CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
 CHAPTER - II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A brief literature would be of immense help to the researcher in gaining

insight into selected problem. The researcher would gain good background
knowledge of the problem by reviewing certain studies. A reference to these
entire studies will be related in the contest of the shaping the present study.
There are very limited studies, which are directly relevant to the study
concerned. They have been taken from journals, articles, PhD thesis and
unpublished research work.

Weber, K. and Roehl, W. S. (1999)1, conducted a study on those who

search for or purchase travel products through on-line with the age group of
26 to 55 years. Results on the basis of the study concerns about credit card
security, evaluation of product quality, and privacy issues are the main
problems faced while on-line purchase of travel products, were made.

Vellido et al. (2000)2, pointed out in his research, that there are nine
factors associated with user’s perception of online shopping. Among those
factors the risk perception of users was demonstrated to be the main
discriminator between people buying online and people not buying online.
Other discriminating factors were control over, and convenience of, the
shopping process, affordability of merchandise, customer service and ease of
use of the shopping site.

Jarvenpaa et al, Tractinsky & Vitale (2000)3, tested a model of

consumer attitude towards specific web base stores, in which perceptions of
the store's reputation and size were assumed to affect consumer trust of the
retailer. The level of trust was positively related to the attitude toward the
store, and inversely related to the perception of the risks involved in buying
from that store. The study concluded that the attitude and the risk perception
affected the consumer's intention to buy from the store.
 Bhatnagar, Misra, and Rao (2000)4, in their recent study made an
attempt to study the risk, convenience and Internet shopping behaviour. They
found that marital status has no effect on purchase behavior and found mixed
results based upon gender (except for specific gender-related products),
years on the Internet, and age.

Lohse et al. (2000)5, used panel data to explore the predictors of online
purchasing behavior. They found that the typical online consumers are
characterized by their wired lifestyle, and are time starved. Therefore, they
suggested providing customized information for the online shoppers who buy
standard or repeat items, which can lead to shoppers gaining a feeling of
increased convenience, and allow them to make quick purchase decisions.

Dr.Panicos Georgiades (2000)6, carried out in his study that there were
no differences found between males and females in all three occupational
groupings with regard to security and convenience. In particular respondents’
attitudes toward security were found to be in agreement in that “they did not
feel confident with the provision of information concerning their personal and
financial details and that technology backing the Internet is reliable”. This
suggests that companies can standardize their communications strategies
aiming at alleviating the fears of Internet users with regards to security
concerns.

According to the study by Armstrong and Kotler, (2000)7, a person’s

shopping choices are influenced by four major psychological factors:
motivation, perception, learning and beliefs and attitude. This means that,
through motivation and perception, attitudes are formed and consumers make
decisions. Attitudes serve as the bridge between consumers’ background
characteristics and the consumption that satisfies their needs.

Goldsmith and Bridges (2000)8, found that consumers who felt that it
was easy to buy over the web were more likely to buy, implying that
confidence leads to greater purchase likelihood. A positive relationship
between Internet experience/confidence and amount of shopping is thus
found in his study.

David M. Szymanski and Richard T. Hise (2000)9, observed that e-

retailers promise their customers that online experiences will be satisfying
ones, understanding what creates a satisfying customer experience becomes
crucial. Even though this understanding appears crucial, no studies have
examined the factors that make consumers satisfied with their e-retailing
experiences. The authors examine the role that consumer perceptions of
online convenience, merchandising (product offerings and product
information), site design, and financial security play in e-satisfaction
assessments. They concluded that convenience, site design, and financial
security are the dominant factors in consumer assessments of e-satisfaction.

Baveja, S. and S. Rastogi (2000)10, have identified that customer

loyalty on the Internet is a key driver of long term profitability. Loyal online
customers, just like offline ones, spend more, refer more people, and are
more willing to expand their purchasing into new categories. As a result, they
are more profitable than one-time shoppers. Online retailers who succeed in
building customer loyalty will ultimately be more profitable than online
competitors who focus only on transactional metrics such as number of
visitors, number of shoppers, eyeballs, and so forth.

