E-Retailing: An assessment of the Mauritian

Consumers Behaviour towards On-line Shopping

Vanisha Oogarah-Hanuman and HOK YIN Michael Stephen
Abstract
This research is about the study of the Mauritian consumer
behaviour and its influence on online-shopping adoption. It has been
undertaken due to the hype and growing importance of E-retailing
worldwide and in a view of ascertaining whether Mauritian
consumers can meet the government vision to turn Mauritius into a
Cyber-Island. A critical review of the literature has been conducted
based on Constantinides online consumer behaviour model. Data
has been collected from journals, internet sources, books and
research agencies findings. A questionnaire prepared based on the
literature review has been administered to a sample of 150
respondents who have been chosen and segmented according to
each district gender proportion. The analysis showed that most of
the respondents were unaccustomed to E-shopping. The existing
online-shoppers have a high intention of shopping again in the
future. The non-shoppers were indifferent about E-shopping but they
seemed strongly interested in its convenience benefits. Young,
educated, modest income-earners and online-experienced males
are the ideal target market. However, risk is a strong deterrent online
while branding plays a critical role to counteract it. A good and
simplified web atmosphere can ease new-shoppers online. However,
the Mauritian population is not online ready due to the current
offline-shopping culture, the lack of necessary infrastructure and
connectivity and costs barriers.
Recommendations have been made accordingly. The government
has a major role to play in instilling this online-shopping culture,
through investment in infrastructures and lowering of connectivity
and costs barriers. It should also provide opportunities for the
marketers to go online and promote E-commerce laws. The study
results have been consistent with similar research on this domain
but further analyses are needed to validate these findings and to
explore this subject extensively.

Keywords: E-retailing, online shopping, E-consumer behaviour

Field of Study: Marketing

1.0

Introduction

The benefit of the internet as a strategic tool is so phenomenal that it has

been a major catalyst to boost internet retailing in the 1990s. Amidst the hype
of E-retailing, the dot-com bubble-burst in 2000, veered this mirage toward
organisations failures, such as Webvan (Ecommerce-Land, 2004).
Yet only the fittest survived and since then, E-retailing has carried its legacy in
the name of Amazon or Tesco;
______________________________
Vanisha Oogarah-Hanuman (Corresponding author), Lecturer in Strategic Management and
Marketing,
Faculty
of
Law
and
Management,
University
of
Mauritius,
v.hanuman@uom.ac.mu, Tel: 403-7524
HOK YIN Michael Stephen Fook Chong, Senior Auditor, Deloitte Ltd Mauritius,
mikastefh@yahoo.com, Tel: 799-1107.

Hanuman & Stephen

and has evolved into a fruitful business opportunity worldwide. Nielsens
research (2008a) found that more than 85% of the worlds on-line population
has engaged in internet purchasing in 2008, boosting by 40% the usage rate
during the past 2 years.
Since the inception of the 24/7 culture in Mauritius and the governments aim
to turn Mauritius into a Cyber-island (Goering, 2006), Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) has become the fifth pillar of the economy
(Allafrica.com, 2008) and E-retailing appears to hold some potential. A good
definition of E-retailing is propounded by Harris and Dennis (2002, cited
Dennis et al. 2004, p.2), as the selling of goods and services through the
Internet or other electronic medium to consumers for personal or household
use. Mauritius is not so technology-fusty nowadays. It bears some of the
emerging local E-commerce examples in term of lepoint.mu or
tantebazar.com. The promotion of myjob.mu might even sound familiar to any
Mauritian. Online Business to Consumer (B2C) opportunities are increasing
worldwide and Mauritian consumers might be engulfed in the E-retailing
waves. Marketers must try to identify and anticipate this potential need
through in-depth research on E-consumer behaviour. E-retailing will permit
consumers to shop 24/7, with a considerable saving on time-consuming
things (for example traffic jam). Shopping will be simple, accessible and quick
to sustain customers interest in this business (Hadjiphanis and Christou.
2006, p.4).
The paper has been structured as follows: firstly we have a thorough literature
review that critically examines the different factors affecting consumer
behaviour as regards to on line shopping. Secondly, a methodology that
describes the collection of data has been included together with highlights of
limitations and thirdly key findings have been analysed and interpreted
followed by some useful recommendations. Finally some future directions for
research have been highlighted.

2.0

Literature Review

Consumer behaviour is the successful marketers passion and obsession. The

consumer buying process forms the core of the consumer behaviour theory. It
is composed of five stages (Kotler and Keller, 2006) (See Appendix-1). An
insightful marketer knows that selling a product or service is not the final
stage. With a satisfied post-purchase behaviour, the consumer may repeat
purchase again and starts a fruitful relationship with the buyer in the long-term
(Kotler and Keller, 2006). However, not all individuals engage themselves into
such a technique systematically. It depends on the degree of the purchase
involvement (Hibbard et al. 2008). Contrarily to habitual or low involvement
purchase, a consumer will pass through a complex buying behaviour process
for a higher involvement purchase, due to significant difference between
brands, products, high risks and high financial requirement (Hibbard et al.
2008). High and low involvement purchases are inherent in online-shopping
(Constantinides, 2004).

