Link between Personal Characteristics, Trust and Online Buying Behaviour in India

This dissertation explores the relationship between personal characteristics, trust, and online buying behavior in India. It examines the factors that influence online purchasing behavior and the impact of personal characteristics on trust in online shopping. The study focuses on the online shopping industry in India and aims to provide insights into consumer behavior in this context.

Running Head: DISSERTATION
Link between Personal Characteristics, Trust and Online Buying
Behaviour in India
Name of the Student
Name of the University

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Acknowledgement
Conducting this research has been one of the most enriching experiences of my life. The
contribution of this research to enhance my knowledge base and analytical skill has been
paramount. It gave me the opportunity to face challenges in the process and overcome them. This
would not have been possible without the valuable guidance of my professors, peers and all the
people who have contributed to this enriching experience. I would like to take this opportunity to
thank my supervisor _________________________ for the constant guidance and support
provided to me during the process of this research. It would not be justified if I did not thank my
academic guides for their important and valuable assistance and encouragement throughout the
research process. I would also like to thank my friends who had provided me with help and
encouragement for collecting primary data and valuable resources. Finally, I would like to thank
the customers of online shopping industry who have participated in the research survey and
provided with valuable inputs into the subject. The support of all these people has been inspiring
and enlightening throughout the process of research in the subject.
Heartfelt thanks and warmest wishes,
Yours Sincerely,
PLEASE FILL NAME

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Abstract
India is a country of diversity and thus the personal characteristics vary from person to person.
However, in spite of the diversity, the people of the country show considerable similarity in
certain traits like personal approach towards online shopping. The personal characteristic can
either have positive or negative impact on the online purchasing behaviour of an average Indian
customer. The relationship between personal characteristics and online purchasing behaviour of
an Indian customer is established by several factors of which, the two most important are
usefulness and ease of use. With the emergence of online shopping around 1994, several
companies like Amazon, EBay and others entered the market but at that time, internet was not
easily accessible to the people. Hence at that time, online shopping was not very popular and the
physical stores boomed with sales throughout the year. In the 21st century, with the significant
development of network technology, internet reached nooks and corners of the world and even to
the top of the palms of the people through the electronic handheld devices like smartphones, tabs
and others. Through these devices, people could easily access the online shopping websites
through which they could buy literally everything – from a simple needle to a large car. Another
advantage of online shopping is that the customers did not have to visit any store and the
purchased items are delivered directly to the footsteps of the customer. Due to these, online
shopping became very popular within a very small space of time and the sales in the physical
stores started to decline. However, there are also several disadvantages of online shopping –
faulty or wrong products can be delivered to the customer, the delivery personnel can misplace
packages, fraud and others. Online shopping is a global phenomena in terms of the retail industry
but in this research, the focus is only on the online shopping industry in India.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................5
1.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................5
1.2 Research Aim.......................................................................................................................11
1.2.1 Research Objectives......................................................................................................11
1.2.2 Research Questions.......................................................................................................12
Chapter 2: Literature Review.........................................................................................................13
2.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................13
2.2 Online Shopping..................................................................................................................13
2.3 Personal Characteristics and Online Buying Behaviour......................................................19
2.4 Trust and Online Buying and Behaviour.............................................................................21
2.5 Conceptual Model................................................................................................................24
Chapter 3: Methodology................................................................................................................30
3.1 Research Philosophy............................................................................................................30
3.2 Research Logic....................................................................................................................32
3.3 Research Method.................................................................................................................32
3.4 Data Collection....................................................................................................................33
3.5 Sample.................................................................................................................................35
3.6 Data Analysis.......................................................................................................................35
3.7 Ethical Considerations.........................................................................................................36

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Chapter 4: Research Findings........................................................................................................37
Chapter 5: Discussion....................................................................................................................76
Chapter 6: Conclusion...................................................................................................................85
Chapter 7: Limitations and Future Research.................................................................................90
7.1 Research Limitations...........................................................................................................90
7.2 Future Research...................................................................................................................90
References......................................................................................................................................92

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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Introduction
Online shopping is defined as the process through which an individual purchases some
products through the internet without having to visit the store physically. In order to access the
products in the online shops, the customers require access to an electronic medium through
which they can open the website of the online shop and purchase the items they require. In India,
lifestyle has changed considerably in the last few decades and along with it, the personal
characteristics and behavior of the people have also changed significantly. Even a few years
back, online shopping was not at all popular in the country as the preferences of people were
always the retail stores. However, in the time span of the last 6-8 years, this scene has completely
changed as e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart have taken over the Indian market by a
very significant margin. There has been an introduction of wide range of products such as
smartphones, tablets, laptops, computers, clothing, furniture, accessories, food, books and many
others through the online shopping sites (Cho & Sagynov, 2015). Currently, an average Indian
customer having access to the internet can purchase literally any product he needs from the
online shops without having to visit any retail store. In addition to the availability of the
products, the products are also delivered to the customer without no or minimal costs.
Furthermore, with the increasing number of smartphone uses in the country, more and more
people now have access to the online shopping websites and can order products anytime. Most of
the Indian customers tend to search a particular product (especially if it is expensive) from
different websites as well as retail and compare the prices before making decision of purchase. In
most of the cases, it is found that the products sold online are much cheaper than those in the

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retail stores. This is one of the reasons behind the increasing popularity of online shopping in
India.With the emergence of online shopping throughout the world, it has been seen that the
sales in the physical stores have decreased considerably as most of the people now prefer to
purchase products online (Pappas, 2016). This has further been accelerated by the access to
various electronic media like smartphones and computers for a large volume of the global
population. However, there is still a significant majority of people who do not trust online
shopping, either due to previous poor experiences or due to belief of checking products
physically before purchasing.
Most of the online shopping sites in India have their own online shopping portal that can
be accessed through the internet browser. Furthermore, the companies also provide mobile apps
that can be downloaded in smartphones. These applications are much popular due to their
simplistic design and ease of use. It has been found that most of the Indian customers place
orders in the online sites through mobile apps. Thus it is clear that the personal characteristic of
the Indian customers is to purchase the products from a site that is reliable and cheap and the
ordering process is very easy to conduct.
With the emergence of online shopping around 1994, several companies like Amazon,
EBay and others entered the market but at that time, internet was not easily accessible to the
people. Hence at that time, online shopping was not very popular and the physical stores boomed
with sales throughout the year. In the 21st century, with the significant development of network
technology, internet reached nooks and corners of the world and even to the top of the palms of
the people through the electronic handheld devices like smartphones, tabs and others. Through
these devices, people could easily access the online shopping websites through which they could
buy literally everything – from a simple needle to a large car. Another advantage of online

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shopping is that the customers did not have to visit any store and the purchased items are
delivered directly to the footsteps of the customer (Mansour, Kooli & Utama, 2014). Due to
these, online shopping became very popular within a very small space of time and the sales in the
physical stores started to decline. However, there are also several disadvantages of online
shopping – faulty or wrong products can be delivered to the customer, the delivery personnel can
misplace packages, fraud and others. Thousands of customers around the world have reported
these issues regarding online shopping and have stated that they will not use online shopping any
further. Thus, it is quite evident that there are a large number of factors on which the consumer
behaviour regarding online shopping depends.
In general, the online shopping sites conduct their business activities keeping in mind two
main objectives – supplying popular products at low prices and provide accessibility of the
online portal to all the customers who are interested in online shopping process. The online
shopping sites deliver the products directly from the warehouse through various retails and thus
the overall costs are very much reduced. In other words, the online sites operate through reduced
supply chain with some of the components cut down to reduce overall processing and handling
cost (Al-Debei, Akroush & Ashouri, 2015). For ensuring access to customers, as discussed
above, the companies operate through internet websites as well as mobile apps that can be
accessed by smartphone user. In addition to the services, the companies need to provide the
assurance or the guarantee and warranty policies, legal policies, product return policies and all
other customer support policies.

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Figure 1: Trends of online shopping in India
(Source: Cho & Sagynov, 2015)
This timeline shows the online retail e-commerce sales figures in India from 2009 to
2015 and a forecast regarding 2016, in billion U.S. dollars. Online shopping sales in India totaled
23 billion US dollars in 2015 and are expected to surpass 38 billion U.S. dollars by 2016. The
study suggested that in 2016, about 69 million consumers purchased online which is expected to
cross 100 million by 2017 with the rise of digital natives, better infrastructure in terms of
logistics, broadband and Internet-ready devices to fuel the demand in e-commerce.

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The report added that by the end of 2018, Indian e-retail is expected to touch $17.52
billion. "The total retail sales are growing at an impressive rate of 15%, registering a double digit
growth figure year after year.
Another variable under consideration in this particular research is trust i.e. how the
people of the target area trust the online shopping sites for making purchases. First, it has been
found that the most popular companies are easily trusted by the customers while the lesser
known and startup companies are not really trusted by people. The trust on the online shops
mainly depends on a number of risk factors that are explained below. While purchasing product
from any store, the customer may be worried about the performance or quality of the product. If
it is a physical store, the customer can try and test the product before purchasing but in online
stores, there is no such option for try and test. Thus the customer may choose not to purchase the
product from the online shopping sites. Most of the online shopping sites accept payments
through online payment gateways (Chen et al., 2015). While it is a very convenient process as it
does not require transfer and handling of cash, it does have various risks including hacking,
breach of personal information of the customer and others. Thus some customers may not agree
to pay the amount online and will not purchase products if there are no alternative methods of
payment like cash on delivery. There are many reported cases of misplacement of products i.e.
order of one person was delivered to another. Again, during the delivery of the products, the
products may get tampered or damaged. All these issues discourage the customers to purchase
products online and get them from the retail stores instead.
When a customer purchases a product, he always expects service excellence. This is also
true for online shopping and the service excellence include error free placement of order,
processing of the payment, timely delivery of non-tampered and the best quality product and

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prompt customer care service that is available 24 hours. While purchasing any product, a
customer always looks for sufficient return on investment made. This is also true for online
shopping as the customer only purchases products online when he is absolutely sure about the
return he gets from the purchase after paying its price. There are many customers who are not
sure about the return of investment from online shopping and thus refrain from purchasing
products online. Some of the customers, especially the younger generation, use the computer /
online media with playfulness and during the process, they may also access the online shopping
sites (Wang & Chou, 2014). While browsing through the shopping sites, they may find some
products very interesting and buy them. For the extensive use of online shopping, experience of
the customers also matter. There are many customers who are not regular online shoppers but use
the sites once or twice casually to check out the types and qualities of products they provide.
However, if they have very positive experience with the online shopping sites, they may become
regular customers of online shopping. Some internet users get absorbed while browsing through
the online shopping sites. While they mainly get enjoyment from the browsing, they also become
more eager to purchase the products that they find useful from the online shopping sites. On the
other hand, computer anxiety is the condition that makes the customer fear that purchasing
products from the online stores through computer will not be suitable and necessary. Thus
computer anxiety prevents a user to use online shopping websites. Some customers feel content
and happy while purchasing different types of products like clothes, books, electronic devices
and others. These customers are casual shoppers but buy products regularly from the stores.
Some customers do not use the online shopping sites on a regular basis but feel aroused when
there are huge discounts and limited time sales going on in the sites. During these times, they
purchase various products at discounted costs and in large quantities. Psychological risk comes

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from the fear of selecting the wrong product from the site (Hoffmann, Lutz & Meckel, 2014). In
an online shopping site, there are similar products sold by different brands and some of them
might not be of the best quality. However, if the customer is new to online shopping, he might
not have clear idea about the nature of the products and the brands. The customer may fear the
reactions of his friends and families when he makes purchase of a product. This can discourage
the customer to use the online shopping websites for purchasing products. While purchasing
products, the customer may feel the prices of the products shown in the online shopping portal
are not appropriate and there will not be sufficient return on investment.
1.2 Research Aim
The aim of this research is to conduct a detailed study on the trends of online shopping in
India and how the personal characteristics and trust of an individual is linked with the online
buying behaviour.
1.2.1 Research Objectives
The objective of this research is to identify how the personal characteristics and trust of
the customers can affect the online sales of various products. While online shopping is a broad
and vast area of study, this research will be particularly focussed on the online shopping
behaviours of the customers in India only. Following are the research objectives:
 To identify the current trend of online shopping in India
 To identify the behavioural patterns of Indian customers regarding online
shopping
 To analyse the trust factors of Indian Customers over online stores for shopping
purposes

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1.2.2 Research Questions
The main research questions that will be explored in this research are as follows.
 What is the current trend of online shopping in India?
 What are the behavioural patterns of Indian customers regarding online shopping?
 How much the Indian customers trust the online stores for shopping purposes?

