Quantitative models in Marketing

Analysis of different marketing models used in

research paper
Name: Kunal Bagade
Roll No: - M-03
(MMS-2: Marketing)
An Empirical Study of Impulse Buying
Behavior in Online Bookstores
Author: G. Muruganantham, Ravi Shankar Bhakat
Journal: International Journal of Online Marketing, July- September,2013
ABSTRACT:
Online shopping is gradually becoming popular in the developing countries like India. The online
bookstores have emerged as a new destination which attracts millions of shoppers every day. The
impulse buying in the offline stores has been a major area of interest for the researchers. But with the
boom in online shopping, there is a scope to study the different aspects of impulse buying in online
stores. This paper presents the study of various aspects of online impulse buying viz. hedonic shopping,
website quality, trust, situational factors and variety seeking in Indian context. With the data collected
from the online survey method the different antecedents of impulse buying have been analysed and
reported on the basis of their significance. The hedonic shopping was found to be the major factor
influencing impulse buying in online bookstores. This study also discusses about the managerial issues,
suggestions and implications for the future researchers. The under- standing of the behavior of the
online shoppers in terms of their impulsive behavior would be helpful for the marketers and
academicians.

NEED FOR THE STUDY

The online shopping in India is going through a phase of huge growth as well as competition. The impulse
buying has become a ubiquitous phenomenon in the various online stores which poses a great scope to
understand the consumer decision making in the context of online shop- ping. There are numbers of research
works available in the online shopping context but the online impulse buying has received little or limited
attention from various marketing academicians.

The research gap is reflected in terms of the dearth of literature which poses the scope to investigate the
upcoming phenomenon of online impulse buying. The overall purpose of this research paper is to gather
deeper understanding of the various aspects which are significantly related to the impulse buying of the
Indian online shoppers in online bookstores. This research paper also encompasses the various factors which
are predicted to be the influencers on antecedents of online impulse buying.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The objective of this study is to identify the factors which influence the impulse buying behavior in the
online bookstores. In first phase of the study a conceptual background is developed based upon an
extensive literature review. This is followed by an empirical study, where the factors that potentially
affect the impulse buying in online shopping are analyzed.
The specific objectives are stated below:
• To identify the factors which act as critical factors for impulse buying in online bookstores;
• To determine the relative significance of each factor that are crucial for impulse buying of books in
online bookstores;
• To provide suggestions for the online retailers based upon the finding of the study.

