INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, GHAZIABAD

DISSERTATION PROJECT REPORT

ON
An Analysis of Factors Affecting on Online Shopping Behavior of
Consumers

Under the Guidance of Submitted by

Faculty Mentor Rajat Dubey
Mr.Karan Sabharwal BM-018233
Assistant Professor

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 INDEX
S.NO TITLE PAGE NO.

1. INTRODUCTION 3-4

2. IMPORTANCE OF STUDY 5

3. OBJECTIVE OF STUDY 6

4. LITERATURE REVIEW 7-8

5. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 9

6. REFERENCES 10

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1. Introduction
With rapid economic growth and increase in prosperity in the last more than a decade, Indian
consumer markets have seen unprecedented expansion in interest and activity across all product
and services/categories. Advent of internet, telecommunication and media has further
intensified this growth, closing many gaps between urban and up---country tastes and
preferences as well as consumption patterns.The world is quickly turning into a universal
community because of the emergence of Internet and other Internet enabled services. India is
not completely reflective of this great phenomenon. While developed and fast developing
countries have understood the influence of Internet, India is still taking baby steps towards
technological developments. Online shopping is the process where consumers enter in
transactions to purchase products or services through Internet. Consumers can order goods and
services virtually anywhere, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without worrying about store hours,
time zones, or traffic jams The retail industry growth has been revolutionized by Internet and
the rules of the game in retailing are fast altering. The impact of western culture on each and
every aspect of our Indian Society is palpable. The lives of common people are making rapid
progress not only in metros but also in the normal cities. The collapse of joint family system
and growth in the number of families where both spouses are working is on the rise. The result-
common men have less time to go to the market for purchasing every now and then.

Other reasons like growing traffic jams, late working hours, easy availability of online
banking facility and above all the approach of internet at the door step of whosoever desires
it. Online retailers have improved their service and consumers have found it convenient. There
is revolution in payment mode as well. From payment before delivery it has moved to cash on
delivery(COD). Even the delivery pattern has changed. A number of prior studies have
attempted to identify factors that either encourage consumers to engage in online shopping or
discourage them from online shopping. The results have indicated that positive incentives to
shop online (convenience, competitive prices, excitement, etc.) are common, whereas factors
discouraging online shopping vary and are hard to identify.
Recent market survey on online shopping showed unprecedented high concerns over privacy,
online fraud, and identity 4 theft. This may be explained by consumers’ growing awareness of
such types of risk and the consequences of such risks as their online shopping experience
accumulates. Thus, online consumers’ perceptions of certain types of risk may increase with
shopping experience while perception of other types of risk may decrease with increased online
shopping experience. online shopping experience on consumers’ perception of product,
financial, and privacy risk associated with online shopping and their purchase intentions.

Product risk is defined as the probability of the item failing to meet the performance
requirements originally intended. A high level of product risk in online shopping may be
expected due to online consumers’ inability to physically examine and test product quality and
alternatives. The inconsistency in infrastructures required for enabling online shopping, such
as computer monitor settings and computers software, may not always display product features

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as precisely as they may be in a traditional setting. Therefore, consumers’ uncertainty increases
with regard to a particular purchase decision when it comes to online shopping.

Financial risk is defined as the likelihood of suffering a monetary loss from a purchase Credit
card fraud is a primary financial concern among many online consumers. It has been found that
online consumers are reporting increased concerns regarding financial loss in online
transactions. Also, consumers suffer from the monetary loss if products purchased online fail
to perform as expected.
Although one of the common advantages of shopping online is competitive price, many
consumers are reluctant to purchase products from the Internet due to other costs, such as
shipping and handling.

Privacy risk is defined as the probability of having personal information disclosed as a result
of online transactions. It has found that privacy risk is of growing concern among online
consumers. More than 69% of US Internet shoppers would limit their online purchases because
of concerns related to the privacy and safety of their personal information. A separate survey
of US consumers also found that 84% of consumers said that they thought Internet retailers had
not done enough to protect consumers’ privacy and that 76% would like to be better educated
on how to protect themselves. Online consumers may feel less control over their personal
information and access to such information in the online setting, and thus hesitate to provide
their personal information required for online transactions.