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Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
For the purpose of any research, literature review is a very important part as it provides
the researcher with a lot of knowledge and insight on the topic and field of the research.
Moreover, before proceeding into the actual data collection part, the literature review provides
the researcher with sufficient amount of data that can be used as the foundation for the detailed
research. In this particular research, detailed literature review will be conducted on different
parts of the topic like online shopping, trust and behavior of the customers regarding online
shopping and others. Works of various reputed and reliable researchers will be explored for the
detailed analysis and explanation of the research topic.
2.2 Online Shopping
Online shopping refers to the purchase of various types of products from a merchant
through online ordering and transaction system. These merchants have set up various websites
through which the customers can check and order various types of the products that will be
delivered directly to the address of the customer after payment is made through online transfer or
even cash on delivery. There are several popular online shopping sites available around the
world that have rapidly grown up and developed in the last two decades. With the popularization
of digital devices like smartphones, there has been a boost on the popularity of online shopping
as the customers are now able to access the online stores through the internet in their
smartphones only.

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Online buying behaviour is defined as the behaviour exhibited by the customer while
deciding whether to purchase products online or not. This condition of uncertainty mainly arises
because the customers do not completely trust the online websites that sell products through the
online business portals. Again, different people act differently towards online shopping system
and hence, their behaviors can be analyzed to determine whether the customers are willing to use
the online shopping sites or not. The online buying behaviour is affected by the number of
different factors but the two main factors that are being discussed here are personal
characteristics and trust of the customers.
Now, there may arise a question regarding why only these two factors have been chosen
for analyzing the online buying behavior of the customers. Before initiating the literature review
process, it can be said here these two factors are decisive in terms of determining the positive or
negative approach of the customer towards online shopping. The personal characteristics of a
customer analyzes a number of different factors associated with the online shopping before
deciding whether he will buy from them or not. On the other hand, the customer also needs to
grow considerable amount of trust on the online shopping site before making a purchase and
various risk factors play a major role in determining whether the customer will trust the online
shops or not.
As per the works of (Xu, 2014), online buying behaviour is promoted by a number of
different factors. These factors are listed as follows.
I. Online buying behaviour is promoted by the extensive use of smartphones as
through these devices, the people can surf through various online shopping sites
and purchase the products that catch their attention.

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II. Online buying behaviour is promoted by the low costs and high discounts on the
products as compared to the same products in the retail stores. Moreover,
convenience of online shopping and the home delivery system also promotes
online buying behaviour.
III. Cashless transaction using credit and debit cards also promote online buying
behaviour.
According to Rouibah, Lowry and Hwang (2016), online shopping has mainly been
popular because of the following reasons.
i. The increasing amount of crowd in the physical retail stores – especially in the
clothing and electronic sectors continuously discourage the customers to avoid
them. This is mainly because of the crowd, the customers are not able to test and
choose the products they like sufficiently. On the other hand, for the online
shopping, the customers do not have to visit any store and can just choose and
order products as they like sitting at their homes. Thus the customers can easily
avoid the crowds and can just order anything they like through a simple touch on
their phones.
ii. Another major reason behind the popularity of the online shopping is the
relatively low price of the products compared to the retail stores. In addition to the
lower prices, most of the online shops provide large amount of discounts
throughout the year that in turn provide the customers with the option for good
value for money. The main reason behind the price difference is that the products
sold by the retailers pass through various layers of supply chain from
manufacturer to the retailer thus naturally increasing the overall price of the

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products. On the other hand, the products sold by the online shops are delivered to
the customer directly from the warehouse i.e. the supply chain is much more
shorter and goes through less number of intermediate stages and thus the prices
can be kept low. The listed sellers in the online shopping sites are also able to
provide high amount of discounts on their products – thus attracting the interests
of the customers.
iii. The main target area of online shopping is the youth. This is mainly because the
young generation (18+) is very much proficient with the use of smartphones as
well as the internet. They find various products of their interest in the online
shopping sites that they purchase and also recommend friends and family
members to do the same. Thus, online shopping is mainly popularized by the
young generation as they are the most extensive users of these shopping sites.
iv. Variety of products is another reason behind the popularity of the online shopping
sites is that one site provides a wide range of products whereas in retail stores, the
customers have to visit one shop to another to buy all the necessary products. In
most of the online shopping sites like Amazon, Flipkart and others, there are wide
varieties of products available ranging from clothes, books, electronic devices
(like phones, television), furniture, toys, accessories, jewelry and others. Thus, the
customers can purchase all the products from the same place and do not have to
visit different stores in order to purchase the required products. Hence, it is
natural that the online shopping sites have become massively popular within such
short period of time. At the same, with the increasing popularity of the online

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shopping sites, the sales in the retail stores around the world have also declined at
considerable rates.
v. Accessibility to various international or regional brands is another reason behind
the increasing popularity of the online shopping among the people. Before the
advent of online shopping, people had only access to national or local brands and
could not buy products from international brands. However, the online shopping
sites provide products from various national and international brands to various
parts of the world. Thus the customers can now buy products of any brand they
desire and can avoid visiting local retail stores.
Authors Slade et al. (2015) on the other presented various counter arguments regarding
the disadvantages of online shopping. According to the authors, although online shopping
provides some apparent advantages over the retail physical stores, there are a lot of
disadvantages that may discourage the customers to buy products online. Some of these
disadvantages are listed and discussed as follows.
 Authenticity is one of the major problems related to the online shopping sites. As
per a survey conducted by the authors, a huge number of online shopping
customers have received fake products even from authentic online shopping sites
like Amazon and Alibaba. Many others have reported tampered and poor quality
of the products received compared to the item description and picture provided in
the online shopping portal. Although this problem mainly arises from the product
retailer’s end and not the parent online shopping site, it is to be noted that in many
of these cases, the shopping site does not take any suitable actions against such
retailers. With repeated incidents occur regarding the authenticity of the products

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displayed in the shopping portal, the customers feel cheated and gradually lose
interest in shopping online.
 Actual nature of the product is another factor that contributes to the disadvantage
of online shopping. Some products that are purchased with specific characteristics
like clothes (size and other measures), shoes (size) and others. These products are
generally purchased after trial in the retail stores. However, when shopping
online, there is no chance of trail and although the specifications are provided in
the shopping portal, they may not fit on the customer in reality. Thus valuable
time of the customer is lost while the product is sent for exchange or the money is
lost if there is no option provided by the seller for exchange. Hence, these types of
products should not be bought from the online shops without being sure of the
measurements and specifications.
 Delivery of the products is often a problem for the online shopping customers. In
many cases, the residential area of the customer, especially in some places that are
far from a major town, is not served by the delivery services of the company. In
that case, the customer can view items in the shopping portal but cannot place an
order due to inaccessibility of the area. If the online shopping sites realistically
want to grow and replace most of the retail stores, they have to increase their
delivery region over remote places as well. Currently, some of the major online
shopping giants like Amazon, eBay and others provide delivery services to the
major cities and towns of a country mostly.
 Lack of interactivity is also one main disadvantage of online shopping. In the
retail stores, the customers can freely interact with the sellers regarding the

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product before making any purchase. On the other hand, there is no such option
during online shopping when the customer can just view and place order for their
selected product. In case of new types of product, the customer cannot know in
detail about it before making purchase of the same.
 Most of the online shopping sites provide option for online payment system for
purchasing products. However, the payment gateways are not always secure and
in thousands of cases worldwide, the bank details of the customers were
compromised while making the online payments and significant amount of money
was stolen from them. Thus it is natural that the customers may not trust the
online payment system while purchasing products online. Again in some other
cases, due to fraudulent online shopping sites, customers paid the price of the
product through online payment system but they never received the product
online. Thus it is evident that the online payment system is not sufficiently
reliable for making online purchases. Seeing the disadvantages of online payment,
most of the popular online shopping stores have added cash on delivery payment
system in which the customers can pay the amount in cash after he receives the
product from the delivery executive. However in those shopping websites who
deliver the products through international shipping, there is no cash on delivery
system and have very low reliability ratings as they often fail to deliver the
products to the customers even after receiving payment through online system.
2.3 Personal Characteristics and Online Buying Behaviour
It has been found by Xu (2014) that personal characteristics of a customer contribute to
the online purchasing behaviour. Various factors like age, sex, purchasing power, situation of the

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consumer has direct effect over the online shopping. There is a strong relationship between the
age, sex and attitude of the consumer (Aggarwal, 2013). Not only these factors, but also prior
shopping experience, trust over that online website that sells the product and the features of the
product also has an impact on the minds of the online buyers (Perea y Monsuwé, Dellaert and de
Ruyter, 2004). Personal characteristics of a customer regarding a particular behaviour can be
determined through demographic analysis of the people from the particular target region. Davis,
Wang and Lindridge (2008) studied the personal characteristics of the people from various
countries including USA and China regarding the online shopping behaviour. According to their
study, it has been found the cultures in the different countries played significant role in differing
the personal characteristics and approach towards online shopping. Haq et al. (2012) studied that
the demographic profile of the consumer also has an impact towards online shopping and the
perception of consumers towards online shopping is independent of their gender, education or
income. The Chinese consumers showed positive approach towards online shopping and the
American consumers too had good experience as it was easy and continent to use. Iqbal (2012)
tried to study the perception of online shopping in developing countries. The study showed that
the developing countries are showing more and more interest in online shopping although the
personal characteristics of the people did not favor online shopping even a few years ago.
However, the fact that personal characteristics vary from person to person shows that an
overall average idea of some specific countries does not reflect the true nature of online
purchasing behaviour that is dependent on the personal characteristics of an individual. The
personal characteristic can either have positive or negative impact on the online purchasing
behaviour of an individual. Again, there are several different personal characteristics that can
affect the online purchasing behaviour of the customer. The relationship between personal

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characteristics and online purchasing behaviour is established by several factors of which, the
two most important are usefulness and ease of use. Usefulness is defined as the perception of the
customer regarding the utility of a product or service. In this case, usefulness is referred to the
utility of the online shopping site regarding the purchase of a product. Again, usefulness of the
online shopping process can be determined by the customer using two other factors – return on
investment and service excellence (Evanschitzky et al., 2015). Firstly, while purchasing products
online, the customer will always expect return on the investment he makes on the purchase. If he
determines that the return on investment is not sufficient, he will not purchase any product
online. On the other hand, the customer also looks for service excellence like placing order,
timely delivery of tamper free and right product, proactive customer care system and others.
2.4 Trust and Online Buying and Behaviour
Risk plays a major role in the determination of trust of the customers on online shopping.
Before trusting any online shopping site, any customer first considers the various risk factors that
are associated with the purchase. Some of the common risks associated with online shopping are
fraud, payment risk, delivery risk and others. If a customer thinks one of the risks is very much
significant and not worth it considering the total expenses he has to face, he will not trust that
online shopping site and may chose to purchase the product from retail stores instead (Hong and
Cha, 2013). In addition to the purchase related risk, the reliability of the online shopping site also
comes into question. Most of the online websites offers e-shopping and other online facilities
like paying bills or buying tickets, etc. with the rapid growth of the industry, there are thousands
of fake shopping websites that trick people to pay money but do not deliver any product
(Gabriel, 2007).

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In general, the online shopping sites conduct their business activities keeping in mind two
main objectives – supplying popular products at low prices and provide accessibility of the
online portal to all the customers who are interested in online shopping process. The online
shopping sites deliver the products directly from the warehouse through various retails and thus
the overall costs are very much reduced. In other words, the online sites operate through reduced
supply chain with some of the components cut down to reduce overall processing and handling
cost. For ensuring access to customers, the companies operate through internet websites as well
as mobile apps that can be accessed by smartphone user. Most of the online shopping sites have
their own online shopping portal that can be accessed through the internet browser. Furthermore,
the companies also provide mobile apps that can be downloaded in smartphones (Cho &
Sagynov, 2015). These applications are much popular due to their simplistic design and ease of
use. It has been found that most of the customers place orders in the online sites through mobile
apps. Thus it is clear that the personal characteristic of the customers is to purchase the products
from a site that is reliable and cheap and the ordering process is very easy to conduct. In addition
to the services, the companies need to provide the assurance or the guarantee and warranty
policies, legal policies, product return policies and all other customer support policies.
A survey conducted by Goswami et al. (2013) in a commercial town in India has reviled
that many consumers have found online shopping convenient and has felt satisfied. As such in
online shopping too trust plays a vital role. Several surveys have shown that consumers buy
goods and services from online or do e-shopping only after believing that online vendor and
confirming its credibility (Jiang, Jones and Javie, 2008). The fundamental element that
overcomes the risk is trust. Trust is a linchpin for any trade. It is important for the online seller or
the e-vendor to build trust in the minds of customer. Creating that trust in the minds of the

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consumers is a challenging task for any trader, be it online or offline shops. Still, this is one of
the main strategy to gain long term success and sustain against the competitors (Vos et al., 2014).
The online shopping sites deliver the products directly from the warehouse through
various retails and thus the overall costs are very much reduced. In other words, the online sites
operate through reduced supply chain with some of the components cut down to reduce overall
processing and handling cost (Al-Debei, Akroush & Ashouri, 2015). In general, the online
shopping sites conduct their business activities keeping in mind two main objectives – supplying
popular products at low prices and provide accessibility of the online portal to all the customers
who are interested in online shopping process. For ensuring access to customers, as discussed
above, the companies operate through internet websites as well as mobile apps that can be
accessed by smartphone user. In addition to the services, the companies need to provide the
assurance or the guarantee and warranty policies, legal policies, product return policies and all
other customer support policies.
Now, before establishing the research hypotheses for this part of the research, it is
required to determine how the online purchasing behaviour of a customer is affected by his trust
of the online shopping sites. As mentioned already, the trust of the customer on the online
shopping sites is dependent on various risk factors that are associated with online shopping.
 Products purchased online may give rise to performance and quality related
issues.
 Psychology of the customer may play a role in his trust of online shopping site.
 Fear of social interactions regarding a purchased product may discourage the
customer to purchase product online.

