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Cultural Effect On Online Shopping Trust
Cultural Effect On Online Shopping Trust
Cultural Effect On Online Shopping Trust
By
2005/06
After four months of work, the research study was finally completed. In the duration of
my work, I have been very lucky to receive assistance from a number of people which
without them, completion of this study would have been impossible.
First of all, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Prithwiraj
Nath for his precious recommendations and suggestions to improve the study work. He
advised me along the progress of the study, pointed out only any mistakes I have made
and helped me to solve them at the same time. In due course of the whole study, I have
definitely gained a lot of knowledge under his guidance on how to conduct a good study
and learnt that previous semesters work do matters a lot.
Secondly, I would like to thank a few lecturers for their guidance as well, specifically
Mrs. Sally McKechnie, Dr. Andy Lockett, Dr. Heidi Winklhofer, Dr. Christine Ennew, Dr.
Sally Hibbert, Mrs. Susan Thomas, Mr. Vikineswaran, Mr. Alex Leong, Mr. Ronald Hor,
Madam Thye Wei Cheat and Ms. Liow Chiew Han. They are the individuals, who has also
at the same time given me extra advice for the whole study layout as well as improving on
my understanding of SPSS from my undergraduate studies back in Malaysia until here
while doing my postgraduate studies in Nottingham University Business School. As a
result of their guidance, the process of doing my study has never been delayed at all.
Thirdly, my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Yeong Sooi Hing who has always live their life with
tremendous determination and courage during good and bad times. I cannot thank them
enough for truly believing in me, in whatever I do even until this stage of my studying life.
My brother, Hoong Chieh, who have always been there for me while growing up and are
still there today even though he is a flight away from UK. Without their constant advice
and support, I would not be where I am today.
Lastly, also friend, course mate, flatmate and fellow supervisee Fay for the constant
advice and notes comparison during the whole of this four months. Not forgetting also
my flatmates Sarah, Rosie, Scarlett, Ioanna and Nanditha who are always there for me all
the way through until the end. I have to give credit as well to Cindy who is always on the
lookout for me on the latest news from NUBS office. Additionally, I have to thank Huei
Min and Kiran, who has always been there for me in times of needs even though they are
busy with their work placements with QMC. To end, I am eternally grateful to Sue Vern,
an amazing and fiercely loyal good friend who still helps me out and are always available
for constant advice and support even though she is busy with her scientific discovery
experiments. Last but not least, an extra special thanks to everyone whom I forget to
mention.
ii
ABSTRACT
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iv-vi
LIST OF TABLES vii-viii
LIST OF FIGURES viii
Chapters
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 The background of study 1-6
1.2 The objective of study 6-7
1.2.1 The significance of the study 6-7
1.3 The framework of study 7-9
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction 10
2.2 Overview of online shopping 11
2.2.1 Online shopping 11-12
2.2.2 The online shoppers 12-16
2.2.3 Some key definitions 17
2.2.3.1 The Internet defined 17
2.2.3.2 Internet marketing defined 17-18
2.2.3.3 Trust defined 18
2.2.3.4 Culture defined 19
2.3 Antecedents of online shopping 19-20
2.3.1 Prior experience in online shopping 20-23
2.3.2 Convenience 23-25
2.3.3 Availability of product information 25-27
2.4 Consequences of online shopping
2.4.1 Role of culture 27-31
2.5 Theoretical framework 31-32
2.6 Hypothesis development 32-33
2.7 Overall summary of theoretical framework 33-35
3 METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction 36-39
3.2 Primary data 39
3.2.1 Focus group 39-43
3.2.2 Pilot test 43-44
3.2.3 Questionnaire 44
3.2.3.1 Method of collection 45
3.2.3.2 Questionnaire design 45-46
3.3 Secondary data 46-47
3.4 Sampling
3.4.1 Target population 47
3.4.2 Sample and sample size 47
3.4.3 Sampling method 47-48
3.5 Data analysis 48
REFERENCES 90-95
APPENDICES
vi
LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 2.1 Summary table of theoretical framework 33-35
Table 3.1 Summary table of focus group responses 41-43
Table 4.1 Summary profile of respondents 50-51
Table 4.2 Crosstabs analysis on whether gender is related to
period of internet usage 54
Table 4.3 Chi-Square tests on whether gender is related to period
of Internet usage 54
Table 4.4 Crosstabs analysis on whether gender is related to the
experience of having shop online before 56
Table 4.5 Chi – Square tests on whether age is related to the choice
of popular websites 56
Table 4.6 Crosstabs analysis on whether age is related to the choice
of popular websites 57
Table 4.7 Chi – Square tests on whether gender is related to the choice
of popular websites 57
Table 4.8 Crosstabs analysis on whether gender is related to the choice
of
popular websites 58
Table 4.9 Chi – Square tests on whether gender is related to the choice
of
popular websites 58
Table 4.10 Frequency analysis on the reason consumers shop online 60
Table 4.11 Descriptive table on reasons consumers shop online in terms
of ethnicity and gender 61
Table 4.12 Levene’s statistic test on reasons consumers shop online by
ethnicity and gender 62
Table 4.13 Table of analysis on test of between subjects’ effects 62
Table 4.14 Crosstabs analysis on whether online trust is
affected by gender 64
Table 4.15 Chi – Square tests on whether online trust is
affected by gender 65
Table 4.16 Descriptive table on whether different age groups
differ in terms of their opinion on online shopping trust 65
Table 4.17 Homogeneity of variances test on whether different age groups
differ in terms of their opinion on online shopping trust 66
Table 4.18 ANOVA table on whether different age groups
differ in terms of their opinion on online shopping trust 66
Table 4.19 Post hoc table on whether different age groups
differ in terms of their opinion on online shopping trust 67
Table 4.20 Descriptive table on whether gender and ethnicity have
impact
on online shopping trust 68
Table 4.21 Levene’s statistic test on whether gender and ethnicity
have impact on online shopping trust 69
Table 4.22 Table of analysis on test of between subjects’ effects 69
Table 4.23 Frequency table of online shopper’s choice of shopping style 71
vii
Table 4.24 Frequency table of the period of respondent’s period
of online shopping experience 71
Table 4.25 Frequency table of the service experience level
of online shoppers 72
Table 4.26 Descriptive statistics of the effect of age and ethnicity
on internet comfort level 73
Table 4.27 Levene’s statistic test of the effect of age and ethnicity
on internet comfort level 74
Table 4.28 Table of analysis on test of between subjects’ effects 74
Table 4.29 Descriptive statistics of the effect of age, gender
and ethnicity on satisfaction with internet skills 75
Table 4.30 Levene’s statistics test of the effect of age, gender
and ethnicity on satisfaction with internet skills 75
Table 4.31 Table of analysis on test of between subjects’ effects 76
Table 4.32 Descriptive statistics on whether age, gender and ethnicity
have an impact on computer usage comfort level 76
Table 4.33 Levene’s statistics test on whether age, gender and ethnicity
have an impact on computer usage comfort level 77
Table 4.34 Table of analysis test of between subjects’ effects 78
Table 4.35 Summary table of how this study is similar and
different compared to previous research works 80
viii
“Cultural effect on online shopping trust”
Chapter 1: Introduction
The Internet can be seen as a catalyst of communication between the producer and
the Internet was a fictional business idea for most marketers to use as a marketing
24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The global availability of the Internet has caused
customers to become a fundamental part of the Internet marketing process, which blurs
the traditional barter like interaction between the marketer and consumer. At the same
time, the Internet can be said to have transformed into an international interactive
marketing means. Most major international profit making companies such as Marks and
Spencer, Virgin and many others will attempt to focus on the Internet as a modern form
This new medium is important for a business to survive in the competitive ‘marketspace’
to connect with customers to grow, live and sustain a business operation. This
revolutionary way of doing business also involves a certain degree of synchronizing not
just the Internet medium but simultaneously consider all other marketing strategies that a
firm is using in accordance with the firm’s business objectives. Most traditional
1
businesses need to rethink their existing organizational strategies because they need to
develop their online businesses alongside their traditional existing business operations.
Likewise, proper utilization of an Internet firm’s internal strength will enable a firm to
retailing. Marketers are starting to be aware on the ability of online shopping to create an
postmodern consumers are starting to shift their shopping activities online. According to
the annual State Retailing Online Study conducted by Forrester Research and Shop.org,
online sales in UK are expected to rise 20% this year (2006) to £112 billion. It was
deferred that excluding travel, online sales are expected to reach £73.24 billion, which is
a rise of 22% from the 2005. Internet sales over the years are found to be rising
consistently and are considered to be the key driver of overall retail sales (IMRG, 2006).
The study further indicated that cosmetics and pet supplies are predicted to lead the
growth in online sales. Therefore, online retailers must take advantage of this new trend
to improve their online market presence to attract more businesses from a variety of
consumer demographic makeup. Another intriguing element of the Internet for marketers is
that it can become an information, entertainment and communication source for consumers
to exchange and extract information with each other because of its unlimited
modern technology and lifestyle has enabled the people to access for information from
anywhere at anytime. Individuals today will lead a hectic lifestyle, and also they need to
be constantly on the go. Therefore, if a person who is at a place where they are unfamiliar
with, or even do not have the accessibility of a simple mode of transportation, they can
just log on to the computer and the Internet to continue perform their errands on a daily
basis. This is apparent in the studies of consumer marketing as well. Customers can now
have an advantage over traditional shopping retailers as the Internet gives them the ability
to compare prices of goods and services and enable them to eliminate impending
shopping trips before they arrive into the shopping arena. Hence, with this information,
the only main concern for marketers is to find a sustainable competitive advantage
Internet business model to follow (Gounaris and Dimitriadis, 2003) in order to achieve
any business objective. Just as it has been discussed in the work of Theodore Levitt
(1960), “If the railroads understood that they were in the transportation businesses, they
will own all the airlines today”. This applies to understanding the business of Internet
between old marketing media and new ones, but viewing the Internet as a new
opportunistic tool that can serve as an addendum for a company to distribute information
The introduction of the Internet does not mean that old marketing practices must be
eliminated. Some of the activities that can still be done to reduce gaps and increase added
value are analysis of market segments, market demographics and also the implementation
a new way of doing business, can provide marketers the benefits of being a step ahead of
Marketing will then encourage businesses to be focused towards their business portfolios
in order to develop efficient markets that concentrate more on creating demand rather
On the other hand, Internet Marketing do can become the Achilles heel for online
retailers. Even though three quarters of the society in UK now shop online, a British e -
commerce study found that there is a new threat of “Web rage” that will just drive
consumers back into the bricks and mortar type of shopping (Friedlos, 2006). Therefore,
Internet marketers need to understand the online consumer purchasing behavior in order
to design and support effective Web presence that matches the preferences of the
consumer (Doolin et. al, 2005). Additionally, it is also important build a sense of trust with
the consumers to encourage them to do more online transactions with Internet merchants.
visit websites that failed to create a sense of trust to disclose private information such as
credit card numbers. What is more, it can be discussed that the combination of
sophisticated data mining software with Internet Marketing has created a new kind of
market where personal data of the consumers have incredible market value that can be sold
across industries (Roznowski, 2003). With the emergence of “irrational fear” (Greenway,
just online transaction, but establish a relationship between the buyer and the seller.
