Customer Buying Behaviour Towards Online...

International Journal of Applied Business and Economic Research465

Customer Buying Behaviour Towards Online Shopping

R. Renganathan1, C. Vijayabanu2, V. Srinivasakumar3, V. Vijay Anand4 and B. Gayathri5

1Professor, School of management, SASTRA University, Thanjavur2,3Associate Professor, School of management, SASTRA University, Thanjavur4Assistant Professor, School of management, SASTRA University, Thanjavur5II MBA A- Student, School of management, SASTRA University, Thanjavur

AbstrAct

Information technology, an important aspect of digital economy, is developed internationally and also advent of internet in our country India, since last two decades. Nowadays usage of internet and mobile phone are gaining momentum because of change in lifestyle of rural and urban people. Apart from brick and mortar type of shopping, youngsters especially college students prefer shopping by means of brick and click thro cyberspace. Because of the technological up gradation and immense use and availability of internet and changing lifestyle of buyers, organization would like to promote and augment the brand equity and sales of their products with the help of website. Buyers prefer on line mode than traditional mode of shopping because of the availability of information pertaining to the various aspects of the products, mode of delivery and after sale service of the on line shoppers. In order to understand the buying preferences of the college students towards online shopping a study is undertaken. This study deals with the college students’ opinion about online e-commerce shoppers, their buying habits, preferences and characteristics of on line e-commerce websites. Under graduate and postgraduate students were included for this study. Most of the students preferred Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal as their online shoppers. According to this study laptop, mobile phone, books and dress materials are the favourite products choice for online shopping. Under graduate and postgraduate students were included for this study. This study will be useful for the online e commerce companies like Amazon, Snapdeal, Flipkart to understand the tastes, preferences and requirements of youngsters and college students.

Keywords: Internet, Online, Shopping, Consumer Behaviour, E-commerce, Website.

IntroductIon1.

In order to identify the meet the human and social needs the field marketing is playing a very vital role. According to Philip Kotler et. al., (2016), the way in which how consumers feel, behave and buy have to

International Journal ofApplied Business andEconomic Research

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Volume 15 • Number 6 • 2017

R. Renganathan, C. Vijayabanu, V. Srinivasakumar, V. Vijay Anand and B. Gayathri

International Journal of Applied Business and Economic Research 466

be scrupulously understand by the marketers. According to Philip Kotler et. al., (2016), Consumer behaviour is the study of how individuals, groups, and organizations select, buy, use and dispose of goods and services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy their needs and wants. The internet helps flow of information, negotiation, service and transaction as a distribution channel, Christopher Lovelock et. al., (2004). Online e-commerce retailers like Amazon, snapdeal, Flipkart, ebay, Shopclues, Myntra… have taken the benefit of the internet to create new services that can be delivered through electronic channel (cyberspace) through their computer, mobile phones. India is ranked third after China and Brazil with regard to net retail sales because of the political, economic condition and also the potential of Indian market (IBEF, Jan 2017). By the year 2020, from US$30 billion, E-commerce is anticipated to reach US$100 billion, due to the concentration of on line retailing form traditional physical stores by the retailers (IBEF, Jan 2017).

Nowadays because of the advent of internet, youngsters especially college students are very fond of using their laptops and mobile phones for online shopping. E commerce in India is given in Figure 1 and Online retail in India is given in Figure 2.

Figure 1: E-commerce in India

Figure 2: online retail in India

Figure 1 and Figure 2. Source: http://www.ibef.org/industry/retail-india.aspx

objectives

∑ To find out the frequency of buying products through online

∑ To ascertain the preference of products to buy through online by the respondents (college students).

∑ To find out the customers’ (students’) opinion regarding various aspects like “Ease of use, Privacy, Design, Information Accuracy, Functionality, Order-condition, Timeliness, Order Accuracy, Procedural Fairness, Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions” for Amazon.

∑ To ascertain the satisfaction and behavioral intention of the respondents (college students) about online shopping.



∑ To suggest some guidelines to the online retailers to satisfy their existing customers and acquire new customers.

scope of the study

The major objective is to find out the current trend of online shopping, major factors influencing online shopping and also to understand the future trend of online shopping students from college were the respondents for the study. Survey was conducted at Thanjavur, Tamilnadu. This study will be useful to understand students’ perspective regarding the various aspects of online shopping.