24DISSERTATION
 Products purchased online may not be properly delivered to the customer
(misplacement or damaged product)
 Online payment system may compromise the customer’s personal and bank
account data. However, in this case, some customers do prefer online payment
over cash payment as it is hassle and cash transaction free.
 Return on investment may not be sufficient for the customer.
Based on the discussions made in the above points, the research hypothesis can be
developed as follows.
H1: Age and Sex has a positive influence on the online buying behaviour.
H2: Purchasing Power has a positive influence on the online buying behaviour.
H3: Consumer Trust has a negative impact on online shopping behaviour.
H4: Online Payment System has a positive impact on online shopping behaviour.
2.5 Conceptual Model
This particular research involves two independent variables i.e. personal characteristics
and trust of the customers and a dependant variable i.e. online shopping behaviour of the
customers. However, the independent variables are also affected by certain other factors
regarding the main dependant variable. In that case, considering the broader point of view, both
personal characteristics and trust are also dependant variables and hence, this conceptual model
consists of three main dependant variables and supporting independent variables. Thus the
overall conceptual model of the research is developed as follows.

25DISSERTATION
Figure 1: Conceptual Model (Research Framework)
(Source: Created by Author)
The above diagram shows the conceptual model of the research. As per the diagram,
there are two main variables that are discussed as follows.
Personal Characteristics – This is the personal traits of a customer that impacts his
interest in buying products from the online shops. There are many people who prefer the try and
buy products from regular retail stores and avoid purchasing products from online websites. On
the other hand, there are some people who do not want to travel to the crowded retail stores and
purchase products from the online shopping stores. Hence, personal characteristics play an
important role in the online purchasing behaviour of the customers. Now, personal characteristics
of the customers are also affected by three other factors that the customers use to determine
whether they will purchase products online or not. These three factors are Usefulness, Ease of
Use and Enjoyment. Usefulness refers to the determination of the customer regarding whether the

26DISSERTATION
products from the online stores will be useful for his purposes. In addition, the customer also
decides whether purchasing products from online stores will provide him with added benefits
that the retail stores. The ease of use of the online shopping sites also plays an important role in
determining the customer’s interest in making online purchases. Finally, the enjoyment while
using the online shopping portals is another factor that affects the characteristic of a customer for
purchasing products online. The three factors discussed here are also affected by some other
factors and personal experiences of the customer while using the online shopping sites. These are
discussed as follows.
Return on Investment – While purchasing any product, a customer always looks for
sufficient return on investment made. This is also true for online shopping as the customer only
purchases products online when he is absolutely sure about the return he gets from the purchase
after paying its price. There are many customers who are not sure about the return of investment
from online shopping and thus refrain from purchasing products online.
Service Excellence – When a customer purchases a product, he always expects service
excellence. This is also true for online shopping and the service excellence include error free
placement of order, processing of the payment, timely delivery of non-tampered and the best
quality product and prompt customer care service that is available 24 hours.
Experience – For the extensive use of online shopping, experience of the customers also
matter. There are many customers who are not regular online shoppers but use the sites once or
twice casually to check out the types and qualities of products they provide. However, if they
have very positive experience with the online shopping sites, they may become regular
customers of online shopping.

27DISSERTATION
Control – The control factor refers to the fact that the customers should also be able to
control the various aspects of the online shopping portal before purchasing products. If the
customer is unable to control the portal, he will not be interested to purchase products and will
prefer retail stores instead.
Computer Playfulness – Some of the customers, especially the younger generation, use
the computer / online media with playfulness and during the process, they may also access the
online shopping sites. While browsing through the shopping sites, they may find some products
very interesting and buy them.
Computer Anxiety – Computer anxiety is the condition that makes the customer fear that
purchasing products from the online stores through computer will not be suitable and necessary.
Thus computer anxiety prevents a user to use online shopping websites.
Escapism – Some internet users get absorbed while browsing through the online shopping
sites. While they mainly get enjoyment from the browsing, they also become more eager to
purchase the products that they find useful from the online shopping sites.
Pleasure – Some customers feel content and happy while purchasing different types of
products like clothes, books, electronic devices and others. These customers are casual shoppers
but buy products regularly from the stores.
Arousal – Some customers do not use the online shopping sites on a regular basis but feel
aroused when there are huge discounts and limited time sales going on in the sites. During these
times, they purchase various products at discounted costs and in large quantities.

28DISSERTATION
Trust – Another variable under consideration in this particular research is trust i.e. how
the people of the target area trust the online shopping sites for making purchases. First, it has
been found that the most popular companies are easily trusted by the customers while the lesser
known and startup companies are not really trusted by people. The trust on the online shops
mainly depends on a number of risk factors that are explained below.
Performance Risk – While purchasing product from any store, the customer may be
worried about the performance or quality of the product. If it is a physical store, the customer can
try and test the product before purchasing but in online stores, there is no such option for try and
test. Thus the customer may choose not to purchase the product from the online shopping sites.
Psychological Risk – Psychological risk comes from the fear of selecting the wrong
product from the site. In an online shopping site, there are similar products sold by different
brands and some of them might not be of the best quality. However, if the customer is new to
online shopping, he might not have clear idea about the nature of the products and the brands.
Social Risk – The customer may fear the reactions of his friends and families when he
makes purchase of a product. This can discourage the customer to use the online shopping
websites for purchasing products.
Financial Risk – While purchasing products, the customer may feel the prices of the
products shown in the online shopping portal are not appropriate and there will not be sufficient
return on investment.
Online Payment Risk – Most of the online shopping sites accept payments through online
payment gateways. While it is a very convenient process as it does not require transfer and
handling of cash, it does have various risks including hacking, breach of personal information of

29DISSERTATION
the customer and others. Thus some customers may not agree to pay the amount online and will
not purchase products if there are no alternative methods of payment like cash on delivery.
Delivery Risk – There are many reported cases of misplacement of products i.e. order of
one person was delivered to another. Again, during the delivery of the products, the products
may get tampered or damaged. All these issues discourage the customers to purchase products
online and get them from the retail stores instead.

30DISSERTATION
Chapter 3: Methodology
3.1 Research Philosophy
Research methodology involves the theoretical frameworks and learning of the various
techniques that can be used in the conduct of research and the conduct of tests, experiments,
surveys and critical studies by which the conclusion can be derived (Saunders et al., 2012).
In order to follow a suitable model for research, the research onion was developed that
can be used as a framework for developing the roadmap for any type of research. Figure below
shows the research onion. It shows the different stages of which formulates an effective
methodology (Saunders et al., 2009).

31DISSERTATION
Figure: The Research Onion
(Saunders et al., 2012)
Research philosophy is a conceptual roadmap which guides the researcher to progress in
his research following a suitable path and helps in knowing which method of research can be
used to study. Research philosophy also assists the researcher in avoiding unsuitable use of
methodologies. It further helps in making the research creative and innovative (Thorpe, Jackson
and Easterby-Smith, 2012).
There are three types of research philosophies. They are:
1. Positivism
2. Realism
3. Interpretivism
The chosen research philosophy for this current research is positivism. Positivism
research philosophy is the best suitable philosophy for this research paper because it involves
mainly on social research and the theories already exist. Positivism has a successful relationship
with physical and natural science. Positivism philosophy helps the researcher to analyse social
behaviour in a scientific way (Banakar and Travers, 2005). Positivism philosophy and scientific
approach are more or less the same and there is no much of difference between positivism and
science (Bryman and Bell, 2015).
This research does not depend upon the other type of research philosophies and cannot be
used as it does not hold good or relate to the current chosen area of research.

32DISSERTATION
3.2 Research Logic
Research logic is the technique by which the conclusions are brought in the research. The
research logic explains the main concept of the research. It is also the main tool by which the
researcher makes inquiry (Saunders et al., 2012).
There are 3 types of research logics:
1. Deductive
2. Inductive
3. Abductive
The deductive way of approach is that result is derived from the general point of view to
a specific point. The main task of deductive logic is that it defines the validity of the truth or the
reality (Wiener, 1967). Inductive method is the opposite of deductive method. That is, it the
research is made from broader view and concluded with a specific theory. Abductive method is
in between both the methods. The research starts from an unclear or unverifiable point and ends
at an observation (Mackey and Gass, 2016).
This research will be based upon deductive method as no new theories will be derived.
As this research aims to find a specific conclusion from the general point of view with already
existing information and theories deductive method will be the apt and relevant. It also helps in
bringing out logical conclusion.
3.3 Research Method
There are two main types of research methods. They are:

33DISSERTATION
1. Quantitative
2. Qualitative
As the name suggests, quantitative method is a method in which the research is based
upon the quantity information like numbers and figures. The qualitative method is the method
which is based upon the quality of the information like words or sentences. A research can be
made by either quantitative or qualitative or at times both are used. Quantitative method uses a
larger sample size to derive at the conclusion but it is not possible to explore using this type of
method. Qualitative method is appropriate where detailed research and understanding is required
and has a small sample size (Blumberg, Cooper and Schindler, 2014).
This particular research uses quantitative method as it requires quantifying the personal
characteristics of the consumers as well as the amount of trust the people holds towards online
shopping. Both primary and secondary data will be used with this method. Supporting this
method, a questionnaire survey has been done on 100 people residing in India who use online
shopping frequently. Secondary data like journal articles, literatures and all other existing data
has been used. Above all the chosen method helps in obtaining a structured observation
(Blumberg, Cooper and Schindler, 2014).
3.4 Data Collection
In this particular research, quantitative data analysis will be used and hence, the data will
be collected from questionnaire survey conducted 100 different customers around India. While
the number is generally small in terms of the country’s population, the data collected from these
customers will give a general idea regarding the trend of online shopping in India.

34DISSERTATION
The questionnaire will have some multiple choice questions related to the research topic
and the participants will have to select suitable answers as per their choice. The collected data
can be used in the form of statistics for analysis and recommendations regarding the research
question. The questionnaire will have the following questions for the survey process.
Gender
Age Group
How much aware are you regarding availability of products in online shops?
Which online shopping site you use the most?
How often do you buy products from the online shops?
Please select the most common commodity you buy from online shopping sites.
Please select your perceived responses regarding your trust of the online shopping
sites.
 Actual product quality / performance can be easily perceived from the
written information / pictures provided by the online seller
 Your psychological comfort affects your online purchasing choice
 While making online purchase, you are concerned about how your friends
or family members will react
 You prefer purchasing products online that have less financial risk
 You are concerned about the security of online payment while making a
purchase online
 You are concerned about the delivery of product while making an online
purchase

35DISSERTATION
Do you think online shopping provides the customers with sufficient return on
investment?
Do you think service excellence is a plus point for online shopping sites?
Do you think online shopping tendency increases with experience of the same?
Does the availability of resources increase your interest in purchasing products
online?
Do you think the increasing usage of internet increases your interest in purchasing
products online?
Does computer anxiety prevent you from purchasing products online?
Do you purchase products online to avoid visiting crowded retail stores?
Do you purchase products online because it brings you happiness?
Do you think availability of certain products stimulates your interest in making
the online purchasing?
3.5 Sample
Since the collection of secondary data was be done through questionnaire, some
characteristics of the samples were required as the basic parts of the survey. The main sample
characteristics of the samples required for the purpose are gender, age group, frequency of use of
online shopping sites and type of products brought from the online shops. These samples are
essential for determining the online shopping behaviours of the people in India.
3.6 Data Analysis
For the purpose of data analysis, SPSS has been used since the research is quantitative in
nature. The main research strategy that has been implemented is a hierarchical regression
analysis as there are a number of different dependant variables involved in the research.

36DISSERTATION
SPSS is a software that helps to analyze quantified data collected from the primary and
secondary sources and also develop suitable regression models that are useful for the research.
Other required tests like T-Test have also been performed through SPSS software after
quantified data was collected from the questionnaire survey of the 100 samples.
3.7 Ethical Considerations
While making the research, the researcher agreed to follow the ethical and professional
standards. The terms of the ethical and professional standards followed were as follows.
1. The researcher must treat people in a professional and good manner while
conducting survey or interview with them.
2. It should also be noted that, to whom, what type of questions shall be asked.
3. Unwanted or unwelcomed type of questions should not be asked by the
researcher.
4. It is the responsibility of the researcher and to consider the interest and privacy of
the non-participants of the research.
5. The possible harm for the respondents must also be anticipated.
6. The researcher must also be discreet about the information obtained about the
respondents as it involves the privacy of them.
7. Publishing such data without their permission shall lead to legal issues.
8. Any unethical way shall not be practiced by the researcher.