Although there are abundant literatures on online shopping trust, most prior studies have
attempted to identify various factors and resistance towards Internet shopping (Joines et. al,
traditional media like the television (Eastlick and Liu, 1997). Moreover, there are also
empirical researches that discover trust may also vary across nationalities when online
consumers are generally from any parts of the world (Jarvenpaa and Tractinsky, 1999).
One study (Cheung and Lee, 2006) have attempted to identify trust in Internet shopping
from a multidisciplinary approach through the inclusion of legal and third party recognition
of a research model. On the other hand, Ess and Sudweeks (2005) attempted their research
of national culture. However, it can be mentioned that majority of the studies on online
trust are associated towards developing consumer’s trust in specific industries, namely the
Internet banking industry (Black et. al, 2002; Mukherjee and Nath, 2003).
Going back to the point of discussion, increased prevalence in online shopping has also
led to studies to concentrate on how to develop trust online. Some studies have developed
work in understanding factors that affect attitudes towards a retail web site (Elliott and
Speck, 2005) while others have attempted to empirically examine various characteristics
of commercial Web page that lead to increased visits or hit rates (Dholakia and Rego,
1998).
Given the rapid growth of the Internet as a new information channel of shopping apart
from the traditional stores, a number of unanswered questions remained. What is the
adoption level of online shopping? Which is the most popular choice of online shopping
site among consumers? Why do people shop online? Do consumer’s comfort level with
the Internet, computers and online shopping service experience still affect their decision
to shop online? Are the consumer’s motivation to shop online affected by culture and
demographic classification? Knowing the answers to the questions is essential for online
marketers to observe and resolve consumers concern over online shopping issues such as
credit card fraud and misuse of personal information (Phelps et. al, 2001).
It is best discussed beforehand that there is no one best framework that can determine the
precise factors influencing consumers online shopping. Nevertheless, with the knowledge
that culture may affect the antecedents of consumer trust, it is anticipated that this
research could discover what attracts consumers to online shopping and which are the
characteristics of online shopping that will allow online merchants to achieve more ‘hits’
theoretical, research and practical implications. On the theoretical side, it is likely that
research results can reveal some in depth interrelationships among the derived variables.
For research and practical implications, it is expected that empirical results from this
research can assist in addressing the extent to which can identify an even broader range
This study report is going to discover the cultural effect on online trust among a few key
national cultures. It will be presented in an orderly way, which is divided into five
Information such as background of study, which is related to the contents of the research,
will be discussed in this chapter. The chapter will clearly show the objectives of study and
demonstrate the relative importance of the research idea to the significance of the study.
This chapter will illustrate the whole theoretical framework that relates to the study. In
fact, this chapter will become the main setting of the whole research idea for the analysis
of results and provide a guide for questionnaire design and hypothesis development.
This chapter will propose the research design, research method and data analysis method
to show how the study has been conducted through reliable and verifiable information of
The data collection and information gained will be analyzed in this chapter. Information
from each question in questionnaire and the secondary sources will be analyzed
All the results that were analyzed based on Chapter four will be further discussed in this
provided according to the objectives and research questions set in Chapter one.
Chapter 2: Literature review
2.1 Introduction
This section will begin by examining existing literature on the academic understanding of
the study on Internet Marketing. Since the area of study is associated with having
address the increasing popularity of the growing trend and major strengths will be further
academicians to have an insight on the researched target market. At the same time,
analysis of extant literature will allow further comprehension on the antecedents and
consequences of online shopping construct. Finally, the chapter will close with an
examination on the role of culture in influencing online shopping behaviour of this new
activity among consumers. Culture plays an important part in order to illustrate the
growing trend of consumer online shopping adoption because of its capability to shape
Although online shopping is not a new phenomenon, preceding studies discovered that
consumers are most likely to do research online (Bellman et. al, 1999) before they make
the actual purchase from stores. Primarily, it can be stated that consumers these days rely
on shopping through the Internet more than buying in person from shop assistants. It is
then noted that some customers may make the choice to shop or browse for information
(Brown et. al, 2003) on the Internet at the information acquisition stage (Dubois, 2000) of
the consumer decision making process. At that point, consumers might lack specific
brand preferences although they have a product category in mind. For the consumers,
search engines would become the most significant source of information after catalogues
and brochures when it comes to searching for additional information on specific products
type such as search and experience goods (Dholakia and Chiang, 2003).
Consumers would make use of the immediate interactive function the Internet has to
any finalized purchase decision (Joergensen and Blythe, 2003). It was further
conceptualized that a search engine does not just provide the convenience in time but also
to space in addition to effort put in on information search (Gehrt et. al, 1996 as seen in
Brown, et. al, 2003). Simultaneously, it allows the consumers to perform a simple task
such as grocery shopping from the proximity of the desk rather than having to go through
the trouble of searching through numerous pamphlets that may eventually become
discarded papers or even driving to the nearby grocery store. Furthermore, another key
feature highlighted on online shopping benefits is on the importance of the role of Internet
in facilitating information search for consumers to avoid trolley rage in supermarkets and
However, to use the Internet is deemed to be a leap of faith for consumers as even
experienced online consumers also perceives online shopping as risky due to the
increasing rate of credit card fraud within the industry. The avoidance in making actual
purchases by the consumers has led to the point that there is a need for online merchants
marketing managers today to ensure that customer’s data will be carefully protected and
not wrongfully misused (Schlosser et. al, 2006). Having discussed the overview of online
In this Internet age, online shopping is fast becoming a 21 st century life skill. Even
anywhere, the multiple selves of a postmodern consumer today are tech savvy and
knowledgeable. Moreover, it is also in the human nature to be risk adverse and cautious
environment.
Nearly all empirical studies continually focused in categorizing the type of consumers
who is likely to use the Internet for online shopping. Authors like Joines et. al (2003) and
Bhatnagar et. al (2003) maintained the usage of variables like income, age and
educational level to represent a typical online consumer. Yet, it was further argued that
any research subject (Sorce et. al, 2005). For example, the motives of shopping behavior
hedonic and utilitarian shopping purposes are often distinctive among online shoppers. It
may aid in marketing strategy decisions, but it is not influentially applicable for academic
research. This is maintained through the work of Holbrook and Hirschman (1982), where
it was discussed that consumers are logical thinkers who solve problems to make
purchase decisions.
Other studies tried to discuss on the classification of the overall demographic profile in
terms of the behavioral attitude of risk adverse shoppers. The point was then further
developed through the motives of online consumer shopping since the motivation for
shopping has always been the focus point in consumer behavior research. Sheth (1983, as
seen in Bhatnagar et. al [2004]) discussed that there are two types of motives in shopping.
The author emphasized that consumer’s functional motives are determined by time, place
and needs. The non functional motives of shopping are associated with the cognitive and
social influences on the consumer. Motives for shopping is commonly associated with
variables like convenience (Dholakia and Chiang, 2003; Brown et. al, 2001), price of
product (Dholakia and Chiang, 2003), availability of product information (Elliot and
Speck, 2005; Quinn, 1999), entertainment (Elliot and Speck, 2005; Brown et. al, 2001)
and trust (Jarvenpaa and Tractinsky, 1999; Cyr et. al, 2005; Cheung and Lee, 2006).
It was further deliberated that shopping motivations can be debated along with three
distinct types of situations, namely certainty, risk or uncertainty (Earl and Kemp, 1999).
The critical discussion here is the degree of the decision maker’s knowledge on a
particular situation faced. For example, if the consumer knows that he or she will get a
value added purchase online, the decision achieved is to be in the area of certainty. Risky
decisions happen when the consumer perceives that online shopping does not give the
opportunity to examine the products prior to purchase and at the same time have difficulty
in gaining the desired services like return of faulty goods, and not getting the goods that
they wanted. Uncertainty area occurs when the probability of the outcome is not known.
For instance, even though the online shopper shopped at a reliable and popular website,
say Marksandspencer.com, there might be rare cases that there are certain areas of
transaction procedures that are not updated or maybe unclear in instructions which is not
known to the consumer. Hence, there could also be situations like when the product
become out of stock on the last minute. There might be occasion such as during the
purchase of electrical items where the product guarantee and quality is not updated to be
Returning to the point of argument, it can be mentioned that researchers also use the
making situations will occur when the process of information search by the consumer in
the information processing model (Kotler, 2004) is incomplete. Gupta et. al, (2003)
discovered that risk perception can be extended beyond the products to the shopping
medium. There were not many specific demographic classifications in most literature and
the common denominator is on which country will practice online shopping to answer to
the question of who will buy products and services online. For example, being the country
with the most advanced telephone infrastructure, US are discovered to be the only country
in the world where almost everyone within the nation makes the most online purchases
Although there has been a divergence in assessing the usage of basic demographics to
classify online shoppers, academic literature discovered that there is a strong case of
discussion in the association of social circle lifestyle among both genders and online
shopping behavior. This is apparent in the work of Sheehan (1999) where it was observed
that the research direction concentrated in proportioning on how men and women use the
Internet. The author discovered that stereotypical communication patterns on the offline
basis are apparently similar towards online shopping behaviors of both genders. Double
standard appeared that women are deemed to be more cautious towards information
Men, on the other hand, are perceived to be technical and less concerned about
socioeconomic issues.
