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Online Shopping Attitude among the Youth: A study on University Students

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International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Development Studies (IJEDS) 2(1) 2014, 23-32

ONLINE SHOPPING ATTITUDE AMONG THE YOUTH:

A STUDY ON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

DEEPJYOTI CHOUDHURY1 and ABHIJIT DEY2

Abstract

Online shopping has become a new trend of shopping nowadays and is quickly becoming an
important part of lifestyle. Due to wide spread internet access by people and e-commerce
usage by traders, online shopping has seen a massive growth in recent years. Young people
have been the majority shoppers online and thus this study finds out the attitude of youth
towards online shopping. This particular paper attempted to find out whether there is any
impact of five factors like internet literacy, gender, educational qualification, website usability
and online product price on online shopping. The study was undertaken among the students of
Assam University. The results of the study highlighted that there is a significant relationship of
online shopping with gender, internet literacy, and online product price. Similarly the study
also highlighted that there is no significant relationship of online shopping with education and
website usability.

Keywords: Online Shopping, Website usability, Internet literacy, educational

qualification
1. Introduction
The beginning of Internet era in India can be cited back to 1986 with the introduction of
ERNET project startup email exchange program between national centre for software
technology, Bombay and IIT Bombay (Rao and Manzar, 2011). Since then India saw
several levels of up- gradation, modifications and installation and different organizations
set up their own website. ICICI bank became the first of its kind to launch online banking
site in 1997 (Murali, 2011).The visible presence of subscription base websites can be
made from the subscription sites of thenewspapertoday.com and NaiDunia.com in 2001.
Similarly in 2003, Air Deccan launched India’s first online air ticketing site (Team
CCDS). India now has 3rd largest Internet population in the world with 150 million
Internet users, after China (at 575m) and the US (at 275m). At 150 million total Internet
users, the Internet penetration in India remains at 12 per cent vs. 43 per cent in China and
80 per cent in the US. India has nearly 950 million mobile subscribers and close to 50
million or fewer than 6 per cent of these mobile subscribers access Internet via mobile
handsets (Aggarwal, 2013).Thus India has a huge prospect of online banking due to
massive number of internet users.

1
Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, Assam University, Silchar, Assam, India.
Pin: 788011, Email: choudhurydeepjyoti@gmail.com
2
Alumni, Department of Business Administration, Assam University, Silchar, Assam, India
Pin:788011, Email: adey742@gmail.com
24 Choudhury and Dey

The era 1960-1982 seen the rise of electronic commerce with the development of
EDI(Electronic Data Interchange). EDI replaced traditional mailing and faxing of
documents with a digital transfer of data from one computer to another. Trading partners
could transfer orders, invoices and other business transactions with EDI (Merchant,
2011). Later In 1979 English inventor and entrepreneur Michael Aldrichinvented online
shopping, or teleshopping, to enable online transaction processing between consumers
and businesses, or from business to business.Online shopping or E shopping or online
retailing is a form of electronic commerce allowing consumers to directly buy goods
or services from a seller over the Internet without an intermediary service (Jusoh and
Ling, 2012). Aldrich's technique later became known as e-commerce; it did not become
economically viable until the Internet (Norman, 2014). In 1982-1990, it was evident that
B2B online shopping was commercially lucrative but B2C was successful until the later
widespread use of PCs and World Wide Web (Merchant, 2011).
India has crossed 100 million Internet users, out of which Youngsters in India are the
majority users (IAMAI, 2011). More than 75% of Internet Usage is still driven by
youngsters that include young men, school and college going students. The contribution
shared fairly amongst, School Going Kids – 21%, College Going Kids – 27%, Young
Men – 27%. Around one third of Young men and Working women are heavy users (those
accessing internet for more than 16.5 hours per week (IAMAI, 2011). According to the
report of (comScore, 2012) on state of e commerce in India, 75% of online audience
between the age group of 15-34 years, the female population contributed to almost 40%
of total users. India is one the youngest online population globally and expected to be a
consistent trend in coming years. As per the study, 15-24 years of age group has been the
fastest growing age segment online with user growth being contributed by the both male
and female segments. India is one of the youngest online demographic globally.
According to (Brown, 2012) in his blog, Understanding Gender and e-Commerce say that
men and women have shopped differently for generations. A little over 50% of the
internet population is men yet 58% of e-Commerce revenue comes from women. Men
generally complete more transactions online while women have a higher average order
value. Again Hernández, Jiménez, and Martín (2011), in their study of age, gender and
income, found that socioeconomic variables moderate neither the influence of previous
use of the internet nor the perceptions of e‐commerce; in short, they do not condition the
behavior of the experienced e‐shopper. Thus the demographic factors and their
relationship with online banking have not been generalized due to conflicting results of
the studies need to be studied within a specific group of people i.e. the youth or the
students.
Similarly there are positive instances of website usability and its relation to online
shopping. (Lee and Kozar, 2009) say that usable websites are pivotal for e-business
success. They create apositive attitude toward an online store, increases stickiness
andrevisit rates, and can stimulate online purchases. From the study of (Li and Zhang,
2002) suggests that a consumer’s motivation to shop and the information load on the
Internet could influence evaluation of prices and explain why certain prices would be
Online Shopping Attitude among the Youth: A Study on University Students 25

