The Impact of E-Marketing on Influencing Consumer’s Purchase Decisions

Running head: THE IMPACT OF E-MARKETING ON INFLUENCING CONSUMER’S
PURCHASE DECISIONS
THE IMPACT OF E-MARKETING ON INFLUENCING CONSUMER’S PURCHASE
DECISIONS
Name of the Student:
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Author’s Note:

THE IMPACT OF E-MARKETING ON INFLUENCING CONSUMER’S PURCHASE
DECISIONS 1
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Background of the Research..................................................................................................3
1.2 Aims of the Research.............................................................................................................4
1.3 Objectives of the Research....................................................................................................4
1.4 Research Questions................................................................................................................4
1.5 Research Rationale................................................................................................................4
2.0 Literature Review......................................................................................................................5
2.1 Concept of e-Marketing.........................................................................................................5
2.2 Factors Affecting Online Purchase Decision of Consumers.................................................6
2.3 Impact of e-Marketing on Purchase Decision.......................................................................8
3.0 Research Methodology..............................................................................................................9
3.1 Research Philosophy..............................................................................................................9
3.2 Research Logic......................................................................................................................9
3.3 Research Approach................................................................................................................9
3.4 Data Collection Method.......................................................................................................10
3.5 Data Analysis.......................................................................................................................10
Discussion:.....................................................................................................................................23
5.0 Conclusion and Recommendations..........................................................................................32
5.1 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................32

THE IMPACT OF E-MARKETING ON INFLUENCING CONSUMER’S PURCHASE
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5.2 Recommendation.................................................................................................................36
Reference List................................................................................................................................37

THE IMPACT OF E-MARKETING ON INFLUENCING CONSUMER’S PURCHASE
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1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of the Research
Presently the emergence of internet based electronic commerce environment has in turn
equipped the customers with the facility of searching relevant information and purchase a
particular product at ease. Through this mechanism the customers can now access the services
through interacting directly with the online store. Therefore researchers now argue that the
consumer’s purchase decision is solely based on the images, pictures, product descriptions and
video clips provided over the internet and these play a major role in influencing the customers to
purchase a particular product. On the other hand, Akroush and Al-Debei (2015), has argued that
shopping over the online media is more like shopping though a paper catalogue as in both the
cases the customers cannot touch or sell the products and both the processes involve mail
delivery of the product. Therefore, the promise made by the online shopping site or the electronic
commerce site depends largely on the user interfaces and how the customer interacts with the
computer. Presently there are large number of ecommerce websites in the market competing with
each other for grabbing the greater market share. Moreover, the physical retail stores have now
started operating online as well. As a result the level of competition among them have increased
significantly. Therefore this research work will focus on determining the impact of online
marketing or ecommerce marketing on the purchase decision of the consumers (Thakur and
Srivastava, 2015). It is expected that the outcome of this research will in turn help the
ecommerce organizations to redesign their marketing strategies in an effective and efficient
manner so that they can attract more potential customers towards the company and retain the
existing customers as well.

THE IMPACT OF E-MARKETING ON INFLUENCING CONSUMER’S PURCHASE
DECISIONS 4
1.2 Aims of the Research
The broader aim of this research is to determine the impact of electronic commerce
marketing efforts over the purchase decision of the consumers. The research work also aims at
identifying whether the ecommerce marketing affects the purchase decision positively or
negatively.
1.3 Objectives of the Research
The objectives of the research can be summarized as follows,
 To develop a better understanding of the ecommerce marketing process
 To determine the factors that may affect the online purchase decision of the consumers
 To determine how ecommerce marketing can affect the purchase decision of the
consumers and in which direction
1.4 Research Questions
In accordance with the research objectives the research questions are designed, which are
stated below,
 What is electronic commerce marketing?
 What are the factors that may affect the online purchase decision of the consumers?
 How ecommerce marketing may affect the purchase decision of the consumers?
1.5 Research Rationale
The present research work has identified the research issue as the impact of ecommerce
marketing over the purchase decision of the consumers. Presently with an excessive increase in
the level of competition among the business organizations it has become inevitable to design
effective marketing strategies for sustaining in the marketplace. Hence the impact of electronic

