What Is Consumer Buying Behavior?

Consumer buying behavior is the sum total of a consumer's attitudes, preferences, intentions, and
decisions regarding the consumer's behavior in the marketplace when purchasing a product or
service. The study of consumer behavior draws upon social science disciplines of anthropology,
psychology, sociology, and economics

Definitions:
Consumer behaviour is the study of how individuals, groups and organisations select, buy, use
and dispose of goods, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy their needs and wants (Kotler and
Keller, 2006).
Consumer buying behavior is the sum total of a consumer's attitudes, preferences, intentions, and
decisions regarding the consumer's behavior in the marketplace when purchasing a product or
service
Consumer Buying Behavior: Process

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Problem Recognition

Most decision making starts with some sort of problem. The consumer develops a need or
a want that they want to be satisfied. The consumer feel like something is missing and
needs to address it to get back to feeling normal. If you can determine when your target
demographic develops these needs or wants, it would be an ideal time to advertise to
them. For example, they ran out of toothpaste and now they need to go to the store and
get more.

Information Search

Most of us are not experts on everything around us. In the searching phase we research
for products or services that can satisfy our needs or wants. Search Engines have become
our primary research tool for answers. It is an instant and easy way to find out what you
are looking for.
Also don’t forget about actual human beings. Our friends and families all have had many
different experiences and can offer us recommendations. In most cases recommendations
from actual people instead of a search engines are preferred. You have more of a trust
factor with people close to you then a computer program.
You also may have had past experiences that assist you in solving your problem. You
may have had a life experience in the past that helps you make the correct purchase
decision. You could also just know what decision to make just by picking up things over
the years and knowing how to solve them.
In this stage you are also beginning your risk management. You might make a pro’s vs.
con’s diagram to help make your decision. People often don’t want to regret making a
decision so extra time being put into managing risk may be worth it. People also
remember bad experiences over good ones, take that into account.

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Evaluating Alternatives
Once the consumer has determined what will satisfy their want or need they will begin to
begin to seek out the best deal. This may be based on price, quality, or other factors that
are important for them. Customers read many reviews and compare prices, ultimately
choosing the one that satisfies most of their parameters.

Purchase Decision
After tallying up all the criteria for the decision the customers now decide on what they
will purchase and where. They have already taking risk into account and are definite on
what they want to purchase. They may have had prior experience with this exact decision
or maybe they succumbed to advertising about this product or service and want to give it
a try.

Evaluation of Decision
Once the purchase has been made, does it satisfy the need or want? Is it above or below
your expectations? The goal for every marketer is not for a one-time customer but a
repeating lifetime customer. One bad experience of buyer’s remorse and your brand
perception could be tarnished forever. On the other hand, one superb experience can lead
to a brand loyal customer who may even become a brand evangelist.

Types of Consumer Buying:

1. Routine response:
When you go to the grocery store and are trying to grab a loaf of bread, odds are you’ll
either buy the variety you’re familiar with or the one that is carrying the lightest price tag.
In these situations, products are essentially purchased without any significant thought.

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2. Limited decision making:
If you’re in the market for some new clothes or a new collapsible chair that you can bring
camping, you might do a little bit of research on brands, but odds are—unless you’re
Kate Moss or some other model or celebrity—you’re going to go with what’s in your
budget and what looks good or seems the most practical.

3. Extensive decision making:

Imagine you’re a first-time homebuyer looking to settle into your first home with your
new spouse. You’ve never bought a house before, but obviously you understand how big
of an investment and how expansive a decision such a purchase is. Such a decision comes
with evident economic risks. But how are you going to feel, personally, about the
purchase? How are your peers going to look at you? Extensive decision making requires
the most research.

4. Impulsive buying:
Consumers who buy something impulsively wake up that day without knowing they’re
going to spend money on a particular item. But all of a sudden, they are inspired for
whatever reason and make the purchase. Impulsive buying requires no conscious
planning. The person who goes to a liquor store to buy a six-pack and snags an airplane
bottle of whisky when checking out is someone who’s just bought something
impulsively.

Online Customer Buying-

With the evolution of online communication through internet, customers now see online
advertisements of various brands. It is fast catching up with the buying behavior of consumers
and is a major source of publicity for niche segments and also for established brands. This is the
new way of digital revolution and businesses worldwide have realized their worth.

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Examples − Online catalogues, Websites, or Search engines. When customers have sufficient
information, they will need to compare with the choices of products or services.

Online Customer Behaviour Process

According to the above figure, in the search stage, they might look for the product reviews or
customer comments. They will find out which brand or company offers them the best fit to their
expectation.

During this stage, well-organized web site structure and attractive design are important things to
persuade consumers to be interested in buying product or service.

Stage 1

The most useful characteristic of internet is that it supports the pre-purchase stage as it helps
customers compare different options.

Stage 2

During the purchasing stage, product assortment, sale services and information quality seem to
be the most important point to help consumers decide what product they should select, or what
seller they should buy from.

