers in America (Verdisco, 1999).
Today women are turning to the Internet in order tosave time, yet men continue to buy more online thanwomen (Tweney, 1999).
Contact VehiclesContact Vehicles
The mail
Phone
Store
Internet
Web television
FunctionFunction
Keeney (1999) identified the followingfour fundamental objectives of Internetcommerce to the customer
Convenience
Flexibility
Reliability
Security
MethodologyMethodology
Students Sample
All Undergraduate Students
Enrolled in information systems course
All between the ages of 18 to 34
Instrument of Study
A 16-item questionnaire was developed to collectdata with regard to the three research questions:
The consumer needs being satisfied over the Internet
the contact vehicle perceptions
the Internet’s acquisition function perceptions
Results
Respondents:
209 usable responses were collected from theundergraduate students. They were found to spendbetween 0.2 and 98 hours on the Internet per week,with the average being 14.55 hours
76.6 %were between the ages of 19 and 24
17.2 % between the ages of 25 and 34
44.5 % were male
55.5 % were female
83.7 % were single
88.5 % had no children.
FindingsFindings
Of the respondents:
81.3 % had Internet access at home
18.7 % did not
78.5 percent had both e-mail and Webbrowsing capabilities
After Komp and Walstrom (1998-1999) study:
53 % had Internet access at home
42 % had e-mail and Web browsing
Research Question 1: Consumer NeedsThree interrelated usage patternsResearch Question 1: Consumer NeedsThree interrelated usage patterns
On average Purchases madeover the internet
Between 2 and 3 differentitems over the Internet.
The number increases tobetween 3 and 4 differentitems, if you excluderespondents who neverpurchase anything over theinternet
However, many of therespondents are researchinginsurance online
Most frequently purchased itemsMost frequently purchased items
Satisfy — love and affiliation fulfillment
Airline tickets/reservations, books/magazines, andCDs
Clothing is a basic, physical need, but it also can beused for love and affiliation
Does the gender of the individualdetermine the number of goods orservices researched or purchased?
Traditionally, men buy hardware, software, andelectronics — love/affiliation needs
Women buy food, beverages, and clothing —physical needs
Bhatnagar, 2000
Do individuals perceive the acquiring ofgoods/services via the Internet to bemore like acquiring goods/services bymail, phone, store, or Web television?Research Question 2: Contact VehicleDo individuals perceive the acquiring ofgoods/services via the Internet to bemore like acquiring goods/services bymail, phone, store, or Web television?
Research Question 3: Function
Is it convenient?
Flexible?
Reliable?
Secure?
Concerns about purchasing viainternetConcerns about purchasing viainternet
Table 9Internet FunctionPerceptions Basedon Internet Purchasing
FunctionPerceptions Based onPreferred OutletTable 10Internet FunctionPerceptions Based onPreferred Outlet
Discussion
Seventy percent of the respondents have purchased atleast one item via the Internet, with the majority ofpurchases related to the love and affiliation need—so theyare more knowledgeable
Prestige and esteem needs and self-fulfillment needs aremore risky, expensive items and therefore are least likelyto be purchased over the internet
Physical needs, such as food, are also considered high riskbecause of an individual’s need to touch-and-feel(Bhatnagar et al., 2000)
Prestige and esteem needs and self-fulfillment needs areresearched frequently via the Internet however becausetime spent researching the best shopping deals dependson individual need and cost structure (Vakratsas, 1998)
Discussion (continued)
Individuals perceive purchasing over the Internet to be least likepurchasing from a store. Touch and feel contact as opposed to videoenhanced pictures of products (on the Internet). However, depending onthe number of hours spent on the Internet per week, individuals who spentmore hours perceived the Internet to be more like purchasing from a store
Respondents reported that they perceive the Internet to be the mostconvenient and flexible of all purchasing vehicles, but a store to be themost reliable and secure. This indicates that individuals can see the inheritbenefits of Internet transactions, but they still have concerns (and often therisk outweighs the benefits (Bhatnagar et al., 2000)
individuals who have purchased goods/services over the Internet perceivethe Internet to be more convenient, flexible, reliable, and secure thanindividuals who have not made a purchase
Also, individuals who prefer purchasing from an outlet other than a storeperceive the Internet to be more convenient, flexible, reliable, and secure.Again, becoming comfortable with the outlet leads to improved perceptions
Discussion (continued)
the Internet has evolved and more individuals make purchases andslowly perceptions will also improve as they have for other outletsjust like shopping via telephone (Bhatnagar et al., 2000)
A comparison of this study’s sample below shows more and morepeople turn to internet for purchase goods and services
Limitations
Not all demographic groups were included
The changing nature of the internet
Depends on the individual
Conclusion
The largest number of items being purchased via theInternet is to fill love and affiliation needs with physicalneeds/items also being purchased frequently.
Concerns about security issues
The Internet is perceived to be least similar to purchasingfrom a store
Web page design and functionality, specifically focusing onmeeting the wants of consumers
explore the changing dynamics
Internet demographics Vs non- Internet demographics
Age, income, and education, as well as gender
consumer attraction to Web sites should be assessed
References
A. Bhatnagar, S. Misra, and H.R. Rao, 2000. "On Risk,Convenience, and Internet Shopping Behavior,"Communications of the ACM, volume 43, number 11(November), pp. 98-105
S. Krishnamurthy, 2003. E-Commerce Management: Textand Cases. Mason, Ohio: Thomson South-Western
R.L. Keeney, 1999. "The Value of Internet Commerce to theCustomer," Management Science, volume 45, number 4(April), pp. 533-542