According to Rehman (2000)11, a factor concerning consumers'

willingness to buy online is response time. Response time is understood to be
the time between user input and system output. The system response time is
not only influenced by its hardware, such as the CPU and transmission rates,
but also by good design which aims at reducing the necessary amount of data
transmission to a minimum. On the subjective level, long shop response times
leads to frustration and boredom and may result in the shopper leaving the
site. Research shows repeatedly that users complain about long waiting
times.
 David (2000)12, in his research report made an attempt to project the
world wide sale of goods and services and the amount of goods traded
through online. It was found that by 2004 about 8.6 percent of worldwide
sales of goods and service are traded on the internet and the amount of
goods traded would be worth $6.8 trillion. The study concluded that online
sales will not be uniform across the world but will differ from country to country
and region to region.

Goldman Sachs (2001)13, found in his study price, quality of service

and information, speed and reliability of delivery, ease of on-line ordering, and
trust towards vendors are important factors for consumers considering online
purchases that will increasingly determine their propensity to engage in e-
commerce.

Sang Yong Kim and Young Jun Lim (2001)14, examine that the
relationship between consumers' perceived importance of and satisfaction
with Internet shopping. They find that the factors of entertainment,
convenience, reliability, information quality and speed are important for
choosing shopping sites and also find that the factors of entertainment, speed,
information quality, and reliability are related to consumers' satisfaction with
Internet shopping. Among the above factors, the results indicate that
'information quality' of the importance and 'reliability' of the satisfaction is
statistically significant for distinguishing buyers from non-buyers.

In the study by Vrechopoulos et al. (2001)15, demographic, behavioral

and attitudinal characteristics are used to classify different segments of e-
shoppers in Greece. These authors distinguish between actual shoppers and
those interested in adopting Internet as a shopping channel (potential
shoppers), describing the profile and behaviour of both groups. One of the
main conclusions of their study was that for both groups the most highly
valued characteristics on a website were quality and the amount of
information provided (on the product and on comparing prices) and quick and
easy access to the virtual store. The most significant purchase motivations
were: discounts and promotions, range of products, quality of delivery and 24
hours access to the virtual store.

Verhoef and Langerak (2001)16, also employed the theory of reasoned

action in a study of 415 Dutch internet shoppers and found that outcome
beliefs had a significant influence on the intention to shop online. They found
that this intention was positively influenced by the perceived 'relative
advantage' of shopping online, compared to other forms of shopping, and
negatively influenced by the degree of complexity which these consumers
perceived would be involved in the process.

Miyazaki and Finandez (2001)17, made an attempt to explore the

relationship among the internet experience levels, risk perception and online
purchasing rates. They analyzed that higher level of internet experience
could lead to lower risk perception regarding online shopping, fewer specific
concern regarding system security or fraud and more concerns regarding
privacy, consumer participation on another remote purchase methods relates
to lower risk perception regarding online shopping. It was concluded that
higher internet experience and the use of other remote purchasing methods
were related to lower levels of perceived risk towards online shopping which
could result in higher online purchase rates. That is consumers who are
experiencing with shopping by telephone, mail order or through other
traditional shopping channels have low perceived risk and a higher prosperity
for making online purchases.

Volk and Ferderick Allen (2001)18, made an internet survey of 201

people using the internet worldwide. The Internet has evolved from a
communications tool for a select group of scientists to a commercial
juggernaut that is predicted to change the way people buy and sell things
across a number of industries. The study focused on the consumer
behaviour. The Consumer Decision Process can be categorized into five sub-
processes such as motivation and need recognition, information search,
alternatives evaluation, purchase decision and purchase and purchase
outcomes. Internet user attitudes and intention to use the internet for each of
the behaviors were studied within the theoretical constructs of the theory of
reasoned action. It was found that the attitudinal component of the theory of
reasoned action was consistently predictive of the users' intention to
participate in all nine of the consumer behaviors during the year 2000 holiday
shopping season.

A survey (2001)19, was conducted by the Charted Institute of

Purchasing and Supply on the e-procurement needs of the consumers. They
revealed that 35 percent of the European manufacturers expect that internet
purchase of goods and service will grow in the forthcoming period. They have
identified five steps for the improvement of the internet business to be done
by the manufacturer. The steps are i) identify any inefficiencies in the existing
procurement process ii) determine if the inefficiencies are based in prices or
process iii) Setting objectives as to what is hoped to achieve iv) allocate
resources and v) set timelines and set target return on investment.