Stage 3

Post-purchase behaviour will become more important after their online purchase. Consumers
sometimes have a difficulty or concern about the product, or they might want to change or
return the product that they have bought. Thus, return and exchange services become more
important at this stage.

Factors of Online Customer Behaviour

The first elements to identify are factors that motivate customers to buy products or services
online. They are divided into two categories − external factors and internal factors.

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  The External Factors are the ones beyond the control of the customers. They can divide
into five sectors namely demographic, socio-economic, technology and public policy;
culture; sub- culture; reference groups; and marketing.

 Internal Factors are the personal traits or behaviors which include attitudes, learning,
perception, motivation, self image.

 The Functional Motives is related to the consumer needs and include things like time,
convenience of shopping online, price, the environment of shopping place, selection of
products etc.

 The Non-Functional Motives related to the culture or social values like the brand of the
store or product.

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India is no longer just a cricket-loving nation. It is welcoming other sports with equal warmth
and support as well. Many other games are now experiencing growth in viewership,
participation, and sports-related industries that were once experienced by cricket.

In a way, the monopoly enjoyed by cricket is being erased slowly. As a result of this, it has
opened up new avenues and business opportunities for investors that are looking to seize upon
this opportunity. They range from fields like brand building and infrastructure to niche
entrepreneurial ventures, emerging technologies, and services.

Add to that is India’s ever-improving economic climate, rising middle-class budgets and as a
result, more disposable income. This year, the country leapfrogged 23 places up to 77th position
in the World Bank’s ease of doing business that would thus attract more FDI.

But the biggest factor in the booming of the industry is the changing outlook of the population
towards sports and fitness. The entire above factor are fuelling an increase in the demand for
sports-related goods and services. Today, sports are no longer another niche industry.

Drivers of Growth – Why Sports?

The Indian government, for the first time, has seriously turned its attention to develop the sports
sector as a strategy to spur employment, generate additional revenue, and attract foreign
investment into the nation, apart from nurturing sports talent to bring in laurels for the country.

Take, for example, the federal government’s Khelo India program, for which it set aside a
whopping Rs 1,756 Cr worth of its budget.

A national committee was also set up recently to study the state of sports governance. The
committee includes some of the most reputable sportspersons; marketing professionals
specialized in sports and leading sports brands along with government officials.

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The private sector is also witnessing a deepened involvement in sports governance. Earlier it was
limited only to deals associated with public-private partnerships for specific task-related tenders,
like stadium management or overhaul of facilities.

Sports Manufacturing

India exports approximately 60 % of all the sporting goods manufactured in here. This is true
especially for international retail brands, like Mitre, Umbro, Lotto, and Wilson.

India has a labour-intensive economy that provides inexhaustible opportunities for

manufacturing firms looking to set up here. To put it into perspective, sports retail and
manufacturing industry employs roughly around 5,00,000 people alone, with a potential for
further growth in employment.

Again, the government has been instrumental in revitalizing the manufacturing sector in India
with its flagship, ‘Make in India’ programme. It was launched back in 2014 with an aim of
making a contribution to the manufacturing sector up to 25%. So far, it has done relatively well.

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The Sports manufacturing industry is primarily concentrated in the northern states of Punjab and
Uttar Pradesh, whereas the others Gujarat, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu are proving to be the

developing hubs. This makes exploring the sports equipment manufacturing industry a very
interesting option for investors.

Retail Sports Market

Decathlon, a French sports company and the world’s largest sporting goods manufacturer and
retailer, was pioneering multinational (MNC) who first set its foot on the Indian sports retail
market.

The company cleverly took advantage of India’s liberated FDI rules (100 % to be precise under
the government approval route at the time now made automatic), Decathlon went on to set up
over 60 stores across India.

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They sell up to 30 % of 5,000 products that are sourced from local manufacturers. Being the first
entities in this emergent market, they now enjoy a commanding position and draw large revenues
consequently.

There is an ever-growing demand for sportswear and sports equipment, with the government and
corporate pushing sustainably to promote sports in India. Recently, it was reported that the
government was seriously contemplating the significant inclusion of sports in the educational
curriculum after a recommendation of Sachin Tendulkar, India’s legendary cricketer, and an

upper house member.It thus goes without saying that the sports retail segment has huge,
untapped potential in the country.

The advent of new sporting leagues means the demand for official merchandises and other
sports-related goods, such as badminton, football, and hockey apart from fitness wear is
witnessing an unprecedented growth.

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#1- www.decathlon.in

Decathlon S.A. (French pronunciation: is a French sporting goods retailer. With over 1,500

stores in 49 countries, it is the largest sporting goods retailer in the world. Its holding company
was formerly known as Oxylane.

