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The Effect of Online Shopping Among College

Students
Ms. Lija B. Jose
Assistant Professor, Department of Visual Communication and E-Media,
AJK College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu.

Abstract : The purpose of this study was to compare the website evaluation criteria among college student consumers
in the US with different shopping orientations and Internet channel usage (i.e. online information searchers, online
purchasers). The sample for this research was 414 college students, non-married and aged 18–22 who have experience
in visiting websites selling apparel products. Five apparel website evaluation criteria were identified by factor analysis
(i.e. product information, customer service, privacy/security, navigation, auditory experience/comparison shopping).
Based on shopping orientation factors, cluster analysis revealed three shopping orientation clusters (i.e. Hesitant In-
home Shoppers, Practical Clothing Shoppers, and Involved Clothing Shoppers). Factorial MANOVA showed that
website evaluation criteria were significantly different among college student consumers with different shopping
orientations and between online information searchers and online purchasers. Implications and limitations of the study
are discussed.

Keywords: Internet usage, online shopping, shopping orientation, website evaluation criteria.
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I. INTRODUCTION
Since the emergence of the Internet, an increasing number of consumers have used the Internet to obtain information
about products and services, and/or purchase them (Korner and Zimmerman, 2000; Geissler, 2001). Website quality
has become a crucial factor in attracting online shoppers to visit a company’s online store and learn about its products
and services and in ensuring repeat purchases. Despite the increased use of the Internet as a shopping channel, many
researchers, however, have reported that the number of online shoppers and total sales through the Internet are still
marginal compared with those in traditional retailing, in part because of website quality (Hoffman et al., 1995;
Jarvenpaa and Todd, 1997; Lohse and Spiller, 1998).
A study by Elliot and Fowell (2000) showed that online shoppers have been frustrated with the quality of the websites,
particularly such attributes as responsiveness of customer service, ease of site navigation, simplicity of checkout
process, and security of transaction and personal information. The notion in the literature is that consumers evaluate
websites when they make purchase decisions and the perception of their shopping experience at the websites plays a
major role in creating demand for online purchasing (Zellweger, 1997; Swaminathan et al., 1999). Investigating online
consumers’ website evaluation criteria is important for e-tailers to develop a website that can attract online shoppers to
the company and communicate successfully with their customers, which eventually helps the company to sell its
products and satisfy and retain its customers. In the previous research, consumer shopping orientation was identified
as an important predictor of online shopping behaviour (Sheth and Parvatiyar, 1995; Swaminathan et al., 1999).
Swaminathan et al. (1999) suggest that shopping orientation is an important indicator of the probability of making
purchases on the Internet.
Sheth and Parvatiyar (1995) also indicate the importance of shopping orientation in determining shoppers’ propensity
to engage in Internet transactions. Understanding target customers’ shopping orientations is essential for market
segmentation. Shopping orientations present consumers’ needs for products and services as well as motivations and
styles of shopping (Lumkin and Hawes, 1985; Shim and Kotsiopulos, 1992; Shim and Mahoney, 1992). In the face of

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the emergence of various retail venues including the Internet and the increase of competition in the market, retailers
must offer products and services according to customers’ shopping orientations to fulfil their specific needs and
preferences and to maximize their satisfaction. Retailers also need to develop marketing strategies based on
customers’ shopping orientations to reach the target market effectively. Despite the importance of shopping
orientation in the context of online shopping, no research has addressed the issue of whether online consumers with
different shopping orientations have different criteria in evaluating shopping websites. This research will contribute to
the body of consumer behaviour literature by identifying online college student consumers’ shopping orientations and
the differences in website evaluation criteria among these consumers with various shopping orientations.

STORE/WEBSITE ATTRIBUTE AND ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Existing evidence from research showed the importance that Internet website attributes have on consumers’ online
shopping behaviour. Some studies showed that website attributes played a major role in creating demand for online
purchasing and increasing store transactions and sales. Zellweger (1997) identified such website attributes as
convenience, product information, ease of use to search product information and competitive pricing as being
important criteria that consumers used to make an online purchase decision. Lohse and Spiller (1998) found that
website attributes such as product lists, the number of hyperlinks to other websites.

SHOPPING DIRECTION
A number of studies on consumers’ shopping behaviour in traditional retail settings indicated that consumers’ store
evaluation criteria varied among consumers with different shopping orientations (Monroe and Guiltinan, 1975; Shim
and Kotsiopulos, 1992; Moye and Kincade, 2002). Previous research on shopping orientation in the context of Internet
shopping also indicated that consumers who had distinct shopping orientations had different perceptions and
behaviours in online shopping. Swaminathan et al. (1999) found that consumers’ shopping orientations were
significantly related to the frequency with which they shopped and the amount of money they spent on the Internet.
The convenience shoppers tended to use the Internet more frequently to purchase goods and spend more money in
their Internet purchases, whereas consumers’ need for social interaction when shopping negatively affected the
propensity to engage in Internet shopping. Vijayasarathy and Jones (2000) explored the relationship between shopping
orientation and intention to shop using Internet catalogues. They identified seven types of shopping orientation (i.e. in-
home shoppers, economic shoppers, mall shoppers, personalized shoppers, ethical shoppers, convenience shoppers,
enthusiastic shoppers). Two of these seven, in-home shopping orientation and mall shopping preference, emerged as
significant discriminators between high and low intention toward online shopping. Despite the importance of shopping
orientation in market segmentation and an increasing number of online consumers, no study investigated the
relationship of online consumers’ shopping orientations and their website evaluation criteria.

