MKT301 Consumer Behaviour: Cultural Influences in Online Shopping

This report delves into the impact of cultural influences on consumer behavior in the realm of online shopping, particularly within the Australian retail industry. It identifies three key issues: brand loyalty, the influence of online reviews, and the effectiveness of promotional offers. For each issue, the report proposes marketing-focused solutions aimed at enhancing consumer engagement, improving product quality, and leveraging stakeholder relationships. Industry examples, including Woolworths, IBM, Commonwealth Bank, Coles, Wesfarmers, Rio Tinto and ANZ, are used to illustrate the challenges and validate the proposed solutions. The report concludes that understanding consumer behavior, shaped by both online shopping trends and cultural factors, is crucial for organizations seeking to thrive in the competitive retail landscape.

Running head: CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................2
Three major recent issues related to cultural influences and online shopping that affect
consumer behaviour...................................................................................................................2
Suggestion based on three solutions of marketing related to the issues........................4
Three industry based examples based on the issues.......................................................5
Conclusion......................................................................................................................5
References......................................................................................................................6

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Introduction
Consumer behaviour can be defined as the study which is helpful for the individual
customers, groups or organizations which buy, select or dispose various ideas that are related
to the goods and services that are offered to them. This concept is mainly based on actions
that are undertaken by the consumers within the marketplace and different motives that are
related to the actions. The study of consumer behaviour is related to social science that is
capable of combining various elements like, psychology, ethnography, sociology, marketing
and economics. The preferences, attitudes and different emotions of consumers can be
understood with the help of consumer behaviour study (Anker et al. 2015, p. 540).
The analysis in the report will be related to the discussion which is related to different
issues that take place in consumer behaviour in online shopping. The culture related to
shopping habits influenced by buying based habits of the consumers will be discussed in the
report. The industry examples will be considered for analysing the consumer behaviour in a
detailed manner.
Three major recent issues related to cultural influences and online shopping that affect
consumer behaviour
Internet shopping or online shopping can be defined as an effective medium related to
shopping that can be used by consumers in current business related environment. Different
activities that are a part of online shopping have started increasing and it has started
becoming a common trend that is evident within the young consumers. The levels of comfort
that exist in different online platforms have been able to affect the increase in popularity of
the online activities among the consumers (Dessart, Veloutsou and Morgan-Thomas 2015, p.
40). The consumers who are a part of developed countries are affected by the facilities and
levels of convenience that are offered by the methods related to online shopping.

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Another important factor which is able to affect the consumer behaviour in an
industry is the culture that exists within the organizations. The patterns related to behaviour
of different individuals and the beliefs and values are also important for analysing the
effectiveness of the behaviour of consumers towards the products and services. The effective
determination related to consumer behaviour can be made possible by analysing the culture
of which the consumers are an important part. The products that are thereby offered by the
organization are successful in some areas and are not able to gain success in some other areas
(East et al. 2016). The marketers of the organizations need to take into consideration the
cultural factors in order to provide the customers with effective services.
First influence that is provided by online shopping on the behaviour of consumers is
related to the levels of loyalty that they have towards the brands. Consumers who are
considered to be a part of new generation lack the loyalty towards the organizations or the
brands. A significant part of the online shopping process is based on prices offered by the
company. Cultural factors are related to benefits offered by products offering lower levels of
prices (Godey et al. 2016, p. 5835).
Online reviews offered by the consumers are able to play a significant role in
analysing the behaviour that is shown by them towards retail based products that are provided
on the online as well as offline platforms. Culture related to online recommendations is
considered to be a major part of effective levels of operations based on consumer behaviour
that is depicted in retail industry. Different personal insights which are developed by the
consumers are based on the reviews which are offered online (Kumar et al. 2016, p. 20).
The consumers in modern retail industry are offered with different choices which can
affect profitability and operations of the companies. The consumers are offered with different
reasons that are able to persuade the customers to buy the products from one organization in