Hanuman & Stephen

Figure 1: The buying-process

Adapted from: Kotler and Keller, 2006. p.191.

Online-shopping has been on the lips of many researchers recently and has
attracted numerous studies on online consumer behaviour. An outcome
perhaps derived from the increasing popularity of internet usage which
increased by 362.3% worldwide from 2000 to 2009 (Internet World Stats,
2009). These studies described important factors such as attitudes,
perceptions and motivations, which can influence consumer behaviour and
dictate the success or failure of internet marketing strategies (Goodwin,
1999). Therefore, understanding and predicting the customers mindset is not
an option or a luxury but it is an absolute necessity for survival (Chaffey and
Smith, 2008, p.140). Contrary to traditional means, online customers are now
empowered due to the information power shift to consumers (Pires et al.
2006, p.946). There has been a revolution from information scarcity to
information democracy (Swahney and Kotler, 2001, cited Pires et al. 2006,
p.939). Internet consumers have acquired a transcendental role to affect
directly the outcome of any transaction and the firms value creation (Hoffman
and Novak, 1996; Weiber and Kollmann, 1998, cited Martnez-Lpez et al.
2005 p.313). Indeed, online consumers have been empowered and their
actions, if not monitored, can cause the collapse of an E-retailer.
2.1 Factors affecting E-consumer behaviour
The stimulus-response model states that the marketing stimuli and the other
stimuli will exert pressure on the consumers psychology and characteristics,
to affect the buying decision process and the purchase decision (Kotler and
Keller, 2006). Constantinides (2004) further developed this model to
incorporate the web experience element (figure 2). The latter comprises of
functionality, psychological and content ingredients. The web experience is
the consumers total impression about the online company (Watchfire
Whitepaper Series, 2000, cited Constantinides, 2004, p.113) and the marketer
has direct control over it, to influence consumer behaviour (Constantinides,
2004). All the three factors mentioned in the model below will influence
consumer behaviour and will need to be analysed separately.

Hanuman & Stephen

Figure 2: Online consumer behaviour

Source: CONSTANTINIDES., 2004.p113.

2.1.1 Other Stimuli: Psychological Factors

Motivation, perception, learning, beliefs and attitudes are the four major
psychological factors that can motivate a consumer to buy a product or
service (Armstrong and Kotler, 2000).
Motivation
Motivation is the driving force to solve an unsatisfied need within an individual
(Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000). Chaffey (2004, cited Chaffey and Smith, 2008)
identified 6Cs of online customer motivations:

Hanuman & Stephen

Figure 3 Motivation
Adapted from: Chaffey and Smith, 2008. p143.

Motivation to shop offline or online is mainly founded on hedonic (pleasureoriented) and utilitarian (goal-oriented) factors (Babin et al. 1994.). Onlineshopping confers less hedonic benefits (Dholakia and Uusitalo, 2002) and is
thus a deterrent for individuals who requires high social interaction
(Swaminathan et al. 1999). Conversely, goal-oriented individuals enjoy the
freedom and control of the E-shopping (Bidgoli, 2003). However, hedonic
consumers can be attracted online, especially to a specific class of products
or hobby-related websites while goal-oriented consumers are attracted
towards information, convenience, selection and control (Sorce et al. 2005).
Perception
Perception is the way someone perceives the world around him. It can be
framed by the Technology of Acceptance model (Davis et al. 1989), which
includes perceived ease of use and usefulness dimension, to determine
information-technology adoption. Ease of use, which is based on hedonic
factors, refers to the effortlessness of using a specific process - the internet to produce an outcome (Monsuw et al. 2004). Usefulness, which is based on
utilitarian elements, refers to the benefits of using this process to arrive at the
desired outcome (Monsuw et al. 2004).
Moreover, perception will be influenced by differences between costs,
convenience, enjoyment and risks (Huang and Oppewal, 2006). However,
perception can also vary among individuals, based on selective: attention,
distortion or retention. (Kotler and Keller, 2006). For instance, uncertainty and
risks can influence the perception of an individual and deter them online
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Hanuman & Stephen