37DISSERTATION
Chapter 4: Research Findings
The main part of the research was based on a questionnaire survey conducted among 100
people in India. The main focus of this survey included three main parts – demography, personal
characteristics and trust that affected the online purchasing behavior of the people. The questions
included in the questionnaire included the following.
Gender
Age Group
How much aware are you regarding availability of products in online shops?
Which online shopping site you use the most?
How often do you buy products from the online shops?
Please select the most common commodity you buy from online shopping sites.
Please select your perceived responses regarding your trust of the online shopping
sites.
 Actual product quality / performance can be easily perceived from the
written information / pictures provided by the online seller
 Your psychological comfort affects your online purchasing choice
 While making online purchase, you are concerned about how your friends
or family members will react
 You prefer purchasing products online that have less financial risk
 You are concerned about the security of online payment while making a
purchase online

38DISSERTATION
 You are concerned about the delivery of product while making an online
purchase
Do you think online shopping provides the customers with sufficient return on
investment?
Do you think service excellence is a plus point for online shopping sites?
Do you think online shopping tendency increases with experience of the same?
Does the availability of resources increase your interest in purchasing products
online?
Do you think the increasing usage of internet increases your interest in purchasing
products online?
Does computer anxiety prevent you from purchasing products online?
Do you purchase products online to avoid visiting crowded retail stores?
Do you purchase products online because it brings you happiness?
Do you think availability of certain products stimulates your interest in making
the online purchasing?
The responses generated from the survey are listed below under specific categories.
Demography
Respondents Your Gender Please specify your age
group
Respondent 1 Male 18-25
Respondent 2 Female 45+
Respondent 3 Prefer not to say 36-45
Respondent 4 Female 26-35
Respondent 5 Male 36-45

39DISSERTATION
Respondent 6 Male 36-45
Respondent 7 Male 36-45
Respondent 8 Other 45+
Respondent 9 Female 36-45
Respondent 10 Other 45+
Respondent 11 Male 45+
Respondent 12 Female 45+
Respondent 13 Female 18-25
Respondent 14 Female 26-35
Respondent 15 Female 26-35
Respondent 16 Female 18-25
Respondent 17 Male 36-45
Respondent 18 Female 26-35
Respondent 19 Male 26-35
Respondent 20 Prefer not to say 36-45
Respondent 21 Female 18-25
Respondent 22 Male 36-45
Respondent 23 Female 36-45
Respondent 24 Male 36-45
Respondent 25 Male 36-45
Respondent 26 Male 18-25
Respondent 27 Male 26-35
Respondent 28 Male 36-45
Respondent 29 Male 26-35
Respondent 30 Female 18-25
Respondent 31 Male 26-35
Respondent 32 Male 26-35

40DISSERTATION
Respondent 33 Male 26-35
Respondent 34 Male 18-25
Respondent 35 Male 18-25
Respondent 36 Male 18-25
Respondent 37 Male 36-45
Respondent 38 Female 18-25
Respondent 39 Female 18-25
Respondent 40 Female 36-45
Respondent 41 Female 26-35
Respondent 42 Male 18-25
Respondent 43 Female 26-35
Respondent 44 Male 26-35
Respondent 45 Female 26-35
Respondent 46 Prefer not to say 26-35
Respondent 47 Male 36-45
Respondent 48 Female 18-25
Respondent 49 Male 45+
Respondent 50 Male 18-25
Respondent 51 Male 26-35
Respondent 52 Male 36-45
Respondent 53 Male 26-35
Respondent 54 Male 26-35
Respondent 55 Prefer not to say 26-35
Respondent 56 Male 36-45
Respondent 57 Male 36-45
Respondent 58 Male 18-25
Respondent 59 Prefer not to say 26-35

41DISSERTATION
Respondent 60 Male 45+
Respondent 61 Male 18-25
Respondent 62 Female 18-25
Respondent 63 Male 36-45
Respondent 64 Male 26-35
Respondent 65 Female 36-45
Respondent 66 Other 45+
Respondent 67 Other 36-45
Respondent 68 Prefer not to say 36-45
Respondent 69 Other 36-45
Respondent 70 Male 26-35
Respondent 71 Female 18-25
Respondent 72 Male 26-35
Respondent 73 Male 26-35
Respondent 74 Male 26-35
Respondent 75 Male 18-25
Respondent 76 Male 18-25
Respondent 77 Male 26-35
Respondent 78 Female 36-45
Respondent 79 Female 18-25
Respondent 80 Female 36-45
Respondent 81 Female 26-35
Respondent 82 Male 26-35
Respondent 83 Female 26-35
Respondent 84 Female 36-45
Respondent 85 Male 26-35
Respondent 86 Other 45+

42DISSERTATION
Respondent 87 Prefer not to say 36-45
Respondent 88 Male 26-35
Respondent 89 Male 26-35
Respondent 90 Male 26-35
Respondent 91 Female 36-45
Respondent 92 Other 45+
Respondent 93 Male 26-35
Respondent 94 Male 26-35
Respondent 95 Prefer not to say 18-25
Respondent 96 Male 26-35
Respondent 97 Male 26-35
Respondent 98 Male 26-35
Respondent 99 Male 36-45
Respondent 100 Male 18-25
Based on the responses, the following data was generated.
Your Gender
Frequency Percent
Valid
Female 29 29.0
Male 56 56.0
Prefer Not to Say 8 8.0
Others 7 7.0
Total 100 100.0

43DISSERTATION
Figure 2: Gender Distribution among Survey Respondents
(Source: Created by Author using SPSS)
The following table shows the age group specifications for the entire sample size of the
survey.
Please specify your age group
Frequency Percent
Valid
18 - 25 years 23 23.0
26 - 35 years 38 38.0
36 - 45 years 29 29.0
45+ years 10 10.0
Total 100 100.0

44DISSERTATION
Figure 3: Age Groups of Sample Size
(Source: Generated by Author Using SPSS)
It has been found in the research that personal characteristics of an Indian customer
contribute to the online purchasing behaviour. While age and sex of Indian customers play
important roles in the online purchasing behaviour, other factors like purchasing power also
plays a very major role. Among the Indian customers, a large percentage of people do not have
sufficient purchasing power to afford using internet and online shopping services. Not only these
factors, but also prior shopping experience, trust over that online website that sells the product

45DISSERTATION
and the features of the product also has an impact on the minds of the online buyers in India. One
other factor which plays a silent role is the cultural and demographic factor. In this research, it
has also been found that cultural factor should also be considered majorly as different cultures
have different ideas of shopping and it has positive as well as negative effects. Culture plays a
major role in deciding the online purchasing behaviour of an average Indian customer although
this trend is on the decline in the last few years. The study in the research shows that the
demographic profile of the consumer also has an impact towards online shopping and the
perception of consumers towards online shopping is independent of their gender, education or
income.
Responses from other questions in the survey are listed as follows.
Respondent
s
How much aware are you
regarding availability of
products in online shops?
Which online
shopping site you
use the most?
How often do you buy
products from the
online shops?
Please select the most common
commodity you buy from online
shopping sites
Respondent
1
Somewhat Aware Myntra Every Week Clothes
Respondent
2
Not At All Aware Others Rarely Electronics
Respondent
3
Not At All Aware Snapdeal Every Month Furniture
Respondent
4
Somewhat Aware Others Rarely Others
Respondent
5
Somewhat Aware Amazon Every Month Grocery
Respondent
6
Very Aware Myntra Every Month Second Hand Goods

46DISSERTATION
Respondent
7
Somewhat Aware Snapdeal Every Month Clothes
Respondent
8
Not At All Aware Snapdeal Rarely Others
Respondent
9
Somewhat Aware eBay Every Month Books
Respondent
10
Not At All Aware Others Rarely Clothes
Respondent
11
Not At All Aware Flipkart Every Week Electronics
Respondent
12
Not At All Aware Others Every Month Others
Respondent
13
Very Aware Flipkart Every Month Clothes
Respondent
14
Very Aware Amazon Rarely Clothes
Respondent
15
Very Aware Flipkart Every Month Clothes
Respondent
16
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Every Month Furniture
Respondent
17
Somewhat Aware Others Rarely Grocery
Respondent
18
Very Aware Flipkart Every Month Clothes
Respondent
19
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Every Month Electronics
Respondent
20
Not At All Aware Myntra Few Times in a Year Furniture
Respondent
21
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Every Month Electronics
Respondent Somewhat Aware Flipkart Few Times in a Year Electronics

47DISSERTATION
22
Respondent
23
Very Aware Myntra Every Month Grocery
Respondent
24
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Every Month Electronics
Respondent
25
Somewhat Aware Others Rarely Others
Respondent
26
Somewhat Aware Amazon Few Times in a Year Furniture
Respondent
27
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Few Times in a Year Electronics
Respondent
28
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Every Month Furniture
Respondent
29
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Few Times in a Year Electronics
Respondent
30
Somewhat Aware eBay Every Month Books
Respondent
31
Not At All Aware Flipkart Every Month Electronics
Respondent
32
Very Aware Jabong Every Week Electronics
Respondent
33
Very Aware Amazon Every Month Clothes
Respondent
34
Somewhat Aware Myntra Few Times in a Year Grocery
Respondent
35
Somewhat Aware eBay Few Times in a Year Grocery
Respondent
36
Very Aware Flipkart Few Times in a Year Electronics

48DISSERTATION
Respondent
37
Somewhat Aware Myntra Rarely Grocery
Respondent
38
Somewhat Aware Amazon Few Times in a Year Electronics
Respondent
39
Very Aware Myntra Every Month Furniture
Respondent
40
Somewhat Aware Jabong Every Week Grocery
Respondent
41
Somewhat Aware Snapdeal Few Times in a Year Furniture
Respondent
42
Not At All Aware Flipkart Rarely Electronics
Respondent
43
Very Aware Amazon Every Month Others
Respondent
44
Somewhat Aware Myntra Few Times in a Year Furniture
Respondent
45
Very Aware Amazon Every Month Electronics
Respondent
46
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Every Month Clothes
Respondent
47
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Few Times in a Year Books
Respondent
48
Very Aware Amazon Every Month Electronics
Respondent
49
Somewhat Aware Myntra Every Month Furniture
Respondent
50
Very Aware Flipkart Every Month Clothes
Respondent
51
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Every Month Books
Respondent Somewhat Aware Flipkart Every Month Furniture

49DISSERTATION
52
Respondent
53
Somewhat Aware Myntra Every Week Electronics
Respondent
54
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Rarely Electronics
Respondent
55
Somewhat Aware Myntra Few Times in a Year Books
Respondent
56
Not At All Aware Flipkart Rarely Clothes
Respondent
57
Very Aware Amazon Few Times in a Year Electronics
Respondent
58
Somewhat Aware Myntra Every Month Books
Respondent
59
Somewhat Aware Myntra Few Times in a Year Books
Respondent
60
Not At All Aware Flipkart Every Month Clothes
Respondent
61
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Few Times in a Year Furniture
Respondent
62
Somewhat Aware Jabong Few Times in a Year Electronics
Respondent
63
Somewhat Aware eBay Every Week Electronics
Respondent
64
Very Aware Amazon Few Times in a Year Others
Respondent
65
Not At All Aware Others Every Month Second Hand Goods
Respondent
66
Somewhat Aware Others Few Times in a Year Second Hand Goods

50DISSERTATION
Respondent
67
Not At All Aware Snapdeal Few Times in a Year Others
Respondent
68
Somewhat Aware Snapdeal Few Times in a Year Grocery
Respondent
69
Somewhat Aware Snapdeal Few Times in a Year Second Hand Goods
Respondent
70
Very Aware Myntra Every Month Clothes
Respondent
71
Very Aware Myntra Every Month Clothes
Respondent
72
Somewhat Aware eBay Every Week Grocery
Respondent
73
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Every Month Electronics
Respondent
74
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Every Month Electronics
Respondent
75
Very Aware Amazon Every Week Clothes
Respondent
76
Not At All Aware eBay Few Times in a Year Electronics
Respondent
77
Not At All Aware Jabong Every Month Electronics
Respondent
78
Somewhat Aware Snapdeal Every Month Furniture
Respondent
79
Very Aware Flipkart Every Week Clothes
Respondent
80
Very Aware Amazon Few Times in a Year Clothes
Respondent
81
Not At All Aware Flipkart Every Month Clothes
Respondent Somewhat Aware Flipkart Every Month Electronics

51DISSERTATION
82
Respondent
83
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Few Times in a Year Clothes
Respondent
84
Very Aware Amazon Every Month Electronics
Respondent
85
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Every Month Electronics
Respondent
86
Not At All Aware Others Rarely Others
Respondent
87
Not At All Aware Myntra Few Times in a Year Furniture
Respondent
88
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Every Month Electronics
Respondent
89
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Every Month Electronics
Respondent
90
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Every Month Electronics
Respondent
91
Very Aware Flipkart Every Month Grocery
Respondent
92
Not At All Aware Others Rarely Others
Respondent
93
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Every Month Electronics
Respondent
94
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Every Month Electronics
Respondent
95
Somewhat Aware eBay Few Times in a Year Books
Respondent
96
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Every Month Electronics