Another study anticipated that shopping is often associated as the ‘female’s job’
(Dholakia and Chiang, 2003). Like in any other prior studies, the immediate
that most of its respondents often relate an online shopper as a female rather than a male.
For instance, studies discovered that online shopping is more popular among women than
men for pre – comparison purchase on latest fashion trends with or without making an
income and quality of product choice for online shopping. Doolin (2005) revealed in a
further study that consumers with higher household income are less concerned with the
inspection of product condition when doing Internet shopping. With the above
demographic descriptions, it can then be noted that gender and income are also one of the
consumers.
2.2.3 Some key definitions
The Internet is one of the most successful communication models through the benefits of
infrastructure. The invention of the telephone, telegraph and radio set the stage for this
things about Internet is that nobody owns it. It maybe monitored by a body or an
organization, but no one can officially claim ownership on it due to its borderless
competency. The connection will come together as a unit which is known as the Internet.
Hence, the Internet can be defined as “a network of computer networks, which is capable
Shi, 2003).
On the whole, every marketer will know Internet Marketing as the application of the
achieve marketing objectives (Chaffey et. al, 2003). The utilization of the Internet by
organizations today can be considered as the most important method to conduct business
not just the consumers but a source of competitive advantage to most firms to function
as a strategic marketing management tool. The media portrayal of the marketing strategy
communication tool itself given its vast opportunity for businesses to expand to newer
markets faster and compete for better position in the consumer and business buyer
market. Additionally, no further marketing value would need to be defined for marketing
efforts to occur online because there were no preceding models to decide on how should
There has been a considerable amount of research done on trust and Internet Marketing
(Jarvenpaa and Tractinsky, 1999; Cyr et. al, 2005 and Metzger, 2004). Studies found that
the key to successful business relationships has always been associated with trust
between the buyer and the seller. It is difficult to properly define trust because of the
emergence of this concept from the many different disciplines such as accounting,
sociology and psychology. For example, accounting literature characterized trust based on
the classical view of a contract (Jevons and Gabbott, 2000). Sociology research view trust
as expectations that people have for others and themselves (Weber and Carter, 1998).
Then again, even though this concept is wide ranging, it proves to be useful in synthesizing
the studies of trust from different disciplines into this area of study. It is due to the
potential of this theory to provide useful insights into the application of trust in business
Nearly all studies (Littrel and Valetin, 2005; Schimmack et. al, 2005), be it of any
discipline, often evaluate and rely on the definition given by Hofstede (1980)’s to define
culture. This is applicable to the discipline of online shopping as well. According to Cyr
et. al (2005), the definition of culture is complex because it is not possible to define
culture with one sole definition. Nevertheless, over the years, most authors would still
acknowledge culture according to the work of Geert Hofstede (1980) with IBM.
Tentatively speaking, culture can then be defined as the collective programming of the
mind that distinguishes the member of one category of people from another (Hofstede,
understand their cultural background in order to predict present and future purchasing
awareness of the current trend in the market to produce the potential goods and services
that satisfy consumer’s needs. This type of knowledge can then be identified as a form of
culture.
Even though the consumers today are buying things from the Internet, they are still
technology does not mean that marketers can take the Internet for granted to ensure a
smooth online business operation. In this section, the literature shall discuss on the
variables which influence consumer’s purchase intention to shop online. Just as
mentioned in earlier discussion, prior research suggested that the motivation to shop
online is influenced by trust (Cheung and Lee, 2006; Cyr et. al, 2005; Jarvenpaa and
Tractinsky, 1999). Other studies outlined that convenience (Dholakia and Chiang, 2003;
Brown et. al, 2001) is the most important factor that influence a purchase intention. Some
careful reviewing of literature together with the information feedback gained from focus
group, three key variables will set precedence as the antecedent of online shopping:
Even though they are borrowed variables from literature review, they have been adapted
to the general framework of the area of study. The framework of variables will be
The emergence of e - marketing in recent years has changed consumer shopping habits.
For example, the Internet medium encouraged the increase in usage of mass marketing
from major companies like Amazon, Ebay and many others to the consumers. The
Additionally, it is also unquestionable that the Internet will aggravate a different level of
security and privacy issues compared to traditional shopping because of the capability of
confidential consumer personal information through online. However, the resistance that
still occurs from consumers is the reason which prevents a successful implementation of
Internet Marketing medium because of the non human form of interaction between the
consumer and the Web merchant. A study revealed that the lack of trust occur due to the
feeling of ‘easy access’ by a third party on cyber consumer’s personal information during
online navigation process (Hoffman et. al, 1999; Roznowski, 2003). As the authors added
For instance, a person can just download a song or order a CD which will be delivered
within a few working days without having the need to go to a physical store. In spite of
the convenience, there is still a certain degree of mistrust that may occur due to the
be considered solely not on just the individual buyer, but at the same time, involves the
state of the internal and external environment of the industry. Therefore, it can be inferred
that with this example, acknowledging the role of trust in online merchant buyer
relationship is important goes beyond just the micro understanding or the overall
there has been a scarcity of research on trust in online consumer marketing (Jarvenpaa
and Tractinsky, 1999), this variable can then be justified as carries great importance in
the research to enable a better understanding on the role of trust in online shopping and
Analysing trust through the academic discourse of online shopping is important because
it will reflect the consumer’s confidence on the firm has to facilitate the activity of
satisfying customers’ needs and wants. All research authors in the field will have different
viewpoint on this area of study because of its many discipline origins in acknowledging
consumer trusting behaviour. This is supported through previous research works where it
has shown that there is a relationship between trust and online shopping (Metzger, 2004;
Jarvenpaa and Tractinsky, 1999). On the other hand, it can be mentioned that most
researchers will apply and define trust from a multidisciplinary approach because of its
social psychological point of view origins. One example is that some authors would
associate trust with perception of risk (Bhatnagar et. al, 2000; Doolin et. al, 2005; Gupta
et. al, 2003). However, Cheung and Lee (2006) discussed that trust can be developed
without the existence of perceived risk. According to them further, risk is only a condition
for trust to arise which will serve as a parameter to explore the factors driving trust
formation in Internet shopping. It was also added that knowledge in the perceived risk is
deemed to be important because consumers will normally be concerned when they do not
know the possible outcome like the condition of their product purchase together with the
quality of before and after sales service gained through their overall purchase process.
The Internet can be anticipated as becoming accessible to many, revealing new
marketing communications. Being on the Internet has allowed online merchants to cut
costs on transactions and at the same time improve on the organization’s overall image.
Just as discussed earlier, for the consumer, it assists to provide convenience when the
individual is comfortable with the functional capability of computers and for other uses
(Kerem, 2005). Similarly, it was further discussed that in spite of the increase
convenience and accessibility of online shopping, both the works of Mukherjee and Nath
(2003)’s and Kau et. al (2003) discovered that customer’s prior experience, attitude and
adoption level towards the technology of the computer, Internet and also the brand
associated with the merchant can be the proxy of trust in online shopping. To quote the
works of Lee and Turban (2001), understanding trust does not mean only buyer seller
2.3.2 Convenience
It is undeniable that in times to come; people’s life will continue to get busier and busier.
Modern technology and the Internet can be reckoned as the solution to the consumer’s
worries of in store peak hour crowds. The Internet will enable consumers and businesses
to shop at anytime from anywhere they wanted. Additionally, shopping online is very
convenient as long as the consumer does not mind waiting for the extra shipping time and
delivery costs. In the business context, the presence of the Internet does not just provide a
new paradigm for organizations to conduct business but also allow a better way to
develop better marketing communications strategies (Joines et. al, 2003). In support of this,
the work of Firat (1991) will be cited in this study due to online shopping’s close
similarities to the definition of postmodernist life. At the same time, acknowledging the
comparison towards postmodernist is important because this era, does not just enables
consumers to interpret products differently but at the same time, allow the attachment of
unquestionable that the Internet has generated a great amount of convenience to the
society in general and introduces an economically friendly way of life. The Internet has
served to link consumers and businesses arbitrarily from its original role because it
allows consumers to create unexplained experiences that cannot be controlled by the sole
which encourages the investment of major firms and enterprises to explore this
interactive marketing communication channel (Dholakia and Rego, 1998). For that
reason, it can then be deliberated that the emergence of the Internet gave consumers and
businesses a newfound freedom towards the interpretation of the meaning of marketing and
On the whole, retailers will offer product shopping varieties to not just optimize
consumer’s efficiency in shopping but at the same time present an assortment in their
shopping tastes. Academic research may focus on trust relationships with online retailers,
or even level of expectations on an online retail website. Yet, all of the research focus will
improvement of other online interface to increase shopping convenience (Gefen et. al,
2003). This is further supported in a study by Bart et. al (2005) where it was discovered
that consumers would like to navigate in a website that promotes not just the ease of
usage but at the same time allows them to reach their desired information destination.
consumers do hope for a smooth flow of construct while browsing a website. This form of
elaboration is a welcome challenge in the study of online shopping even though prior
academic research may become a rapprochement between theory and practice. A study
on convenience in online shopping may make practitioners question everything they look
at, specifically on other marketing related factors like the brand and image of the
consumption and marketing is a priority for the success of any business operation. Even
Still within the context of trust, the availability of product information can be argued as
the security to assist the consumer in making better purchase decision (Elliot and Speck,
2005). A study of the consumer purchasing behaviour is not a simple task as their actions
are fraud with abnormalities, unknown and ambiguities (Hibbert and Smith, 2002).
