E-tail Evolution: Motives and Behavioral Intentions of E-shopper Segments

Abstract

With the expansion of Internet penetration and consumers’continuous efforts to discover new ways to use the Internet,marketers strive to gain a competitive advantage byunderstanding the factors driving consumers to shop online andidentifying target consumer segments. Despite the growinginterest among researchers and retail marketers, still, there is ageneral lack of research on, and a need to improveunderstanding of, the drivers of consumer e-shopping behaviorand e-shopper groups for apparel products. According to McGuire’s (1974) model of motivation theory,human motives driven by unfulfilled needs lead goal orientedbehavior such that people strive to achieve subjectivesatisfaction and gratification regardless of the type of motive. Marketing research has explored various shopping motiveswhich mainly encompass goal-directed and experientialshopping motives. In addition to traditional shopping motives,this study considers shoppers’ beliefs about technology use ase-shoppers are both consumers and technology. Takingshopping motives and technology use-related beliefs intoaccount simultaneously would help better understandconsumers’ e-shopping motives and e-shopper segmentsexhibiting different apparel online shopping behaviors. Inexploring these aspects, this study addresses the followingresearch questions: (1) what are the key motives drivingcustomers to shop for apparel products? (2) what are theunique segments of online consumers based on the shoppingmotives? And (3) how can different patterns of behavior beexplained by different e-shopper segments?Online surveys were administered to college students at alarge, midwestern university in the U.S. Using the context ofbrowsing for/purchasing apparel products online, 298 usableresponses were gathered. First, exploratory factor analysis(EFA) with shopping motive items was performed to identifye-shopping motives and yielded 12 factors. The factors includesix functional factors (convenience, ease of use, economicvalue-seeking, usefulness, security/privacy, and merchandiseassortment) and six nonfunctional motives (company reputation,home shopping, informative service, company clientele,customer service, and hedonic value). Three of the functionalmotives relate to beliefs about technology; ease of use, usefulness and privacy/security, and one functional motive,hedonic value represents the experiential aspect of onlineapparel shopping. Second, in order to develop a shoppertypology based on the 12 e-shopping factors identified, clusteranalysis was performed. The analysis revealed five e-shoppersegments: apathetic, accommodating, demanding, convenienceorientedrecreational, and technology-oriented shopper segments. Last, MANOVA was conducted to examine differences acrossthe five e-shopper clusters with respect to attitude toward andintention to perform online apparel shopping. The resultsindicated significant differences in e-shopping behavioralintention across the five clusters with respect to both attitudetoward e-shopping and intention to shop online. This empirical examination of motives driving onlineshopping behaviors extends our understanding of a variety ofunderlying dimensions and provides new apparel shopperprofiles for the Internet format. Findings that online consumershave utilitarian (functional) as well as hedonic (nonfunctional)shopping motives empirically validate the multidimensionalityof shopping motives pertinent to the Internet shopping context. Given that online shopping behaviors are likely to be drivenby product/service acquisition (marketing) motives and/ortechnology use (i.e., Internet) beliefs, investigating bothsimultaneously sheds light on online shopping motive literature. By taking both aspects into consideration, this study revealedthree unique motives underlying Internet shopping thatencompass beliefs about technology (ease of use, usefulness,and security/privacy) and one motive, hedonic pertinent toexperiential features of online shopping. Findings firstly revealed the technology-oriented shoppergroup who is motivated to shop online due to its ease of use,usefulness, informative service, and security/privacy. Theemergence of this new segment of online consumers warrantsadditional research. There are differences in the online shopperclassifications generated in this study relative to those in priorresearch. Differences were also found in e-shopping behavioralresponses of the various online shopper segments. Two groups,the convenience-oriented recreational shoppers and thetechnology-oriented shoppers showed more favorable attitudesand greater intention toward online shopping than the apatheticgroup. This study provides managerial implications for onlineapparel retailers. First, most of the five groups were motivatedby security/privacy and this suggests to retailers the importanceof ensuring a secure shopping environment for their customers. The convenience-oriented recreational shopper and thetechnology-oriented shopper, exhibiting the most favorableattitude and the highest intention to shop online, seem to be attractive target customers for online retailers. Assuring timeand place convenience, courteous and informative customerservice, and managing e-store sites in a way that helpsshoppers perceive the stores are convenient, easy to use anduseful are key tactics to attract and retain patronage of thesetwo groups. The demanding shopper, one of the largeste-shopper segments can be attracted by emphasizingpromotional offers or sales on branded products, high-qualitycustomer services, and fun shopping experiences.