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2. Importance of the study
Men and women have different set of characteristics. Both men and women approach problems
with similar goals but different consideration.Women are concerned about how problem is
solved- they share and discuss the problem. For men solving a problem demonstrates their
competency and commitment to a relationship.Women shows more sensitivity, warmth and
apprehension .In contrast, emotional stability, dominance, rule consciousness and vigilance are
more typically male characteristics.
For women the main implications are as follows-
Women appreciate very fine distinctions.
Women like a collaborative, conversational style dialogue.

Women prefer strong colours and evocative images.

For men the main implications are as follows-

Adverts usually focus on one main object. Men usually pick up on one or two very obvious
kinds of cues.
Men will need to be shown the big picture as they think in a macro way.
Men are less likely to process complex metaphors.
Men enjoy humour in adverts and are usually more crude and aggressive.
Men find a “chatty” style in adverts annoying. They prefer hard data and concise language.

Gender perception-
Women feel pride in their ability to get the best products for the best prices.

Marketers empathize this perception greatly by placing selective deals to offer a sense of
accomplishment for women’s shopping experience.
Men buy on immediate needs rather waiting for best deals.
They only buy what they need despite of the deal offered.

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3.The objectives of the study:

The main objectives of the study are –

1. Examine the influence of the three types of risk perceptions (product, financial and privacy
risks) on online purchase intentions.

2.To see the impact of easy and convenient return policy.

4.Literature review

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Exploring gender differences in online shopping attitude

Bassam Hassan (July 2010)

While attitude and gender are important factors that affect online shopping behavior, toward
online shopping attitude remains a poor understood construct. Moreover, very few studies, if
any, have explicitly addressed gender differences in online shopping attitude. Using attitude
as a multidimensional concept to include cognitive, affective, and behavioral components, the
present study examines gender differences across the three attitudinal components. The
results of empirical testing demonstrate three distinct components of online shopping attitude
and significant gender differences in all three attitudinal components. The results also show
that the largest gender difference is in the cognitive attitude, indicating that females value the
utility of online shopping less than their male counterparts do.

CONSUMER HETEROGENEITY, PERCEIVED VALUE, AND REPURCHASE

DECISION-MAKING IN ONLINE SHOPPING: THE ROLE OF GENDER, AGE, AND
SHOPPING MOTIVES
J.Fiang & Chao Wen (2016)

Perceived value is considered as a critical motivator of customer repurchase intention. Online shoppers
with heterogeneous backgrounds may respond differently to antecedents (i.e. benefits and sacrifice)
contributing to differences in perceived value. However, the extant literature exploring the relations
between benefits/sacrifice and perceived value did not examine the influence of customer characteristics
sufficiently. This study proposes a framework to investigate the impact of gender and age on perceived
value, to better understand online consumers’ repurchase decision-making process. Based upon a survey
of 651 online shoppers, the empirical evidence shows that both age and gender can affect online
repurchase intention through moderating the relationships between relational benefits (i.e. product
quality and e-service quality) and perceived value. However, these effects were contingent upon the
shoppers’ motives.

Examining the moderating effect of inconsistent reviews and its gender

differences on consumers’ online shopping decision
KZK Zhang & MKO Lee (2014)
The prevalence of social media has provided consumers with many opportunities to post online reviews
on a wide range of products on the Internet. In this study, we attempt to investigate the moderating
effect of inconsistent reviews (i.e., a mix of positive and negative reviews) on consumers’ purchase
decision. We further examine whether the effect will differ from female to male consumers. We explain
the moderating effect and its gender differences based on the theory of reasoned action, trustliterature,
and information processing literature. The research hypotheses are empirically tested in a laboratory
experiment using structural equation modeling approach.

Our findings show that consumers’ cognitive trust to online retailers affects emotionaltrust, which
further leads to purchase intention.When consumers are exposed to inconsistent reviews, the influence

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of emotional trust on purchase intention is significantly stronger. Moreover, the moderating effect of
inconsistent reviews is stronger for female consumers than for male consumers. We expect that this

study can enrich the understanding of how inconsistent reviews play a role in consumers’ online
shopping decision. Online retailers may apply our findings and leverage the influence of online
consumer reviews in social media.