Therefore, the review of this variable is deemed to be important because the introspection
into the knowledge of this point of discussion will enable practitioners and academicians
can also be extended to the awareness on consumer’s overall perception towards the
In the study on determining the drivers of online trust, Bart et. al (2005) argued that Web
site characteristics do play a role in facilitating consumer trust towards the availability of
product information. It was further outlined that a few key characteristics strengths such
as information risk, depth of information available and also the degree of information
available are expected to create the influence on developing positive relationships which
simultaneously may encourage more Web site ‘hits’. Marketers would definitely always
(Scholosser et. al, 2006). Therefore, this form of information is important to be noted
because since consumers cannot physically examine the product condition, it is important
Moreover, it also helps to build the confidence in the consumer to know that they make
the right decision in their choice of purchase if there are constant updates in information
to prevent the increase of self doubt as well as perceived risks (Quinn, 1999; Brown et.
al, 2001).
It is important for online merchants to be proactive when it comes to reaching out to the
consumer market. Globalization has make the world become smaller, which together with
the emergence of the Internet, has enabled the consumer to make better informed decision
conveniently at a cheaper cost (Spann and Tellis, 2006). Therefore, online marketers
communication channels because as Haeckel (1998) puts it, the essence of interactivity is
still exchange. Additionally, it also serves to encourage consumers to tell what they are
seeking for. This form of rapport will then enable the generation of trust towards online
marketing similar to offline marketing function. At the same time, it was further added
that the Internet can be adopted to increase efficiency plus increase effectiveness in
consumer behaviour also involves understanding on the overall interpretation of all the
external influences which shape consumer’s decision making. Even though this point is
discussed within the micro context, it is essential to comprehend core values, norms and
discover what creates cultural symbolism. Moreover, in the theory of culture, normal
consumers are not independent in spirits or even articulating their own opinion to make
Marketers can have the option of waiting for change or be the one who cause the change.
However, with innovation and modern technology mushrooming each day, it is unlikely
that the marketer who is seeking product diffusion will do the former. Marketers will
have to work on bringing about the change within the fabric of the whole society. The
same applies towards online shopping. To instigate acceptance towards the setting of non
the core cultural background. Issues of interest would go beyond just the consideration
towards the Web interface, which at the same time, include elements such as quality,
customer support, convenience, and most importantly, the development of trust to shop
the Internet has the capability to reach people on every national culture and in many
different national languages (Shiu and Dawson, 2004). The authors supported the
statement with the analysis of online purchase (by Ernst and Young, 2001) empirical
studies where it was discovered that nearly all online merchants studied will have sales
generated from most of their online stores instead of the in store ones. No wonder Lim et.
al (2002) declared that global expansion on the Internet could promise better customer
Internet shopping will inherently involves a higher level of perceived uncertainty than
physical store shopping. It can be inferred that the Internet will appear as a form of
important to know that any exchange behaviour occur across the Internet is often
monitored and operated by rules. Some culture may be tolerant and some may not
noted because as societies evolved, the beliefs, attitude and norms that shape their core
values may not (Muniz and O’Guinn, 2001). Moreover, communities today are no longer
boundaries may result in the community’s hostile response towards the acceptance of this
Just as it was discussed earlier, trust is an important catalyst to many forms of business
exchange. As a new form of business activity, potential shoppers are often cautious and
aware of the lack of physical involvement when it comes to shopping online (Lim et. al,
2002). For the shoppers, a hands on approach shopping is important in all business
exchange because it enable to mitigate the exchange of trust between not just the buyer
and the seller, but the overall outcome of a business transaction. Samiee (1998) discussed
that this is apparent in highly contextual culture and also Confucian based culture.
In the next point of discussion, it is important to study the role of culture based on the
framework of Hofstede’s (1994) work. The author’s study framework consists of four
masculine – feminity. Prior studies suggested that of the four dimensions examined, two
trust (Jarvenpaa and Tractinsky, 1999; Lim et. al, 2002). This is supported by an
empirical study conducted on understanding web site preferences across culture (Cyr et.
al, 2005) where it was discovered that members of the individualist culture such as Canada
and US are not very trustworthy towards foreign web sites. The consumers have a
tendency to be more comfortable with local websites which enhance reputation of being
more trustworthy.
Contrary to that information, Jarvenpaa and Tractinsky (1999) claimed that individualism
promotes a trusting stance where individualists are more likely to trust others when they
are given some reasons to do so. Conversely, collectivists communities such as the
overall society in Japan favours foreign websites more compared to those locally
promoted within the country. Another variable dimension that carries importance is
uncertainty avoidance. Lim et. al (2002) discovered that people in high uncertainty
avoidance culture have high resistance towards change. The community in lower
uncertainty avoidance countries, on the other hand has lower resistance towards change. It
was discovered in the work of Samiee (1998) that high context consumers like the
Japanese and the Middle Eastern community favour dealing with individuals whom they
With existing literature reviewed, the framework below (Figure 2.1) illustrates the overall
theoretical framework proposed in the course of the study. The factors or antecedents of
online shopping trust are – Prior experience in shopping online, Convenience and
availability of product information. Trust, being the core of the research focus will serve
as a form of security control for the consumer to make online purchase decision.
Convenience provides the ease of use to the consumer in terms of time, place and space.
how frequent it is updated and at the same time; assist in analyzing which aspect of Web
site contents that are visited in order to help in predicting consumer’s post purchase
decision. Culture, being the sole consequences in the perspective of the research serves to
provide in depth inference towards the applicability of online shopping on a global scale.
Antecedents
- Prior experience in shopping online (Brown et.
al, 2001; Cyr et. al, 2005; Jarvenpaa and
Tractinsky, 1999)
- Convenience (Dholakia and Chiang, 2003;
Brown et. al, 2001)
- Availability of Product information (Brown et.
al, 2001; Elliot and Speck, 2005)
Figure 2.1: The framework of antecedents and consequences of online shopping trust
In this study, a number of hypotheses have been formulated from literature review to
fulfill the objectives set for the study. They are as follows:
H2: Consumer’s prior experience, attitude and adoption level towards the technology
of the computer will have a positive relationship with online trust.
H3: Consumers from individualistic culture has higher trust in shopping online.
H4: The convenience in online shopping will have a positive relationship with online
trust.
Cyr et. al, 2005 1. What are the within Culture does have a
culture preferences potential influence on
“Beyond Trust: Web Site for design elements consumption behaviour.
Design Preferences Across of a local and
Cultures” foreign website? This is apparent through the
similarities of preference
2. What are the between Americans,
cultural implications Canadians, Germans and
of design, trust, the Japanese being an
satisfactions and e exceptional case result.
loyalty on the study?
Within cultural groups,
satisfaction and e loyalty is
found to be not greater for
local rather than foreign
website.
Jarvenpaa and Tractinsky, 1. What is the role of Trust is an important order
1999 trust in mediating qualifier for most purchase
online purchase? decisions.
“Consumer Trust in an
Internet store: A cross – 2. What are the It was discovered that
cultural validation” antecedents of members of individualist
online trust? cultures are less likely to
trust a local website
3. What are the compared to foreign
outcomes of online websites.
trust?
In spite of strong literature
4. What is the recommendations, the study
influence of cross did not find strong cultural
cultural validation in differences in the
enhancing online antecedents of trust.
trust?
Dholakia and Chiang, 2003 1. What is the Three essential variables
consumer perception were used in discovering
“Factors driving consumer of the difference in consumer perception in
intention to shop online: shopping online and online shopping –
An empirical offline? convenience, price of
investigation” product and product type.
2. What is the role of
price in online Of the three, only
purchase intention? convenience and product
type seemed to be having a
3. Which shopping better influence in
medium would encouraging consumers to
consumer prefer? shop online.
A familiar predicament
mentioned in Hofstede’s
work, that is to define the
borders between individuals
and groups they belong to,
to ensure smooth
functioning of the society.
Table 2.1 Summary table of theoretical framework
Chapter 3: Methodology
3.1 Introduction
Having a research design is essential in any survey study because it will help to explore
the marketing research problem constructed. An appropriate research design will serve to
let the reader know about the chronology of the whole research duration course. Even
though the definitions provided in academic literature will provide a different meaning to
the whole perspective, but collectively, they function to act in support of one aim – that is
to be the blueprint structure all through the whole research process (Cooper and
which the research question should be viewed. Hence, it can be explained that this
research employs a more exploratory dichotomy approach because the researcher wanted
context on online shopping trust cannot be done with solely one single positivist method;
On the practical context, proper market research is essential to assist in optimizing the
use of business-related issue to meet the company’s marketing objectives. What is more,
it will also further help the organization to understand their overall consumer market better.
Generally, even though there are two basic commercial marketing research methods -
context of research methods will enable the researcher to examine where the different
variables explored intersect. This is also in line with the triangulation method
Furthermore, the research conducted is also consistent with the realist view
serves to discover the truth of a reality which is understood and definitive in reality. In
this study, the researcher aimed to conduct a field study setting in hope to generate
descriptive results from the participants of the research. Moreover, the researcher also
aimed to discover the participant’s perceptions of research activity with the assumption
that online shopping is an existing actual routine for most of the respondents without any
monitoring or any role playing exercises done. Besides, the approach used will assist in
uncovering additional facts, opinions and also serve to compare variables to assist in
hypothesis development for the objective of the whole research. At the same time, it will
further allow online retailers to adopt a better practice and understanding of the
marketing concept and prevent Internet marketing myopia practices (Houston, 1986;
Levitt, 1960).