more acceptable. Hence website usability, price of product quoted online and their
relationship on online purchase needs to be found out for a specific group of population
i.e. the students.

2. Literature Review
(KIYICI, 2012),in his study of internet shopping behavior of college of education
students, tried to find out the role of familiarity and income and possession of credit card
on online shopping. His results found out that that male students teacher are more familiar
and have more positive attitude than female student teacher. Teacher students, who have
more monthly income and have more internet self-efficacy have positive attitude and
intension to shop online. Participants, who have credit card, have more familiarity and
less anxiety concerning internet shopping.
The study of (Delafrooz, Paim, and Khatibi, 2010), tried to find out the factors
influencing students’ attitudes towards online shopping in Malaysia through a five-level
Likert scale self-administered questionnaire, which was developed based on prior
literature. The multiple regression analysis demonstrated the most significant
determinants of consumers’ attitudes towards online shopping. The results indicated that
utilitarian orientation, convenience, price, and a wider selection influenced consumers’
attitudes towards online shopping. Therefore, e-retailers should emphasize a more user-
friendly function in order to provide utilitarian customers a way to find what they need
efficiently.
The thesis of (Delafrooz, 2009), found that the level of online shopping intention was
relatively high and direction of attitude towards online shopping was positive among the
postgraduate students. Moreover, it was found that utilitarian orientation and hedonic
orientation, perceived benefits and demographic characteristics (gender, age, and income)
were significantly and positively correlated with the attitude towards online shopping. In
addition, the result revealed that the perceived behavioral control and attitude were
significantly and positively correlated with online shopping intention.
(Kim, 2010), in his study found out that the consumer factor, comprised of privacy,
security and trust, time saving, ease of use, convenience, enjoyment provided by
shopping, company reputation and tactility, was most significant for who intended to
purchase online and who did buy online.
The study of (Wambui, 2010), tried to find out the characteristics of online shopping
adopters among university students and went further to unearth the reasons behind non-
adoption and adoption of online shopping. The findings of the study revealed that there
was a high level of awareness of online shopping but very low use of the same. Findings
also showed that online shoppers were mostly male, most of them were aged 30 yrs and
below and most earned higher incomes. Some of the reasons cited for non adoption of
online shopping were concerns about financial security and discomfort in sharing of
personal information online. Some of the reasons cited for adoption of online shopping
26 Choudhury and Dey

were the ease of buying products from anywhere in the world, and the ability to choose
from a wide variety of products.