Sami Alsmadi (2002)20, study pointed out that most Jordanian

consumers are likely to have enough knowledge and skills in using the
computer and dealing with the Internet, and have reasonable access to
Internet services, with a positive impression about the current presentation
and promotion of companies’ web sites on the Internet. The study concluded
that the issue of security of online transactions seems to be a major factor that
restricts the willingness to make a better use of online shopping and also no
significant differences in consumer attitudes due to demographic variables,
with the exception of income.

Athiyaman (2002)21, also highlighted the importance of such word of

mouth recommendations, finding that social influences have been found to be
important determinant of internet users' intention to purchase air travel online,
second only to the attitude towards online purchasing.

Corbitt, Thanasankit, and Yi (2003)22, argue that information to make

the purchase and to be able to make comparisons with alternative offers,
plays an important role in the absence of sales staff and the inability to see
and try the product. The cost of accessing the Internet is also a decisive factor
for engaging in Internet activities. While low prices do not guarantee high
penetration, they are an important factor for more widespread development of
the Internet and consequently, of electronic commerce.

Chung-Hoon Park and Young-Gul Kim (2003)23, have mentioned that

the real world shopping are mainly based on face-to-face activities between
consumers and service personnel’s, interactions in electronic commerce take
place mainly through the retailer’s Web site. From this context the present
study focused on the relationship between various characteristics of online
shopping and consumer purchase behavior. Results of the online survey with
602 Korean customers of online bookstores indicate that information quality,
user interface quality, and security perceptions affect information satisfaction
and relational benefit that, in turn, are significantly related to each consumer’s
site commitment and actual purchase behavior.

Rong Chen and Feng He (2003)24, have developed and tested

conceptual model based on brand theory, risk theory and information theory
to understand the causal relationships among brand knowledge, perceived
risk, online search action and the intention to adopt an online retailer. Results
show that brand knowledge has a direct and positive effect on intention to
adopt an online retailer and this effect can be mediated by perceived risk to a
large extent. In addition, perceived risk also positively relates to online search
action, which is important in realizing that searching for information increases
the risks faced by an online retailer through an expansion of the consumers'
opportunity to find more favorable choices.

Hong-Youl Ha (2004)25, examined how brand trust is affected by the

following Web purchase-related factors: security, privacy, brand name, word-
of-mouth, good online experience, and quality of information. The author
argues that not all e-trust building programs guarantee success in building
brand trust. In addition to the mechanism depending on a program, building e-
brand trust requires a systematic relationship between a consumer and a
particular Web brand. The findings revealed that brand trust is not built on one
or two components but is established by the interrelationships between
complex components. By carefully investigating these variables in formulating
marketing strategies, marketers can cultivate brand loyalty and gain a
formidable competitive edge.

Lillian Clark and Peter Wright (2004)26, in their study reviewed the
research into the various issues that may differentiate online consumer
behaviour and whether they are able to produce the understanding needed to
construct behavioral models that can help realize the full potential of e-
commerce. The study concluded that a more comprehensive approach to
modeling online consumer behaviour is needed in order to coherently
describe the online consumer experience.

Gurvinder S Shergill & Zhaobin (2005)27, has conducted a study on

“Web-Based Shopping: Consumers’ Attitudes towards Online Shopping in
New Zealand”. The study revealed that website security/privacy, website
design, website reliability/fulfillment and website customer service are the four
dominant factors which influence consumer perceptions of their online
purchasing experiences. New Zealand online buyers had different perceptions
of these four factors. Website reliability/fulfillment had the highest rating score,
followed by website customer service. Website design ranked third, and the
lowest was website security/privacy.

Nik Kamariah Nik Mat (2005)28, studied that the higher website trust will
create higher intention for online shopping. The study provides the consumers
do not trust the website during online shopping. Maybe another factors are
very important than trust like types of products. This result however is in
contradiction with the result depicted in other research which shows trust level
may affect consumers’ willingness to purchase and propensity to return to the
site.