Therefore, since the main focus of this study is to examine consumer’s perception
towards online shopping under a cross cultural context (Earl and Kemp, 2002), it was
then decided that the respondents would be individuals who at least have a basic
knowledge of the computer and know how to surf the Internet. Additionally, the study’s
main purpose was to discover the trend of online shopping in Britain. Even though the
choice of methodology contradicts the argument in Shiu and Dawson (2004)’s work on
national cultural comparisons, the choice of several different racial cultures that exists
within the country’s community is selected because the study was not aim to generalize
findings across national identities (Keillor et. al, 1999), but to understand the distinct
United Kingdom is chosen as the country that will represent the different racial culture
researched (domestic British, Chinese, Indian, Caucasian and other minorities) because the
e - tail sector will be seen as the substitute to retail shopping in the next five years
(Reynolds, 1999). To name a few, industries like banks, travel agencies and music will
see some ‘retail convergence’ in their industry structure as well. Furthermore, another
rationale for this choice of sample selection is to compile a broad demographic profile of
online shoppers since it is not officially categorized in nearly all studies analyzed on
online trust as they are more specified with either general industry or company selection
(Mukherjee and Nath, 2002; Jarvenpaa and Tractinsky, 1999). Moreover, the study also
hopes to identify the interrelationship between the major factors which influence online
shopping.
online shoppers in the area of study. Moreover, the University serves an international
community of students which is the best choice in favor of sample selection for
volunteers intended for comparison study. For the purpose of this research paper, the
information is gathered from primary and secondary data. The following sections shall
explain the method concerned in collecting primary and secondary data, as well as the
other than the secondary data at hand. Primary data is more accurate than secondary data
because the information gathered are from first hand account information, which are the
participants for the research design. Primary data are collected on specific issues such as
the researched factors, which will influence online shopping from targeted respondent’s
viewpoints.
Focus group is often perceived as a form of qualitative research (Calder, 1977). Normally
together to provide ideas or even feedback where respondents are asked on their opinion on
group allows organizations to explore, develop, name, discuss and also to test new
in a more natural setting where the respondents are comfortable to converse with.
Therefore, a focus group was conducted in the period of 7 th August and 9th August 2006
with eight individuals, three males and five females. The researcher, being the moderator
of the group strives to ensure that the topic of online shopping trust and culture is
continuously brought up throughout. A two day selection was employed to conduct the
Each focus group was conducted over the period of one hour where there was a good
However, for the main purpose of the study, it is important to note too that focus group
only contributes to a small part of the whole study in order to obtain in direct,
confidential information together with exploring opinions and attitudes towards online
shopping (Fern, 1982). Moreover, according to the author further, the usage of focus
pretesting them with the purpose of having a finalized survey respondent’s version of the
copy that will be distributed to the general public (Please refer to Appendix A for a copy
The results from the informal focus group were used to derive qualitative responses for
most of the answers given by the interviewees were used in establishing and also serve as
a guideline for developing the questionnaire. Some of the important outcomes from the
Prior experience in shopping online “Browse online but don't buy. I don't trust
the security since ebay jacked up an
account of mine. Besides, I find it's
generally cheaper to drive to the store
than it is to pay shipping.”
Pilot test has been carried out on 15 th August 2006 before the distribution of 10 copies of
the actual questionnaire to a few residents of Melton Hall, Jubilee Campus. This is to test
the success of the questionnaire designed from the trial population of interest before the
actual costs of full scaled survey are incurred. Follow up calls was done either in person
or through email to clarify certain discrepancies which was not understood by the
• The classification of the income group data because of the difference in economic
At the end of the pilot testing period, the questionnaires collected came with the feedback
which indicate no additional alterations is required because the questionnaire was found
3.2.3 Questionnaire
The survey questionnaire is the selected method used to collect quantitative data. 20
questions were formulated for the purpose of the questionnaire analysis. Some of the
questions were divided into sub matrix proportion in order to encourage a better
understanding of the questioning trend for the survey respondents. Besides, it is also
The questions were divided into two sections - respondent’s demographic profile in
Section A and research contents in Section B. They were designed according to the
objectives and theoretical framework developed in order to discover the factors which
‘Hallward library’ and ‘Jubilee Campus business library’. Other venues of questionnaire
distribution are also Postgraduate student halls such as Melton Hall in Jubilee Campus of
the University. These questionnaires were distributed and collected during the duration of
one week.
3.2.3.1 Method of collection
Since questionnaire distribution method was selected, the researcher adopted the method
of informal distribution that is through the recruitment of a few course mates and
recruited and each of them were given their choice of questionnaire copies each for
distribution at the designated areas mentioned, while the remaining copies was done by
instruction for query purposes which will be directed and forwarded to the researcher. No
pre advance notice, price draws were done and circulated due to the public oriented
choice of areas as well as limited funding. After the duration of one week, the
questionnaire response rate was only 100 copies due to certain cases of unusable data
gender, age, income, language spoken, education level and country of origin. Additionally,
questions like period of Internet usage and venue choice were added for further discussion
on statistical analysis. Therefore, these two questions would not be analyzed in detail using
the SPSS software. The development of the variables helps to analyze the relationship of
each factor in accordance to each demographic variable. Moreover, they serve to give a
scale.
The second part was more on each factors of the research – most popular online
the layout in section A, some of the questions in this section would not be formally
analyzed with SPSS software as they serve the purpose of assisting the discussion
section of data analysis and discussion chapters. They were designed on the basis to
get the respondent’s informal point of view. All questions were designed on the
mixture of five point likert scale, nominal and ordinal scale (Please refer to Appendix
Secondary data was collected from academic research journals as well as Internet
journals. It is inefficient and insufficient to just use primary data for the purpose of the
whole study. Moreover, by reviewing prior studies will also assist in discovering
(Cooper and Schindler, 2003). Additionally, secondary data are also quick source of
(Malhotra, 2004). Therefore, search engines like EBSCOHost, ProQuest, Mintel, IMRG
and Emerald were helpful in gathering information regarding the background of the
online shopping trade. Additionally, information from business magazines like Marketing
Week was also used in understanding the overall market review and condition of the
3.4 Sampling
The target population for this study is working individuals, university students and
college teenagers who are familiar with the system of online shopping. They are chosen
because usually there will be different factors and reasons that will lead them to do
shopping online.
Of the target population a sample size of 120 samples was chosen to represent the whole
population of online shoppers. Respondents are residents living within the vicinity of
University Park and Jubilee Campus, in the University of Nottingham which is the scope
The sampling method used was judgmental sampling. This technique was decided on this
study because the study needed experienced individuals who at least have a prior
experience with the Internet as well as computers, and at the same time have a little
knowledge in online shopping get their opinions about the study contents. They would
provide better answers to the questionnaire as they are consumers who have to make
purchase decisions. This method was also chosen on three reasons – quicker, convenient
and less cost. This is because the study was done in areas where online shopping is
commonly used. The overall study was conducted during a period of four months. The
respondents were co-operative and answered to the questionnaire without much doubts
and queries.
The descriptive analysis was used to compile the demographic information of online
shoppers. Some of the analyses used are frequencies, ANOVA and crosstabs. The
statistical and inferential analysis which was used to decide whether two different
variables are independent is the chi – square test. The statistical tools used to analyze the
4.1 Introduction
This chapter will focus on generating results and findings using descriptive analysis
based on the results from questionnaires and focus group interviews conducted with
survey participants in chapter three. The analysis outline of this chapter will be presented
inferential analysis will also be used to correspond with the hypotheses developed. All
these scope are related to the objectives of the study. The data analysed will be presented
In order to answer to the questions raised and objectives set for the purpose of the study,
42%. This results show that males shop more online compared to females. Regarding the
age grouping, a big proportion of respondents (43%) are between 19 – 29 years who shop
online followed by respondents who aged 18 and below (29%). The result above explains
these two age groups favor online shopping more than any other age groups within the
study. The outcome happens most likely due to the fact that both the age groups see
online shopping as a convenience and possibly due to their busy and hectic lifestyle
(school and at work). However, only 13% of the respondents between the age of 41 years
and above prefer to shop online. This may be because they probably are more conscious
about the disadvantages of online shopping and they prefer to shop in person at the store.
Most of the respondents are of the rather not to disclose their income group (25%). This
is followed by 18% from those who earns £ 500 and below. Yet, there are 16% of the
respondents from the income group of £ 1,501 – £ 2,000. The findings appear that most
of the respondents would favor doing online shopping more because it is good value to
purchase certain items online (through promotions, available only online products/services). On
the other hand, there are two income groups (£ 1,001 – £ 1,500 and £ 2,001 - £ 3,000)
which have the same share of percentages (15%). In all likelihood, the number of these
respondents’ is lesser because they prefer to shop in person or do not trust the
Generally, nearly all of the respondents are of the Chinese ethnicity (38%). This is
followed by 27% from the group of Domestic British respondents. There are 8% of the
respondents who are from the Caucasian or White group. The findings show that there
are 13% of the respondents under the Others ethnicity category. From the survey, it was
discovered that there are only 9% of Indian respondents while the remaining 5% chose to
not to disclose their nationality. Further elaboration on the ethnicity proportion will be
discussed at the end of this section. It can be mentioned that most of the respondents,
regardless of country of origin speaks English as their primary language (47%). This is
followed by 14% who speaks Chinese as well as 12% who speaks Japanese. A total of 5%
of the respondents speak French (3%) and Spanish (2%) respectively. However, it can be
observed that there is a similar percentage of 6% each for the individuals who speak
German and Hindi. To conclude, most of the respondents can converse in English
and procedures.
Further analysis shows that majority of the respondents (31%) have six to 12 months
experience with the Internet. This is followed by two matching percentages of 23% each
between respondents who have seven years or more and four to six years experience with
the Internet. On the other hand, a total of 9% of the respondents has less than six months
exposure to the Web world. Based from the findings, it appears that most of the
respondents are familiar with the usage and operations of the Internet through their period
of usage of between one to seven years or more. On the other hand, majority of the
respondents (36%) have a basic level of education at least at the college level. This is
followed by 23% of the respondents who have a Masters degree. Next, an equal
percentage proportion can be seen for those who have a doctoral and professional degree
with 5% each while those who indicate Others and vocational/technical education level
Table 4.2 Crosstabs analysis on whether gender is related to period of internet usage
Total
7
less year
than 6 6 to 12 1 to 3 4 to 6 s or
month months years years more
s
gender female Count 6 13 6 12 5 42
% within
14.3% 31.0% 14.3% 28.6% 11.9% 100.0%
gender
male Count 3 18 8 11 18 58
% within
5.2% 31.0% 13.8% 19.0% 31.0% 100.0%
gender
Total Count 9 31 14 23 23 100
% within
9.0% 31.0% 14.0% 23.0% 23.0% 100.0%
gender
Table 4.3 Chi-Square tests on whether gender is related to period of Internet usage
Chi-Square Tests
Asymp. Sig.