Founded by Michel Leclercq in 1976, Decathlon started with a store in Lille, France. It started to
expand abroad a decade later, to Germany in 1986, Spain in 1992, Italy in 1998, Portugal,
the United Kingdom in 1999, Brazil in 2001, China in 2003, India in 2009,Taiwan in 2012, Hong
Kong in 2013, Malaysia in 2016 and Southeast Asia in 2012 and South Africa, Philippines in
2017 and Australia in 2018. The company employs more than 87,000 staff from 80 different
nationalities.

The retailer stocks a wide range of sporting goods, from tennis rackets to advanced scuba
diving equipment, usually in large superstores which are sized at an average of
4,000m² Decathlon Group also owns over 20 brands, with research and development facilities all
over France to develop the latest innovative designs, registering up to 40 patents per year. Each
brand represents a different sport or group of sports, with a dedicated product development and
design team. They tag their clothes with RFID antennas for tracking.

As of December 2018, there are 1,510 Decathlon stores worldwide in 49 countries.

Online delivery has been introduced in Taiwan, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Czech Republic,
Hungary, United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Italy, Singapore, Spain,
Brazil, Portugal, Romania, Ireland, Mexico, Australia, and recently, Malaysia, Egypt, Vietnam
and Thailand.

In India, Decathlon products can be bought directly through their stores subsequent to change in
India's FDI policy and approval for Decathlon in February 2013. In addition to this, Decathlon
products are also available online through their online resellers.

In late 2016, an online only delivery service was introduced in Tunisia in preparation of the
opening in Tunis of its first store. The first store opened in November 2017 in Tunis City
commercial center in Tunis. A second location opened in April 2018 in the country situated in La
Marsa.

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In February 2017, they opened the first store in Bogota, Colombia in the mall Parque La
Colina. In July 2017, Decathlon had opened its doors to the Filipino people located at Festival
Mall in Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang, Muntinlupa, and in Tiendesitas, Pasig City,
Philippines. Their first Australian store opened in Tempe, Sydney, NSW, in December
2017. After two years in the Australian market, the viability of the Australian business is under
question after posting a trading loss of $19,563,819 aud in just 2 years of trading [16]

In August 2017, the company announced it would open its first Canadian store in Brossard,
Quebec during the spring of 2018.

In April 2018, the company announced it would open its first store in Kyiv, Ukraine in the first
months of 2019.

In January 2019, the company announced it would open 9 stores in Ireland, starting in Ballymun,
north Dublin with features will include a rollerblading track, bike circuit and astroturf pitch.

In April 2019, the company opened its first store in Hanoi, Vietnam. Another store was opened
in Ho Chi Minh city in May 2019. 

In October 2019, the retail giant opened its first store in Qormi, Malta.

In December 2019, "Decathlon" arrived in Serbia opening its first store in Belgrade.

Economic Review

Its success has greatly contributed to the decline of independent retailers in France, while the
spread of its own brands has caused great difficulties for traditional manufacturers. 2008 was a
record year for the company as the brand Decathlon had beaten all its competitors on three key
points: margin, market share, and highest turnover per square meter of retail space. It is arguably
the third at a global level. A 2008 survey of 774 catchment areas at the request of the Ministry of
Economy and Finance shows that "for sporting goods, Decathlon is dominant in 92.8% of
zones". This dominant position has the effect of marginalizing its commercial competitors,
including independent retailers.

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Competition

In 2009, Decathlon's sector rivals, Go Sport [fr] and Sport 2000 [fr], joined forces to set up a

common purchasing centre in Switzerland, intended to "pressurize most of the major
international suppliers", according to François Neukirsh, Managing Director of Go Sport, in the
newspaper Les Échos. Otherwise, the company does not have significant competition due to their
specific target audience in mass-market retail. Intersport is also a major competitor mainly in
European market.

Social Standards

Decathlon claims to follow a strict policy when it comes to employee welfare and that all
contractors working with Decathlon follow the Human Responsibility in Production (HRP)
process in all activities. The HRP designates the management system and resources implemented
by Decathlon relative to workplace conditions at production sites and with suppliers.

Since 2003, Decathlon has adopted a social charter of the Social and Environmental
Responsibility World Forum regarding human rights, health and safety, respect for the
environment, corruption and management and communication.

Decathlon has however declined to disclose the names of their suppliers, and has been under
scrutiny after reports indicate that the company's suppliers in Sri Lanka's free trade zones violate
the country's labour laws.

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#2- www.kheladda.in

Kheladda.in, sister concern of Samaritan Enterprises India’s premier sports online ecommerce

portal, is a result of collaborative effort of experienced management professionals with passion
for sports, leading Indian sporting icons, sports industry experts.

Kheladda.in is headquartered in Meerut and Jalandhar, the city with speciality of sports goods

& products. The company is fueled by a 100+ member team of individuals who are passionate
about sports & fitness.

Kheladda.in game begin in early 2012 when the founding team lay the initial blue prints of the
company and since then the game is still on! Kheladda.in aspires to usher sporting revolution in
India and become the first port of call for sports and fitness needs of individuals as well as
institutions and sports academy.