INTERNET CHANNEL USAGE

Consumers may use a single channel or multiple channels in their search and purchase activities. Shim et al. (2001)
indicate that consumers tend to shop multiple channel combinations including brick-and-mortar stores, catalogues and
the Internet. With the emergence of the Internet, consumers may search information and also buy products through the
Internet. However, consumer information search does not necessarily result in product purchase through the same
medium (Moon, 2004). Consumers may search information through the Internet, but buy products through traditional
channels or the other way around.

HYPOTHESES
From the previous literature on consumers’ online shopping behaviour, we anticipated that consumers with different
shopping orientations may have different website evaluation criteria. With the notion that consumers use Internet
websites for information search and/or for purchasing, we also anticipated that online information searchers and online
purchasers may have different website evaluation criteria. In addition, we examined whether online information

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searchers and online purchasers with the same shopping orientation have significantly different website evaluation
criteria (i.e. whether a significant interaction exists between shopping orientation and Internet channel usage in
website evaluation criteria). Accordingly, the following research hypotheses were formulated for this study. H1:
Website evaluation criteria will vary among respondents with different shopping orientations. H2: Website evaluation
criteria will vary among respondents with different Internet channel usage (i.e. online information searchers, online
purchasers). H3: There will be a significant interaction between shopping orientation and Internet channel usage in
website evaluation criteria.

II. METHODOLOGY
Sample
The population for this research was US college students who were 18–22 years old, not married, and had experience
in visiting websites selling apparel products. Such shoppers are major Internet users and show great potential for
future growth in purchasing products online (Silverman, 2000). These young adult consumers, the upper end of
generation Y or echo boomers, grew up with computers (CBSNews.com, 2004). They spend an average of 16.7 h a
week online compared with 13.5 h watching TV and 12 h listening to radio (Greenspan, 2003). The use of the Internet
is pervasive among these young consumers, and the Internet has become a powerful tool for information search and
shopping to this generation. Silverman (2000) reported that clothing is one of most popular categories for Internet
shopping among young consumers aged 16–22 years. Almost 30% of consumers in this group have experience in
purchasing apparel items online, and the dollar amount they spend online for clothing tops the list, with an average of
$400 per year, followed by books at $256 and music CDs at $208. Of the Internet shoppers in this age span, college
students have greater access to the Internet than most other population segments (Jasper and Lan, 1992), and they
spend more money online than any other demographic segments in the US (O’Donell and Associates, LLC, 2004).
This study focused on only nonmarried college student consumers, because married consumers have different
shopping behavior due to lifestyle variations (Nielsen/NetRatings Inc., 2003).

Instrument
A structured questionnaire was developed. Adapted from previous research on shopping orientation, 27 statements
were used to measure respondents’ apparel shopping orientation (Korgaonkar, 1984; Shim and Kotsiopulos, 1992;
Swaminathan et al., 1999; Vijayasarathy and Jones, 2000; Moye and Kincade, 2002). The response format was a 4-
point Likert-type scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (4). Two items were used to ask
respondents’ online information search and purchase experiences at websites selling apparel products. The question
‘Over the past 12 months, about how much did you search the Internet for information about clothing you may buy?’
was developed by the researchers, and the other question ‘Over the past 12 months, about how much did you buy
clothing items through the Internet’ was adapted from Shim et al. (2001). For both questions, four possible answers
(i.e. never, seldom, occasionally, a lot) were provided in a 4-point ordinal scale. Thirty-six items were used to measure
respondents’ evaluation criteria for websites selling apparel products. Among them, 28 items were modified from ones
used in previous studies on website characteristics (Liu et al.,

DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

Pillai’s Trace multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) was used to examine the three proposed hypotheses, that
is, to identify the main effects and interaction effect of the two independent variables (i.e. shopping orientation,
Internet channel usage) on the multiple dependent variables (i.e. constructs of website evaluation criteria). Pillai’s
criterion was used to test for significance because it is more robust than other multivariate test criteria (Hair et al.,
1998). The grouping of each independent variable and the determination of the constructs of website evaluation
criteria are described in the following sections.

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INTERNET CHANNEL USAGE GROUPS
Respondents were also grouped by their online information searches and purchase experiences. The respondents who
had searched on the Internet for information about clothing items, but had never purchased through the Internet were
categorized as online information searchers. The respondents who had searched and purchased clothing items through
the Internet were categorized as online clothing purchasers.

III. CONCLUSION
In this study, five website evaluation criteria were identified (i.e. product information, customer service,
privacy/security, navigation, auditory experience/comparison shopping). Among the five criteria, privacy/security
received the highest mean score in all three shopping orientation clusters and in both online searcher and purchaser
groups, indicating that privacy/security was the most important criterion of the apparel websites for all consumers
regardless of their shopping orientation and how they use the Internet. These results suggest that apparel e-tailers
should emphasize their efforts in protecting their customers’ privacy and security. For example, guarantees of
confidentiality should be frequently affirmed in various areas of the website, instead of stating in the policy section
only.

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