online shopping among people in Hong Kong

Online shopping among Hong Kong people

Introduction:

Online shopping is a trend in the world in recent year because of the development of rapid digital era, such as smart phones, easy checkout systems, secure system and so on. Online shopping become plays an important role in electronic commerce. According to UCLA Center for Communication Policy (2001), online shopping has become the third most popular Internet activity, immediately following e-mail using/instant messaging and web browsing. In fact, online shopping became popular in the mid-1990s with the popularization of the World Wide Web (WWW). Nowadays, online shopping is even more popular than seeking out entertainment information and news, two commonly thought of activities when considering what Internet users do when online.

Online shopping behavior, also called as online buying behavior, Internet shopping or buying behavior, which are refers to the process of purchasing products or services via the Internet. People nowadays in the world are not only shopping through walking around the shopping mall, however are preferred to shop internet sometimes. Consumers find that shopping online is time saving, no time limited, shopping without leave apartment and sometimes can purchase cheaper products than buying from retail shops. Those mentioned benefits are some of the reason why people shopping online.

Aims:

The research is going to conduct an interview to find out the online shopping trend nowadays in Hong Kong among adults such as their online shopping habits, reasons, purposes; the factors influence consumer’s attitudes and behavior of online shopping.

Research Questions:

Semi-structured interview will be conducted in this survey. To conducted semi-structure interview is because a semi-structured interview is fairly open framework which allow for focused, conversational, two-way communication and they can be used both to give and receive information. Not all questions are designed ahead of interviewing time. Some of questions are well prepared for starting the interview and for entering the topic but some of the questions are created during the interview if there are some valuable information can be find through the interview, which allow both the interviewer and the person being interviewed the flexibility to probe for details or discuss issues. Usually, the information obtained from semi-structured interviews will provide not just answers, but also the reasons for the answers and sometimes further useful information are added. Also, when individuals are interviewed they may more easily discuss sensitive issues.

Basic Information:

1. Gender: M / F
2. Age: 18 or below  18-24 25-33 34-44 45-55 56 or above
3. Occupation______________
4. Education_______________
5. Monthly salary: $5000 or below $5001-6000 $6001-7000 $7001-8000 $8001-9000 $9001-10000 $10001-20000 $20001-30000 $30001-40000 $40001-50000 $50001 or above

Interview Questions:

Part A
1. Have you conduct online shopping in past 6 months?
2. If no, what is the reason?
3. If yes, what kind of product you have purchased in past 6 months?
4. How often do you go online shopping?

Part B
5. What product or services do you intend to purchase online in the next 3 months?
6. What you usually buy from online shopping?

Part C
7. Why you choose to purchase it through internet?
8. What factors affect you to do online shopping?
9. Why you believe online shopping?
(ie: the product is same as showed from the internet/the service is same as mention from the internet )

Part D
10. What is your top three online shopping websites? Why?
11. In which sources you know online shopping websites?
a. uBuyiBuy
b. GrouponHK
c. GoBuya夠買網
d. WeBuy
e. Couppie
f. Kami-Shop團購皇
g. FunShare
h. Yahoo團購
i. TaoBao淘寶
j. BeeCrazy蜂買團購
k. Group Buyer
l. Amazon
m. QQ Online Shopping
n. G-Market
o. Babybamboo
p. Others (please specific)

12. Which of the three top lists of tools you use most often when shopping online?
a. Social Networking sites
b. Shopping Comparison sites
c. Online Product/Retail Review
d. Retailer Emails
e. Coupon Site
f. Search Engine
g. Others (please specific)

13. What is your online shopping spending percentage of monthly spending?

Part E
14. Would you consult any of others before purchase online? Who will be your consulter?
15. Where would you conduct your online shopping? Only at home or everywhere if possible? Why?
16. In which ways to pay the products?

17. Have you share your usually online shopping websites with your friends or family?
18. Do you think the security is save enough for you to shopping online? Why?

Literature Review:

Given the fact that it usually takes a year or two to have a research published, the research should be updated on recently phenomenon and follow the trend of shopping online. I have found some studies about the online shopping behavior and attitudes. Some of the Studies and survey are focus on the world consumers or certain Asia City’s or European City’s online shopping habits. Each of these studies addresses some aspect of customer’s online shopping attitudes and behavior. For my survey, the study background may not the same, however, their survey goal, some focus aspects such as which website consumers usually buy things, realize a trend of certain place or area are similar to my survey and interview goal. Past studies and survey can be a reference for me to know more about how to conduct the interview more general in certain questions and specific in particular questions.

Also, the studies also share a lot of theory to support some interview question can be find out some phenomena. For example, there a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and related assets. They conduct many surveys to find out consumers habits and one of its survey is focus on the online shopping. They found out that global online consumers buying books and clothing will continue to be the top list for planned online purchases or buy online, which follows the trend reported in a 2009 Nielsen survey where 46 percent of global consumers said they purchased books in the past three months and 41 percent bought clothing online.

In this case, I wonder what would be the top list product in Hong Kong when consumers are shopping online. What would they actually plan to buy and finally what they would buy? Would it be the same as other countries? From this can also find out why certain of products would be the top lists product and can some conclusion.

