Modeling Consumer Adoption of the Internet as a Shopping Medium:  An Integrated Perspective
Powered By Xquantum

Modeling Consumer Adoption of the Internet as a Shopping Medium: ...

Read
image Next

Most online shoppers in our sample (69%) are steadfast purchasers (those who currently purchase online and intend to continue purchasing online). The second largest category, the steadfast visitors (those who currently complete some decision-making steps online and intend to continue visiting, but not purchase, online) represent 20% of the respondents. Among the steadfast visitors, most (almost 75%) use the Internet to make product comparisons or choices at least twice a month, indicating that even consumers who do not purchase online still use the Internet to complete other decision-making steps. The other two categories, latent purchasers and dropout purchasers, represent less than 7% and 5% of online shoppers, respectively. Nonetheless, these two categories of online shoppers are very important, albeit small, market segments because these shoppers have indicated an intention to change their online shopping behavior. The latent purchaser category represents an opportunity to turn online visitors into purchasers insofar as they are considering purchasing as well as visiting online. On the other hand, dropout purchasers have indicated their intent to discontinue their purchasing online, suggesting an opportunity for online marketers to develop strategies to retain these Internet purchasers. Not surprisingly, steadfast purchasers perceived Internet shopping as having more advantages and being more enjoyable and less risky than steadfast visitors did. Also, steadfast purchasers gave higher scores to the retail websites they visited in terms of product and information, customer service, and shopping incentives than steadfast visitors.