Proposed Hypothesis and Research Framework

This study is an attempt to explore the multiple dimensions on impulse buying in online bookstores. The
content analysis and extensive literature review has focuses on the major aspect of the impulsive
behavior. A research framework has been developed based upon the explored studies, which is to be
evaluated in the subsequent empirical testing. The research model depicted in Figure 1 was developed
to examine consumers’ online impulse buying behavior toward books. It also illustrates the relationships
among five variables in an online shopping context. In this causal relationship based on five hypotheses
there is a scope for structural model analysis for online impulse buying behavior. Based on the literature
review the following hypotheses are proposed:
Hypothesis 1: Hedonic shopping motivation has a positive influence on impulse buying in online bookstores;
Hypothesis 2: Website quality has a positive influence on the impulse buying in online bookstore;
Hypothesis 3: Trust in the website has a positive influence on the impulse buying in online bookstore;
Hypothesis 4: Situational variables have a positive influence on the impulse buying in online bookstores;
Hypothesis 5: Variety seeking behavior has a positive influence on impulse buying.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A web-based survey method is adopted in this research work. The respondents were contacted through
the email groups and the social media groups. The online survey questionnaire was sent with the request
mail to the potential respondents. The respondents are those who have bought books from online
bookstores. The advantage with the online survey is that, there is convenience for the respondents as they
participate with their own interest. The snowball sampling method was involved in collecting the
responses, as the survey was circulated among the potential online buyers with the help of respondents.
A total of 238 respondents participated in Their online survey. The respondents were asked questions to
elicit their behavior in online bookstores and demographic details. In an attempt to explore the impulse
buying with respect to the online bookstore, respondents were enquired about hedonic motivations,
website quality, trust, situational factors and variety seeking behavior (See Table 1).
The collected data was analyzed by exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis.
The different measures studied in this research have been properly validated and checked for the
reliability. The internal consistency in terms of Cronbach alpha has been found to be significant and
acceptable to proceed further in the factor analysis. All the items have been found to have the accepted
level of internal consistency to provide a valid result in the analysis. To obtain the factors, a principal
component factor analysis and varimax rotation was used. Finally, the structural equation modelling was
used to analyze the behavior of the online impulse buying with respect to the identified factors. The
structural equation modelling, when compared with other multivariate techniques such as multiple
regressions, allows simulta nous test of relationships with multiple variables. In this present study
considering the complexity of the model Their sample size of 238 was more than sufficient for using
the SEM (Hair et al 1998). The LISREL 8.8 package was used in producing the structural equation
model (SEM) with latent variables to test the hypotheses (see Figure 2). The model was found to be fit
enough and the various relevant fit indices are provided in the Table 4.
FINDINGS AND RESULTS
Based upon the survey it has been found that majority of the respondents like purchasing books
online. The participants have a genuine interest towards online book purchasing and are also involved in
it. Majority of the respondents bought a book online within the past one month. Regarding the average
spending habits per visit it is found that majority of shoppers spend on an average of 200-500 rupees in
the online bookstores. The demographics of the respondents can be found in Table.
Literature and Fiction are the most sought-after books, the second most popular books are academics
and professional and Self Help and Personality development books are in third place of popularity. The
favorite authors of the Indian online book buyers are Paulo Coelho, Chetan Bhagat, Kalki, Stephen Covey,
Robin Sharma, Peter Drucker, and Sidney Sheldon. It shows that fiction writers and self-help authors are
most popular among the age groups of 20-30 years. Approximately half of the shoppers do not take part
in their view and recommendation process.
 Figure 2. LISREL output

The factor analysis was done to understand the relative significance of the factors based upon the factor
loading. Among the impulse buying construct the fourth and fifth item show maximum of factor loadings. The
“buying now thinking about later” and “buying while out of control” explains the impulse buying behavior. The
hedonic shopping items such as buying for a perfect gift and buying for the family and friends as well as buying
for the sole purpose of discounts hunting are showing highest factors loadings (Table 3).
Among the website quality construct, the ease of use of online bookstores and well-organized website shows
highest relative significance. Regarding the trust aspect of the store, trustworthiness, secure credit transaction
and enjoyable and pleasing experience contribute to the construct. The situational factors viz. money
availability, knowledge and awareness of the store, variety of payment methods have captured the maximum
variance of the construct. The variety seeking behavior which includes checking for the email advertisements,
looking for online catalogues, novelty seeking causes highest visit in the online bookstores.
The structural model is in consistent with the accepted criteria (1<χ2/df<5) with a value of 2.28. Their model
is showing robust fit indices with the following values (Kline, 1998). NNFI of 0.90 or above shows an adequate
fit and a value of 0.95 shows excellent fit. A value of RMSEA ≤ .05 indicates close approximate fit, values
between .05 and .08 suggest reasonable error of approximation and RMSEA ≥ .10 suggests poor fit. The value
of 0.076 is within the range of the reasonable fitness; hence the fitness of the model is confirmed.
Values for both NFI and CFI indicators range between 0 and 1, with values above 0.9 indicating a good model
fit. The value of NFI (0.89) and CFI (0.93) are satisfying the given criteria. Overall, the different fit indices
associated with the model suggest that the covariances of the different constructs are explained. In the SEM
analysis the different hypothesis framed beforehand are evaluated and tested with respect to their path value
and significance. Based upon the t-value and path coefficient the hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 4 are supported.
The influences of hedonic shopping and situational factor on impulse buying in online book stores are the
major finding from this study. It is concluded that hedonic shopping motivation of the shopper contributes to
the impulse buying inside the online bookstore. The situational factors also show a strong association with the
impulse buying in online bookstores. Among the hypothesis which is not supported the relative significance
could be checked based upon the t-value and path coefficient. It is inferred from the model that among there
main hypothesis; the variety seeking behavior, trust, and website quality have the significance in the same order
(Table 5).
DISCUSSION
This study provides a foundation for understanding how shoppers are involved in impulse buying while
visiting online bookstores. This research paper is first of its kind as there are no impulse buying studies done in
the online book buying industry with reference to Indian Consumers. Online retailers and academicians may
use the study for assessing consumer attitudes towards online retail shopping in the Indian context. The
findings can be used while constructing, managing, and evaluating the strategies of online bookstores. With
the changing trends in retailing and online shopping scenario the study could be crucial in developing a deeper
understanding of the online book retailing business and the behavior of the online shoppers.
From the demographic findings it is concluded that the age group of 20-30 are highly involved in the online
book buying phenomenon. Also, the fiction and literature categories are sold most and apart from these help
groups which are targeting the youths for their leisure reading and personality development. The majority of
the shoppers are also involved in buying of books of value less than 500 rupees