Kheladda.in also provides one stop solutions for the sporting requirements of institutions like
Premier sporting teams, Clubs & Academies, Schools & Colleges, Corporates and many more.
Some of the services offered to institutions include sports goods, sports merchandise design,
development and distribution, sports infrastructure, events and consulting.

In a very short time span since its inceptions, Kheladda.in has taken the significant position in
the sports industry in India. The company has received several accolades and has been identified
as one of the Top 50s start-ups of India.

Shipping Policy

At Kheladda.in , we want to make sure that your online shopping experience is great in terms of
range, price and delivery. We have partnered with the best shipping companies in India to ensure
that your product reaches you on time and in the best conditions.

Here are the key terms and conditions with regards to our Shipping Policy:

Delivery Timelines
The delivery timelines for your product would depend on two key parameters - a) the nature of
product you've ordered and b) your shipping address.The delivery timelines with respect to the

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products are clearly mentioned on the product page so that you are aware about the timelines
before you purchase them. In general our products are shipped within the broad range of 1 to 14
working days.

If you need more specific details with regards to delivery timelines, you may call our customer
care helpline and we would be more than happy to provide you all necessary information.

#3- www.sports365.in

Sports365 is India’s first professionally run integrated Sports & Fitness goods company.
Sports365 is amalgamation of an experienced professional team, India’s best known sporting
icons & industry experts to drive sporting revolution in India. Incorporated in 2012, Sports365
operates on a very unique hybrid business model with the mission to become the first port of call
for sports & fitness needs of consumers in India.

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 While buying sports products buyers are very skeptical. They look for reputed goods with
established brand names. At the same time they also look for certain parameters like comfort,
durability, endurance and obviously price.
Moreover, professional sportsmen and amateur sportsmen may have different buying
behavior. Nowadays people tend to buy sports products online which make the buying behavior
more complex and challenging. Thus the researcher wants to study and find out various
influences which act upon decision making process during online purchasing of sports products.

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Petrovic Dejan (2010) in his study on Analysis of consumer behaviour online explained that

the most relevant behavioural characteristics of online consumers and examine the ways they
find, compare and evaluate product information. Comparison of the newly collected survey data
with the existing consumer behaviour theory resulted in detection of a number of issues related
to a specific consumer group. The purpose of this report is to translate these findings into a set of
implementation activities on strategic and technological level. Execution of these
recommendations will result in better conversion of visitors into customers and encourage
customer loyalty and referrals. The focus group of this study will be young adults aged between
eighteen and thirty-four interested in buying a mobile phone or a related product.

Ruiliang Yan, John Wang (2011) in their research it provides a useful framework to help
business marketers identify the effect of consumer online purchase costs on firm performances in
online and traditional channel competition. A game theory model is developed to determine the
optimal strategies for online and traditional retailers. We demonstrate that consumer online
purchase costs always have a valuable impact on firm profits, and further show that consumer
online purchase costs always have a much more valuable impact on firm profits whenever the
traditional retail transaction costs and the product web-fit change. We also find that consumer
online purchase costs have a greater impact on the retailer's profits in a Stackel berg competitive
system than in a Bertrand competitive system. Based on our results, managerial implications are
discussed and probable paths of future research are identified.

Scott M. Smith, Chad R. Allred, William R. Swinyard (2012) in their research paper they
discusses online shopping in context of diffusion of innovation theory. It proposes that online
shopping is a discontinuous innovation whose adoption rate is influenced by several of Rogers'
(2004) diffusion deterrents. A new 12-item'Computer Competence Index' (CCI) is proposed and
tested using data from an internet-administered US probability study of 1800 online users. E-
Shoppers are profiled using a tertile split of the CCI. Each tertile's demographics, computer
activities, computer-oriented lifestyles, and online purchase activities are reported. Evidence is

presented that concepts related to the diffusion of innovation may explain resistance in the
growth of online shopping

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A.M. Sakkthivel (2013) in their research paper aims to identify the impact of demographics on
consumer buying behaviour towards online purchase of different products based on the
involvement and investment (High, Medium and Low). It attempts to unearth the impact of the
demographics on online purchase which is at present relatively limited. It would help the
marketers to identify the demographic profile of consumers which is otherwise not known due to
the intangible nature of internet. The findings would help the marketers to design their offerings
based on the demographic profile of online consumers and would help the online marketers to
identify and segment the online consumers which will enhance their focus and eventually leads
to financial growth.

Jianwei Hou, Cesar Rego (2014) in their study in traditional auctions, it is often assumed that
bidders are a homogenous group. However, since most online bidders are average consumers
instead of professional bidders, we suspect that online bidders are a heterogeneous group. The
purpose of this paper is to explore the types of online bidders based on their real bidding
behaviour in the context of

consumer-to-consumer online auction market. A cluster analysis is employed and four types of
online bidders are finally identified in a private value auction, namely, goal-driven bidders,
experiential bidders, focused bidders, and opportunistic bidders. The profile and performance of
each group are also discussed.

