Online Shopping and Traditional Shopping
An Empirical Investigation of Online Consumer
Purchasing Behavior
Manju Ahuja, Babita Gupta, and Pushkala Raman
This article is focused on examining the factors and relationships that influence the browsing and buying behavior of individuals when they shop online. Specifically, we are interested in individual buyers using business-to-consumer sites. We are also interested in examining shopping preferences based on various demographic categories that might exhibit distinct purchasing attitudes and behaviors for certain categories of products and services. We examine these behaviors in the context of both products and services.
After a period of decline in recent months, online shopping is on the rise again.
By some estimates, total U.S. spending on online sales increased to $5.7 billion in
December 2001 from $3.2 billion in June of 2001 [3, 5]. By these same estimates, the number of households shopping online increased to 18.7 million in December
2001 from 13.1 million in June 2001. Consumers spent an average of $304 per person in December 2001, compared with $247 in June 2001. According to an analyst at Forrester: “The fact that online retail remained stable during ... such social and economic instability speaks volumes about how well eCommerce is positioned to stand up to a poor economy” [4].
What do consumers utilize the Internet for? Nie and Erbring suggest that 52% of the consumers use the Internet for product information, 42% for travel information, and 24% for buying [9]. Recent online consumer behavior-related research refers to any Internet-related activity associated with the consumption of goods, services, and information [6]. In the definition of Internet consumption, Goldsmith and Bridges include “gathering information passively via exposure to advertising; shopping, which includes both browsing and deliberate information search, and the selection and buying of specific goods, services, and information” [7]. For the purposes of
Purchasing Behavior
Manju Ahuja, Babita Gupta, and Pushkala Raman
This article is focused on examining the factors and relationships that influence the browsing and buying behavior of individuals when they shop online. Specifically, we are interested in individual buyers using business-to-consumer sites. We are also interested in examining shopping preferences based on various demographic categories that might exhibit distinct purchasing attitudes and behaviors for certain categories of products and services. We examine these behaviors in the context of both products and services.
After a period of decline in recent months, online shopping is on the rise again.
By some estimates, total U.S. spending on online sales increased to $5.7 billion in
December 2001 from $3.2 billion in June of 2001 [3, 5]. By these same estimates, the number of households shopping online increased to 18.7 million in December
2001 from 13.1 million in June 2001. Consumers spent an average of $304 per person in December 2001, compared with $247 in June 2001. According to an analyst at Forrester: “The fact that online retail remained stable during ... such social and economic instability speaks volumes about how well eCommerce is positioned to stand up to a poor economy” [4].
What do consumers utilize the Internet for? Nie and Erbring suggest that 52% of the consumers use the Internet for product information, 42% for travel information, and 24% for buying [9]. Recent online consumer behavior-related research refers to any Internet-related activity associated with the consumption of goods, services, and information [6]. In the definition of Internet consumption, Goldsmith and Bridges include “gathering information passively via exposure to advertising; shopping, which includes both browsing and deliberate information search, and the selection and buying of specific goods, services, and information” [7]. For the purposes of
References: 1. Bellman, S., Lohse, G. L., and Johnson, E. J. Predictors of online buying behavior. Commun. ACM 42, 12 (1999), 32–38. 7 (2000), 294–300. 3. Consumers spent (2001); www.forrester.com/ER/Press/Release/0,1769,621,00.html (August 8, 2002). 4. Consumer Spending Online (2001); www.forrester.com/ER/Press/Release/0,1769,636,00. html (Aug. 8, 2002). 5. December shopping up (2002); www.forrester.com/ER/Press/Release/0,1769,678,FF.html (Aug 8. Modahl, M. Now or Never: How Companies Must Change Today to Win the Battle for Internet Consumers. HarperCollins, New York, NY, 2000. 9. Nie, N., and Erbring, L. Internet use. Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society, California (2000). 10. Phelps, J., Nowak, G., and Ferrell, E. Privacy concerns and consumer willingness to provide personal information. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing 19, 1 (2000), 27–41. 11. www.yahoo.com; www.yahoo.com/ (Dec. 24, 2001).