52DISSERTATION
Respondent
97
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Every Month Electronics
Respondent
98
Somewhat Aware Flipkart Every Month Electronics
Respondent
99
Not At All Aware Amazon Few Times in a Year Furniture
Respondent
100
Somewhat Aware Jabong Few Times in a Year Books
How much aware are you regarding availability of
products in online shops?
Frequency Percent
Valid
Very Aware 23 23.0
Somewhat Aware 57 57.0
Not at all Aware 20 20.0
Total 100 100.0
Which online shopping site you use the most?
Frequency Percent
Valid
Amazon 14 14.0
Flipkart 40 40.0
Myntra 16 16.0
eBay 7 7.0
Jabong 5 5.0
Snapdeal 8 8.0
Others 10 10.0
Total 100 100.0
How often do you buy products from the online shops?
Frequency Percent
Valid Every Week 9 9.0
Every Month 49 49.0

53DISSERTATION
Few times in a year 29 29.0
Rarely 13 13.0
Total 100 100.0
Figure 4: Awareness of Online Shopping
(Source: Created by Author Using SPSS)
The increasing amount of crowd in the physical retail stores in India – especially in the
clothing and electronic sectors continuously discourage the customers to avoid them. This is
mainly because of the crowd, the customers are not able to test and choose the products they like
sufficiently. Study shows that in recent times, more and more Indian people tend to avoid retail

54DISSERTATION
stores in order to avoid crowd and save time. On the other hand, for the online shopping, the
customers do not have to visit any store and can just choose and order products as they like
sitting at their homes. Thus the customers can easily avoid the crowds and can just order
anything they like through a simple touch on their phones.
The main target area of online shopping in India is the youth as it is seen that the elder
generation is less interested in online shopping. This is mainly because the young generation is
very much proficient with the use of smartphones as well as the internet while the elderly people
find it hard to operate internet through their handheld devices. They find various products of
their interest in the online shopping sites that they purchase and also recommend friends and
family members to do the same. Thus, online shopping is mainly popularized by the young
generation as they are the most extensive users of these shopping sites.

55DISSERTATION
Figure 5: Choice of Online Shopping Site
(Source: Created by Author Using SPSS)

56DISSERTATION
Figure 6: Purchasing Frequency
(Source: Created by Author Using SPSS)
A major reason behind the popularity of the online shopping in India is the relatively low
price of the products compared to the retail stores. In addition to the lower prices, most of the
online shops provide large amount of discounts throughout the year that in turn provide the
customers with the option for good value for money. During various festivals in India, there are
seasonal sales conducted by the online shopping sites like Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra and others
in which, there are massive discounts and price drops of some of the most popular products

57DISSERTATION
purchased online. The main reason behind the price difference is that the products sold by the
retailers pass through various layers of supply chain from manufacturer to the retailer thus
naturally increasing the overall price of the products. On the other hand, the products sold by the
online shops are delivered to the customer directly from the warehouse i.e. the supply chain is
much more shorter and goes through less number of intermediate stages and thus the prices can
be kept low. The listed sellers in the online shopping sites are also able to provide high amount
of discounts on their products – thus attracting the interests of the customers.
As discussed earlier, usefulness is the perception of the customer regarding the utility of a
product or service. In this case, it has been found that the Indian customers are finding it more
and more useful to use online shopping rather than visiting physical retail stores for purchasing
products. In the last few years, online sales of products like electronic devices, furniture and
clothing have increased considerably in India as some of the sites like Amazon, Flipkart and
others have grown significantly. Again, usefulness of the online shopping process can be
determined by the customer using two other factors – return on investment and service
excellence. Firstly, while purchasing products online, an average Indian customer expects high
return on the investment he makes on the purchase. In this case, the mentality of an average
Indian customer is that he will always give priority to the return on investment before making a
purchase and this considerably affects his decision making process during purchasing products
online. If he determines that the return on investment is not sufficient, he will not purchase any
product online. On the other hand, an Indian customer also looks for service excellence like
placing order, timely delivery of tamper free and right product, proactive customer care system
and others.
Personal Characteristics

58DISSERTATION
The survey result generated from the personal characteristics part is shown in the
following table.
Please
select
the
most
commo
n
commo
dity
you
buy
from
online
shoppin
g sites
Please select your
perceived responses
regarding your trust
of the online shopping
sites. [Actual product
quality / performance
can be easily
perceived from the
written information /
pictures provided by
the online seller]
Please select
your perceived
responses
regarding your
trust of the
online shopping
sites. [Your
psychological
comfort affects
your online
purchasing
choice]
Please select your
perceived
responses
regarding your
trust of the online
shopping sites.
[While making
online purchase,
you are concerned
about how your
friends or family
members will
react]
Please select
your perceived
responses
regarding your
trust of the
online shopping
sites. [You
prefer
purchasing
products online
that have less
financial risk]
Please select your
perceived
responses
regarding your
trust of the online
shopping sites.
[You are
concerned about
the security of
online payment
while making a
purchase online]
Please select your
perceived
responses
regarding your
trust of the
online shopping
sites. [You are
concerned about
the delivery of
product while
making an online
purchase]
Clothes Completely Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Completely
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Disagree
Electron
ics
Completely Agree Somewhat
Agree
Neutral Somewhat
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Furnitur
e
Completely Agree Somewhat
Agree
Neutral Somewhat
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Others Somewhat Agree Neutral Neutral Neutral Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Disagree
Grocery Somewhat Disagree Completely
Agree
Completely
Disagree
Completely
Agree
Somewhat Agree Completely
Disagree
Second
Hand
Goods
Somewhat Agree Neutral Somewhat Agree Completely
Agree
Neutral Somewhat Agree
Clothes Completely Disagree Somewhat
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Completely
Agree
Completely
Disagree
Completely
Disagree

59DISSERTATION
Others Somewhat Agree Completely
Agree
Completely Agree Completely
Disagree
Completely Agree Somewhat
Disagree
Books Somewhat Agree Neutral Neutral Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Neutral
Clothes Completely Agree Completely
Disagree
Completely Agree Completely
Agree
Completely Agree Completely
Disagree
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Completely Agree Completely
Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Others Completely Disagree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Completely Agree Completely Agree
Clothes Completely Agree Completely
Agree
Completely Agree Completely
Agree
Completely Agree Completely Agree
Clothes Somewhat Disagree Completely
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Clothes Somewhat Agree Neutral Somewhat Agree Neutral Somewhat Agree Neutral
Furnitur
e
Neutral Somewhat
Agree
Neutral Somewhat
Agree
Neutral Neutral
Grocery Somewhat Disagree Somewhat
Disagree
Neutral Somewhat
Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Clothes Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral
Electron
ics
Neutral Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Neutral Somewhat Agree
Furnitur
e
Completely Agree Neutral Neutral Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Neutral
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Neutral Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Neutral
Grocery Completely Agree Somewhat
Agree
Neutral Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Electron Somewhat Agree Neutral Somewhat Agree Somewhat Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree

60DISSERTATION
ics Agree
Others Completely Disagree Completely
Disagree
Completely Agree Completely
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Completely Agree
Furnitur
e
Completely Agree Neutral Somewhat Agree Neutral Somewhat Agree Neutral
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Neutral Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Furnitur
e
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Neutral Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Disagree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Books Completely Agree Somewhat
Disagree
Neutral Completely
Agree
Completely Agree Neutral
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Neutral Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Neutral Somewhat Agree
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Neutral Neutral Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Clothes Somewhat Disagree Somewhat
Agree
Completely
Disagree
Somewhat
Agree
Completely Agree Neutral
Grocery Completely Agree Neutral Somewhat Agree Completely
Agree
Completely Agree Completely Agree
Grocery Completely Disagree Completely
Disagree
Somewhat Disagree Neutral Somewhat Agree Completely Agree
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Completely
Agree
Completely Agree Completely Agree
Grocery Completely Agree Neutral Somewhat Agree Neutral Somewhat Agree Neutral
Electron
ics
Completely Disagree Somewhat
Disagree
Somewhat Disagree Completely
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Neutral
Furnitur
e
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Neutral Somewhat Agree
Grocery Neutral Somewhat Somewhat Agree Somewhat Neutral Neutral

61DISSERTATION
Agree Disagree
Furnitur
e
Completely Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Completely
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Electron
ics
Completely Agree Somewhat
Agree
Neutral Somewhat
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Others Somewhat Agree Completely
Agree
Somewhat Disagree Completely
Agree
Completely Agree Completely Agree
Furnitur
e
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Disagree Somewhat
Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Completely Agree
Electron
ics
Completely Agree Neutral Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Neutral Somewhat Agree
Clothes Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Neutral Completely
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Books Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Disagree Somewhat
Disagree
Completely Agree Completely Agree
Electron
ics
Somewhat Disagree Neutral Somewhat Disagree Neutral Somewhat
Disagree
Neutral
Furnitur
e
Somewhat Disagree Somewhat
Disagree
Somewhat Agree Neutral Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Disagree
Clothes Completely Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Completely
Agree
Somewhat Agree Completely Agree
Books Somewhat Agree Neutral Completely Agree Completely
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Furnitur
e
Completely Agree Somewhat
Disagree
Neutral Completely
Agree
Somewhat
Disagree
Somewhat Agree
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Completely
Agree
Neutral Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Neutral Somewhat
Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Books Somewhat Disagree Neutral Neutral Neutral Somewhat Agree Neutral
Clothes Completely Disagree Somewhat Neutral Completely Somewhat Somewhat

62DISSERTATION
Disagree Disagree Disagree Disagree
Electron
ics
Completely Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Disagree Completely
Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Completely Agree
Books Completely Agree Completely
Agree
Completely Agree Completely
Agree
Completely Agree Completely Agree
Books Neutral Neutral Somewhat Agree Completely
Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Somewhat Agree
Clothes Completely Agree Neutral Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Neutral Somewhat Agree
Furnitur
e
Completely Agree Somewhat
Agree
Completely Agree Somewhat
Agree
Completely Agree Neutral
Electron
ics
Somewhat Disagree Completely
Disagree
Somewhat Disagree Somewhat
Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Electron
ics
Completely Agree Neutral Neutral Somewhat
Agree
Neutral Somewhat Agree
Others Somewhat Disagree Completely
Disagree
Neutral Neutral Neutral Somewhat
Disagree
Second
Hand
Goods
Somewhat Disagree Neutral Somewhat Disagree Neutral Somewhat
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Second
Hand
Goods
Somewhat Disagree Somewhat
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Others Completely Disagree Completely
Disagree
Somewhat Disagree Completely
Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Grocery Completely Disagree Somewhat
Disagree
Somewhat Disagree Somewhat
Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Second
Hand
Goods
Somewhat Disagree Somewhat
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Neutral
Clothes Completely Agree Somewhat Somewhat Agree Completely Somewhat Agree Completely Agree

63DISSERTATION
Agree Agree
Clothes Somewhat Agree Neutral Somewhat Agree Neutral Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Grocery Completely Agree Somewhat
Agree
Neutral Neutral Completely Agree Somewhat Agree
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Electron
ics
Neutral Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Clothes Completely Agree Completely
Agree
Completely Agree Completely
Agree
Completely Agree Completely Agree
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Neutral Neutral Neutral Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Disagree
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Completely
Agree
Neutral Completely
Agree
Neutral Somewhat Agree
Furnitur
e
Completely Agree Completely
Agree
Neutral Somewhat
Agree
Completely Agree Somewhat Agree
Clothes Completely Agree Somewhat
Agree
Completely Agree Somewhat
Agree
Neutral Somewhat Agree
Clothes Completely Agree Somewhat
Agree
Neutral Somewhat
Agree
Completely Agree Completely Agree
Clothes Somewhat Disagree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Disagree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat
Disagree
Somewhat Agree
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Completely
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Disagree
Somewhat Agree Completely Agree
Clothes Completely Agree Completely
Agree
Completely Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Electron
ics
Completely Agree Somewhat
Agree
Neutral Somewhat
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Others Completely Disagree Completely Completely Completely Completely Completely

64DISSERTATION
Disagree Disagree Disagree Disagree Disagree
Furnitur
e
Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Somewhat Agree
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Grocery Completely Agree Completely
Agree
Completely Agree Completely
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Others Completely Disagree Completely
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Electron
ics
Neutral Completely
Agree
Completely Agree Completely
Agree
Completely Agree Completely Agree
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Books Completely Agree Somewhat
Agree
Completely Agree Somewhat
Agree
Completely Agree Somewhat Agree
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Neutral Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Agree Somewhat Agree
Electron
ics
Somewhat Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Disagree Somewhat
Agree
Neutral Neutral
Furnitur
e
Completely Agree Somewhat
Agree
Neutral Somewhat
Disagree
Completely
Disagree
Completely Agree
Books Completely Agree Somewhat
Agree
Somewhat Disagree Neutral Somewhat
Disagree
Neutral