(Doolin et al. 2005). Perception will ultimately contribute to influence the
attitude and intention to adopt E-shopping (Monsuw et al. 2004).
Attitudes and beliefs
Attitudes and beliefs are acquired through experience and incidental learning
(Westwood, 2004). There is increased intention to shop online with favourable
attitudes for E-shopping (Hoffman et al. 1999). Li and Zhang (2002, p.512513) summarised these attitude theories into six concepts:
1. Acceptability of the internet as a shopping channel (Jahng et al. 2001).
2. Attitudes of consumers toward an E-retailer.
3. Two kinds of consumers perceived risk level (Lee et al. 2001):
a. Product or service specific (functional loss, financial loss, time
loss, opportunity loss, and product risk).
b. Transaction context (privacy risk, security or non-repudiation).
4. Trust level toward the E-retailer.
5. Perceived behavioural control (Ajzen,1991).
6. Perceived real value-added from membership (Koufaris et al., 2002;
Cho et al., 2001, cited Li and Zhang, 2002, p.513).
Experience
Experience is acquired through learning and the latter is an ever-evolving
process, spurred by motivation, response and reinforcement (Kotler and
Keller, 2006). Adopting E-shopping depends on the consumers online
experience (Montoya-Weis et al. 2003, cited Martnez-Lpez et al. 2005). Past
positive online experiences reduce perceived risk level (Shim et al. 2001),
reinforce behaviour (Dholakia and Uusitalo, 2002) and increase trust in the
seller and its website (Urban et al., 2009). However, for illiterate consumers,
learning to shop online demands lots of time and costs and as such, only
those who are experienced will buy online (Ratchford et al. 2001, cited
Monsuw et al. 2004).
2.1.2 Personal Factors
Age
Hedonic and utilitarian motivations to shop online are higher in the young
individuals than the older one (Dholakia and Uusitalo, 2002). Although young
people are more optimistic in E-shopping, older ones buy more online (Donthu
and Garcia, 1999). Conversely, Joines et al. (2003) argued that young
individuals shop online more than older ones. Sorce et al. (2005) debated that
previous studies have conflicting results about age differences determining Eshopping intention. However, their own studies showed a lower intention to
shop online from the young people. Although old people buy more online,
younger ones do more information search online. They proposed that people
of different ages have different shopping tastes and product preferences.
Nevertheless, Forrester Research (Modahl, 2000) stated that demographic
factors like age are not as important as consumers attitudes toward using a
new technology.
Gender
Technology is believed to be a masculine world while shopping is considered
a female job (Dholakia and Chiang, 2003). Therefore, males are more likely to
adopt E-shopping than females do (Dholakia and Chiang, 2003). However,
this online gender difference is decreasing considerably (Jayawardhena et al.
2007). For instance in 2009, 51.1% men to 48.9% women are internet-users
in UK (Abrams, 2009). Even though men spend more per product purchase
online, due to their product complexity (technological products), women have
6

Hanuman & Stephen

been found to spend on overall more than men do (Mastercard, 2008, cited
ChinaView, 2008). As such, gender difference still exists as it influences
online product preference (Dholakia and Chiang, 2003). Males exhibit a
preference for new, technical and expensive products (for example electronic
gadgets) while female prefer the contrary (for example clothing) (Dholakia and
Chiang, 2003). Males are goal-oriented shoppers while females are social
shoppers (Kurihara et al. 2007). The shift from offline to online shopping
results into mens feeling changing from angst-ridden to feeling powerful and
from prey to predator, while women feel empowered online and have a
sentiment of conquering time, tasks and personal limitations (Rollins, 2005).
Personality and Self-efficacy
Monsuw et al. (2004) stated that online personality is made up of expertise,
self-efficacy and need for interaction. They attributed expertise to knowledge
and skill of using a computer and the internet. Consumers with low online
expertise will assess the costs and benefits before deciding to acquire more
expertise or not, as its acquisition can be time consuming and costly.
Although an individual have the necessary expertise, perception will influence
E-shopping adoption as a low ease of use and usefulness of using the
internet will deter them from using it (Monsuw et al. 2004). Self-efficacy
refers to ones confidence in his ability to achieve a specific goal successfully
and as such, low self-efficacy consumers who lack confidence online, can
only be convinced to shop online with a high ease of using an electronic
medium (Monsuw et al. 2004). Need for interaction refers to the importance
of socialising when conducting a transaction (Dabholkar, 1996, cited
Monsuw et al. 2004). For instance, an individual with a low need for
interaction can be tempted online.
Lifestyle and values
Lifestyle is a mixture of attitudes, interest and opinions forming part of a
persons life (Kotler and Keller, 2006). Time constrained people, living a wired
lifestyle, have a better probability for E-shopping (Bellman et al. 1999).

2.1.3 Cultural influence and Social influence

Cultural influence
Culture is a way of thinking, behaving and feeling that is pervasive among
members of a society (Thomas, 1997). It is also comprised of subculture like
religions, nationalities, racial groups and geographical regions (Kotler et al.,
1999, p.230).
Social influence
Social factors are composed of family, reference groups and social roles and
statutes (Kotler and Keller, 2006, p.176).
Reference group
The reference group influence can take three forms:

Hanuman & Stephen

Figure 4 Reference-groups
Adapted from: Carmen, [no date].p.1137.