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comparison to the others. The levels of uniqueness of the offers that are offered to customers
are able to play a significant role in the influencing the purchasing behaviour of products. The
levels of engagement of the consumers are important factors that affect decisions related to
purchase (Pappas 2016, p. 100).
Suggestion based on solutions of marketing related to the issues
The most important issue that is based on cultural influences related to consumer
behaviour related to online shopping are related to lack of loyalty towards the brand. The
retail based industry in Australia has faced major issues related to appropriate behaviour of
consumers.
 The management of organizations need to increase the levels of engagement of
consumers and improve the levels of communication (Ramanathan, Subramanian and
Parrott 2017, p. 120).
 On the other hand, the management must also take steps to develop the product
quality in order to enhance the customer experience while shopping products from the
organization.
 Improved relation with the stakeholders of the organization will be helping the same
in maintaining the efficacy of the operations as per the customer concerns.
Second major issue that is faced by the industry are based on effective determination
related to consumer behaviour is based on online reviews related to decisions which can be
made. The companies that are operating in the retail industry of Australia have faced major
levels of issues that are related to analysis of behaviour, which is shown by the consumers.
 The engagement of consumers can increase loyalty levels even if the reviews of
products are negative (Zeugner-Roth, Žabkar and Diamantopoulos 2015, p. 50).

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 The organization might also undertake market surveys, which will assist the same in
enhancing the processes as per the concerns of the end level customers.
 The organization might also consider on creating Google forms in order to engage the
customers in the decision making process through consensus.
Third major issue is related to different offers that are provided to consumers so that
they can be attracted towards the organization.
 The organizations that can offer the services and products in an effective manner are
able to attract the consumers and retain them as well (Zhang and Benyoucef2016, p.
100).
 The organization might undertake different promotional activities in order to
maximize the sales volume.
 Making the consumers aware of the higher quality of the products delivered by the
organization will help the same in promoting their brand more efficiently in the
markets.
Three industry based examples based on the issues
 Woolworths is an organization, which faces major issues that are based on loyalty
levels of the consumers. The entry of different multinational organizations in the retail
industry is able to affect the levels of loyalty of consumers of Woolworths (Zhang
2015, p. 100).
 The propositions of the IBM are challenged by the maximization of competition in the
IT markets, which has resulted to switches in the consumer buying behaviour.
 The fraudulent functioning of the Commonwealth Bank, Australia, has affected the
customer loyalty of the venture

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 The online reviews, which are provided by consumers on the website of another
Australian retail organization like Coles in retail industry of Australia, are able to
affect the revenues and profitability. The communications, which can be developed by
Coles, are able to have a major impact on the online reviews (Zeugner-Roth, Žabkar
and Diamantopoulos 2015, p. 20).
 The lack of proper identification of the consumer preferences affected the smooth
functioning of the processes in Wesfarmers. It affected the total output of the
organization as per the concerns faced by the customers.
 The lack of suitable communication with the relevant stakeholders has restricted the
operations of Rio Tinto. The lack of proper engagement of the stakeholders in the
business processes has affected the smooth functioning of the business as per the
concerned of the customers.
 The complexity of the design in the processes undertaken by ANZ has affected the
managerial capabilities of the venture. The lack of proper managerial framework and
monitoring devices has affected the customer concerns.
 The lack of proper identification of the needs of the agriculturalists has affected the
process design of the organization, Australian Agricultural Company. It has also
affected the value proposition of the business.
 The key changes that are undertaken by Coles in the networking and marketing
department of the same reflected poor market research on understanding the concerns
of the customers, which challenged the abilities of the organization for facilitating
expansion.
The opportunities and offers that are provided to customers with the help of the
website are important factors which have affected the profitability and revenues of a retail

7CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
organization like Woolworths. The company has to understand demands and needs of the
customers so that it is able to offer the best services and products. The opportunities and
offers that are provided by Woolworths are based on demands and choices. The organization
has formed its position in the retail industry with the help of fresh products (Pappas 2016, p.
98). The offers which are provided to the consumers by Woolworths are also considered to be
an important part of the operations of the organization in the retail industry.
Conclusion
The report can be concluded by stating that consumer behaviour is considered to be an
important factor that is affected by the online shopping and the culture as well. The effects
related to culture are based on the operations of the organization. The online as well as offline
stores have been affected by the retail industry of Australia. The competitive environment in
the industry is based on the services and products which can differentiate operations.

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References
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creation: A theoretical response to the recent call for a consumer dominant logic for
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Dessart, L., Veloutsou, C. and Morgan-Thomas, A., 2015. Consumer engagement in online
brand communities: a social media perspective. Journal of Product & Brand
Management, 24(1), pp.28-42.
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East, R., Singh, J., Wright, M. and Vanhuele, M., 2016. Consumer behaviour: Applications in
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consumer behavior. Journal of business research, 69(12), pp.5833-5841.
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Kumar, A., Bezawada, R., Rishika, R., Janakiraman, R. and Kannan, P.K., 2016. From social
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