65DISSERTATION
The findings from the survey conclusively state that for the extensive use of online
shopping, most of the Indian customers rely strongly on the previous experiences as well as
experiences of friends and family members. There are many Indian customers who are not
regular online shoppers but use the sites once or twice casually to check out the types and
qualities of products they provide. However, if they have very positive experience with the
online shopping sites, they may become regular customers of online shopping. This is because
the enthusiasm among the Indian customers regarding online shopping has increased
considerably in the last few years. As found during the research, the control factor refers to the
fact that the customers should also be able to control the various aspects of the online shopping
portal before purchasing products. If the customer is unable to control the portal, he will not be
interested to purchase products and will prefer retail stores instead. Some of the main Indian
customers, especially the younger generation, use the computer / online media with playfulness
and during the process, they may also access the online shopping sites. While browsing through
the shopping sites, they may find some products very interesting and buy them. Computer
anxiety is the condition that makes the customer fear that purchasing products from the online
stores through computer will not be suitable and necessary. Thus computer anxiety prevents a
user to use online shopping websites.
While purchasing any product, a customer always looks for sufficient return on
investment made. This is also true for online shopping as the customer only purchases products
online when he is absolutely sure about the return he gets from the purchase after paying its
price. There are many customers who are not sure about the return of investment from online
shopping and thus refrain from purchasing products online. When a customer purchases a
product, he always expects service excellence. This is also true for online shopping and the

66DISSERTATION
service excellence include error free placement of order, processing of the payment, timely
delivery of non-tampered and the best quality product and prompt customer care service that is
available 24 hours.
Variety of products is another reason behind the popularity of the online shopping sites in
India. It has been found that one site provides a wide range of products whereas in retail stores
whereas the customers have to visit one shop to another to buy all the necessary products. In
most of the online shopping sites like Amazon, Flipkart and others, there are wide varieties of
products available ranging from clothes, books, electronic devices (like phones, television),
furniture, toys, accessories, jewelry and others. Thus, the customers can purchase all the products
from the same place and do not have to visit different stores in order to purchase the required
products. Hence, it is natural that the online shopping sites have become massively popular
within such short period of time. At the same, with the increasing popularity of the online
shopping sites, the sales in the retail stores around the world have also declined at considerable
rates.
Trust
Data generated from the trust part of the questionnaire is listed in the following table.

67DISSERTATION
Do you think
online
shopping
provides the
customers
with
sufficient
return on
investment?
Do you
think
service
excellence
is a plus
point for
online
shopping
sites?
Do think
online
shopping
tendency
increases
with
experience
of the
same?
Does the
availability
of resources
increase
your interest
in
purchasing
products
online?
Do you think
the increasing
usage of
internet
increases your
interest in
purchasing
products
online?
Does
computer
anxiety
prevent
you from
purchasin
g
products
online?
Do you
purchase
products
online to
avoid
visiting
crowded
retail
stores?
Do you
purchase
products
online
because
it brings
you
happines
s?
Do you think
availability of
certain
products
stimulates
your interest
in making the
online
purchasing?

68DISSERTATION
No Yes Strongly
Disagree
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Maybe Yes Agree No No No Maybe No Maybe
No Maybe Neutral Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe
No No Disagree No Maybe Yes Yes No No
No Maybe Disagree No No Maybe No No Yes
No Yes Neutral Yes Yes Maybe Yes No No
Maybe Maybe Agree Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe
Maybe Maybe Agree Maybe Maybe No No Maybe Maybe
No No Neutral No Maybe No Yes No No
Yes Yes Strongly
Agree
Maybe Yes Maybe Yes Yes Yes
No No Strongly
Disagree
Maybe No No Yes Maybe Yes
No No Strongly
Agree
Yes Maybe Yes No No No
Maybe Maybe Strongly
Agree
Maybe Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Maybe Maybe Strongly
Agree
Maybe Yes Maybe Maybe Yes Yes
Yes Yes Neutral Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
No No Disagree Maybe Yes Maybe No No Yes
No No Agree No Yes No No No No
No No Neutral No No No No No No
No No Disagree Maybe No No No Maybe No
Maybe No Agree Maybe Maybe No No No Yes
Maybe Yes Neutral Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe
No No Neutral No No Maybe No No Maybe
Yes Yes Agree Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes

69DISSERTATION
No No Disagree Maybe No No No No No
No Maybe Agree Yes Maybe Maybe Maybe No Yes
No Yes Strongly
Disagree
No No Yes No Yes Yes
No No Neutral No No No No Maybe No
Maybe No Disagree No Maybe No No Maybe No
No No Disagree Maybe No Maybe No Maybe No
Maybe No Strongly
Disagree
Yes Maybe No Yes Yes No
No No Neutral Maybe No Maybe No No No
Yes No Neutral Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Maybe Yes Agree Yes Yes No Maybe Yes Yes
No No Strongly
Disagree
Yes No Yes Yes Maybe No
No Yes Neutral No Yes Yes No Maybe No
Yes Yes Agree Yes Yes Maybe Yes Yes Yes
No Yes Neutral No Maybe Maybe No No Yes
Yes Yes Strongly
Disagree
Yes Maybe Yes No Maybe Maybe
No Maybe Strongly
Agree
Maybe Maybe No No Yes Maybe
No No Strongly
Disagree
Yes Maybe Yes Maybe Maybe Maybe
Maybe Maybe Disagree No Maybe No Yes Yes No
Maybe Maybe Neutral Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe
Yes Yes Disagree Yes Yes No Maybe Maybe Yes
Yes Yes Disagree Maybe No No No Yes Yes
Maybe No Disagree Yes Yes Yes No No No

70DISSERTATION
No No Neutral No No No No No No
Yes Yes Agree Maybe Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Yes Yes Neutral Maybe Maybe No Yes No Maybe
No No Strongly
Disagree
Yes No No Yes Yes Yes
No No Disagree Yes No Yes Yes No Yes
Yes Maybe Agree Yes Yes Maybe Yes Yes Yes
Yes Yes Agree No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
No Yes Neutral Yes Yes No Yes Yes No
Maybe No Strongly
Agree
Yes Maybe Maybe No Yes Maybe
No No Agree Yes Maybe Maybe No No No
No No Neutral No Yes No Yes Yes No
Maybe Yes Neutral Maybe No No No Yes No
No Yes Disagree Maybe No No No Yes No
No No Agree No Maybe Yes Maybe Yes Maybe
No Maybe Disagree No No Yes No Yes Maybe
Yes Maybe Neutral No Yes Yes Yes No No
Yes No Disagree No Yes No No No Yes
Yes Maybe Neutral Maybe Maybe Maybe No No Yes
No Yes Strongly
Disagree
Yes No Yes No Yes No
Maybe No Strongly
Agree
Yes Maybe Yes Yes Yes No
Maybe Maybe Strongly
Agree
No Maybe No Maybe No No
No No Agree No No No No No No
No No Agree Yes No No No Yes No

71DISSERTATION
No Yes Agree No No Yes No No Yes
Yes Maybe Agree Yes Yes Yes Maybe Yes Yes
Yes Yes Disagree Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Yes No Disagree Yes No No No No No
No No Disagree No No No No No No
No No Disagree No No No No No No
Yes No Disagree No Maybe No Maybe No Maybe
No Maybe Neutral No Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe
Yes No Disagree Yes No Yes Yes Maybe Yes
No Yes Agree Yes Maybe No No No No
Yes No Disagree Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Yes Yes Strongly
Disagree
Yes Yes Maybe Maybe Yes No
Yes Yes Agree Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Yes No Agree Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Yes Maybe Agree Maybe Yes Maybe Yes Maybe Yes
Yes Yes Agree Maybe Yes Maybe Yes Maybe Maybe
No No Disagree No No No No No No
Maybe Maybe Strongly
Agree
Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe
Maybe Maybe Neutral Maybe Maybe Maybe No No No
No No Disagree No No No No No No
No No Disagree No No No No No No
No No Disagree No No No No No No
No No Disagree No No No No No No
Maybe Maybe Strongly
Agree
Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe

72DISSERTATION
Yes Yes Strongly
Disagree
Yes No No No No No
No No Disagree No No No No No No
Yes Maybe Agree Maybe Yes Maybe Yes Yes Yes
No No Disagree No No No No No No
No No Disagree No No No No No No
Maybe No Strongly
Disagree
Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Maybe No Strongly
Disagree
Yes Yes Yes Maybe No No
Yes Yes Strongly
Disagree
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
From these findings, it has been deduced that accessibility to various international or
regional brands is another reason behind the increasing popularity of the online shopping among
the people. Before the advent of online shopping, people had only access to national or local
brands and could not buy products from international brands. However, the online shopping sites
provide products from various national and international brands to various parts of the world.
Thus the customers can now buy products of any brand they desire and can avoid visiting local
retail stores.
Some internet users get absorbed while browsing through the online shopping sites.
While they mainly get enjoyment from the browsing, they also become more eager to purchase
the products that they find useful from the online shopping sites. Some Indian customers feel
content and happy while purchasing different types of products like clothes, books, electronic
devices and others. These customers are casual shoppers but buy products regularly from the
stores. Some Indian customers do not use the online shopping sites on a regular basis but feel
aroused when there are huge discounts and limited time sales going on in the sites. During these

73DISSERTATION
times, they purchase various products at discounted costs and in large quantities. Another
variable under consideration in this particular research is trust i.e. how the people of the target
area trust the online shopping sites for making purchases. First, it has been found that the most
popular companies are easily trusted by the customers while the lesser known and startup
companies are not really trusted by people. The trust on the online shops by the Indian customers
mainly depends on a number of risk factors that are already explored in this research. In this part
of the research, the factors were analyzed on a general perspective but these factors have turned
out to be true in case of Indian customers as well. While purchasing product from any store, most
Indian customers are worried about the performance or quality of the product. If it is a physical
store, the customer can try and test the product before purchasing but in online stores, there is no
such option for try and test. It is to be noted here that any average Indian customer is always
eager to try and test the product before purchasing them. Thus the customer may choose not to
purchase the product from the online shopping sites.
Based on the data collected, the regression analysis is conducted and listed as follows.
Variables Entered/Removeda
Model Variables Entered Variables Removed Method

74DISSERTATION
1
You are concerned about the delivery
of product while making an online
purchase, Actual product quality /
performance can be easily perceived
from the written information / pictures
provided by the online seller, You
prefer purchasing products online that
have less financial risk, While making
online purchase, you are concerned
about how your friends or family
members will react, Your
psychological comfort affects your
online purchasing choice, You are
concerned about the security of online
payment while making a purchase
onlineb
. Enter
a. Dependent Variable: Trust
b. All requested variables entered.
Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate
1 .969a .938 .934 .26552
a. Predictors: (Constant), You are concerned about the delivery of product while making an online purchase, Actual product
quality / performance can be easily perceived from the written information / pictures provided by the online seller, You prefer
purchasing products online that have less financial risk, While making online purchase, you are concerned about how your
friends or family members will react, Your psychological comfort affects your online purchasing choice, You are concerned
about the security of online payment while making a purchase online
ANOVAa
Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1
Regression 99.783 6 16.631 235.891 .000b
Residual 6.557 93 .071
Total 106.340 99
a. Dependent Variable: Trust

75DISSERTATION
b. Predictors: (Constant), You are concerned about the delivery of product while making an online purchase, Actual product
quality / performance can be easily perceived from the written information / pictures provided by the online seller, You prefer
purchasing products online that have less financial risk, While making online purchase, you are concerned about how your
friends or family members will react, Your psychological comfort affects your online purchasing choice, You are concerned
about the security of online payment while making a purchase online
Coefficientsa
Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized
Coefficients
t Sig.
B Std. Error Beta
1
(Constant) -.220 .084 -2.617 .010
Actual product quality /
performance can be easily
perceived from the written
information / pictures provided
by the online seller
.196 .027 .250 7.213 .000
Your psychological comfort
affects your online purchasing
choice
.159 .031 .172 5.097 .000
While making online purchase,
you are concerned about how
your friends or family members
will react
.152 .029 .167 5.186 .000
You prefer purchasing products
online that have less financial
risk
.142 .028 .177 5.066 .000
You are concerned about the
security of online payment
while making a purchase online
.304 .030 .376 10.116 .000
You are concerned about the
delivery of product while
making an online purchase
.119 .026 .146 4.593 .000
a. Dependent Variable: Trust
The correlations analysis is conducted and the generated data is listed as follows.
Correlations