Limitations of the study

Survey was used to collect primary data from the respondents. With the help of their remembrance and knowledge respondents (college students) provided the necessary information for the survey. Only one educational institution was included for the study and with regard to demographical and psychographics characteristics the result may not be appropriate to other areas. Therefore, result of the research may be applied for the situation relevant to the research area and broad view may not be applicable to other regions. Opinion expressed by college students from one area at a particular point of time may not be applicable to other areas and all times.

rEsEArch MEthodoLogy2.

data collection:

∑ 250 students from colleges situated in Thanjavur were included for the survey

∑ Primary data and secondary data were used for this study.

Primary data: Structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data and questionnaire comprises of both close ended and open ended questions.

secondary data: Secondary data was collected through the internet and books

sampling design:

∑ Data collected from 30 students for pilot study

∑ Out of data collected from 220 students, 200 questionnaire completed in all the aspects were finally included for data analysis

statistical Analysis: SPSS software was used to analyze the collected data. Statistical techniques like Percentage analysis, Chi-square analysis and Factor analysis were applied for analysis of data

hypothesis testing

null hypothesis:

h01: There is no significant relationship between demographic profile of students like Gender, Age and Educational qualification of the and opinion about ‘Products normally buy through online’.



h02: There is no significant relationship between demographic profile of students like Gender, Age and Educational qualification of the and opinion about Main Reason for online Shopping.

h03: There is no significant relationship between demographic profile of students like Gender, Age and Educational qualification of the and opinion about online e-commerce site preferred for shopping.

rEvIEw oF LItErAturE3.

According Ramaswamy et. al., (2009), Consumer behaviour is mostly about the psychological processes that underlie consumer choice. Consumer purchase behaviour is based on the situation which depends on circumstances, times and location…, Tejashree Patnakar (2013). According to Prashant Raman (2014), online shopping in India is in budding stage and also in his study he found out that convenience is the most significant factor for female online shoppers. Price, promotional offers, payment modes play a vital role in influencing students to prefer online shoppers, Vaidehi, P. U. (2014). According to Komiak, S. X., (2004) et. al., main apprehension with regard to online shopping was privacy. For Chinese consumers time factor was the main reason for online shopping, Qinghe et. al., (2014). According Bhatnagar, A. et. al., (2000), buyer wanted to physically see the product before purchasing. To find out the search cost and performance of the internet, factors like capability and speed of the search engine, search strategy and complexity are significant, Nandakumar et. al., (2005). For consumers and marketers, online shopping is a commanding network, Geetha, V. et. al., ( 2015). When compared to risks like time, social and performance, risks like privacy and security are lesser, Thakur et. al., (2015). Students attitudes towards online shopping explained by privacy, security and subjective norms, Zendehdel et. al., (2012). According Moudi Almousa (2014), privacy and financial risks were considered to more important risks in online shopping. According Ramaswamy et. al., (2009), Consumer behaviour is mostly about the psychological processes that underlie consumer choice.

AnALysIs And dIscussIon4.

As per the Table 1, 48.5% of Male and 56.5% of female students were included for this study. Details of Educational qualification, age, family income and place of residence of the students are given in Table 1. 52% of the students buy ‘Frequently or at least once a month’, 18% of the students buy ‘Once in three months’ and 15% of the students buy once in 2 months and also once in 6 months with regard to opinion about ‘Frequency of buying products through online Table 2.

table 1 demographic Profile of the respondents

Particulars % %Age 17-21 years 27.5 Place of

ResidenceRural 18.5

22-26 years 72.5Urban 54.0Semi urban 27.5

Educational Qualification

UG Degree (other than pursuing Eng.) 21.5 MonthlyIncome of the family

`1000 to `3000 62.1UG Degree (pursuing Eng.) 30 `3000 to `5000 21.0Post Graduate 48.5 Above `5000 16.9

Gender Male 43.5Female 56.5



table 2 Frequency of buying through online

Frequency PercentFrequently or at least once a month 104 52Once in two months 30 15Once in three months 36 18Once in six months 30 15Total 200 100

