Title: Different perceptions of online shopping concerning product availability, consumer location, and experience

Authors: Takashi Okamoto

Addresses: Faculty of Collaborative Management, Ehime University, Japan

Abstract: Business-to-consumer e-commerce sales are a significant component of the global consumer market. This study conducted questionnaire-based research and examined university students' behaviour and perceptions regarding online shopping. The results showed that the lower the availability and variety of goods sold by rural vendors, the higher the motivation to shop online. Conjoint analysis revealed students' priorities with respect to several attributes of online shopping. Student preferences were biased towards the perceived reputation of shopping websites as compared to the other attributes. The analysis also indicated that postage rates outweighed the price of goods in terms of significance. These analyses examined differences in students' living environments, experiences, and the problems associated with online shopping.

Keywords: B2C e-commerce; electronic commerce; business-to-consumer; consumer perceptions; consumer behaviour; consumer preferences; urban vendors; rural vendors; consumer experiences; conjoint analysis; mixed logit; preference diversity; online shopping; product availability; consumer location; university students; perceived reputation; shopping websites; postage rates; goods prices.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWET.2016.079038

International Journal of Web Engineering and Technology, 2016 Vol.11 No.3, pp.233 - 258

Published online: 09 Sep 2016 *

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