Perceived Risk and Online Shopping Behaviour - A Marketing Perspective

PE Bertea (2009)

E-commerce has registered a significant growth in Romania, generating revenues estimated

by specialists at 53,1 million euros in 2008. Still, this number is representative only for the
online transactions made through credit card. The real value is higher as many of the
purchases begin in the online environment and end with offline payments. The present paper
aims to identify which are the risks that consumers perceive when shopping online and how
do they influence the consumers’ decision to finalize the transaction in the online
environment. The purpose of this research is to offer managers a support for strategic
decisions when investing in e-commerce. The methodology used is appropriate for
exploratory research. The implications of the paper stand out as there is little research dealing
with the online shopping behavior of the Romanian consumer. Moreover, perceived risk is
one of the most important barriers which prevent the adoption of e-commerce as a new
shopping channel.

The Effects of Shopping Orientations, Online Trust and Prior Online

Purchase Experience toward Customers’ Online Purchase Intention
KC Ling & LT Chai (2010)

The advancement of the World Wide Web has resulted in the creation of a new form of retail
transactions electronic retailing (e-tailing) or web-shopping. Thus, customers’ involvements
in online purchasing have become an important trend. As such, it is vital to identify the
determinants of the customer online purchase intention. The aim of this research is to
evaluate the impacts of shopping orientations, online trust and prior online purchase
experience to the customer online purchase intention. A total of 242 undergraduate
information technology students from a private university in Malaysia participated in this
research. The findings revealed that impulse purchase intention, quality orientation, brand
orientation, online trust and prior online purchase experience were positively related to the
customer online purchase intention.

The joint moderating role of trust propensity and gender on consumers’

online shopping behaviour

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Y Chen & X Yen (2015)

We built a research model based on a benefit–risk paradigm, and tested the moderating
effects of trust propensity and gender in relationship to the impacts of perceived benefits and
risks on user online behavior. Results showed that gender moderated the impact of perceived
benefit on one’s intention to purchase. Trust propensity was found to moderate the
relationship between perceived risk and overall satisfaction. In addition, we found that the
interaction of trust propensity and gender played a significant joint moderating role in
affecting the impact of perceived benefit on intention to purchase. Men with high trust
propensity belief are the most benefit oriented consumer group.

5.Research methodology:

Type of Research

Exploratory Research.

Sources of Data

1. Primary sources

Questionnaire

2. Secondary sources

Textbooks Review articles Internet

Data Collection Method

Questionnaire

Interview

Sampling Method

Convenient Sampling Convenience sampling is used in exploratory research where the

researcher is interested in getting an inexpensive approximation of the truth. As the name
implies, the sample is selected because they are convenient. This non-probability method is
often used during preliminary research efforts to get a gross estimate of the results, without
incurring the cost or time required to select a random sample.

Data Collection Instrument :

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1. Questionnaire For our research purpose I have formed a structured questionnaire.

2. Interviews At the time of our survey I had a personal meeting with the respondents and got
useful and implementable suggestions.

3. Google Docs Form of Questionnaire For reducing time & cost we have also used the
google docs questionnaire.

6.REFERENCES

The joint moderating role of trust propensity and gender on consumers’

online shopping behaviour

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Xiangbin_Yan/publication/276140409_The_joint_moderating
_role_of_trust_propensity_and_gender_on_consumers%27_online_shopping_behavior/links/5c55b
15392851c22a3a3d706/The-joint-moderating-role-of-trust-propensity-and-gender-on-consumers-
online-shopping-behavior.pdf

The Effects of Shopping Orientations, Online Trust and Prior Online

Purchase Experience toward Customers’ Online Purchase Intention
http://amberpreparatoryschool.com/download/routine039.pdf

CONSUMER HETEROGENEITY, PERCEIVED VALUE, AND REPURCHASE

DECISION-MAKING IN ONLINE SHOPPING: THE ROLE OF GENDER, AGE, AND
SHOPPING MOTIVES
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0bca/6352595935287ebaa523e96776d6b96e80cf.pdf

Exploring gender differences in online shopping attitude

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563209002039

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