Source: Primary data

As per the Table 3, it can be inferred that 53.5% of the respondents (students) preferred to buy ‘Mobile/computer/Camera (Electronics Products)’ through online, 27% of the respondents (students) preferred to buy ‘books’ and 10% of the respondents (students) preferred to buy ‘clothes’. Most of the students preferred to buy ‘Mobile/computer/Camera (Electronics Products)’ and books through online. 40% of the students’ opined ‘price’, 28% of the students’ opined ‘Convenience & time saving’ and 28% of the students’ opined ‘Provision to Compare various brands’ with regard to opinion about ‘Reasons for buying products through Online-E-commerce web sites’. ‘Price’ and ‘Convenience & time saving’ are the important factors for online shopping by the college students. (Table 4). As per the table 5, it is clear that, 49.5% of the students preferred Amazon’, 30.5% of the students preferred and 10% of the students preferred Snapdeal to buy products through on line. Students preferred Flipkart Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal as their choice for online shopping.

table 3 Products Preferred to buy online by the respondents

Frequency PercentBooks 54 27.0Mobile phone/computer/Camera (Electronics Products) 107 53.5Clothes 20 10.0Mobile/computer/Camera -Accessories 19 9.5Total 200 100


table 4 reasons for buying Products through online-E-coMMErcE web sites

Frequency PercentPrice 80 40Convenience & time saving 56 28Provision to Compare various brands 24 12Fast Delivery 16 8Return of products 14 7Advertising 6 3Customer review 2 1Friends’ Referral 2 1Total 200 100




table 5 online shoppers Preferred by the respondents

Preference of Online shoppersFrequency Percent

Amazon 99 49.5Flipkart 61 30.5Snapdeal 20 10.0E bay 9 4.5Myntra 8 4.0Jabong 3 1.5Total 200 100

table 6 hypothesis testing –chi-square test

S. No. Demographic profile Particulars

Pearson Chi-SquareNull

HypothesisValue df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

1 Gender Products normally buy through online 31.934a 3 .000 Rejected2 Gender Main reasons for online Shopping 81.338a 4 .000 Rejected3 Gender On line e-commerce site preferred for

shopping 57.378a 5 .000 Rejected

4 Educational Qualification

Products normally buy through online 1.179E2a 6 .000 Rejected


Main reasons for online Shopping 3.826E2a 8 .000 Rejected


On line e-commerce site preferred for shopping 4.958E2a 10 .000 Rejected

7 Age Products normally buy through online 1.297E2a 3 .000 Rejected8 Age Main reasons for online Shopping 83.332a 4 .000 Rejected9 Age On line e-commerce site preferred for

shopping 2.751E2a 5 .000 Rejected

10 Place of residence Products normally buy through online 3.072E2a 9 .000 Rejected11 Place of residence Main reasons for online Shopping 3.844E2a 12 .000 Rejected13 Place of

residenceOn line e-commerce site preferred for shopping 2.727E2a 15 .000 Rejected

As per table 6, it can be inferred that significant values are .000 which is less than the accepted value of 0.05. Hence null hypothesis cannot be accepted. That means there is a significant relationship between the demographic variables like age, educational qualification, place of residence of the students and their opinion about ‘Products normally buy through online’, ‘Main reasons for online Shopping’ and ‘Online e-commerce site preferred for shopping’.

With regard to average score, 4.28 for ease of use, 3.85 for privacy, 3.92 for design, 4.2 for accuracy of information, 3.97 for functionality, 4.34 for order condition, 4.35 for timeliness, 4.04 for order accuracy, 4.35 for interactive fairness, 4.30 for procedural fairness and 4.16 for satisfaction and behavioural intention in the



5 point scale (ranging from strongly agree 5 to strongly disagree 1) for the students opinion about service quality scale for online website Amazon. Students gave maximum score to timeliness, interactive fairness and minimum score to privacy with regard opinion about characteristics of Amzon online e-commerce website.

table 7. Average scores for the Items of service Quality scale for

online E-commerce Amazon

S.No. Characteristics of online shopping website Average scores TotalQ11. Ease of use

Simple to go wherever on the e-retailer’s website4.24

4.28Q12. When you commit an error you are allowed to rectify in E-retailer’s web site 4.64Q13. E-retailer’s web site permit us to see the page which we visited early 3.98Q14. Privacy