Table 3. Reliability and factor loadings

Factor
Constructs Composite Reliability Mean Std. Deviation
Loadings
IB1 3.26 1.132 .716
IB2 2.63 1.252 .830
IB3 3.46 1.105 .693
Impulse Buying .862
IB4 3.18 1.203 .690
IB5 2.68 1.245 .841
IB6 2.66 1.291 .832
HD1 3.31 1.181 .599
HD2 3.29 1.181 .772
HD3 3.36 1.116 .772
Hedonic Motivation .751
HD4 4.12 .984 .605
HD5 4.00 .983 .606
HD6 3.35 1.209 .642
WQ1 4.07 .678 .662
WQ2 4.12 .698 .813
Website Quality .765
WQ3 4.24 .708 .794
WQ4 4.22 .713 .791
TR1 4.07 .831 .743
TR2 3.97 .844 .693
Trust .697
TR3 3.70 .973 .688
TR4 4.09 .755 .787
ST1 3.21 1.172 .656
ST2 3.50 1.098 .768
Situational Factors .778 ST3 3.46 1.081 .746
ST4 3.84 1.076 .748
ST5 3.82 1.072 .723
VR1 3.37 .979 .583
VR2 3.71 .974 .530
VR3 2.89 1.311 .784
Variety Seeking .808
VR4 3.17 1.212 .816
VR5 3.53 1.109 .786
VR6 3.22 1.188 .746
which shows the low purchasing power of the shoppers. Thus, the bookstores may target the youths who are
buying various literature fictions and self-help books, in order to improve their online sales turnover. The
study finding shows that Flipkart is the most favored website by the online book shoppers. One possible
reason could be that flipkart promoting themselves in different media including television advertisements.
Table 4. Model fit indices

Index Value
χ2 1002
Degrees of Freedom 419
χ2
/df 2.28
Normed Fit Index (NFI) 0.89
Non-Normed Fit Index (NNFI) 0.93
Comparative Fit Index (CFI) 0.93
Goodness of Fit Index (GFI) 0.79
Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index (AGFI) 0.75
Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) 0.076

Table 5. Result of hypothesis testing

Hypothesis Path Coefficient t-Value Remarks

Hedonic shopping
motivation has a positive
Hypothesis 1 influence on impulse 0.5 3.82 Supported
buying in online
bookstores.
Website quality has a
positive influence on the
Hypothesis 2 -0.04 .0.15 Not Supported
impulse buying in online
bookstore.
Trust in the website has a
positive influence on the
Hypothesis 3 -0.19 .0.58 Not Supported
impulse buying in online
bookstore.
Situational variables have
a positive influence on
Hypothesis 4 0.29 2.77 Supported
the impulse buying in
online bookstores.
Variety seeking behavior
Hypothesis 5 has a positive influence 0.18 1.37 Not Supported
on impulse buying