Value df (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 7.105a 4 .130
Likelihood Ratio 7.388 4 .117
N of Valid Cases 100
a. 1 cells (10.0%) have expected count less than 5. The
minimum expected count is 3.78.
The findings indicates that 31.0% of female respondents' have at least 6 to 12 months
experience with the Internet while only 11.9% of them have 7 years or more experience.
experience with the Internet. It can be noted as well that there are also 31% of the male
respondents who has 7 years or more experience with the Internet. However, as the chi-
square test (table 4.2) has a value greater than .05, this outcome present that even though
most male respondents would have more years of experience with the Internet compared
to the female group, gender is not significant for the period of Internet usage.
Even though there is academic literature to support the disadvantage (Sorce et. al, 2005)
among the overall consumers, the researcher found that descriptive results produce
otherwise. Contrary to initial academic theory and discussion (please refer to Dholakia and
Chiang, 2003), online shopping can be a male’s job as more data responses were received
from males (58%) in this study. As for the examination on predicting the type of age group
who will shop more online, the result proves to be similar with most studies (Sheehan,
1999; Sorce et. al, 2005) indicating that the younger age group between age 19
– 29 years will shop more online (43%). Moreover, it can be noted that gender do not
have influence on the period of experience an individual has with the Internet.
Next, more inferential tests like crosstabs, chi – square and ANOVA will be used to
determine the exact influence of the descriptive results compared to other variables of the
study. Additionally, analysis will be done in order to answer to the research questions and
objectives developed in chapter one and further analysis will be done to determine the
chapter two.
4.2.2 Analysis on the experience of whether the individual shop online
before and most popular choice of shopping website
2. Which is the most popular choice of online shopping website among consumers?
shop online
yes no Total
gender female Count 14 28 42
% within gender 33.3% 66.7% 100.0%
male Count 16 42 58
% within gender 27.6% 72.4% 100.0%
Total Count 30 70 100
% within gender 30.0% 70.0% 100.0%
The findings indicate that only 33.3% of female respondents' shop online while only 28%
who has not shop online before. In addition, a total of 27.6% of the male respondents'
who has the experience of shopping online while there are 72.4% who has not. Judging
by the contrast in summary of result information, chi – square test will be done to
Table 4.6 Crosstabs analysis on whether age is related to the choice of popular websites
Table 4.7 Chi-Square tests on whether age is related to the choice of popular websites
Chi-Square Tests
Asymp. Sig.
Value df (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 11.378a 12 .497
Likelihood Ratio 11.587 12 .479
N of Valid Cases 100
a. 12 cells (60.0%) have expected count less than 5. The
minimum expected count is 1.82.
The findings indicates that 41.9% of respondents' between the age of 19 - 29 years favor
Amazon website while only 9.3% of the respondents from the same age group prefer
shopping at Argos. In addition, a total of 44.4% of the respondents' ages between 41 and
above choose Amazon as their favorite online shopping website. It can be noted that there
is an equal percentage of 7.7% each of respondents from this age category prefer
PCworld as the best online company to shop with while the rest chose websites from the
Others category.
However, the chi-square tests (table 4.7) prove otherwise as it has a value of more than
0.05.
Chi-Square Tests
Asymp. Sig.
Value df (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 8.078a 4 .089
Likelihood Ratio 8.837 4 .065
N of Valid Cases 100
a. 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The
minimum expected count is 5.88.
The findings indicate that 42.9% of the female respondents prefer to shop at Amazon
while only 4.8% prefer to shop at Argos. In addition, a total of 29.3% of the male
respondents' prefer to shop at Amazon as well. It can be noted that there is an equal
percentage of 22.4% each of male respondents that prefer to shop from Tesco and Argos
website.
As the chi-square tests (table 4.9) have the value of 0.089, it can then be concluded that
Summary of experience of shopping online with crosstabs analysis proves that majority of
the respondents have never shop online before. On the other hand, inferential results
remained unchanged on the assumption that gender will influence the experience of
In the next statistical tests on online website popularity, it was discovered that even
though Amazon is the main choice of shopping website among those between the older
age groups, but inferential tests discover that age is not significant for the choice of
popularity of the websites. Yet, in another test conducted, gender is discovered to play an
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Percent
Quick and convenient 37 37.0 37.0
Good value to buy online 6 6.0 43.0
Do no have time to go out and shop ' 2 2.0 45.0
Cheaper to buy certain types of goods
5 5.0 50.0
online
More product variety selection 7 7.0 57.0
No tax charges if shop online 9 9.0 66.0
Know how to use the computer, but do
5 5.0 71.0
not know how to shop on
Prefer to shop for product in person 18 18.0 89.0
Only prefer to browse the items online 7 7.0 96.0
others 4 4.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0
The table above shows the many reasons consumers shop online. Out of the 10 reasons
given, most of the respondents prefer to shop online because it is quick and convenient
(37%). Next, it can be seen that there are 9% of the respondents who prefer to shop
online because there are no extra tax charges if shopping is done online. Moreover, 6%
responded that one can get good value purchases by buying online. Surprisingly, there are
only 2% of the respondents who prefer to shop online because of the lack of time to do in
store shopping. Additionally, it must be noted that there are 18% of the respondents who
classification?
Table 4.11 Descriptive table on reasons consumers shop online in terms of ethnicity
and gender
Descriptive Statistics
The descriptive table shows that there are 38 respondents who are of the Chinese
ethnicity with the breakdown of 11 who are female while the remaining 27 are males.
There are a total of 27 domestic British respondents where the breakdown is 14 females
and 13 males.
Table 4.12 Levene’s statistic test on reasons consumers shop online
by ethnicity and gender
Table 4.12 shows a significance level of 0.028. It is assumed that the variance of the
dependent variables across groups is equal. Therefore the significance level can be set at
0.05.
The test of between subject effects table will show if the mean values are statistically
significant.
The table shows F values and significance levels for ethnicity and gender and reason to
shop online as well as the interaction between the two. Here the null hypothesis can be
rejected in the case of ethnicity (F=1.592, df=5, sig. = 0.171) and also gender (F=1.557,
df=1, sig=0.215) plus the interaction between the two (F=0.808, df=5, sig. =0.547) at the
0.05 level.
It can then be concluded that ethnicity, gender has no impact on the reasons for shopping
online.
Generally, as the result from the analysis has derived, most of the consumers will shop
online for the convenience it provides. It can also be mentioned that there is a quite large
percentage of consumers who prefer to do online shopping for many other non stated
reasons. However, additional analysis done discovered that none of the variables of
gender and especially culture (ethnicity) has an immediate effect on the reasons for
consumers to shop online. Therefore, it can be concluded that culture and gender may
effect online shopping in other untested areas of study, but not within the context of this
present research.
5. Are consumer’s trusts in online shopping affected by demographic classification?
Total
Cannot
Trusting get A
your credit desired Can shop at 'phishing
Lack of card product your ' scam, a
close quality informatio (or convenience, company
examination n to the Bad service) no worrries mimics a
on product online shipmen that on space reputable
purchase company t you and time company
services wanted
gender female Count 6 13 3 6 5 9 42
%
within 14.3% 31.0% 7.1% 14.3% 11.9% 21.4% 100.0%
gender
male Count 16 11 14 4 4 9 58
%
within 27.6% 19.0% 24.1% 6.9% 6.9% 15.5% 100.0%
gender
Total Count 22 24 17 10 9 18 100
%
within 22.0% 24.0% 17.0% 10.0% 9.0% 18.0% 100.0%
gender
The cross tab table shows that there are a high percentage of female respondents (31%)
who based their opinion online shopping safety mean that shopping online requires the
individual to trust their online credit information with the online company. On the other
hand, only 19% of male respondents feel likewise on online shopping safety. In addition,
there are 27.6% of the male respondents who based their opinion on online shopping
safety means that the individual would not be able to have close examination on the
quality of the product purchased. It can be noted that only 14.3% of the respondents feel
otherwise. These results was supported by a high total percentage of opinion that not
being able to have a close examination on the quality of product purchased (22%) for
both genders. This goes the same for the opinion of trusting the individual's credit card
information to the online company with a total of 24% for both genders.
Table 4.15 Chi – Square tests on whether online trust is affected by gender
Chi-Square Tests
Asymp. Sig.
Value df (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 10.038a 5 .074
Likelihood Ratio 10.549 5 .061
N of Valid Cases 100
a. 2 cells (16.7%) have expected count less than 5. The
minimum expected count is 3.78.
As the chi square test has a value of 0.074, the result is then statistically significant.
Table 4.16 Descriptive table on whether different age groups differ in terms
of their opinion on online shopping trust
Descriptives
The above table shows the descriptive analysis for opinion of safety online across
different age groups. It shows that there are many respondents (43) from those between
19 - 29 years than from the ones who are 41 years and above (13) and 30 - 40 years (15).
It can also be seen that those between the age group of 30 - 40 years old seemed to be
having a stronger opinion than the rest of the other age groups as the mean value for
those between 30 - 40 years old is 2.60. On the other hand, there are close mean
satisfaction values between those of 18 years and below (2.76) and those who are 41
years and above (2.92). It is expected this difference in mean value to be significant.