Virtual community allows the sharing of information across online consumers

and it can act as a social motive to shop online, especially for socialisation
seeking-shoppers (Allred et al. 2006).
Family
Family, friend, and colleagues are influential factors toward online-shopping,
especially if these reference groups are E-shoppers themselves (Ramus and
Nielsen, 2005). Offline-shopping is a womans treasure as it gives her the
opportunity for social interaction and reinforcement with her family (Dholakia,
1999). Therefore, this can deter women online. Shopping nurtures a loving
relationship within a family (Miller, 1998) and the internet edges out family
time (Mcgann, 2005). Conversely, time saved by E-shopping can be spent on
social events with the family or friends (Ramus and Nielsen, 2005, p.351).
Role and Status
Parson (2002, cited Dennis et al. 2004) stated that individuals having a higher
role, status and authority will be more likely to shop online.
2.1.4 Web experience factor
Propounded by Constantinides (2004, p.113), web experience factor consists
of three pillars: Functionality, Psychological and Content factors.

Hanuman & Stephen

Figure 5: Web Experience factors

Source: Constantinides, 2004, p.114.

Functionality
Functionality is how efficiently the online environment serves the consumer
and is sub-categorised further by usability and interactivity.
Usability and Convenience
Web-usability is the quality and effectiveness of the web in helping the user to
reach his purpose with minimal efforts (Nah and Davis, 2002). Internetshopping saves more time than brick and mortar stores (Alreck and Settle,
2002). According to Lohse and Spiller (1998), convenience is in term of:
Timely delivery: getting the product on time.
Ease and swiftness of ordering online.
Attractive online product display.
Industry researches reveal that around 60-75% shopping carts are
abandoned because of unclear and slow checking out procedures (Business
Link, 2009), which defeat the convenience advantage of E-shopping.
Moreover, convenience is a questionable point as generally, physical delivery
is slow and prevents immediate receipt of certain type of goods and physical
inspection is deficient (Bidgoli, 2003). Nielsen survey (2008b) showed that
convenience, time saving, avoiding crowds and saving gas are among the top
four reasons to shop online.
Interactivity
Interactivity is made-up of two dimensions (Constantinides, 2004):
Interactivity with the E-seller to customise products/services.
Interactivity with the web users is about availability of customer
service. The latter is a highly sought element online (Ghose and Dou,
1998).
Effective after-sales services and lenient refund policies will help to reduce
perceived risk level toward E-retailing (Singh, S. 2006). Forrester-Consulting
(Internet Retailer, 2008) underlined how by constructing a flexible return
policy, about 81% of shoppers would be tempted to buy online and would
remain loyal to an E-retailer. However, E-retailers must also ensure that their
interactivity is speedy (Novak et al. 2000) and that they provide customer
reviews (Lim and Dubinsky, 2004). Nevertheless, some consumers regard
absence of human interaction as imposing less pressure on them and less
reliance on unhelpful or uninformed sale force (Bidgoli, 2003). Customisation
9

Hanuman & Stephen

can also be intruding and therefore marketers must walk a fine line between
personalisation and intrusion. (Bidgoli, 2003, p.275).
Psychological
Lee and Turban (2001, cited Monsuw et al. 2004, p.114) stressed the
powerlessness feeling of consumers online, as they are unable to inspect the
goods physically or monitor financial and personal information. Vijayasarathy
and Jones (2000) identified five risks dimension:
I.
Economic risk risk of making poor purchase.
II.
Social risk social disapproval of shopping method.
III.
Performance risk performance lower than expected of product or
service.
IV.
Personal risk risks like theft or fraud.
V.
Privacy risk divulgation of private and personal data.
Trust is the confidence consumers have concerning future online store
behaviour and despite online transaction vulnerability, they will continue
purchasing from the E-retailer (Kimery and McCard, 2002). Reliability forms
part of trust and integrates the reputation of the E-seller, online security
provided and the effectiveness of the E-retailer in safeguarding privacy (Lim
and Dubinsky, 2004). Reliable third party endorsement (for example Verisign)
is a recent strategy used by firms to reduce perceived risk (Constantinides,
2004).
Content factor
Content factor includes aesthetics and marketing mix (Constantinides, 2004).
Although individuals will regard website aesthetics differently, based on their
different perceptions (Holbrook, 1999), a good website aesthetics, information
design and information focus, can help to reinforce a websites credibility
(Fogg et al., 2002). An attractive aesthetic will motivate consumers to stay
beyond the average 10 minute basis, to hold positive feelings and increased
spending (Bidgoli, 2003).
2.1.5 Marketing Mix
Forming part of the online marketing strategy to attract consumers, are the
four Ps (Constantinides, 2004): product, price, fulfilment (place) and
promotion.
Product
Familiarity and confidence, customer attributes and product characteristics
are three factors in the Electronic-shopping test (E.S test), to assess the
likelihood of success of selling a product online (Kare-Silver, 2001).
Promotion
Although there is limited research on the influence of online promotion on
consumer behaviour (Constantinides, 2004), some of the E-promotional
strategies which can help in building brand awareness and brand positioning,
can be advertising, sales promotion, or social networking (Stokes, 2009).
Nielsens study (2008b) observed that E-promotion is the fifth reason that
influences consumers to shop online. When people exhibit a positive attitude
toward a retailer, they will be more inclined to welcome its advertisement
(MacKenzie et al. 1986).
Price
Nielsens study (2008b) recognised price as the sixth top reason to shop
online. Motives to go online are often due to lower price or easier comparison
(Constantinides and Geurts, 2005). Search speed and costs are reduced
10