The awareness level is comparatively high for Flipkart when compared to a relatively older website such as
Indiaplaza. Their study findings are in concurrence with Kaisheng (2011), who found that the promotions of the
website induce the shoppers to get involved in impulse buying. This study finds that majority (62%) of the people
are not getting involved in the online reviews of the product. This research suggests that the involvement with
the store could be increased by providing some sort of incentives for providing reviews. The participation of the
shoppers in recommendation will also increase the website quality by improving the information quality of the
website. Jeffrey and Hodge (2007) found that there is strong relationship between the possible economic
benefits and increased sales revenue and online impulse shopping. The online book stores can also create
loyalty programs for the people who buy books and regularly update their review about them. The research
clearly indicates that hedonic shopping motivation is one of the key factors in impulse buying in online
bookstores. The hedonic motivation is related to a sense of adventure and excitement in the online book-
stores. According to Kim and Eastin (2011) hedonic consumers are more likely to engage in impulse buying.
Consumer’s impulse buying is positively correlated with hedonic motivations. In order to increase the sales in
online bookstores there is a need to address hedonic aspect of online shoppers. The sales promotion for gift
shopping which is an important aspect of the hedonic shopping could be promoted in order to increase
impulse buying. The gift packs for a series of books could be promoted through the online portals apart from
selling single books to the shoppers. The online store managers must focus on the hedonic aspect such as
enjoyment pleasure which could enhances the sales.
Their study supports Beatty and Ferrell (1998) study that more the time spent by the shoppers (viz. available
time) greater would be the chance to buy on impulse. The time spend by the shoppers in the online stores could
motivate them in indulging in the impulsive buying. The retailers could make the customers spend time in the site
with better navigation and designs of website. Zhang et al, (2007) stated that the consumer conversion rates
could be increased by purpose fully developing the online shopping sites in ways that promotes more
impulsiveness. The enjoyable and informative online store would make the shoppers get involved in the
website and ultimately, the time spent in the online store could be maximized.
The money available is another situational factor which can be leveraged upon by the retailers. The variety of
payments modes such as credit purchase system and cash on delivery could increase the buying of the shoppers.
The shopping or browsing time could be increased by providing relevant book reviews and recommendation
prominently displayed for the shop- pers. A good design system such as providing option for advanced searches
of the product can involve the shoppers with the site. Wells et al, (2011) also suggested that website quality and a
well-designed website will enhance the impulse buying.
Their study finds that variety seeking provides a scope through which shopper’s involvement in impulse
buying is increased. Online book shoppers can increase the number and variety of books displayed in the portals.
This finding is in agreement with the Sharmaetal (2006) study involving variety seeking and stimulation of the
shoppers. Most shoppers buy spontaneously, at least some of the time, however, some shoppers appear to do so
more often than others. While shopping, the recommendation for similar variety of books as well as books of
similar price range should be displayed. This could further stimulate the shopper’s variety seeking behavior and
in turn promote the impulse buying.
Online stores should also focus on the website design, brand, privacy and security, for promoting themselves by
which the familiarity towards the websites can be increased and sales could be enhanced. The familiarity of the
website and strong awareness among the shoppers could enhance the impulse buying in the online bookstores.
CONCLUSION
This research study has tried to fill the gap of the existing literature by investigating the online impulse buying
in the online bookstores. As the online book retailing is at nascent stage in India, this study has made an
attempt to understand the intricacies of the online book buying behavior. Based on the extensive literature
review, the multiple aspect of impulse buying in context of online bookstores is included. It is found that there is
a positive effect of hedonic shopping and situational variables on the impulse buying behavior. The subsequent
research work could further contribute by studying the hedonic motivation and situational variables with respect
to the shopping environment of both online and offline bookstores.
This study has used the online survey method to capture the impulse buying behavior of the online users in India.
The future research could involve some experimental approach in this regard such as development of simulated
websites and subjecting the users for the real-life experiences. Another important direction for the future
research could be to compare the online impulse buying in India and other countries and to study how the
different factors are affecting impulse buying across the globe.