Therefore, statistical tests need to be done to decide whether the different age group's
The table above shows the results of the test of homogeneity of variances. The null
hypothesis is that the variances across all 4 age groups are equal. The test statistic for this
test is Levene Statistic. The value for the test result is associated with a significance level
of 0.108. Therefore, the variance of the dependent variables across groups is equal and a
ANOVA
The ANOVA table shows F values and significance levels for opinion of safety online
and the different age groups as well as the interaction between the two. As discussed
earlier, the null hypothesis is that the mean values for opinions of safety online are equal
across all age groups. Looking at the mean square values (which indicate variability), it
can be seen that there is much more variation between groups (6.813) compared to those
within groups (3.100). This is reflected in the results of the F statistic of 2.198, which in
turn has a significance value of 0.093. Here the null hypothesis can be rejected in the case
of opinions on safety online are equal across the age groups and can be concluded that
opinions on safety online differ across the different age groups. The Post hoc test will
Table 4.19 Post hoc tests on whether different age groups differ
in terms of their opinion on online shopping trust
Multiple Comparisons
Mean
Difference 95% Confidence Interval
(I) age (J) age (I-J) Std. Error Sig. Lower Bound Upper Bound
18 and below 19 - 29 years -.89 .423 .224 -2.10 .31
30 - 40 years .16 .560 .994 -1.43 1.75
41 and above -.16 .588 .994 -1.84 1.51
19 - 29 years 18 and below .89 .423 .224 -.31 2.10
30 - 40 years 1.05 .528 .272 -.45 2.55
41 and above .73 .557 .637 -.86 2.31
30 - 40 years 18 and below -.16 .560 .994 -1.75 1.43
19 - 29 years -1.05 .528 .272 -2.55 .45
41 and above -.32 .667 .972 -2.22 1.58
41 and above 18 and below .16 .588 .994 -1.51 1.84
19 - 29 years -.73 .557 .637 -2.31 .86
30 - 40 years .32 .667 .972 -1.58 2.22
The above table includes all possible comparisons across the 4 different age groups. (It was
included twice) In the first row, it compares age group between 18 years and below and
Therefore, the null hypothesis tested in the above table is opinions on safety in shopping
online are the same across the different age group. However, with the significance value
0.5 , the null hypothesis can be rejected because the test significance value for all age
groups is more than 0.05. The age group of 30 - 40 years and 41 years and above differ
The table above shows that there are 42 females of different ethnicity and 58 males who
responded to the survey done. Of the breakdown for the female group, it shows that 14
are of the domestic British ethnicity while 11 are Chinese. Likewise with the male group,
there are 27 who are Chinese while it is followed by 13 who are domestic British. The
Levene's Test of Equality of Error Variances will determine whether the mean values in the
The test result above shows the result of significance value of 0.531. Therefore, the
variance of the dependent variables across groups is equal and a significance level of 0.05
will be used.
Test result shows F values and significance levels for gender, ethnicity and opinion of
safety in shopping online as well as the interaction between the gender and ethnicity.
Here the null hypothesis can be rejected in the case of gender (F=5.131, df=1, sig. =
0.026) but not for ethnicity (F=1,676, df=5, sig. = 0.149) or the interaction between the
It can be concluded that the ethnicity seems to have no impact. However, gender has a
great impact on opinion of shopping online, with males having been more opinionated on
It can be concluded that online trust can still differ between gender and age. However,
opinionated on the issue of online trust compared to females. On the other hand, there is
evidence also to determine that that age between 30 and above will have different
opinions on safety in online shopping compared to those age 30 years and below.
However, ethnicity seemed to have no direct impact in influencing online trust as there is
no evidence to link the two variables together to determine the relationship between the
two.
Table 4.23 Frequency table of online shopper’s choice of shopping style
rather shop at
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Percent
at a recommended
38 38.0 38.0
website
unknown site, but
32 32.0 70.0
still get the product
store shopping 30 30.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0
The table above shows that most of the respondents (38%) prefer to shop at a
recommended web site. This is followed by 32% of the respondents who consider
shopping at an unknown site is better as they still can get the desired product. Lastly, only
It can then be concluded that the close proximity in results shows that the respondents
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Percent
once a week 13 13.0 13.0
several times a week 14 14.0 27.0
once a month 33 33.0 60.0
rarely 31 31.0 91.0
never 9 9.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0
As seen in the table above, the results show that 33% of the respondents shopped online
once a month. This is followed by those who rarely shopped online (31%). A total of
14% of the respondents shopped online several times a week while 13% of the
respondents' shopped online once a week. However, a total of 9% of the respondents never
In conclusion, the 33% proportion in the above results happen maybe because some
respondents do not have the time to go out and shop and also only needed to buy a few
items online. The 9% of the respondents do not shop online because feel that shopping in
person is safer.
6. Do consumer’s comfort level with the Internet, computers and online shopping
Table 4.25 Frequency table of the service experience level of online shoppers
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Percent
Very pleasant 11 11.0 11.0
Somewhat pleasant 12 12.0 23.0
Neither pleasant nor
73 73.0 96.0
unpleasant
Somewhat unpleasant 3 3.0 99.0
Very unpleasant 1 1.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0
The table above shows the service experience level of online shoppers when they
purchase goods or services online. It can be noted that most of the respondents have a
neutral (neither pleasant nor unpleasant) experience towards online shopping (73%). This
is followed by 12% who feels somewhat pleasant towards the service received and 11%
who are satisfied with their experiences. However, only a small percentage (1%) who feel
very unpleasant.
Table 4.26 Descriptive statistics of the effect of age and
ethnicity on internet comfort level
Descriptive Statistics
The test result above shows Levene's test of equality of error variances. The null
hypothesis is that the variances across the different ethnic group are equal. The test value
result shows a significance value of 0.025. Normally, the test usually operates with a 0.05
significance level and the significance level associated with this test is even smaller than
the risk that will be taken. This means that null hypothesis of equal variances can be
rejected and the variance of the dependent variables (ethnic) across groups is not equal
Test result shows F values and significance levels for age, ethnicity and internet comfort
level as well as the interaction between the age and ethnicity. Here the null hypothesis
can be rejected in the case of age (F=0.178, df=3, sig. = 0.911) and also ethnic (F=0.910,
df=5, sig.=0.479) but not for the interaction between the two (F=1.999, df=13, sig.
(Refer Appendix C)
The test result above shows Levene's test of equality of error variances. The null
hypothesis is that the variances across the different ethnic group are equal. The test value
result shows a significance value of 0.025. Normally, the test usually operates with a 0.05
significance level and the significance level associated with this test is even smaller than
the risk that will be taken. This means that null hypothesis of equal variances can be
rejected and the variance of the dependent variables (ethnic) across groups is not equal
Test result shows F values and significance levels for age, gender, ethnicity and internet
skills satisfaction level as well as the interaction between the age, gender and ethnicity.
Here the null hypothesis can be rejected in the case of age (F=0.111, df=3, sig. = 0.953),
gender (F=1.842, df=1, sig.=0.180 and also ethnic (F=1.679, df=5, sig.=0.153) but not for
the interaction between the three (F=1.336, df=7, sig. =0.248) at the 0.05 level.
(Refer Appendix D)
Table 4.33 Levene’s statistics test on whether age, gender and ethnicity
have an impact on computer usage comfort level
The test result above shows Levene's test of equality of error variances. The null
hypothesis is that the variances across the different ethnic group are equal. The test value
result shows a significance value of 0.028. Normally, the test usually operates with a 0.05
significance level and the significance level associated with this test is even smaller than
the risk that will be taken. This means that null hypothesis of equal variances can be
rejected and the variance of the dependent variables (ethnic) across groups is not equal
Test result shows F values and significance levels for gender, age, ethnicity and pc usage
comfort level as well as the interaction between the gender, age and ethnicity. Here the
null hypothesis can be rejected in the case of gender (F=0.185, df=1, sig. = 0.668),
ethnicity (F=0.969, df=5, sig. = 0.444) and also the interaction between the three
variables (F=1.167, df=7, sig. =0.0.335) but not age (F=3.670, df=3, sig.=0.017) at the
0.05 level.
In conclusion, shoppers generally do not feel uneasy or have any discomfort in shopping
online shopper. However, there is evidence to prove that both variables seemed impact on
each other as reflected by the F statistics result on a shopper’s Internet comfort level.
On the other hand, when it comes to determine Internet skills satisfaction level, the
variables of age, gender and ethnicity seemed to be having a relatively high impact on a
Nevertheless, age seemed to play an important role when it comes to computer usage
comfort level. However, there is no evidence to associate all three variables (age, gender
and ethnic) together even though the F statistic result proves to be quite high with a 1.167
F-value.
In this section, the researcher shall describe the comparison of the study to previous
studies and will seek to illustrate the distinction and similarities of the research conducted
in a table format. The breakdown of studies description shall be divided according to the
5.1 Introduction
This is the final chapter of the dissertation. The early part of this chapter concludes the
whole study and detailed interpretations on the results of the findings in Chapter Four.
The conclusions discussed in this chapter will provide insights to the objectives
compliment the objectives of the whole study. This research was intended to discover
factors which influence online shopping. Moreover, another aim of this study was to
discover the influence of national cultures in affecting the perception towards online
shopping as well. In order to address this management research problem, a few research
5.2 Conclusion
This study initially started off with the sample size of 120 of students from the
community of the University of Nottingham and eventually only a total of 100 were
received. Among these samples, 58% were male respondents while the remaining 42%
are female respondents. As of this study, it was found out that gender would influence the
choice most popular online shopping website, but not the period of experience they (the
respondents) have used the Internet. The findings also showed that males would be more
likely to shop online compared to females. It is difficult to determine the effect of online
trust through other forms of demographic variables, like income or educational levels of
the respondents as majority of them (the respondents) chose to not disclose their earnings
for the purpose of the study. In the context of educational level, there is lack of statistical
analysis due to the disproportion of respondents’ educational level to represent the entire
community. Additionally, primary language analysis was conducted to ensure that the
studied subjects can comprehend any computer and Internet language used for the
On the other hand, gender, age and ethnicity prove to be the three important demographic
aspects that assist in determining the relationship between all antecedents of online trust.
Even though inferential statistics results proved otherwise for two different kinds of
questions, gender seemed to be an important determiner for the choice of most popular
online shopping website, but not the experience of having shop online before.