3. Objectives of the study

The purpose of this study is to find out the impact of five factors like internet literacy,
gender, educational qualification, website usability and online product price on online
shopping on a specific group of population i.e. the students. As such the objectives are:
i. To understand if gender has any impact on online shopping among the students.
ii. To understand if educational qualification has any impact on online shopping
among the students.
iii. To understand whether internet literacy has any impact on online purchase among
the students.
iv. To understand if product price quoted online has any impact on online shopping
among the students.
v. To understand whether website usability has any impact on online shopping among
the students.

4. Methodology
4.1 Data collection and sample description
A survey was conducted with target population as the students of Assam University,
Silchar with a structured questionnaire. A total of 200 responses were collected.
Convenience sampling, which is one of the non probability sampling methods, has been
used in this research because of ease of accessibility of the sample.
Statistical tools such as percentage analysis and chi square test for independence has been
conducted to compute the findings.
4.2 Hypothesis of the study
Since the study relates with finding the relationship of gender, educational qualification,
internet literacy, online product price and website usability with online
shopping/purchase., hence the hypothesis of the study can be taken as

1. Ho: Online shopping has no significant relationship with Gender.

2. Ho: Online shopping has no significant relationship with educational
qualification.
3. Ho: Internet Familiarity/Literacy has no significant relationship on Online
shopping
4. Ho: Online Product price has no significant relationship with online purchase.
5. Ho: Website usability has no significant relationship with online purchase.
Online Shopping Attitude among the Youth: A Study on University Students 27

5. Analysis and Findings

5.1 Demographic Profile of the respondents
Demographic profile has been obtained from the responses and it was found that majority
of the respondents are in the age group of 20-35 years of age, which is obvious since the
target population are the students. Gender wise 64% of the respondents are male and the
rest are female. Education levels of the respondents are 7% under graduate, 91% are
graduate and 2 % are post graduate.
5.2 Attributes of Online shoppers
Out of total 200 respondent students it was found that 90.5% of the respondents do shop
online and the rest 9.5% do not shop online. Among those students who shop online,
majority i.e.66.29% shop online monthly followed by 21.54% shop online occasionally
followed by weekly and thrice a week. Among the student respondents who do not shop
online were asked the reason of not purchasing online. Majority of the respondents
i.e.26.31% said that they highlighted their non-purchase of product online due to inability
to touch the products, followed by 21.05% are not familiar with online purchase, 15. 78%
refer to product quality. Other reasons cited were privacy and security, shipment fees and
non-interaction with shop assistants. Among those who shop online, time saving and 24/7
accessibility has been cited as the major benefit of online shopping. About what is
shopped online, majority of the students responded about purchasing books which is 31.5
%, this may be since the target population are students. This is followed by 20.5 %, who
purchase apparel followed respectively by purchasing electronics and e tickets.
5.3 Hypothesis testing
To test whether there is any relationship between gender and online shopping among the
target group, the hypothesis being Ho: Online shopping has no significant relationship
with Gender. Table 1 shows the summary of the responses:
Table 1: Gender and online shopping
Familiar and shop Gender Total
online
Male Female

Yes 110 44 154

No 17 29 46

Total 127 73 200

28 Choudhury and Dey

The calculated value of chi square is 18.14 which is greater than the table value 3.841 at 1
df and 5% level of significance and thus the null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, online
shopping has significant relationship with gender.
To test whether there is any relationship between education and online shopping among
the target group, the hypothesis being Ho: Online shopping has no significant relationship
with educational qualification. The following table 2shows the responses from the
respondents.
Table 2: Educational qualification and online shopping
Familiar and Educational qualification Total
shop online
10+2 Years of Graduate Post graduate
Schooling

Yes 12 140 2 154

No 2 43 1 46

Total 14 183 3 200

The calculated value of chi square is 0.755 is smaller than the table value 5.991 at 2df and
5%level of significance and thus the null hypothesis is accepted. Hence, online shopping
has no significant relationship with educational qualification.

To test whether there is any relationship between Internet literacy and online shopping
among the target group, the hypothesis being Ho: Internet Literacy has no significant
relationship on online shopping. The following table 3shows the responses from the
respondents.