Hope that information furnished will not be used of other purpose3.90

3.85Q15. Trust our information will not be shared to other firm and website 3.80Q16. design

Web site of the e-retailer is visually pleasant3.92

3.92Q17. Design of the e-retailer’s web site is highly creative 3.93Q18. Accuracy of Information

Availability of advertised items in e-retailer’s inventory3.84

4.22Q19. E retailer provides information about the cost of the product and delivery 5.41Q20. Provision of accurate information by e-retailer about when order will be received 3.77Q21. E retailer clearly mention the prices of the product on the website 4.18Q22. Information provided by e retailer is highly genuine 3.94Q23. Functionality

Necessary minimum waiting time for the e-retailer’s web site to respond to buyers’ queries/grievances

3.90

3.97Q24. Numerous payment options for buyers 4.03Q25. Conformation of item ordered by the e-retailer’s web site 4.0Q26 order condition

Good product packaging for shipping the ordered product4.12

4.31Q27. At the time of delivery of my order, package may be rarely damaged 3.82Q28. All the orders are delivered perfectly in all aspects. 4.98Q29. timeliness

Highly flexible delivery time like next day, three days, one week3.99 4.35

Q30. Lead time is very minimum 4.80Q31. order Accuracy

This e-retailer seldom deliver incorrect product for the placed orders3.90

4.04Q32. This e-retailer seldom deliver poor quality product for the placed orders 4.20Q33. Precise billing by this e-retailer billing 4.03Q34. Interactive Fairness

If there is any mistake in the online transaction this e retailer will inform openly4.01 4.35

Q35. Our problem will be considered by this e-retailer 4.69



S.No. Characteristics of online shopping website Average scores TotalQ36. Procedural Fairness

Grievances will be handled by this e-retailer very rapidly4.90

4.30Q37. Method of handling my grievances by this e-retailer will please my requirement 4.53Q38. I am able to convey my grievances to this e- retailer 3.90Q39. In general, good grievance handling procedure is adopted by this e-retailer 3.87Q40. satisfaction and behavioral Intentions

Over all, I (am/was)very much pleased with the service4.05 4.16

Q41. Over all, I was satisfied with the service offered by this e-retailer with appropriate quality 4.10Q42. Service offered by this e-retailer made me to feel happy 3.92Q43. I will recommend this e-retailer to my friend. 4.20Q44. In future also, I propose to use this e-retailer’s website 4.30Q45. In future also, I propose to buy from this e-retailer’s website 4.40

table 8 relibility Analysis of the Attributes

Dimension No. of attributes Cronbach’s AlphaOnline shopping website-Amazon 36 0.720

As per the table 8, it is clear that Cronbach’s Alpha value is 0.720, which is more than the standard value 0.70, which ensures the reliability of the collected data.

Exploratory Factor Analysis

table 9 Adequacy of sampling

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .894Bartlett's Test of SphericityApprox. Chi-square 4.475E3 Df 120 Sig. .000

table 10 total variance Explained

ComponentInitial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings

ExtractionTotal % of Variance Cumulative % Total % of Variance Cumulative %

1 9.784 27.177 27.177 9.784 27.177 27.177 .8282 3.848 10.688 37.865 3.848 10.688 37.865 .8483 3.493 9.704 47.568 3.493 9.704 47.568 .8874 2.480 6.889 54.457 2.480 6.889 54.457 .8945 2.420 6.723 61.180 2.420 6.723 61.180 .8736 2.235 6.209 67.388 2.235 6.209 67.388 .8677 1.778 4.938 72.326 1.778 4.938 72.326 .6838 1.340 3.722 76.048 1.340 3.722 76.048 .747



ComponentInitial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings

ExtractionTotal % of Variance Cumulative % Total % of Variance Cumulative %

9 1.211 3.365 79.413 1.211 3.365 79.413 .94310 .970 2.694 82.107 .81511 .930 2.584 84.691 .69912 .711 1.976 86.667 .88613 .666 1.849 88.516 .80314 .655 1.819 90.335 .78815 .597 1.660 91.994 .80916 .525 1.460 93.454 .77317 .453 1.257 94.711 .82918 .391 1.087 95.798 .93119 .283 .787 96.584 .76320 .249 .693 97.277 .85921 .220 .610 97.887 .70122 .154 .427 98.314 .72223 .149 .415 98.729 .89524 .119 .331 99.061 .81125 .083 .230 99.291 .89126 .067 .185 99.476 .91127 .061 .170 99.645 .94128 .047 .131 99.776 .83129 .037 .102 99.879 .91130 .026 .072 99.951 .75831 .011 .029 99.980 .86032 .005 .013 99.993 .93033 .002 .006 99.999 .82734 .000 .001 100.000 .71135 4.990E-5 .000 100.000 .952

