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

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

1DISSERTATION
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

2DISSERTATION
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.

3DISSERTATION
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

5DISSERTATION
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

6DISSERTATION
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

7DISSERTATION
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.