Sriram Thirumalai & Kingshuk K. Sinha (2005)29, focuses the proverbial

“last mile” of the retail supply chain – i.e., delivering products to the end-
customer – and highlights the need for recognizing product type differences in
configuring order fulfillment processes in electronic business-to-customer
(B2C) transactions The empirical analysis for this study is based on data
collected on dimensions of customer satisfaction with order fulfillment from a
sample of 256 firms engaged in electronic B2C transactions. Firms also
included in our study sample that their products can be classified into only one
of three product types: convenience, shopping, or specialty goods. The results
of the empirical analysis indicate that, on average, customers tend to have
higher satisfaction levels with the order fulfillment process of convenience and
shopping goods than with the order fulfillment process of specialty goods.

Ainin Sulaiman (2005)30, focused on Internet users working in an urban

area of Malaysia. It was found that out of 123 respondents 65.9 % of them
have transacted online. They bought air tickets and books as well pay their
utility bills online. The study concludes that guarantee, confidentiality of
identity, product information and product variety were the main factors will be
considered while doing online purchase.

In the research conducted by David M. Walters and Catherine Maria

Toase (2005)31, the majority of the respondents was confident in using the
Internet and has done online shopping. However, only one third of them have
tried Online Grocery Shopping, and only half of these had done so recently
(previous 6 months). Some of the respondents’ comments indicate that this
may be due to reluctance to trust shop personnel with the task of selecting
appropriate and high quality merchandise. The findings indicate that, the
majority of the people in our sample have experience of on-line shopping,
very few actively engage in on-line grocery shopping.

Salam, Lakshmi Iyer, & Prashant Palvia (2005)32, have conducted a

study on the importance of nurturing consumer trust in the context of e-
commerce. The results shows that trust is a complex social phenomenon
reflecting technological, behavioral, social, psychological, and organizational
interactions among human and nonhuman technological agents. Web vendors
must align both their long-term and short-term relationships with consumers
and develop interventions to inspire consumer beliefs that affect their
attitudes, intentions, and dependence, and ultimately their willingness to
spend money.

Anthony D. Miyazaki & Ana Fernandez (2005)33, pointed out in his

study that the government and industry organizations have declared
information privacy and security to be major obstacles in the development of
consumer-related e-commerce. Risk perceptions regarding Internet privacy
and security have been identified as issues for both new and experienced
users of Internet technology. The present study reveals that significant
relationship exists among consumers' levels of Internet experience, the use of
alternate remote purchasing methods (such as telephone and mail-order
shopping), the perceived risks of online shopping, and online purchasing
activity.

Sylvain Senecal (2005)34, analyzed how different is online decision-

making processes used by consumers influence the complexity of their online
shopping behaviors. During an online experiment, subjects were asked to
perform a shopping task on a website offering product recommendations. The
study concludes that there is a significant difference observed between
subjects’ decision-making processes and their online shopping behavior. In
addition, differences were also found between the online shopping behavior of
subjects who consulted but did not follow the product recommendation and
subjects who consulted and followed the product recommendation.

May, Wong and Danny (2005)35, made an attempt to examine the web-
shopping behaviour by examining the following aspects such as identifying
the general attitude towards web-shopping, relationships between past web-
shopping experience, attitude towards web-shopping, adoption decisions,
search behaviour and web-shopping intentions and influences of promotional
offers on web-shopping intentions. A web-based questionnaire survey was
used to collect the data. It was found that web-shopping intentions directly
affects the web-search behaviour and web-shopping adoption decisions, and
indirectly affects web-shopping attitudes, past web-shopping experiences and
past experience with the web. Web-search behaviour was a stronger factor
than adoption decision in terms of influencing web-shopping intentions. The
presences of promotional offers have a positive effect on web-shopping
intentions, and web-shopping intentions were different for different product
categories. It was further found that experienced internet users and
experienced web-shoppers are more likely to be potential future web-
shoppers.