Hanuman & Stephen

while product information and price can be compared with competitors in the
cyber-world (Lim and Dubinsky, 2004). To reduce risks, some consumers can
even accept a higher price (Kervenoael et al. 2006). However, some Eshoppers are less price-sensitive (Donthu and Garcia, 1999). In fact, service
quality has usurped the importance of low price and web presence in the Eretailing world (Parasuraman et al. 2005).
Numerous researches on internet-shopping have been done in developed
countries. They have led to a common thinking about who is the ideal onlineshopper, based on studies on their psychological, personal and cultural
elements. Possible strategies by the marketers to attract this ideal shopper
are known as the controllable factors, such as the four Ps or the web
experience determinants. However, fragile areas such as risks and trust have
also been detected and marketers must juggle cautiously with them. This
research has studied online consumer behaviour in the Mauritian context to
demystify the Mauritian consumers propensity to shop online.

3.0

Methodology

E-retailers business opportunities are so vast that traditional retailer cannot

ignore this anymore (Enders and Jelassi, 2000, cited Kennedy and Coughlan,
2006). This research will help answer the questions whether Mauritius is
ready to catch this bandwagon of innovation and welcomes the Cyber-island
vision.
This study will definitely shed light on E-retailing opportunity in the local
context and will ascertain the consumer behaviour towards innovative way of
shopping. After all, The way we choose and buy goods will, of course,
evolve, as it always has... (Anon, 2006, p.21), but is this evolution inherent
in the Mauritian consumers?
The research objectives of the study are:
To identify the readiness of Mauritians toward E-shopping
To identify the percentage of consumers familiar with online shopping
Determine consumers behaviour towards E-shopping
Determine the security and risks implications of online shopping.
Hypotheses:
1: Is there a relationship between psychological factors and the intention to
shop online?
2: Is there a relationship between gender and perceived risks?
3: is there a relationship between gender and products preference
4: Is there a relationship between gender and social influence
5: is there a relationship between gender and the intention to shop online
6: Is there a relationship between risk and intention to shop online.
This study was based on a cross-sectional descriptive research from a survey
technique. The target population is the population of Mauritius. A mixture of
sampling method had been chosen. Convenience-sampling (none-probability
sampling) was used for the pre-test phase of the questionnaire construction.
While a quota-sampling, which combines both subjectivity and probability
(Singh, Y.K. 2006), was used in the main survey to distribute the sample
according to each district gender proportion; due to cost, timing and
practicality, a sample size of 150 individuals was deemed appropriate.
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Hanuman & Stephen

After the data collection, the information had been edited, coded and
tabulated to facilitate data input and data analysis. The use of Excel 2007 and
SPSS 16 analytical tool had proven to be an excellent fusion to present the
information clearly, understandably and accurately. Hypotheses had been
tested through the statistical software.

4.0

Discussions and Findings

4.1

Demographics/ determine the readiness of Mauritian towards Eshopping

Internet Access
About 90% of the respondents have an internet connection at home. 50% of
them have been interviewed through an online-mail survey. Internet access
has increased from 13% to 15%, after the recent decrease in internet
connection cost and the rising availability of Internet Service Providers (ISP),
which amount to nine in 2008 (CSO, 2009c). The average growth rate of
internet access amounted to approximately 2% per year (CSO, 2009c). There
was about 20% of households in Mauritius having internet access while 29%
have a computer at home (CSO, 2009c),
Computer and internet are only available to middle-income earners and
above, as the lower-income-earners still find it expensive to buy or rent them
respectively. Others stated they were unnecessary, as they see television as
a better means of entertainment (CSO, 2009c). Internet growth rate is still low
and to increase it, further reduction in internet connection cost and computer
price are desired.
Broadband (rapid) internet connection in Mauritius is about 78.9% among
internet subscribers in 2008. However, the percentage of people having
access to it is only 12% (CSO, 2009c). E-retailing normally needs a swift
internet connection. The latter is more expensive than a dialup connection
and this explains why people are more reticent to rent it.
Purpose of using the internet
The most common purpose of using the internet is checking email, as it is
fast, has a worldwide reach and global popularity. Many respondents
searched a lot of information online as the web holds lots of easily available
information. Searching information involves lots of surfing, hence explaining
the latter third position. E-banking and other purposes are low as few
opportunities
are
available
in
Mauritius.