There also are some studies in around more than ten years; however some of their theory can be help to know the mind of consumer and help to set question. For example, Bellman, Lohse and Johnson (1999), this examined the relationship among demographics, personal characteristics, and attitudes towards online shopping. These authors found that people who have a more wired lifestyle and who are more time- constrained tend to buy online more frequently, for example those who use the Internet as a routine tool and/or those who are more time starved prefer shopping on the Internet. Bhatnagar, Misra and Rao (2000) measure how demographics, vender, service, product characteristics, and website quality influence the consumer’s attitude towards online shopping and consequently their online buying behavior. They report that the convenience the Internet affords and the risk perceived by the consumers are related to the two dependent variables, including attitudes and behavior, positively and negatively, respectively.

Measurement:

Consumers intended to shop online is positively associated with the attitude towards Internet buying, and influences their decision-making and purchasing behavior. For this purpose, there are total five measurements to conduct the research.

First of all is time, the Frequency of Online Shopping in certain period can show how popular of shopping online among adult in Hong Kong. It can asked base on the question designed: Q1 (Have you conduct online shopping in past 6 months?); Q2 (If no, what is the reason?); Q3 (If yes, what kind of product you have purchased in past 6 months?);Q4 (How often do you go online shopping?)

Second, the measurement is the Product. In past survey, it was found that certain products are only popular in online shopping such as clothes, make up product, airline ticket and reservations and so on. Product is one of the main in online shopping affect the trend of online shopping in Hong Kong. The designed questions are: Q5 (What product or services do you intend to purchase online in the next 3 months?); Q6 (What you usually buy from online shopping?)

Third, the measurement is Factors affect online shopping such as cheap, convenience, no time limited and so on. Respondent is feeling free to show their reason. Finally, we can find out the reason of why Hong Kong people are tends or not tends to shopping online; what are some main factors affect consumer’s online shopping behavior. The interview questions are: Q7 (Why you choose to purchase it through internet?); Q8 (What factors affect you to do online shopping?); Q9 (Why you believe online shopping?)
Fourth, the measurement is Website. Compare with ten years ago, there are not many online shopping websites, however it develop rapidly with the speed of technology development. The website of online shopping are offering much opportunity to buy different countries and various products, which increase the percentage of using online shopping. Website is a main factor to find out the online shopping habits of Hong Kong people. The questions are designed as follow: Q10 (What is your top three online shopping websites? Why?); Q11 (In which sources you know online shopping websites?), with choices; Q12 (Which of the three top lists of tools you use most often when shopping online?), with choices; Q 13 (What is your online shopping spending percentage of monthly spending?)

Fifth, the measurement is the Security Problem of online shopping. Security is one of the important element of conducting online shopping and one of the factor affect customers willingness to shopping online. Furthermore, the rapid technology develop rapidly increase the confident of consumers spending money online. If it is correct, the date will show how many confidences that respondent have, the designed questions are: Q14 (Would you consult any of others before purchase online? Who will be your consulter?); Q15 (Where would you conduct your online shopping? Only at home or everywhere if possible? Why?); Q16 (In which ways to pay the products?); Q17 (Have you share your usually online shopping websites with your friends or family?); Q18 (Do you think the security is save enough for you to shopping online? Why?)

Data Collection:

The research will get data and information by semi-structured interview method. The designed question in the interview will carry out by communicate with interviewees. The research will focus on the quality of the interview rather than the quantity of the research. Even if many researches were conducted by using quantity method, however to conduct an in-depth interview and get the data more correctly, quality method is much important. Even if there are some questions are already designed for the interviewee, interviewer is not only write down what they say, but also find the doubtful point and ask continuously if necessary in order to get more data.
The research designed to get the data from the street where near shopping mall and in the shopping mall. Choosing shopping mall as the interview place because which is the location that many people are gather especially after work and in the holidays. Also, shopping mall will contain various background people so that the data can be more fair and balanced.

As mentioned before, the interview can be conducted during holidays or after work time so that the interviewee can offer more time and willing to share more about their online shopping experiences. It is planed that each of the interviews will conduct around 15 to 20 minutes time and target the people who seems can spend more time to be the interviewee, otherwise the data will not be correct if they are answer it rapidly. All interviews will be recorded and will be transcribed into computer files. For this purpose, interviewers are responsible to tell the respondents the interview will be recorded and the tape will be destroyed after the research study.

In this research, at least 500 should be conducted in order to get general phenomena. For this purpose, it needs one to two weeks times to conduct the survey interview. Certain amount of interviewers is required.

Ethical issues:

In this research, the designed interview questions are focus on asking and realize the Hong Kong people’s online shopping behavior, consumer’s spending on the internet and about the trend of today’s Hong Kong online shopping among adult. For this purpose, there would not be any questions related to sensitive issues such as politics, sex, belief and so son. However, there still is a question the interviewer needs to be careful when asking about the salary in basic information area. It is because in the past experience share by many researchers is that some interviewee are indeed feel little or even more embarrass about answering question related to finance.

This interview will asking about their monthly salary, it is quite a sensitive question that the risk is that there might be some interviewees are not willing to answer this question. However, in order to get all of the answers of every interviewee, it is responsible to explain and tell interviewee the purpose of asking every question. Tell them that the questions will keep secret and only use for study. If interviewees are determine not to tell consequently, it is ok to skip the question to let the interviewee feel good of continuing to conducting the interview.

Reference:

Maslow, 1943 hierarchy of needs
The Nielsen Company
Bellman, Lohse and Johnson (1999)
Bhatnagar, Misra and Rao (2000)

The End