Takashi Oguchi (2015) in their study to investigate what kind of information contributes to trust
formation in online shopping. Twenty-seven female undergraduate students were recruited and
asked to evaluate the trust worthiness of 20online shopping websites. All the online shopping
websites dealt with branded products where there is greater emphasis on the trustworthiness of
online shops or products. The results show that information described on the websites was
classified into two categories, firstly, information about the shop and its procedures and services.
Secondly, the concrete information necessary for the consumption process, such as payment
information and return information, which heightens the reliability of these shops.

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Anita desai (2016) in her study E-tailing is the practice of selling retail goods on the internet. It is
the abbreviated version of “electronic retailing” which essentially constitutes business to
consumer transaction. While the concept of online retailing or e-tailing is no longer in its nascent
stage; it continues to evolve, as advanced e-commerce applications act as a potent catalyst in the
development of e-tailing. The idea of online retailing or e-tailing which almost every net-savvy
individual is familiar with; offers a convenient mode of shopping online and the consumer gets
to choose from a diverse range of products and services as opposed to the analogous physical
shopping experience. Furthermore, online retailers or e-tailers get to expose and sell their
products to a global audience through their e-stores. (Also termed as online stores, internet
shops, web shops etc.)The E-commerce

industry plays a vital role in its growth and development. The consumer or buyer is usually
provided with detailed information and description of the product which helps them make a
judicious choice before making an online purchase. For consumers who face a paucity of time or
want a diverse range of products to choose from, e-tailing proves to be an ideal option. Every e-
tailer wants his/her share of domain amidst the vast World Wide Web galaxy. Due to the intense
competitory quotient involved, every e-tailer out there wants to offer their customer/buyer a
smooth and pleasant shopping experience. Therefore, e-tailing is just not restricted to putting up
products for sale for consumers to buy. As consumers today are well-informed, it is understood
that they would make a well informed decision as well. This involves a fair amount of product
research, price comparison and checking the credibility of the e-store.

Several researchers have carried out studies in their effort to examine consumers’ online buying
behaviour. For example, Bellman et al (1999) investigated various predictors for whether an
individual will purchase online. These authors concluded that demographic variables, such as
income, education and age, have a modest impact on the decision of whether to buy online,
whereas the most important determinant of online shopping was previous behavior, such as
earlier online purchases. This is consistent with Forrester Research which proved that
demographic factors do not have such a high influence on technology as the consumers’ attitudes

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do (Modahl, 2000). Kotler and Armstrong (2000) pointed out that a person’s buying choices are
further influenced by four key psychological factors: motivation, perception, learning and beliefs

and attitude. Steinfield and Whitten (1999) suggested that the combination of the Internet, plus
physical presence, provides more opportunities to capture business than the online-only

presence, because they can provide better pre-purchase and post-sales services to lower
consumer transaction cost and build trust in online stores. However, it is worth mentioning that
beliefs and attitudes that are found in the stage prior to the adoption of e-commerce are different
to those in the “post-adoption” stage (Gefen et al, 2003; Venkatesh and Brown, 2001; Yu et al,
2005). Concerning the factors that influence or hinder online shopping, Ernst and Young (2000)
reported that Internet users purchased online because of good product selection, competitive
prices, and ease of use, but were concerned about shipping costs, lack of opportunity to prior
examining the products, as well as, the confidentiality of credit card and personal information.
Know and Lee (2003) explored consumers’ concerns about payment security and its relationship
to online shopping attitude and actual purchases. They observed a negative relationship between
attitude towards online shopping and concerns about online payment security. Consumers with a
positive attitude seem to be less concerned about payment security. Similarly, popular literature
cited ease of shopping comparison, low prices, timely delivery, convenience, time saving, low
shipping costs, improved customer service, tax exempt status and speedy e-mail response, as key
reasons for the increase in online shopping (Lorek, 2003; Magee, 2003; Maloy, 2003; Retail
Merchandiser, 2003). 3 Communications of the IBIMA Additionally, Karayanni (2003) observed
that online shoppers tend to value avoidance of queues, availability of shopping on a 24-hour
basis and time efficiency. A study carried out by Monsuwe et al (2004) collectively provides all
the related literature review regarding the factors that drive consumers to shop online. As a
further step, this paper encompasses the literature review regarding advantages, problems and
consumers’ expectations of online shopping, and examines the perceptions of adopters of online
purchases compared to Internet users who preferred the traditional way of shopping.