Internet and Online Association of India (2005)36, made a survey of e-

commerce security in 2005. The study was conducted through online and
gathered information regarding the solicited information on the user’s profile,
internet usage, their perception of the security associated with transacting
online, their areas of concern and factors that would increase their faith of
online transactions. It was found from the study that 45 percent of window
shoppers at e-commerce sites represent an audience that shopping sites
make informed decisions, a huge opportunity not exploited by marketers. It
was further found out from the study that majority of the online customers are
male in the age group of 26 years to 35 years and they are well aware about
the plastic money.

Shweta Puneet (2006)37, in her article made an attempt to analyze

about how business value enhancement can be done through technology in
the retail sector. It was observed that the business is more competitive
because the expectations of the customers are going higher and hence the
need to find out the new methods to drive the business in the innovative way
is also increasing. A fully integrated merchandising supply chain network
enables the retailer to overcome longstanding operating problems and to
provide the customers with the better experience in shopping. Once the
customer builds the trust that gets what they want, they will come back to the
same retail store.

Tim Maton (2006)38, made an attempt to study about online grocery

shoppers. The study revealed that percentage of adults buying online has
risen by five percent points since 2003 to 20 percent in 2005 but the
proportion of online grocery shoppers has remained static at just 5 percent
while general internet shopping increases steadily. It was found that the
customers find buying grocery through online very inconvenient. The study
suggested that grocery retailer should think differently to make online grocery
more attractive with added benefits to suit modern consumers.

Chang-Hoan Cho (2006)39, has identified that different sets of delay

factors are related to different aspects of online shopping hesitation. The
managerial implication of this finding is that by observing different delay
reasons associated with different aspects of online shopping hesitation, online
marketers can develop various hesitation-reduction devices or decision-
helping agents to enhance consumer’s purchase completion in each stage of
online decision- making. For example, use of devices to reduce various delay
reasons in the shopping cart stage (e.g., price comparison, negative past
experience, website reliability) may decrease decision deferral and help
consumers complete the online purchase more easily. These devises may
include expert advice, reference appeal, endorsement from other buyers,
price comparison with other websites or physical stores, etc.

Torben Hansen (2006)40, developed and empirically tested a model for

understanding what factors determine repeat buying behaviour of already
experienced online grocery consumers. Data were collected from 198
consumers who currently buy groceries via the Internet. The results obtained
from the previous studies suggests that attitude towards online grocery buying
is positively affected by perceived offline physical effort and negatively
affected by offline shopping enjoyment. The present study reveals that a
perceived high Internet grocery risk does not form an action barrier for
consumers who already have a positive attitude towards online grocery
buying. The results also indicate that consumers may hesitate from repeat
online buying if they are faced with high online complexity.

Thompson S. H. Teo (2006)41, has conducted a study on the

perceptions of adopters and non-adopters of online shopping in terms of
demographic profile, consumer expectations of online stores, advantages and
problems of online shopping and transaction cost. The results shows that
consumers have certain expectations from online stores such as easy to
contact, provide sufficient information and ensure security of transactions and
personal information. Online stores should study these expectations carefully
and devise ways to reassure consumers that the online stores are able to
meet these expectations.

Changfeng Chen (2006)42, conducted a study on important

determinants of a consumer’s overall trust in an online travel site. Through an
empirical data collection, six factors, including a website’s reputation,
characteristics, service quality, a consumer’s education level, a consumer’s
overall satisfaction with such a site, and perceptions of risk associated with
online shopping were identified as having a statistically significant influence
on a consumer’s overall trust in an online travel web site.

Kanokwan Atchariyachanvanich (2006)43, has analyzed what keeps

online customers repurchasing through the Internet. By expanding the existing
customer satisfaction/continuance model based on the expectation-
confirmation model identifies the factors involved in online repurchasing. The
results of an online questionnaire of 1,215 Japanese online customers pointed
out that not only basic factors of confirmation, satisfaction, perceived
usefulness, and perceived incentives, but a new factor, customer loyalty, are
factors significantly influencing the online customers’ intention to repeat
purchase through the Internet.