76DISSERTATION
Actual
product
quality /
performanc
e can be
easily
perceived
from the
written
information
/ pictures
provided by
the online
seller
Your
psychologica
l comfort
affects your
online
purchasing
choice
While
making
online
purchase,
you are
concerned
about how
your friends
or family
members
will react
You prefer
purchasing
products
online that
have less
financial
risk
You are
concerned
about the
security of
online
payment
while
making a
purchase
online
You are
concerned
about the
delivery of
product
while
making an
online
purchase
Actual product
quality / performance
can be easily
perceived from the
written information /
pictures provided by
the online seller
Pearson
Correlation 1 .565** .510** .441** .404** .368**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
N 100 100 100 100 100 100
Your psychological
comfort affects your
online purchasing
choice
Pearson
Correlation .565** 1 .377** .415** .452** .469**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
N 100 100 100 100 100 100
While making online
purchase, you are
concerned about how
your friends or family
members will react
Pearson
Correlation .510** .377** 1 .354** .477** .391**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
N 100 100 100 100 100 100
You prefer
purchasing products
online that have less
financial risk
Pearson
Correlation .441** .415** .354** 1 .637** .432**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
N 100 100 100 100 100 100
You are concerned
about the security of
online payment while
making a purchase
online
Pearson
Correlation .404** .452** .477** .637** 1 .500**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
N 100 100 100 100 100 100

77DISSERTATION
You are concerned
about the delivery of
product while making
an online purchase
Pearson
Correlation .368** .469** .391** .432** .500** 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
N 100 100 100 100 100 100
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
The data generated from further regression with the other variables and correlation
analysis of the research model is listed as follows.
Variables Entered/Removeda
Model Variables Entered Variables
Removed
Method
1
Enjoyment,
Usefulness,
EaseofUSeb
. Enter
a. Dependent Variable: PersonalCharacteristics
b. All requested variables entered.
Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R
Square
Std. Error of the
Estimate
1 .900a .811 .805 .29907
a. Predictors: (Constant), Enjoyment, Usefulness, EaseofUSe
ANOVAa
Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1
Regression 36.773 3 12.258 137.041 .000b
Residual 8.587 96 .089
Total 45.360 99
a. Dependent Variable: PersonalCharacteristics
b. Predictors: (Constant), Enjoyment, Usefulness, EaseofUSe
Coefficientsa

78DISSERTATION
Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized
Coefficients
t Sig.
B Std. Error Beta
1
(Constant) -.252 .118 -2.141 .035
Usefulness .340 .049 .340 6.914 .000
EaseofUSe .462 .047 .519 9.883 .000
Enjoyment .314 .050 .308 6.289 .000
a. Dependent Variable: PersonalCharacteristics
Correlations
Usefulness EaseofUSe Enjoyment
Usefulness
Pearson Correlation 1 .424** .232*
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .020
N 100 100 100
EaseofUSe
Pearson Correlation .424** 1 .415**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 100 100 100
Enjoyment
Pearson Correlation .232* .415** 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .020 .000
N 100 100 100
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
Variables Entered/Removeda
Model Variables Entered Variables
Removed
Method
1 PersonalCharacter
istics, Trustb . Enter
a. Dependent Variable: onlineshopping
b. All requested variables entered.
Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R
Square
Std. Error of the
Estimate
1 .784a .615 .607 .39506
a. Predictors: (Constant), PersonalCharacteristics, Trust

79DISSERTATION
ANOVAa
Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1
Regression 24.171 2 12.086 77.437 .000b
Residual 15.139 97 .156
Total 39.310 99
a. Dependent Variable: onlineshopping
b. Predictors: (Constant), PersonalCharacteristics, Trust
Coefficientsa
Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized
Coefficients
t Sig.
B Std. Error Beta
1
(Constant) .548 .136 4.022 .000
Trust .344 .040 .567 8.558 .000
PersonalCharacteristics .368 .062 .395 5.972 .000
a. Dependent Variable: onlineshopping
The T-Test results are published as follows.
Group Statistics
Your Gender N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
onlineshopping Female 29 1.9655 .56586 .10508
Male 56 2.0000 .42640 .05698
Independent Samples Test
onlineshopping
Equal variances
assumed
Equal variances
not assumed
Levene's Test for Equality of
Variances
F 2.706
Sig. .104
t-test for Equality of Means t -.315 -.288
df 83 44.911

80DISSERTATION
Sig. (2-tailed) .753 .774
Mean Difference -.03448 -.03448
Std. Error Difference .10936 .11953
95% Confidence Interval of the
Difference
Lower -.25200 -.27525
Upper .18303 .20628
The Oneway test results are published as follows.
Descriptives
onlineshopping
N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error
18 - 25 years 23 1.7826 .59974 .12505
26 - 35 years 38 2.0263 .36664 .05948
36 - 45 years 29 2.3448 .55265 .10262
45+ years 10 2.7000 1.05935 .33500
Total 100 2.1300 .63014 .06301
ANOVA
onlineshopping
Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Between Groups 7.772 3 2.591 7.885 .000
Within Groups 31.538 96 .329
Total 39.310 99
From the research findings, the following conclusions can be made regarding the research
hypothesis developed earlier.
[1] While the hypothesis stated that age and sex both have positive influence on the
online buying behaviour, it cannot be said with absolutely conviction that it is
actually the case. From the survey, it has been found that the majority of the
online customers belong to the age group of 26 to 35 but considerable percentage
of other age groups are also interested in online shopping. Sex is also not a

81DISSERTATION
decisive factor behind online purchasing behaviour as both male and female have
been found to equally interested in online shopping.
[2] Purchasing power definitely has positive influence on the online shopping
behaviour of the customer. During the study, with the focus on Indian customers,
it has been found that with more purchasing power, the customer is more prone to
purchase products from online shopping sites more frequently than regular
customers.
[3] It has been found from the study that consumer trust is an important factor behind
determining whether the customer will buy the product online or not. While many
people just go with the flow and purchase products from online shops when there
is a trend or sale going on, most of the reasonable customers decide that the online
shops should not be trusted and products should be bought hand to hand from the
physical retail stores. Thus, it is proved that consumer trust has negative influence
on online shopping behaviour.
[4] From the study, it is found that online payment system adds to the convenience of
the customers as they do not have to deal with cash and can just make the
payments sitting in their homes. This makes the customers more prone to use
online shopping sites. However, some customers also may feel it is unsafe to
make online payments due to a number of reasons like cyber attacks, hacking,
fraud online shopping site and others. Thus, this hypothesis can be considered as
partially true and it can be said that online payment system may have both
positive and negative influence on online shopping behaviour of the customers.

82DISSERTATION

83DISSERTATION
Chapter 5: Discussion
From the study of various published data, it has been found that India is a country of
diversity and thus the personal characteristics vary from person to person. However, in spite of
the diversity, the people of the country show considerable similarity in certain traits like personal
approach towards online shopping (Bilgihan & Bujisic, 2015). The personal characteristic can
either have positive or negative impact on the online purchasing behaviour of an average Indian
customer. The relationship between personal characteristics and online purchasing behaviour of
an Indian customer is established by several factors of which, the two most important are
usefulness and ease of use.
It has been found in the research that personal characteristics of an Indian customer
contribute to the online purchasing behaviour. While age and sex of Indian customers play
important roles in the online purchasing behaviour, other factors like purchasing power also
plays a very major role. Among the Indian customers, a large percentage of people do not have
sufficient purchasing power to afford using internet and online shopping services. Not only these
factors, but also prior shopping experience, trust over that online website that sells the product
and the features of the product also has an impact on the minds of the online buyers in India. One
other factor which plays a silent role is the cultural and demographic factor. In this research, it
has also been found that cultural factor should also be considered majorly as different cultures
have different ideas of shopping and it has positive as well as negative effects (Thakur &
Srivastava, 2015). Culture plays a major role in deciding the online purchasing behaviour of an
average Indian customer although this trend is on the decline in the last few years. The study in
the research shows that the demographic profile of the consumer also has an impact towards

84DISSERTATION
online shopping and the perception of consumers towards online shopping is independent of their
gender, education or income.
The increasing amount of crowd in the physical retail stores in India – especially in the
clothing and electronic sectors continuously discourage the customers to avoid them. This is
mainly because of the crowd, the customers are not able to test and choose the products they like
sufficiently. Study shows that in recent times, more and more Indian people tend to avoid retail
stores in order to avoid crowd and save time. On the other hand, for the online shopping, the
customers do not have to visit any store and can just choose and order products as they like
sitting at their homes. Thus the customers can easily avoid the crowds and can just order
anything they like through a simple touch on their phones.
The main target area of online shopping in India is the youth as it is seen that the elder
generation is less interested in online shopping. This is mainly because the young generation is
very much proficient with the use of smartphones as well as the internet while the elderly people
find it hard to operate internet through their handheld devices (Akroush & Al-Debei, 2015). They
find various products of their interest in the online shopping sites that they purchase and also
recommend friends and family members to do the same. Thus, online shopping is mainly
popularized by the young generation as they are the most extensive users of these shopping sites.
As discussed earlier, usefulness is the perception of the customer regarding the utility of a
product or service. In this case, it has been found that the Indian customers are finding it more
and more useful to use online shopping rather than visiting physical retail stores for purchasing
products. In the last few years, online sales of products like electronic devices, furniture and
clothing have increased considerably in India as some of the sites like Amazon, Flipkart and

85DISSERTATION
others have grown significantly (Khalil, 2014). Again, usefulness of the online shopping process
can be determined by the customer using two other factors – return on investment and service
excellence. Firstly, while purchasing products online, an average Indian customer expects high
return on the investment he makes on the purchase. In this case, the mentality of an average
Indian customer is that he will always give priority to the return on investment before making a
purchase and this considerably affects his decision making process during purchasing products
online. If he determines that the return on investment is not sufficient, he will not purchase any
product online. On the other hand, an Indian customer also looks for service excellence like
placing order, timely delivery of tamper free and right product, proactive customer care system
and others.
A major reason behind the popularity of the online shopping in India is the relatively low
price of the products compared to the retail stores. In addition to the lower prices, most of the
online shops provide large amount of discounts throughout the year that in turn provide the
customers with the option for good value for money. During various festivals in India, there are
seasonal sales conducted by the online shopping sites like Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra and others
in which, there are massive discounts and price drops of some of the most popular products
purchased online. The main reason behind the price difference is that the products sold by the
retailers pass through various layers of supply chain from manufacturer to the retailer thus
naturally increasing the overall price of the products (Kooti et al., 2016). On the other hand, the
products sold by the online shops are delivered to the customer directly from the warehouse i.e.
the supply chain is much more shorter and goes through less number of intermediate stages and
thus the prices can be kept low. The listed sellers in the online shopping sites are also able to

86DISSERTATION
provide high amount of discounts on their products – thus attracting the interests of the
customers.
While purchasing any product, a customer always looks for sufficient return on
investment made. This is also true for online shopping as the customer only purchases products
online when he is absolutely sure about the return he gets from the purchase after paying its
price. There are many customers who are not sure about the return of investment from online
shopping and thus refrain from purchasing products online (Wu & Ke, 2015). When a customer
purchases a product, he always expects service excellence. This is also true for online shopping
and the service excellence include error free placement of order, processing of the payment,
timely delivery of non-tampered and the best quality product and prompt customer care service
that is available 24 hours.
For the extensive use of online shopping, most of the Indian customers rely strongly on
the previous experiences as well as experiences of friends and family members. There are many
Indian customers who are not regular online shoppers but use the sites once or twice casually to
check out the types and qualities of products they provide. However, if they have very positive
experience with the online shopping sites, they may become regular customers of online
shopping. This is because the enthusiasm among the Indian customers regarding online shopping
has increased considerably in the last few years. As found during the research, the control factor
refers to the fact that the customers should also be able to control the various aspects of the
online shopping portal before purchasing products (Lien et al., 2015). If the customer is unable to
control the portal, he will not be interested to purchase products and will prefer retail stores
instead. Some of the main Indian customers, especially the younger generation, use the computer
/ online media with playfulness and during the process, they may also access the online shopping

87DISSERTATION
sites. While browsing through the shopping sites, they may find some products very interesting
and buy them. Computer anxiety is the condition that makes the customer fear that purchasing
products from the online stores through computer will not be suitable and necessary. Thus
computer anxiety prevents a user to use online shopping websites.
Variety of products is another reason behind the popularity of the online shopping sites in
India. It has been found that one site provides a wide range of products whereas in retail stores
whereas the customers have to visit one shop to another to buy all the necessary products. In
most of the online shopping sites like Amazon, Flipkart and others, there are wide varieties of
products available ranging from clothes, books, electronic devices (like phones, television),
furniture, toys, accessories, jewelry and others (Hsu, Chuang & Hsu, 2014). Thus, the customers
can purchase all the products from the same place and do not have to visit different stores in
order to purchase the required products. Hence, it is natural that the online shopping sites have
become massively popular within such short period of time. At the same, with the increasing
popularity of the online shopping sites, the sales in the retail stores around the world have also
declined at considerable rates.
Accessibility to various international or regional brands is another reason behind the
increasing popularity of the online shopping among the people. Before the advent of online
shopping, people had only access to national or local brands and could not buy products from
international brands. However, the online shopping sites provide products from various national
and international brands to various parts of the world. Thus the customers can now buy products
of any brand they desire and can avoid visiting local retail stores.