Conversely, the study did not find strong age influence in determining the Internet
As discussed in literature review, most of the respondents would shop online for the
convenience online shopping provides. For them, shopping online also means that there
are no additional tax charges that needed to be paid for. In spite of convenience still being
the main reason for consumers to shop online, there are still a large number of
respondents who prefer traditional shopping knowing that they will still have some in
store purchasing disadvantage as well as some real life issues on Internet marketing such as
credit card frauds and misusing of public information. It is important to note that in the
area of cultural influences, it was discovered that culture does not play an important role
in influencing online trust. Culture may have higher and better influence in other context of
the study, namely if done with a bigger sample size as well as a larger target sampling, but
In spite of the contrast in result, gender and age still plays an important role in arbitrating
online trust with consumers. The study shows that the older generation still tends to be
having main concerns in the issues of online trust within the computer mediated
environment compared to the younger Net generation. Gender wise, males seemed to be
Bhatnagar et. al (2000). Furthermore, it can be added that most respondents would prefer
to shop at a recommended website due to reliability and trust. Despite there is a majority
of respondents who shop online, analysis results discovered that most of them only do
online shopping once a month. This can happened because maybe the individuals would
only shop for minor stuff such as books and CDs unlike commonly depicted as grocery or
making electronic and electrical purchases. Moreover, with most of the respondents
besides those who wished to not disclose their income have only allowances either from
home country or temporary job earnings which totaled up to below £ 500. This would not
The study also attempts to establish a relationship between age, gender and ethnicity of
the online shopper with the individual’s experience and adoption level of computer and
the Internet. Here, it can be concluded that the three variables only have an impact on
Internet skills satisfaction level compared to Internet and computer usage comfort level.
However, it has been discovered that age seemed to play a relative important role in
5.3 Recommendations
As with any other kinds of study, recommendations will be derived to justify and explain
the whole research purpose. At the same time, it is hoped that the few recommendations
derived can be applicable to the online merchants to enable them to market their
First and foremost, it was found out that gender do influence the choice of online
determine what actually incur the trend. By doing a proper big scale market survey would
be best as it can help to understand and find out the criteria of the real reason of online
shopping among genders. The reasons revealed from the survey would definitely help to
improve and assist marketers to understand better the needs and wants through a clearer
Marketers could also try and understand better why older generation does not favor
online shopping as much as the younger generation. Even though age group do not have a
younger generation would eventually grow up and grow out of their online shopping
choice and taste. Marketers can always increase their target market by differentiate as
well as customize the service quality provided through their online shop to untapped
Understanding of the specific needs of the customers is also important as the marketers
must always make sure that online service performance is up to standard. Besides, they
should also realize and emphasize the specified performance required by their customers
to the organization. Customer loyalty should also be emphasized as the main priority
within everyone in the organization. An improvement internally can then ensure proper
satisfaction of the consumer’s needs and wants. Moreover, the consumers can then be
educated and maybe even converted from existing customers to long term clients just like
It was discovered that respondents from the lower income group would shop lesser
compared to those with higher income. Most of those with lower income are younger
generation group and being the net generation, they will view online shopping as a form
of leisure or only for channel surfing on the latest entertainment trends or news.
Therefore, marketers must try and change this mindset by introducing new outlook,
simpler, educational, informative and entertaining legal access towards reliable shopping
sites for the younger consumers. At the same time, this may change the perspective of the
older generation and maybe even consumer advocate groups’ impression on online
shopping.
Next, the popularity of an online shopping website does play an important role for the
online shopping environment. Amazon is viewed as the most common online shopping
website probably because of its brand name as well as its reliability in sales and services.
For that reason, other online shopping website companies should improve their
positioning in the customer’s minds because if this goes on, they could probably lose out
the main competitor within the industry. Other companies’ websites may differ in terms
of products and services, but generally they operate in the same way, that is to sell out
their product and services through a different medium, that is online. In addition to that,
online merchants must also know that they are in a service based industry, regardless of
the products they sell. Therefore, providing the best quality, service, being reliable
creating the personal touch would be very important to attract and maintain customers.
The market is always a company’s best customers. Customers also want to know that the
company they buy from even though not in person are doing good as well in business and
in industry. Therefore, letting them know about the way the company operates, its
philosophy, philanthropy and community service would then establish the connection,
and maybe even generating the much needed trust. Customers do compare the services
provided no matter what and from there, the word – of – mouth could spread easily and it
that trust would always be a consumer’s main issue when it comes to click shopping with
marketing has always been implemented with the philosophy of putting customers first.
Academic literature works such as Houston (1986) would put it as a form of marketing
concept, while Kohli and Jarworski (1990) would describe it as a form of marketing
orientation.
Therefore, the point to note here is, even in the field of Internet marketing, the concept of
‘putting customers first’ still exists. Even though the exchange relationship (Bagozzi,
1975), may not occur just like traditional marketing, but there the relationship between
the online merchant and the cyberconsumer (Hoffman et. al, 1999) still counts. To
In conclusion, to keep customers happy and satisfied is never easy. However, keeping them
happy is the smartest way for a company, regardless of whether it is online or not is the
smartest way to grow a business, be it locally or internationally. Even though the empirical
analysis of this study may not project big scale results to determine the effect of culture on
online trust, it has supported the concept of online shopping trust as discussed in the
beginning of the research that while understanding the general consumer behavior
through different ways might be necessary to ensure customer retention, trust is still an
important paradigm to keeping the universal customers of the web to continue shopping
online.
Like any other studies, this study also does not proceed without certain limitations.
Several limitations occurred during the course of the research period. Firstly, the scope of
study is only limited within the customer aspect. Moreover, it is also the preferred choice
measuring consumer’s perception of trust from a cross cultural validation which is visible
Secondly, the selection on choice of variables to study was based on generalization of the
literature reviewed. Different results may occur if other extra variables like for example
Thirdly, the procedures used may cause some bias in results because there was no role-
play (Cooper and Schindler, 2003), participant observation (Van Maanen, 1991), street
ethnography (Russell, 2005) and most importantly expert interviewing (Beck, 2002)
techniques applied to conduct the research. The research outcome might have been
slightly different if these methods are added in. Fourthly, it is important to point out that
certain information derived from questionnaire development was also based on the
researcher’s country of origin effect context. The researcher experienced some slight
ethnocentrism on subject coherence when it comes to analysis of the overall literature and
also questionnaire development. Lastly, it is worth mentioning that this kind of study is
easily replicated in other countries research with larger scope of study, finances and even
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Appendix
Focus group
3. What do you think are the effect of online shopping on a traditional shop?
4. Do you think whether there are any similarities between online and traditional shopping?
7. Do you think whether there is any difference between the online shopping behaviour of
men and women?
8. Do you think whether there is difference of online shopping attitudes among cultures?
9. When you think about online shopping security, would branding come into mind?
10. Have you ever had any bad online shopping experiences? If so, please share your
experience and explain what you did to resolve it.
11. How can online shopping increase their credibility in consumer's minds?
12. Online shopping vs. traditional shopping? If given a choice, which would, you choose? Why?
Appendix B: Final Questionnaire Copy
Questionnaire
The overall purpose of this project is to identify the different perception of online shopping trust among
those of the international population. The information gained from you would be of private and confidential
matter. You can rest assured that the information will not be disclosed to any unreliable third parties as it is
for academic purposes. It is hoped that this study may provide academics and practitioner alike with a
better understanding of the researched topic.
The questionnaire consists of 22 questions and has two sections. This questionnaire may take you about 10
- 15 minutes to complete. Please take your time to answer the questions.
Thank you for your kind co – operation. I hope that you will find the questionnaire easy to comprehend.
Your honest opinion would be greatly appreciated so as to ensure the accuracy of this study.
1. Gender
◻Female ◻ Male
2. Age
4. Although this is a sensitive question, the answer can help the researcher to understand
the needs of current web users. It is not intended to offend. How would you classify
yourself?
◻English ◻ Hindi
◻Japanese ◻ Spanish
◻Hebrew ◻ Chinese
◻Swedish ◻ French
◻German ◻ Other
7. How long have you been using the Internet (including using e-mail, gopher, ftp, etc.)?
8. “I shop online”
1 2 3 4 5 6
9. Based on the answer given in question 9, have you shopped online before?
◻Yes ◻ No
10. Relying on what you have seen, heard, and experienced, please rank the following
online websites according to their reliability. Place a "1" next to the brand site that is
most reliable, a "2" next to the brand site that is next most reliable, and so on.
Remember, no two websites can have the same ranking.
( ) www.amazon.com
( ) www.tesco.com
( ) www.argos.co.uk
( ) www.pcworld.co.uk
( ) www.midlandmainline.com
( ) Others
b) Factors influencing online shopping
Trust
11. On what grounds do you base your opinion about the safety of shopping online?
13. In your opinion, what is the single most critical issue facing the Internet?
Convenience
◻Once a week
◻Several times a week
◻Once a month
◻Rarely
◻Never
16. How many transactions have you made with this Internet retailer over the
past 12 months?
◻1 ◻5
◻2 ◻6
◻3 ◻7
◻4 ◻ other
◻Very comfortable
◻Somewhat comfortable
◻Neither comfortable nor uncomfortable
◻Somewhat uncomfortable
◻Very uncomfortable
18. How satisfied are you with your current skills for using the Internet?
◻ Very comfortable
◻Somewhat comfortable
◻Neither comfortable nor uncomfortable
◻Somewhat uncomfortable
◻Very uncomfortable
20. Which of the following best describe your experience purchasing a product or service
through an online website? Would you say that your experience was:
◻Very pleasant
◻Somewhat pleasant
◻Neither pleasant nor unpleasant
◻Somewhat unpleasant
◻Very unpleasant
Thank you for your time
Appendix C: Univariate Analysis of Variance on whether age, gender and
ethnicity of online shopper or interaction between them have impact on
satisfaction with Internet skills – Descriptive statistic table
Descriptive Statistics