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Hanuman & Stephen

Figure 6: Purpose of internet

The study came up with the figures below, for the percentage of respondents
per purpose. It has been contrasted with a CSO study (2009c). The two
studies showed relatively similar figures about the most popular internet
purpose.
Table 1: Study v/s CSO

The CSO study involved people greater than 12 years old while the current
study included those greater than 18 years old. This may explain why CSO
having a larger denominator, sometimes had a more diluted percentage. The
high entertainment purpose is because the internet itself is an entertainment
tool and offers other opportunities as well (music, surfing), for each according
to his/her taste.
4.2 Percentage of consumers familiar with E-shopping
About 27% of the respondents have shopped online. The few internet access
percentage among Mauritians hinders E-shopping. Moreover, the latter is still
in an introduction stage of the product-life-cycle, as we still do not have an
internet-shopping culture yet entrenched compared to developed countries.
However, their shopping frequency revealed that the few people shopping
online, do it regularly, as 40% of them have shopped more than 4 times. They
are repeated and hence, experienced shoppers in this niche market as
sometimes, E-shopping satisfies them better than offline-shopping, due to the
benefits it provides.
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Hanuman & Stephen

Figure 7: Shopped-online

Age
Younger individuals (80% in the 18-35 age-bands) shopped online more than
the older people. The internet and E-shopping were born recently; therefore,
younger customers are earlier adopters and are more accustomed to using
them.
Table 2: Age

Intention
The buyers on average agreed to the idea of shopping again in the future. No
one was less than indifferent about it. This indicates that E-shopping can
satisfy customers with the benefits it procures and is thus sustainable.
Table 3: Intention

Income & Job status

Income range of none was excluded in the analysis. It is because the
respondents have shopped through their families earning and including them
will distort the mean. Most of the shoppers income-level fell around the
Rs20,001Rs30,000 range (mean=4). E-shopping demands an adequate
amount of income status due to its cost requirements (for example hardware).
Job occupations average was near middle level, due to job position and
income range relationship.
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Hanuman & Stephen

Table 4: Income

Gender
The buyers were 70% male and 30% female, highlighting the strong
prevalence of male in this cyber-field. Research has shown that males are
earlier online-shopping adopters than women are, as they are more
accustomed to new technology (Bidgoli, 2003, p.14).
Location
Most of the shoppers were from the districts of Plaines Wilhems and Port
Louis, two Mauritian urban areas that are advanced in term of internet
connectivity and economic development. There seemed to be a possibility of
E-shopping in these kinds of areas. It should be noted that Tantebazar.com
has been implemented in Plaines Wilhems.

Figure 8: District

4.3 Determine consumers behaviour toward E-shopping.

Physiological
(a) Motivation
Most respondents were motivated to all of the six stimuli of E-shopping, with
the mean of each stimulus being greater than indifferent (more than 3).
People were relatively motivated to shop online because of the different
benefits it provides compared to offline-shopping.
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Hanuman & Stephen

Table 0-5 Motivation

Convenience and the large number of products or services available, were

among the strongest stimuli. Saving time and 24/7 accessibility, had
motivated many of the respondents. Consistent with other studies,
convenience was the highest motive to shop online, especially for goaloriented shoppers (Kare-Silver, 2001).
Individuals were motivated by larger panoply of offering as online-shopping is
one of the main methods to acquire products/services not available in
Mauritius and the internet enables online products comparison and better
evaluation as well.
(b) Experience
Experience is also linked to those people who had shopped online before
(R.O-2). About 66% of the people use internet everyday or almost every day.
The total percentage of people using the internet at least once per week was
82%. This is consistent with CSO (2009c) which had an 86% figure. The
respondents seemed to be having a wired lifestyle and are experienced
surfer (Bellman et al. 1999). They connect everyday for the purposes
highlighted in R.O-1: information search or surfing.
Table 0-6 Internet-usage

Compatible to Montoya-Weis et al. (2003, cited Martnez-Lpez et al. 2005),

SPSS cross-tabulation revealed that the greater the internet usage, the
greater the intention to shop online. It is due to the increased familiarity and
ease of using the internet.

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Hanuman & Stephen

Figure 9: Experience
(c) Attitude, beliefs and Perception
The answerers considered online-shopping as not difficult to learn or to use
(hedonic perception) (mean=2.52). However, although the mean of Eshopping is value for money (utilitarian perception) bended towards
indifference (2.76), a significant percentage of the respondents, disagreed to
this idea (43%).

Figure 10: Physiological

People generally did not think online-shopping is difficult as most of them are
experienced internet-users. However, they were pessimistic about whether it
could hold more value for money than offline-shopping. A pessimistic
perception about E-shopping can be caused by a high-perceived additional
cost or high-perceived risk, as can be seen by the high mean perception (4/5)
that E-shopping is risky. Consistent with Dowling and Staelin (1994), this
perceived risk appears to deter people online.