Ahasanul Haque (2006)44, mentioned that only two factors, gender and
family income has significant relationship with overall attitudes towards online
shopping. The results also indicated that weekly internet use, having
experience in e-shopping, and willingness to shopping online in the future
have significant relationship with overall attitude towards online shopping.
Moreover, results proved that there is significant difference between human
senses in online decision-making process and it is explored to customers who
experienced shopping a product or they were satisfied previously, which have
stronger confidence to do online shopping.
 Ali.Khatibi and Hishamuddin (2006)45, conducted a study to examine
online and non-online shoppers purchase decision. The study indicated that
there is a significant difference between online shoppers and non-online
shoppers in gathering product information and comparing price of goods and
services before a purchase decision. Results also indicate that this group of
non-online shoppers constitutes more than 60% of the total number of online
consumers in Malaysia, implying a huge potential of online shopping to online
retailers. The study also indicates online consumers in Malaysia still lack
confidence and trust in utilizing the Internet as a shopping channel.

Venkoba Rao (2006)46, carried out in his study consumers’ attitude

towards online shopping is a prominent factor affecting actual buying
behavior. The results of study of perceptions of 200 online purchasers in
Hyderabad reveal trust, security, Internet speed, and responsiveness
significantly affect online purchasers’ behavior. In addition, on examination of
demographic variables like gender, age and education are used; the study
reveals that might help organizations develop effective strategies eventually
leading to customer satisfaction.

Ahasanul Haque and Ali Khatibi (2006)47, have conducted a study

towards online shopping. In the study stating that there are three factors that
significantly influence the frequency level of online shopping activities done by
Malaysian consumers. Those factors include the online products prices,
consumers trust towards internet stores and their education levels. Hence
Malaysian online consumers still lack of confidence and trust using the
internet as a shopping channel.

Dejan Petrovic (2007)48, in his study examined the ways to find,

compare and evaluate product information required by online consumers.
The major findings of the study are, the consumers use search engine on
both global and local level, the result pages are scanned for context
corresponding to a supplied search term, pace of search decreases in
population to the depth of the research, intrusive advertising campaign can
create negative image, amount of information online directly affects consumer
search behaviour, integrated time saving features of online customer value
and consumer value human review than automated recommendations.

Erden Tulin (2007)49, in his research report helped the business owners
again, by posting some comprehensive status about online consumer
behaviour. For this purpose, the study has broken out the industry, into
particular field. The study revealed that 80% of internet users go online to find
health related information, 85% of Google users have made an online
purchase in the past six months, approximately 20 million people are
browsing new home listing each month and more than 70% of Google users
have shown some interest in a financial service product.

Prof. Mohsin Islam (2008)50, has conducted a study on Changing

Attitude of Indian Consumer towards Online Shopping. He pointed out in his
research, that three out of the five dependent variables such as consumer
attitudes, intentions, and purchasing behavior and three out of the five
independent variables such as perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use,
perceived enjoyment, information on online shopping, security and privacy,
quality of internet connection gets the most attention. Hence found that the
personal characteristics such as vendor/service/product characteristics and
website quality significantly affect online shopping attitudes, intention, and
behavior.

Syed Shah Alam & Zaharah Bakar (2008)51, have investigated in their
study the relationships between young consumers’ perceptions of the factors
that influence their intention to buy through online. The analytical results are
generally consistent with consumers’ perceptions of the customer service,
reliability and trust of online purchasing. Trust has received the most
consistent support as factors that influence online buying. Marketers need to
realize that the online marketing environment affects the way consumers view
and develop relationships.

Oliver B. Büttner and Anja S. Göritz (2008)52, indicated that trust has
been found to be crucial for consumer behaviour towards online shops. In a
web-based study, 634 participants interacted with a provider of medical goods
that is a simulated online pharmacy. The study develops and employs a
psychometrically sound scale for assessing perceived trustworthiness of
online shops. Results show that trustworthiness promotes both intention to
buy and actual financial risk taking. Perceived risk was not found to moderate
the relationship between trustworthiness and intention to buy. Instead of
trustworthiness partially mediated the influence of perceived risk on intention
to buy.

Torben Hansen (2008)53, has identified three groups of consumers:

consumers who have not yet bought anything on the Internet; consumers who
have bought something on the Internet – but not groceries; and consumers
who have bought something on the Internet – including groceries. Data were
collected from an online survey of Swedish consumers using self-
administered questionnaires. The findings suggest that consumers may link
personal values to attitude towards online grocery buying but also that this
relation may be moderated by whether the consumer previously has carried
out an online purchase or an online grocery purchase.