The growing use of Internet in India provides a developing prospect for online shopping. If E-
marketers know the factors affecting online Indian behavior, and the relationships between these
factors and the type of online buyers, then they can further develop their marketing strategies to

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convert potential customers into active ones, while retaining existing online customers. This
project is a part of study, and focuses on factors which online Indian buyers keep in mind while
shopping online. This research found that information, perceived usefulness, ease of use;
perceived enjoyment and security/privacy are the five dominant factors which influence

consumer perceptions of Online purchasing. Consumer behavior is said to be an applied

discipline as some decisions are significantly affected by their behavior or expected actions. The
two perspectives that seek application of its knowledge are micro and societal perspectives. The
online purchasing behavior of online shoppers and factor influencing online shopping behavior
and its future perspective. Internet is changing the way consumers shop and buy goods and
services, and has rapidly evolved into a global phenomenon. Many companies have started using
the Internet with the aim of cutting marketing costs, thereby reducing the price of their products
and services in order to stay ahead in highly competitive markets. Companies also use the
Internet to convey, communicate and disseminate information, to sell the product, to take
feedback and also to conduct satisfaction surveys with customers. Customers use the Internet not
only to buy the product online, but also to compare prices, product features and after sale service
facilities they will receive if they purchase the product from a particular store. Many experts are
optimistic about the prospect of online business. In addition to the tremendous potential of the E-
commerce market, the Internet provides a unique opportunity for companies to more efficiently
reach existing and potential customers. Although most of the revenue of online transactions
comes from business-to-business commerce, the practitioners of business-to-consumer
commerce should not lose

confidence. It has been more than a decade since business-to-consumer E-commerce first
evolved. Scholars and practitioners of electronic commerce constantly strive to gain an improved
insight into consumer behavior in cyberspace. Along with the development of E-retailing,
researchers continue to explain E-consumers behavior from different perspectives. Many of their
studies have factors or assumptions which are based on the traditional models of consumer
behavior, and then examine their validity in the Internet context.

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Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly purchase
products or services from seller over the internet using web browser . Online shopping provides
all type of goods to b e available in the virtual world. It is just like a shop in the neighborhood,
selling all type of goods but with some prominent differences. Here one can access these shops
any time without stepping out of their home /office. It can be accessed any time when you are on
the move, relaxing in your home or having a time out at your office. Here all the products are
displayed with the price and detailed mention of the features. Potential customers can have a
look at them, analyze what other similar online shopping outlets are offering and can get the best

deal out of it. Nowadays, the concept “DIC” i.e. double income couples are becoming all the
more prominent in India. With the long working hours and increased distances to travel, they are
not having enough time to devote it to shopping as people don't feel like going out for buying
day to day things after a very hectic day at office. They want to reserve it for other works like
socializing, entertainment etc. Now the companies are coming up with the ways so that this
section of society can be tapped to the maximum and only way to attract them is just a click
away and that too at any time 24X7. Moreover, this is located in the virtual world and can be
accessed any time when you are watching your favorite TV show or having a coffee break at
office. This is the online shopping concept. Abstract: Companies are facing a tough competition
in

this dynamic arena of business. They are always looking for new avenues so that they can
increase contact with consumers and for the same they are letting no stone unturned. In this
regard, the latest trend is online shopping.. The increasing trend of computer's education is
directly proportional to increases in online shopping. The increasing use of internet by the
younger generation in India provides an emerging prospect for online retailers. If online retailers
know the factors affecting Indian consumer's buying behaviour, the association between these
factors and type of online buyers, then they can further develop their marketing strategies to
convert potential customers into active ones. This study attempts to analyze the features related
to the shopping behaviour of online shoppers. Consumer's shopping behaviour in respect of
online shopping was studied using different socio-economic variables. The data was collected

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through questionnaire. The results of study reveal that online shopping in India is significantly
affected by various demographic factors like age, gender, education and income. Further it also
helps retailers to understand the drivers of consumer's attitude and goal to shop on the internet
and consumer's perceptions regarding ease of use and usefulness. Conclusions derived from the
analysis can be used as useful guide for market orientation. The outcomes of the study suggest
that assessment of consumer's shopping behaviour can contribute to a better understanding of
consumer shopping behaviour in respect of online shopping.

Consumer buying behavior towards Online Shopping:

“Awareness, Future Demand Focus for Emerging Markets & Current Issues” Malls springing up
everywhere and yet people are E-shopping! And not in small numbers either. Consumers are
more rational nowadays and have ability to get the choices from the market. Awareness among
the consumers is spread through internet. The number of internet users is increasing day by day
which attracts people who have an option to buy online. It was never thought that Indians would
go in for e-shopping in such a big way. Ticketing, travel bookings and even books and movies
seem fine to buy online. Knowing that in India sizes vary from brand to brand and quality is
inconsistent, even of some electronic items, how is it that there are people buying these items
online? In India there are some segments of people who have not yet tried purchasing over
internet.

Online shopping indicates electronic commerce to buy products or services directly from the
seller through the Internet. Internet-based or Click and Order business model has replaced the
traditional Brick and Mortar business model. More people than before are using the web to shop
for a wide variety of items, from house to shoes to airplane tickets. Now people have multiple
options to choose their products and services while they are shopping through an online
platform.