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Hanuman & Stephen

Personal
(a) Gender
Both genders did not stereotype the words technology and shopping to a
specific sex. Therefore, contrary to Dholakia and Chiang (2003), men can
sometimes be involved in shopping and female can be attracted toward
technological innovation.

Figure 11: Gender-1

Conversely to Rollins (2005), men did not feel more powerful online than
women did. Moreover, women did not have a higher view of E-shopping
helping to conquer time limitation than men did. Both were indifferent about
feeling powerful online. They either did not realise the consumer
empowerment benefits that the internet offers (Pires et al. 2006) or they were
not attracted to it. They were rather relishing mostly the convenience benefit
as they unanimously agreed that E-shopping helps to conquer time limitation.

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Hanuman & Stephen

Figure 12: Gender-2

While both sexes agreed that offline-shopping leads to better social
interaction, a significant percentage of females strongly agreed about it.
Females value social interaction more than men do.
Men have a higher intention to shop online while females were mostly
indifferent about it, because the latter valued social interaction and shopping
as a family ritual, more highly than men did. These statements had been
proved in Hypothesis-5 and Hypothesis-4. In contrast, Mastercard (2008, cited
China View, 2008) found women are most likely to adopt E-shopping
nowadays while men will spend more from it. The two studies difference lay
with the divergence of demographics or cultural factors.
4.4 Determine the security and risks implication of E-Shopping of
existing & new shoppers.
As can be seen in part Attitude, beliefs and perception, individuals agreed
that E-shopping is risky. Risk itself is composed of many factors. By breaking
it down, this study had pinpointed what are the most feared common risks and
why individuals think it is risky. The ranking was done through the Friedman
test, which is similar to one-way ANOVA. Its purpose is to measure subjects
under different conditions (Pallant, 2005, p.296) or in this study, different risks
conditions.
Therefore, the ranking of the common fears of online-shopping, showed that
individuals categorised them as follows:

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Hanuman & Stephen

Table 7 Online-fears

People were considerably perturbed about the riskiness of E-payments, as

they were very sensitive to financial risk and personal risk. They feared of
losing their money or be involved in an online fraud. The new and unfamiliar
environment amplifies this fear. Performance and economic risks were
second, as respondents were concerned about the inability to inspect the
product and thus the risk of making a poor purchase. These two fears are
increased with a pricier purchase.
Delivery risk was in term of personal risk involved of not receiving the
products after being ordered. Privacy risk came fourth, as they feared their
personal information could be exposed to other person, who can usurp their
identity or defraud them. No after-sale service was fifth because respondents
were more concerned about the risks that may occur by ordering online than
the remedy to take after a risk has occurred. As for social risk, section Error!
Reference source not found. proved that the interviewees were indifferent
by their peers online-shopping customs.
Tackling risks
Among the most prevalent means of tackling risk of E-shopping are after-sale
service and law. This study has similar results to Internet Retailer (2008), as
people were agreeable that this would encourage them to shop online. Aftersale service will decrease post-purchase dissonance and will diminish
perceived risk of a product being damaged. However, law has a greater
influence in tackling risks (mean 3.93/5). A decent legislation with an online
regulatory body protecting E-consumers, can reduce part of the risks although
not completely, as perceived risks level depend on each individual perception.
E-retailers will be afraid to cheat on consumers for fear of legal actions and
the latter will have a greater sentiment of security.

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Hanuman & Stephen

Figure 13 Tackling risk

Familiarity and reputation of the seller have a direct relationship with
perceived risks. The more familiar and reputable is the E-seller, the less
perceived risks of online-shopping. Similar to Park and Stoel (2005); as the
customer gains positive experience and familiarity when trading with a trustful
E-retailer, he/she will repeat purchase.

Figure 14: Brand and Risk

The respondents were indifferent about having a higher price in return for an
increased online security. Better online security is a right that E-customers
demand rather than to pay for it. Moreover, consumers can buy the same
product offline without the increased price.

5.0

Recommendations

The recommendation has been made for E-Marketers and for the
government.
For E-Marketers
21

Hanuman & Stephen

Rather than going full swing online, complementing traditional offline-selling
with online-retailing, provides an opportunity to be the first-mover. Multichannel is believed to be the future of retailing (Dennis et al. 2004). Multichannel is useful for prudent marketers to test the market first before investing
fully.
Companies wishing to adopt E-commerce must first identify their needs,
resources, objectives and opportunities before considering at what level they
will operate. Full E-retailing is not a necessity. Amazon was not built in a day.
There are four levels of online playing field (Sweeney, 2007). Companies can
either enter directly a specific level or adopt a systematic approach to
implementing E-retailing.

Figure 15: Start-up

Adapted from: SWEENEY, 2007. p.12-17.