Dinesh, Amit, and Raghav Rao (2008)54, in their study compared online
store rating with other e-store loyalty factors. It was found that the number of
years on the web has the least impact on repurchase intention. This has
significant implications for managers of online stores because it suggests that
stores would attract more customers by having positive customer reviews.
The amount of time the store has been in business does not seem to affect
the repurchase intention of consumers. “Word of mouth” remains the most
powerful customer acquisition tool and impact on the trust that the customers
have.

Purva Bhathia and Surbhi Goel (2008)55, studied about the internet
users in Indian as on 2008. It was found that 49 million users have logged on
to internet in the year 2007-2008 and 70 percent of the internet users reside
outside metros. Internet penetration in urban India is at 12% in the year 2007
– 2008 compared to 9 percent in the year 2006-2007. Further, it was found
that urban netizen has increased from 30 million to 40 million in the year
2007-08 and 70 percent of users are between 19 – 35 years of age.

Bhavani and Prakash (2008)56, in their article have explained the

importance of online shopping, its advantages and disadvantages and also
the impact of doing business online. The internet has become a preferred
place for the shoppers to carry out their business. The number of shoppers
and volume of business continue to surge. They have given three main
factors which mainly make online shopping attractive, they are abundance
(i.e.) the customers have a vast choice, vast selection (i.e.) various products
can be displayed reviewed and compared at no cost in time or funds and
quick comparison (i.e.) consumers can quickly compare products in terms of
price, quality, shipping cost, etc., before making a final choice.

Venkatesh (2008)57, is his article analyzed the new trends in marketing

and observed that several developments in technology have completely
transformed the world and made life easier for people on the transactions of
business and work. Notable among these is called “Internet and Online
Marketing”. In essence, this activity enables buyers and sellers of goods and
services to get their task accomplished without the necessity to travel. In
internet marketing, the users access the products of their choice but it is not
possible to trace and test all aspects of the marketing campaign.

Based on the proceedings of (2009)58, international symposium on web

information systems and applications (wisa’09) found that the results of the
analysis, long-term observation of "corporate reputation", "security
awareness", "pickup, replacement and maintenance" are essential to
establish a trust factor. To enable consumers to increase trust in the shortest
possible time, the entire management should concentrate on consumers who
purchase goods met during the deletion of e-commerce, put forward some
suggestions for reference as follows, but the future for further verification
recommendations are reputation in the enterprise and security on cognitive.
 Chih-Chien Wang (2009)59, analyzed that knowledge is one important
factor influencing the level of trust. The results revealed that knowledge is
positively associated with trust and online shopping activities. In other words,
people who know more about online shopping will trust and go shopping more
online. Online retailing practice should make the public knowledgeable about
online transaction security mechanisms to build users’ trust in online
shopping.

Leva Andersone (2009)60, has examined the differences in behavior

between online and traditional shopping of Latvian consumers. According to
the study the consumers are looking for information about product, shopping
frequency, about pricing, buying volume and time. Most important benefits of
the shopping process at traditional buying process are buying process,
contact with equal and for e-shopping money saving, time saving,
conveniences and all around a clock. The study concludes that average size
of purchase in traditional shopping still is larger than in the internet shopping
and friends are main sources of information to search the products. The
author also pointed out that one can expect changes towards the internet as a
main source in the nearest future and no special time or day for purchasing.

Amar Cheema and Purushottam Papatla (2009)61, made an attempt to

study the relative importance of online information versus offline information
for internet purchase. The study found that relative importance of online
information is higher for utilitarian products such as computer hardware and
software than for hedonic products such as books, music and movies, the
relative importance of online information decreases with increasing consumer
internet experience and consumers' trust of online search engine information
decreases with increasing internet experience.

A study has conducted by Feng Zhu (2010)62, indicates that how

product and consumer characteristics moderate the influence of online
consumer reviews on product sales using data from the video game industry.
The findings reveal that online reviews are more influential for less popular
games and games whose players have greater Internet experience.
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