88DISSERTATION
Some internet users get absorbed while browsing through the online shopping sites.
While they mainly get enjoyment from the browsing, they also become more eager to purchase
the products that they find useful from the online shopping sites. Some Indian customers feel
content and happy while purchasing different types of products like clothes, books, electronic
devices and others. These customers are casual shoppers but buy products regularly from the
stores. Some Indian customers do not use the online shopping sites on a regular basis but feel
aroused when there are huge discounts and limited time sales going on in the sites. During these
times, they purchase various products at discounted costs and in large quantities. Another
variable under consideration in this particular research is trust i.e. how the people of the target
area trust the online shopping sites for making purchases (Thakur & Srivastava, 2015). First, it
has been found that the most popular companies are easily trusted by the customers while the
lesser known and startup companies are not really trusted by people. The trust on the online
shops by the Indian customers mainly depends on a number of risk factors that are already
explored in this research. In this part of the research, the factors were analyzed on a general
perspective but these factors have turned out to be true in case of Indian customers as well.
While purchasing product from any store, most Indian customers are worried about the
performance or quality of the product. If it is a physical store, the customer can try and test the
product before purchasing but in online stores, there is no such option for try and test. It is to be
noted here that any average Indian customer is always eager to try and test the product before
purchasing them. Thus the customer may choose not to purchase the product from the online
shopping sites.
Psychological risk comes from the fear of selecting the wrong product from the site,
which is very much common among Indian customers. In an online shopping site, there are

89DISSERTATION
similar products sold by different brands and some of them might not be of the best quality.
However, if the customer is new to online shopping, he might not have clear idea about the
nature of the products and the brands. It has also been found that in India, the social factor plays
a very major role in the online purchasing behaviour of a customer. As found in the research, the
customer may fear the reactions of his friends and families when he makes purchase of a
product. This can discourage the customer to use the online shopping websites for purchasing
products (Khalil, 2014). While purchasing products, the customer may feel the prices of the
products shown in the online shopping portal are not appropriate and there will not be sufficient
return on investment. Most of the online shopping sites accept payments through online payment
gateways. While it is a very convenient process as it does not require transfer and handling of
cash, it does have various risks including hacking, breach of personal information of the
customer and others. Thus some customers may not agree to pay the amount online and will not
purchase products if there are no alternative methods of payment like cash on delivery. There are
many reported cases of misplacement of products i.e. order of one person was delivered to
another. Again, during the delivery of the products, the products may get tampered or damaged.
All these issues discourage the customers to purchase products online and get them from the
retail stores instead. Most of the online shopping sites provide option for online payment system
for purchasing products. However, the payment gateways are not always secure and in thousands
of cases worldwide, the bank details of the customers were compromised while making the
online payments and significant amount of money was stolen from them. Thus it is natural that
the Indian customers do not necessarily trust the online payment system while purchasing
products online. According to a detailed research in this particular matter, due to fraudulent
online shopping sites, customers paid the price of the product through online payment system but

90DISSERTATION
they never received the product online. There are a huge number of reports that state that the
Indian customers have been robbed during making online payments in the online shopping sites.
Thus it is evident that the online payment system is not sufficiently reliable for making online
purchases. Seeing the disadvantages of online payment, most of the popular online shopping
stores have added cash on delivery payment system India in which the customers can pay the
amount in cash after he receives the product from the delivery executive. However in those
shopping websites who deliver the products through international shipping, there is no cash on
delivery system and have very low reliability ratings as they often fail to deliver the products to
the customers even after receiving payment through online system.
As discussed in the previous paragraph, authenticity is one of the major problems related
to the online shopping sites that are currently operational in India. As per various studies and
surveys undertaken, a huge number of online shopping customers have received fake products
even from authentic online shopping sites like Amazon and Flipkart. Many Indian customers use
social media platform to report about tampered and poor quality of the products received
compared to the item description and picture provided in the online shopping portal (Thakur &
Srivastava, 2015). Although this problem mainly arises from the product retailer’s end and not
the parent online shopping site, it is to be noted that in many of these cases, the shopping site
does not take any suitable actions against such retailers. In this case, delivery of the products is
often a problem for the online shopping customers and that is more evident among Indian
customers. In many cases, the residential area of the customer, especially in some places that are
far from a major town, is not served by the delivery services of the company. In that case, the
customer can view items in the shopping portal but cannot place an order due to inaccessibility
of the area. If the online shopping sites realistically want to grow and replace most of the retail

91DISSERTATION
stores in India, they have to increase their delivery region over remote places as well. Under the
current situation, shopping sites like Amazon, Flipkart, Jabong and others do not provide
delivery services to the rural and remote towns in the country. With repeated incidents occur
regarding the authenticity of the products displayed in the shopping portal, the customers feel
cheated and gradually lose interest in shopping online. However, the trend of online shopping in
India is still on the rise with increased usage of the internet among various age groups in the
country.
Actual nature of the product is another factor that contributes to the online purchasing
behaviour in India. Some common products in India that are purchased with specific
characteristics are clothes, shoes, electronic goods and others. Indian customers prefer to try and
check these products before making the final purchase. However, when shopping online, there is
no chance of trial and although the specifications are provided in the shopping portal, they may
not fit on the customer in reality (Khalil, 2014). Thus valuable time of the customer is lost while
the product is sent for exchange or the money is lost if there is no option provided by the seller
for exchange. It is evident from research that an Indian customer considers these factors before
deciding whether to purchase products online or not.
Lack of interactivity is also one main disadvantage of online shopping and that is more
evident among the cases of Indian customers. In the retail stores, the customers can freely
interact with the sellers regarding the product before making any purchase. On the other hand,
there is no such option during online shopping when the customer can just view and place order
for their selected product. In case of new types of product, the customer cannot know in detail
about it before making purchase of the same.

92DISSERTATION
Chapter 6: Conclusion
This entire research does not provide any conclusive evidence of the answers to the
research questions on the global perspective but ideally, a general trend of online purchasing
behaviour has been generated from the data collected and analyzed in this research. The focus
region of this research in India and the general trend of the online purchasing behaviour and the
impact of personal characteristics and trust of the customers on online shopping have been
explored. In order to find some reliable and real data, a questionnaire survey has been conducted
on 100 people in India who have used online shopping sites at least once in their lives. It has
been found that India is a country of diversity and thus the personal characteristics vary from
person to person. However, in spite of the diversity, the people of the country show considerable
similarity in certain traits like personal approach towards online shopping. The personal
characteristic can either have positive or negative impact on the online purchasing behaviour of
an average Indian customer. The relationship between personal characteristics and online
purchasing behaviour of an Indian customer is established by several factors of which, the two
most important are usefulness and ease of use. As discussed earlier, usefulness is the perception
of the customer regarding the utility of a product or service. In this case, it has been found that
the Indian customers are finding it more and more useful to use online shopping rather than
visiting physical retail stores for purchasing products. In the last few years, online sales of
products like electronic devices, furniture and clothing have increased considerably in India as
some of the sites like Amazon, Flipkart and others have grown significantly. Again, usefulness
of the online shopping process can be determined by the customer using two other factors –
return on investment and service excellence. Firstly, while purchasing products online, an

93DISSERTATION
average Indian customer expects high return on the investment he makes on the purchase. In this
case, the mentality of an average Indian customer is that he will always give priority to the return
on investment before making a purchase and this considerably affects his decision making
process during purchasing products online. If he determines that the return on investment is not
sufficient, he will not purchase any product online. On the other hand, an Indian customer also
looks for service excellence like placing order, timely delivery of tamper free and right product,
proactive customer care system and others. While purchasing any product, a customer always
looks for sufficient return on investment made. This is also true for online shopping as the
customer only purchases products online when he is absolutely sure about the return he gets from
the purchase after paying its price. There are many customers who are not sure about the return
of investment from online shopping and thus refrain from purchasing products online. When a
customer purchases a product, he always expects service excellence. This is also true for online
shopping and the service excellence include error free placement of order, processing of the
payment, timely delivery of non-tampered and the best quality product and prompt customer care
service that is available 24 hours. For the extensive use of online shopping, experience of the
customers also matter. There are many Indian customers who are not regular online shoppers but
use the sites once or twice casually to check out the types and qualities of products they provide.
However, if they have very positive experience with the online shopping sites, they may become
regular customers of online shopping. This is because the enthusiasm among the Indian
customers regarding online shopping has increased considerably in the last few years. As found
during the research, the control factor refers to the fact that the customers should also be able to
control the various aspects of the online shopping portal before purchasing products. If the
customer is unable to control the portal, he will not be interested to purchase products and will

94DISSERTATION
prefer retail stores instead. Some of the main Indian customers, especially the younger
generation, use the computer / online media with playfulness and during the process, they may
also access the online shopping sites. While browsing through the shopping sites, they may find
some products very interesting and buy them. Computer anxiety is the condition that makes the
customer fear that purchasing products from the online stores through computer will not be
suitable and necessary. Thus computer anxiety prevents a user to use online shopping websites.
Some internet users get absorbed while browsing through the online shopping sites. While they
mainly get enjoyment from the browsing, they also become more eager to purchase the products
that they find useful from the online shopping sites. Some Indian customers feel content and
happy while purchasing different types of products like clothes, books, electronic devices and
others. These customers are casual shoppers but buy products regularly from the stores. Some
Indian customers do not use the online shopping sites on a regular basis but feel aroused when
there are huge discounts and limited time sales going on in the sites. During these times, they
purchase various products at discounted costs and in large quantities. Another variable under
consideration in this particular research is trust i.e. how the people of the target area trust the
online shopping sites for making purchases. First, it has been found that the most popular
companies are easily trusted by the customers while the lesser known and startup companies are
not really trusted by people. The trust on the online shops by the Indian customers mainly
depends on a number of risk factors that are already explored in this research. In the initial part
of the research, the factors were analyzed on a general perspective but these factors have turned
out to be true in case of Indian customers as well. While purchasing product from any store, most
Indian customers are worried about the performance or quality of the product. If it is a physical
store, the customer can try and test the product before purchasing but in online stores, there is no

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such option for try and test. It is to be noted here that any average Indian customer is always
eager to try and test the product before purchasing them. Thus the customer may choose not to
purchase the product from the online shopping sites. Psychological risk comes from the fear of
selecting the wrong product from the site. In an online shopping site, there are similar products
sold by different brands and some of them might not be of the best quality. However, if the
customer is new to online shopping, he might not have clear idea about the nature of the products
and the brands. It has also been found that in India, the social factor plays a very major role in
the online purchasing behaviour of a customer. As found in the research, the customer may fear
the reactions of his friends and families when he makes purchase of a product. This can
discourage the customer to use the online shopping websites for purchasing products. While
purchasing products, the customer may feel the prices of the products shown in the online
shopping portal are not appropriate and there will not be sufficient return on investment. Most of
the online shopping sites accept payments through online payment gateways. While it is a very
convenient process as it does not require transfer and handling of cash, it does have various risks
including hacking, breach of personal information of the customer and others. Thus some
customers may not agree to pay the amount online and will not purchase products if there are no
alternative methods of payment like cash on delivery. There are many reported cases of
misplacement of products i.e. order of one person was delivered to another. Again, during the
delivery of the products, the products may get tampered or damaged. All these issues discourage
the customers to purchase products online and get them from the retail stores instead. Hence,
finally, it can be concluded that both personal characteristics and trust play very decisive roles in
the online purchasing behaviour of an Indian customer. However, every year, the popularity of
online shopping sites is increasing at a very significant rate and the personal characteristics and

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trust of Indian customers are constantly moving more favorably towards purchasing products
from online shopping sites. As the online shopping sites are becoming popular, at the same time,
there are also numerous reports of dissatisfied customers who received wrong or damaged
products. In spite of the issues, more and more Indian customers are preferring the online
shopping sites in order to avoid visiting physical retail stores and save money and time.

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Chapter 7: Limitations and Future Research
7.1 Research Limitations
While this research focuses on the broader picture as much as possible, there are certain
limitations to this research. Some of the main limitations are discussed in detail as follows.
 The research is entirely focussed on Indian customers and does not involve global
perspective. The topic of the research is such that the results will vary widely
between different countries / regions because of various factors like economic
stability, purchasing power, availability of internet, reliability of online shopping
services and many others. However, this research is focussed on only one country
and not on the broader global trend and perspective.
 India is a country of 1.32 billion and of them, there are 460 million internet users.
Among these 460 million internet users, at least 60-70% i.e. approximately 300
million people have used online shopping sites at least once in their lifetime.
These statistics are enough to exhibit the broad viewpoint of trusting and using
online shopping sites. However, the sample size of this research is only 100 and
thus does not necessarily reflect the true picture of the trend of online shopping in
the country. Thus, it can be said that the research is very much limited in terms of
the outcome and only reflects a small area of trend among the people.
7.2 Future Research
Considering the nature of study and the overall viewpoint of this research, it can be said
that there is significant scope for future research that will also consider a broader viewpoint and

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not just limited to 100 people from one country or region. The actual trend of online shopping
behaviour can only be determined when the global perspective is considered and a much greater
sample size is used for the collection of secondary data.

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