Table 3: Internet Literacy and online shopping

Familiar and shop Internet literacy Total
online
Yes No
Yes 146 8 154

No 10 36 46
Total 156 44 200
Online Shopping Attitude among the Youth: A Study on University Students 29

The calculated value of Chi Square is 110.17 which is greater than the table value 3.841
at 1df of 5% level of significance and thus the null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, Internet
Literacy has significant relationship on online shopping.
To test whether there is any relationship between online product price and online
shopping among the target group, the hypothesis being Ho: Online Product price has no
significant relationship with online purchase. Table 4shows the responses from the
respondents.
Table 4: Online product price and online shopping
Familiar and shop Price listed is higher compared to traditional Total
online purchase
Yes No

Yes 33 121 154

No 18 28 46
Total 51 149 200

The calculated value of chi square is 5.83 which is greater than the table value 3.841 for
1df at 5% level of significance and thus the null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, Online
Product price has significant relationship on online purchase.
To test whether there is any relationship between website usability and online shopping
among the target group, the hypothesis being Ho: Website usability has no significant
relationship with online purchase. Table 5shows the responses from the respondents.
Table 5: Website usability and online shopping
Familiar and shop Website usability should be simple Total
online
Yes No

Yes 83 71 154

No 31 15 46

Total 114 86 200

The calculated value of chi square is 2.62 is smaller than the table value 3.841 at 1df and
5 level of significance and thus the null hypothesis is accepted. Hence, Website usability
has no significant relationship with online purchase.
30 Choudhury and Dey

6. Discussions and Implications

Since majority of the respondents shop online, thus this fact can be beneficial for the
corporate sector looking for promoting their brands and doing business over the internet.
Majority of respondents shop online but still the respondents think the reason of not
shopping online is due to inability to touch and see the product physically while shopping
It has been found that internet literacy has significant relationship on online purchase,
thus proper care should be taken to promote internet literacy so as to promote online
shopping . From the study it was found that online product price listing has significant
impact on online purchase. Thus if online shopping is to be promoted then online price
listing should be less compared to traditional market price listing. The online retailers
need to provide more competitive price and variety of product to attract customers and
encourage them to make purchase decision. It has also been found that website usability
has no significant impact on online shopping, which means that ease of use of website has
no impact on whosoever is internet literate and who shop online. Another finding was that
there is no significant relationship between online shopping and educational qualification
which means that qualification has no impact on online shopping whereasonline shopping
has significant relationship with gender. Hence e shopping companies should be distinct
in addressing the needs of both male as well as female shoppers while promoting their
brands or selling their product in online environment.The study observed that online
shopping is in satisfactory level among the students of Assam University. Taking this as
an example, if the e shopping companies try to concentrate on above recommendations
then it will surely be able to increase the no of online shoppers as well as the frequency of
online shopping among the students who are the majority online purchaser.

7. Limitations and Scope of future research

As with most researches, this study has also some limitations. The sample size of the
study, which consists of only 200 students, cannot be generalized and applied for general
public. Again opinions are dynamic; hence, the results of the study based on the opinions
are likely to differ. The above mentioned study is carried out only in one particular
university and the data of similar universities were not available for comparison, hence
observations and results may not be applicable for any other universities.Again the result
also depends upon the integrity of respondents in giving true and fair opinion and their
level of knowledge in the subject under study. Both sample error and non sampling error
may exist in the study and also biasness among the responses cannot be ignored. As
online shopping depend on World Wide Web which has a global reach, hence a multi
cultural, cross cultural research need to be undertaken to correctly understand the online
shopping attitude. Empirical research could also be carried out to find out similarities and
differences of online shoppers of different countries and compare between the perception,
attitude and purchase behavior of the shoppers. Future researches can also be carried out
to find out comparison on online shopping attitude among students based on difference of
Online Shopping Attitude among the Youth: A Study on University Students 31

subject stream like professional or non professional courses, arts, science and commerce
etc.

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