The target consumers must be the young population (18-35 age-ranges) as

they are more receptive to innovation. Older consumers will require more
convincing.
Males have a higher shopping potential than females and thus, can be easier
to target. By promoting convenience and saving time benefits, females can
discover that E-shopping can allow them more time to spend with their family.
E-shopping can be useful for some types of products while social shopping
can be left for other products. As such, females may be attracted by products
that they do not like to social-shop for, or by selling appealing, but
unavailable products in Mauritius, at better cost than offline. Marketers can
also offer virtual communities, websites and products customised for each
gender to attract them.
Risk & cooperation with other institutions
Product and delivery risk can be decreased by providing an efficient after-sale
service, perhaps at no extra cost. E-vendors should provide solid security and
display these certificates of securities on their websites to reassure
consumers (Allred et al. 2006). They should register themselves to reliable
third-party endorsement, such as E-payment security system (for example
Verified by Visa) and work with banks to ensure a more efficient and safer
financial transaction. Marketers should provide online guarantees, attractive
insurance package, customer reviews and fraud protection programme to
reduce financial risks and purchase dissonance (Allred et al. 2006). Escrow22

Hanuman & Stephen

service, a regulated body acting as a financial intermediary between buyer
and seller, can also help to reduce risk (eBay, 2009).
Web Experience
The website design and ordering process should be attractive, user-friendly,
simplified and can be navigated swiftly. Availability of customer service and
customer rating system can help to reduce risk. To reduce abandoned
shopping carts syndromes and increase web experience, the following steps
are required:

Figure 16 Web Experience

Adapted from: Chaffey, 2008. p.270.

The government can:

Increase connectivity
Government must reduce internet connection cost (for example removing
VAT). Allowing more competitors like multinationals to enter in the
telecommunication market and preventing price collusion, can urge firms to be
competitive and offer quality or best-cost services. The government must also
support these companies through subsidies and other methods as well.
Few percentage of the population have accessed to a broadband connection.
The latter is important for E-retailing. The government should increase the
quality of internet connectivity by building appropriate infrastructures such as:
more quality and efficient connection wires, ensures swifter connection,
adequate internet coverage or promotes the use of wireless connection. If
necessary, bank financing and public-private collaboration to construct these
infrastructures can be another option.
Decrease the cost of buying a computer
Nowadays, education and computers are intertwined. For instance, obtaining
a university degree is impossible without the use of computers. Government
should help decrease the price of computers by removing tax from it, by
23

Hanuman & Stephen

providing subsidies to family wishing to acquire it or allowing more
competitors in the market. Second-hand computer sales can also be
promoted at cheaper price. Government can reap two results from this
ambition: increase education level and enhance the chance for the population
to have a medium through which to connect to the internet.
Develop an internet-culture
The Mauritius computer and internet literacy rate should be improved.
Training should be given to the population and the students about how to use
the internet and the security issues involved online. There must be
encouragement of more parastatal body to trade online, like MRA E-Filing
(MRA, 2009) and frequent trade-shows such as InfoTech, can be mobilised.
Promulgate E-commerce law
The government must provide adequate protection to consumers through Ecommerce laws to boost their confidence to go online. Consumers will feel
protected, while E-retailers would think twice before abusing of consumers
trust. Creating an online regulatory body is essential to ensure that the laws
are enforced. Moreover, laws should be amended to enable companies to
trade online easily and to protect and regulate them.

6.0

Conclusion

We can conclude that all of the studys research questions were answered
and its results were mostly consistent with other researches. However, more
analysis of the Mauritian market is necessary to validate these findings.
According to this study, the internet culture is still an infant in Mauritius and
not all consumers might be online ready. The future of E-commerce and the
Cyber-island vision lie mostly in the hand of the government. Only if it
provides the necessary ingredients, can marketers follow suit. Presently, there
are some possibilities of online niche marketing especially among the young,
educated, online-experienced and male shoppers. The living local examples
in the likes of tantebazar.com, lecygne.com or the emerging one like
lexpressproperty.com, prove that E-retailing can be sustainable in Mauritius.
In a world of intense competition, Blue-Ocean opportunities (Chan Kim and
Mauborgne, 2005) exist. However, not everything that shines is gold and
companies should not be bewitched by E-retailings hype. Rushing online
blindly can lead to another dot-com bubble burst. Mauritius is a small island
but Singapore is smaller than it is. Yet, the latter is more developed and has
many B2B and B2C E-commerce opportunities. The internet is not a
revolution but an evolution of our traditional way of shopping. With the
advancement of the 24/7 culture; more and more demanding working life; long
end of month queues at hypermarkets; endless traffic jam and the
government intention to implement E-government Gateway, it is surely not
the last of what we will hear about E-retailing.

Limitation & future avenues for this research

This study has been conducted under limited time, human and financial
resources and therefore, generalisation of these results can be erroneous.
Therefore, this research can be improved in terms of better sampling
techniques.
24

Hanuman & Stephen

Potential future avenues for research:

Figure 17: Future Direction

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