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

Factors pertaining to large number of observed variables can be classified by means of using ‘Factor analysis’. As per the table 9, it can be inferred that KMO value is 0.894 which is more than the standard value 0.7 and also significant value is 0.000 for the Bartlett's Test of Sphericity. Hence this ensures the use of factor analysis for this collected data. Table 10 sum up the total variance described by the Factor analysis solution and provides suggestion about the number of helpful factors. As per the table 10, it is clear that 9 extracted factors explain 79.4% of the variance. Moreover 95.2% of the variance in ‘intention to purchase from e commerce retailer Amazon in future’ is explained by the extracted factors

Major Findings of the study

∑ Most (52%) of the students buy products ‘Frequently or at least once a month’ through online shopping, through brick and click, which indicates the demand for online shopping among college students.



∑ Students preferred to buy (53.5%) ‘Mobile phone/computer/Camera (Electronics Products)’ through online and (27% ) of the respondents (students) preferred to buy ‘books’. Electronic products like mobile phone, laptop, desk top and books are the products preferred by the students to through online shoppers.

∑ Price and Convenience & time saving are the important reasons for the college students to prefer e-commerce online retailers

∑ Majority of the students (49.5%) preferred Amazon and followed by (30.5%) Flipkart and 10% Snapdeal as their online shoppers.

∑ It is found out that there is a significant relationship between the demographic variables like age, educational qualification, place of residence of the students and their opinion about ‘Products normally buy through online’, ‘Main reasons for online Shopping’ and ‘On line e-commerce site preferred for shopping’.

∑ Students gave maximum score (4.35) to timeliness, interactive fairness and minimum score (3.85) to privacy with regard opinion about characteristics of Amzon online e-commerce website.

∑ It is found that, Cronbach’s Alpha value of 0.720 for the 35 items of the service quality scale for on line e-commerce Amazon ensures the reliability of the collected data.

∑ Factory analysis could be used for the collected data because of the KMO (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin) value of 0.890 ( more than the standard value 0.70)

∑ It is found that as per the factor analysis, 9 extracted factors explain 79.4% of the variance. Moreover 95.2% of the variance in ‘ intention to purchase from e-commerce retailer Amazon in future’ is explained by the extracted factors

rEcoMMEndAtIons5.

∑ Based on the finding it is suggested to all the e-retailers to maintain privacy about the information given by the customers.

∑ It is suggested to make their customers aware of security.

∑ It is suggested to enhance the area coverage for delivery of the products.

∑ It is suggested to maintain the delivery lead time.

∑ It is suggested to e-bay.com to provide COD (cash on delivery) for low price products.

∑ It is suggested to all the e-retailers to enhance their replacement and cash back facility.

∑ It is suggested to online shoppers like e-bay to customize their website for customer support service.

∑ It is suggested to create confidence among prospective online buyers.

∑ It is suggested to avoid the difference between the products what they show/display virtually and actual products delivery.

∑ It is suggested to the online retailers to simplify their procedure/policies for online shopping.



concLusIon6.

When a customer buys a product through online, he or she is influenced by numerous aspects. Major influencing aspects have been identified as price, trustworthiness and convenience. Price aspect is very vital due to frequently lower in online stores than the physical stores due to the lower costs. Buying a product through online can really help the customer in terms of ease, economical and physical energy and precious time. It is also easy to shop on different online sites with various varieties, from the residence. Belief is obviously needed because the customer must provide financial as well personal information when buying products online. These kinds of information comprise the full name, delivery address, mobile number and credit card number or bank details …, which make faith a significant aspect. If online retailers instil confidence and make their business, procedures/policies in a simplified user friendly way, definitely they will be in a position to retain the existing customers and acquire new customers.

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank the MBA student Shri. B. Durga Prasad, for the valuable contribution and support to the study.

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