Online shopping has unique characteristics. Huseynov and Yıldırım (2014) emphasized that the
lack of physical interaction tends to be the critical impediment in online retail sales followed by
the privacy of individual information and security of financial transactions over the Internet.
Demangeot and Broderick (2010) also revealed that perceived ease of use does not affect the

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behavioral pattern in this case rather influenced by security and privacy issues. No relationship is
built between the customer and the online shop in the presence of perceived online risk even if a
customer spent hours on the Internet (Zuroni & Goh, 2012).

Day-by-day taste, preference and choices are varying regarding different factors such as the
Internet emergence. However, this development needs some more understanding related to the
consumer’s behavior. Consumer behavior research identifies a general model of buying behavior
that depicts the processes used by consumers in making a purchase decision (Vrender, 2016).

Those designs are paramount to the marketer as they can explain and predict consumer purchase
behavior.

Jarvenpaa, Todd, Jarvenpaa, and Todd (1997a) proposed a model of attitude, behavior, and
shopping intention towards Internet shopping in general. The design includes several indicators
classified into four broad categories like product value, quality services offered through the
website, the shopping experience, and the risk perception of the online shopping. Chang,
Cheung, and Lai (2005) studied categories of variables, which drive online shopping activity. In
their study, they divided the features into three broad categories. Perceived characteristics of the
web sale channel are the first one which includes risk, online shopping experiences, advantage,
service quality, trust. The second category is a website and product features which are risk
reduction measures, site features, and product characteristics; and the last group is consumer
characteristics. Various types of features, demographic variables, consumer shopping
orientations, consumer innovativeness and psychological variables, computer, Internet
knowledge, and usages drives consumer characteristics.

Consumer attitudes toward online shopping usually been determined by two factors; one is trust,
and another is perceived benefits (Hoque, Ali, & Mahfuz, 2015). Therefore, trust and perceived
benefits seem to be the critical conjectures of consumer behavior toward online shopping (Al-
Debei, Akroush, & Ashouri, 2015; Hajli, 2014). Moreover, information quality, merchandise
attribute, website design, transaction capability, payment, security/privacy, delivery, self-

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consciousness, state of mind, the consumer’s time sense and customer service are strongly
predictive of online shopping satisfaction (Katawetawaraks & Wang, 2011; Liu, He, Gao, &
Xie, 2008; Mudambi & Schuff, 2010; Novak, Hoffman, & Yung, 2000; Shergill & Chen, 2005;
Sorce, Perotti, & Widrick, 2005).

In Malaysia, information quality and purchase quality linked with the post-purchase quality are
statistically significant in the case of customer satisfaction (Vegiayan, Ming, & Harun, 2013).
However, brand image and quality of products, goodwill of country of origin also influence
significantly on purchase intention of online products (Haque et al., 2015). Moreover, online data
extraction about the products, services along with the historical data for individual customers is
ingredient element to choose an online store or make re-purchase decision (Liao, Chu, Chen, &
Chang, 2012).

Koufaris (2002) identified that both shopping enjoyment and perceived usefulness (website)
strongly predict the intention to re-purchase over online. On the contrary, Lee and Lin (2005)
found shopping enjoyment can increase the intent of new customers but does not influence
customers to return. In fact, the web store which utilizes value-added mechanisms in the search

engine and providing customers a challenging experience may increase customers’ shopping
enjoyment. Furthermore, if there are more often customers back to the web store, their shopping
enjoyment then be determined by their involvement with the product (Marios Koufaris, Kambil,
& LaBarbera, 2001)

Also, demographic variables such as age, gender, and level of income play a facilitating role
because they influence consumer perception and consumer behavior that drives them towards
online shopping (Kim, Zhao, & Yang, 2008; Laforet & Li, 2005; Sabbir Rahman, 2012). In
China, online shopping intention depends on consumers’ age, income, and education as well as
marital status most importantly their perceived usefulness (Gong, Stump, & Maddox, 2013).

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Objectives of study: -

 To study the concept of consumer buying behavior from theoretical

perspective

 To compare the factors involved in offline and online purchasing of sports

products

 To find out the impact of various influences (self, friends and family, socio-
cultural and marketing influences) on online buying of sports products

Hypothesis: -

Statement1: Maximum sports goods have self influence as a strongest

influence.
Statement2: While buying online, more than 60% consumers prefer reputed
brands.

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1. Type of research- It is an empirical research based on survey (primary data)

2. Types of data used- Primary data and Secondary data both data is used

3. Methods of Data collection-

a) Primary data- By online survey, offline survey, webpage and sites
b) Secondary data- From library, journals, newspapers, company blogs,
published data

4. Sampling Method- Simple Random Sampling method

5. Sample Size- 100 sports person (Professional and Amateur)

6. Sample Distribution-
Age- Between 18 years to 40 years of sportsmen

Sportsmen Males Females

Professional 30 20
Amateur 30 20

7. Tools of analysis- Both central tendencies as well as graphical representation

of the data to explain the data analysis.

