The factor influence on on-line purchase behaviour - Essay Example

Factors Influencing the On-line Purchase Behavior Factors Influencing the On-line Purchase Behavior Owing to its launch in 1993, internet is still regarded as a comparatively new means of communication in the modern world and therefore researchers are still busy in understanding the factors which influence the online buying behavior of consumers. This report reviews different research works carried out in the recent past on the same subject of understanding the factors influencing the online buying behavior.

Adapting the theory of user information satisfaction and consumer purchase behavior, Park and Kim (2003) studied the behavior of consumers in the context of online purchasing. The study was conducted by selecting three online stores selling books in Korea which had the highest sales revenue generation through online stores and had similar policies and attributes. The researchers requested the members of the selected online stores to answer a questionnaire. The study found that the information (i.e. quality of online interfacing, service information and products’ information) available about the products and other relational benefits are key factors in influencing the purchase behavior of consumers (Park and Kim 2003).

Realizing the importance of analyzing and identifying the factors which influence consumers to make purchases through the internet, Hasslinger, Hodzic and Opazo (2007) aimed their research work to find out the main factors which are taken into account by the consumers when they shop online, particularly while purchasing books. The research work was an exploratory study and was based on a survey questionnaire targeted at the students of the Kristianstad University. After analyzing the responses obtained, the researchers concluded that there were three major factors which influenced most the buying behavior of students through online sources; the factors identified were “price”, “trust” and “convenience”, which are presented here in the order of their preference (Hasslinger, Hodzic and Opazo 2007).

Similarly, Laohapensang (2009) explored the influential factors in relation online purchasing by considering the theiry of planned behavior. The study focused on surveying the 400 graduate students selected from 4 universities in Thailand. In the context of the theory of planned behavior the author aimed at determining the behavior of the onlines consumers in Thailand. The findings of the study revealed that the comparative difficulty in shopping online is the major influential factor among the consumers in Thailand (Laohapensang 2009).

In another research work, Chang and Chou (2011) focused on examining the factors influencing the online consumers’ behavior while considering the relationship between two different situations, i.e. when consumers voluntarily prefer using online shopping and when consumers have no other option but to choose online shopping. The results of the study revealed that the satisfaction of online shoppers does not serve as a significant factor in keeping them to continue shopping through online medium; in fact, the “strategic retention programs” are expected to attract and retain customers who are shopping online (Chang and Chou 2011).

In a recent “International Conference on Management, Behavioral Sciences and Economics Issues”, Al-Mowalad and Putit presented a study conducted with the aim of developing an understanding as to the factors which affect online shopping behavior of Saudi consumers. The study followed an exploratory approach and required selected online consumers to respond to a questionnaire by stating the key reasons, which influenced them to shop online. The researchers found that “trust”, “usefulness” and “ease of use” were the key influencing factors among Saudi online consumers (Al-Mowalad and Putit 2012).

These findings have revealed that there are different factors, which influence the buying behavior of online shoppers. However, trust, ease of use and information availability is found to be the most common factors among the consumers. List of References Al-Mowalad, A. and Putit, L., 2012. Factors that Influence Saudi Consumers Behavior to Make Online Purchase. In International Conference on Management, Behavioral Sciences and Economics Issues. Penang, 2012. Chang, S.-C. and Chou, C.-M., 2011.

Factors affecting users online shopping behavior: Integrating the constraint-based and dedication-based relationship perspectives. African Journal of Business Management, 5(2), pp.370-82. Hasslinger, A., Hodzic, S. and Opazo, C., 2007. Consumer Behavior in Online Shopping. Kristianstad University, Department of Business Studies. Laohapensang, O., 2009. Factors influencing internet shopping behaviour: a survey of consumers in Thailand. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 13(4), pp.501-13. Park, C.-H.

and Kim, Y.-G., 2003. Identifying key factors affecting consumer purchase behavior in an online shopping context. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 31(1), pp.16-29.