THE IMPACT OF E-MARKETING ON INFLUENCING CONSUMER’S PURCHASE
DECISIONS 5
commerce marketing on the consumer purchase decision is being evaluated so that in future the
outcome of this research work can be used by the business organizations for formulating
appropriate strategies.
2.0 Literature Review
2.1 Concept of e-Marketing
Ecommerce or electronic commerce is defined as the platform that allows people to buy
and sell products, information and services over the internet and several other online
environment as well. On the other hand, e marketing is the process through which the elements
of marketing strategies as well as activities are moved to an online networked environment
(Verma et al., 2016) like internet. Internet marketing is also characterized as the method of
developing and sustaining customer relationships with the help of social activities which in turn
facilitates the mutual exchange of ideas, services and products that satisfies the interests of both
the parties. O. Pappas et al., (2014) identifies e marketing as an amalgamation of advertising
activities, publicity, promotion and product designing as well as the sales strategy.
In order to develop a broader understanding of the concept of e marketing it can be stated
that in the widespread literature available in relation to marketing defines this activity as the
process that identify, anticipate and satisfies the needs of the customers. Using internet for
carrying out all these activities can be termed as internet marketing.
Identifying
Internet can be used to carry out a market research through which the needs and wants of
the customers can be identified.
Anticipating

THE IMPACT OF E-MARKETING ON INFLUENCING CONSUMER’S PURCHASE
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The internet can provide additional channels through which the customers can assess
information and afterwards make purchase. Developing an understanding about the customer
demand will serve as the key to effective resource allocation and e marketing (Grewal et al.,
2016).
Satisfying
Another specific success factor of the e ecommerce marketing is satisfying the customers
with the help of electronic channel like making the website easy to use or providing some
freebies or keeping price of the same product at a lower level compared to its competitors (Yang
et al., 2015).
Sometimes the organizations consider e commerce marketing through which it can served
the one of the following functions,
Sell- Increasing sales and attracting business entities through the use of digital technologies.
Serve- Addition of value though exploiting the benefits of internet such as speed.
Speak- Reaching closer to the customers by effectively interacting with them when they are at
home or work or through mobile applications.
Save- It can reduce the cost of the technologies in order to increase the efficiency of the business.
Sizzle- Providing the customers with adequate knowledge of benefits, aesthetics and value of the
products.
2.2 Factors Affecting Online Purchase Decision of Consumers
Various studies have investigated the factors that affects the purchase decision of the
consumers over the internet. These researchers have divided these factors or attributes in four

THE IMPACT OF E-MARKETING ON INFLUENCING CONSUMER’S PURCHASE
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different categories which are merchandise, navigation and convenience, customer service and
promotion and security (Groß, 2015).
The merchandising includes the product related attributes such as the variety, assortment
and product description. If the product assortment is rich it is more likely that the product will
meet the consumer’s needs will be satisfied. However, it is also a noteworthy fact that all the
products showcased in the catalogue of the merchant or real store are not always available
online. As pointed out by Clemes et al., (2014) large online stores are not always as effective as
the small stores in terms of converting the website traffic into sales as the consumer face
difficulties in finding their required product.
The second attribute that affects the customer purchase decision in the context of the
online store is the customer service and promotion. Customers always seek continuous, careful
and useful communication in order to overcome the geographical barriers. These attributes are
identified to be the dimension that determines the store choice behavior of the customers across
online and offline stores (Clemes et al., 2014). Customer service may include the service
rendered by the sales clerk in the context of merchandise selection, providing answer to the
frequently asked questions and also providing information about the return and credit policies.
On the other hand, it has also been argued that the customers always seek support during product
selection, answering the frequently asked questions and regarding the payment policies. With
betterment of the service quality the customers are more likely to make a positive purchase
decision.
The third attribute which is identified by the researchers is the sales events. This in turn
attracts the customers through frequent buyer tips, lottery games and tips related to product. This