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 Types of Sportsperson:

Interpretation:

 50% of the respondents are amateur sportspersons

 50% of the respondents are professional sportspersons

Which Sports do you play?

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Interpretation:

 20% of respondents are footballers

 17% play Badminton
 17% play Athletics
 12% each play Hockey and Volleyball
 10% of respondents play Cricket
 9% of respondents play Basketball

Which mode of buying you prefer for purchasing sports items and
sportswear?

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Interpretation:

 54% of the respondents prefer mostly online mode of buying all the sports
products
 29% of the respondents prefer mostly offline mode of buying all the sports
products
 17% of respondents are not very specific of Offline or Online.

Which of the e-commerce sites you prefer for buying these sports items?

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Interpretation:
 43% of respondents prefer Amazon for their sports products shopping
 41% of respondents prefer www.decathlonstores.com for their sports
products shopping
 7% each of them prefer Kheladda and Sports 365 for their sports products.

What influences you most while purchasing sports items online?

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Interpretation: The above chart shows that most of the sportspersons i.e. 70% are
influenced by their own personality and choices and some i.e. 43% by the
references of others. Few (34%) are influenced by the Brand and very few i.e.
23% by online and social references for purchasing the sports items online.

Do you usually buy only branded sports products online?

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Interpretation:

 63% of respondents mostly prefer buying branded sports products

 37% of respondents are not brand specific

According to you which factors are important while purchasing

sports products online?

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Interpretation: The above chart shows factors that are more important for
purchasing sports products online. Most sportsperson firmly believe is the Brand
name (57%) and Customer review and ratings (54%) as the important factors to
purchase sports products online.

What do you think is the major advantage of buying sports products

online?

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Interpretation:
 47% of the respondents think that Better price deal is the major advantage of
sports goods online.
 26% of the respondents think that Ease of filtering product is the major
advantage of sports goods online.
 22% of the respondents think that Convenience is the major advantage of
sports goods online.
 5% of the respondents think that Return policy is the major advantage of
sports goods online.

CONCLUSION

The objective of the study was to study the Consumer Buying Behavior towards
online purchasing of sports items and influencing factors which has major

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implication on the purchase of sports items and it was clearly identified in this
study. With the help of Principal Data Analysis we were able to derive the
underlying four major components namely- Brand and Advertisement, Ease of
filtering, Personality and own choices and Better price deals. The main factor
being the Brand is given more preference by the consumers. The cluster analysis
was able to classify the sample into four groups;
30 Male Professionals
30 Male Amateurs
20 Female Professionals
20 Female Amateurs
We were able to interpret that the professionals are well aware of the sports apparel
brands and tend to give importance for the high quality products in-spite of their
high price and stay loyal towards the brand which meets their special requirements.
The Amateurs do not have much knowledge about the sports apparel brands but
may be the future sports products consumers. The decision tree was able to identify
that the purchase intention of the people is majorly dependent on the Own choices
and personality of sports player and these are the same people who follow trend.
So, we can say that the major factor that influences buyers are- their own
personality and choices, References by others and brand and advertising.

Limitations

 This study has been done in Navi Mumbai only and the attitudes of the
people towards branded sports apparels in different cities are ignored. The

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 sample size for this study is restricted to 100.
 This study is only limited to the online Consumer Buying Behavior and
ignored the emotional factors which affects the consumer to buy a sports
apparel online.
 This study did not involve any offline buying decisions of the buyers.
 Completely based for the sportspersons who prefer online shopping and are
sportsperson.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Websites:-
 www.googlescholar.com
 www.google.com

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  www.wikipedia.com
 www.sports365.com
 www.kheladda.com
 www.amazon.com
 www.decathlonstores.in
 www.encyclopedia.com

ANNEXURE

Name: ______________________________________________
Gender: _____________________________________________
Age: _______________________________________________

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Q. Which type of sports person are you?
a. Amateur
b. Professional

Q. Which sports do you play?

a. Cricket
b. Kabaddi
c. Football
d. Badminton
e. Basketball
f. Volleyball
g. Hockey
h. Athletics
i. Others

Q. Which mode of buying you prefer for buying sports items and sportswear?
a. Mostly online
b. Mostly offline
c. Not very specific

Q. Which of the e-commerce site you prefer for buying these sports items?
a. Decathlon stores
b. Kheladda

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 c. Sports 365
d. Amazon
e. Others

Q. What influences you most while purchasing sports items online?

a. My own personality and choices
b. References by friends/ colleagues/ relatives
c. Online and social references
d. Brand name and advertising

Q. Do you usually buy only branded sports products online?

a. I mostly prefer branded goods
b. I am not brand specific

Q. According to you which factors are important while purchasing sports products
online?
a. Brand name
b. Customer review and Ratings
c. Details and Specifications
d. Trust factor of e-products

Q. What do you think is the major advantage of buying sports products online?
a. Better price deal
b. Convenience

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 c. Ease of filtering
d. Return policies

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