Editing Consumer behaviour (section)

=== Internet consumer behaviour ===
Traditional models of consumer behaviour were developed by scholars such as Fishbein and Ajzen <ref>Fishbein, M., and Ajzen, I., Belief, Attitude, Intention and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research, 1975, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA</ref> and Howard and Sheth <ref>Howard, J.A. and [[Jagdish Sheth|Sheth, J.N.]], 1969, The Theory of Buyer Behavior, Vol. 14. New York, Wiley</ref> in the 1960s and 70s. More recently, Shun and Yunjie have argued that online consumer behaviour is different to offline behaviour and as a consequence requires new theories or models.<ref>Shun, C. and Yunjie, X., "Effects of outcome, process and shopping enjoyment on online consumer behaviour", Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, Vol. 5, 2006, pp 272–28, <Online:  https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Shun_Cai/publication/220066620_Effects_of_outcome_process_and_shopping_enjoyment_on_online_consumer_behaviour/links/58cbb43692851c31f656c821/Effects-of-outcome-process-and-shopping-enjoyment-on-online-consumer-behaviour.pdf></ref> After COVID-19, online consumer behaviour seems more essential, because since COVID-19 began, there were about 31% more people started shopping online with 43% of all respondents compared to only 12% of respondents before COVID-19.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jílková |first1=Petra |last2=Králová |first2=Petra |date=February 2021 |title=Digital Consumer Behaviour and eCommerce Trends during the COVID-19 Crisis |journal=International Advances in Economic Research |language=en |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=83–85 |doi=10.1007/s11294-021-09817-4 |issn=1083-0898 |pmc=7988251}}</ref>

Research has identified two types of consumer value in purchasing, namely product value and shopping value. Product value is likely to be similar for both online and offline shoppers. However, the shopping experience will be substantially different for online shoppers. In an offline shopping environment, consumers derive satisfaction from being within the physical store environment or retail landscape (hedonic motivations). In the case of online purchasing, shoppers derive satisfaction from their ability to navigate a website and the convenience of online searching which allows them to compare prices and 'shop around' with minimal time commitment. Thus the online consumer is motivated by more utilitarian factors.<ref>Shun, C. and Yunjie, X., "Effects of outcome, process and shopping enjoyment on online consumer behaviour", Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, Vol. 5, 2006, pp 275–76, <Online: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Shun_Cai/publication/220066620_Effects_of_outcome_process_and_shopping_enjoyment_on_online_consumer_behaviour/links/58cbb43692851c31f656c821/Effects-of-outcome-process-and-shopping-enjoyment-on-online-consumer-behaviour.pdf></ref>

==== Different types of online behaviour ====
Consumers may use online platforms for various stages of the purchase decision. Some consumers use online sources simply to acquire information about planned purchases. Others use online platforms for making the actual purchase. In other situations, consumers may also use online platforms to engage in post-purchase behaviours, such as staying connected with a brand by joining a brand community. Or they may become a brand advocate by posting a product review online, or providing brand referrals via social media. Some e-commerce providers have encountered a challenge in courting consumers who seek information online, but still prefer to turn to bricks and mortar retailers for their purchase. To understand the needs and habits of these and other kinds of online shoppers, online marketers have segmented consumers into different kinds of online behaviour in accordance with their online behavioural characteristics. Lewis and Lewis (1997) identified five market segments based on the way that consumers use the Internet in the purchase decision process:<ref>Cited in Dann, S. and Dann, S., ''E-Marketing: Theory and Application''London, Palgrave-Macmillan, 2011, pp 144-45</ref>

# "Directed Information-seekers" are users that primarily look for information about a product or service online, but there is no guarantee that they may be converted into online buyers.
# "Undirected Information-seekers" are newcomers to a product or service. They are more likely to interact with online prompts, and click through to web pages linked in advertising.
# "Directed Buyers" have a predetermined mindset and wish to purchase a specific product or service online.
# "Bargain Hunters" are price-sensitive users that like to discover products during sales promotions. For these users, discounts are a major attraction to online sales conversion.
# "Entertainment Seekers" are online consumers that are attracted to marketing delivered as a fun activity. Interactive online games could be useful in attracting this kind of customer.

==== A typology of online consumer behaviour ====
Wendy Moe (2003)<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Moe|first1=W.|date=2003|title=Buying, Searching, or Browsing: Differentiating Between Online Shoppers Using In-Store Navigational Clickstream|url=http://lb-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?frbrVersion=7&tabs=detailsTab&ct=display&fn=search&doc=TN_sciversesciencedirect_elsevierS1057-7408(03)70174-0&indx=2&recIds=TN_sciversesciencedirect_elsevierS1057-7408(03)70174-0&recIdxs=1&elementId=1&renderMode=poppedOut&displayMode=full&frbrVersion=7&frbg=&&dscnt=0&scp.scps=scope:(LOUGH_ML),scope:(LOUGH_DSP),scope:(LOUGH_LMS),scope:(LOUGH-SFX),primo_central_multiple_fe&mode=Basic&vid=LB_VU1&srt=rank&tab=local&vl(freeText0)=Wendy%20Moe%202003&dum=true&dstmp=1494298840949|journal=Journal of Consumer Psychology|volume=13|issue=1|pages=29–39|doi=10.1207/s15327663jcp13-1&2_03|doi-broken-date=16 November 2024 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> argues that in the offline environment, consumers who are shopping in stores can be easily classified by experienced sales employees only by watching their shopping behaviours. Such classification may not appear online, but Moe and Fader<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Moe|first1=W.|last2=Fader|first2=P.|date=2004|title=Capturing evolving visit behavior in clickstream data|journal=Journal of Interactive Marketing|volume=18|issue=1|pages=5–19|doi=10.1002/dir.10074|citeseerx=10.1.1.37.5128|s2cid=2776467}}</ref> argued that it is feasible to predict practical buying, surfing, and searching action online by investigating click patterns and repetition of visit within online behaviour. In addition, a report of E-consultancy about "benchmarking of user experience" outlined three kinds of online consuming behaviour as a valuable classification for the research of design of web pages to better serve different kinds of consuming behaviour. The three categories are: "trackers", "hunters", and "explorers".
# "Trackers" are the online consumers who are exactly looking for a product that they definitely wish to buy. They use the Internet for the information about its price, delivery methods, post-purchase service, and so on. Once they have found the proper information, little effort is needed to let them do the business.
# "Hunters" just know the categories of the product that they need, for instance, a novel for leisure time. However, they have not made specific decision on whose novel to buy. They use the Internet to find a list of product of their needed categories to make comparison. This kind of online consumer needs advice and help to do their business.
# "Explorers" do not even have the categories of product on their minds. In fact, they just want to buy something online. There is more uncertainty of this type of online consumers.

==== Influence of the Internet on buying process ====
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"
|+Table<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/internetmarketin00chaf|url-access=limited|title=Internet marketing|last1=Chaffey|first1=D.|date=2006|publisher=Financial Times Prentice Hall|isbn=978-1405871815|edition=3rd ed..|location=Harlow|page=[https://archive.org/details/internetmarketin00chaf/page/n137 109]}}</ref>  Internet's impact on buying process
|Stage in
buying process
|1 Unaware
|2 Aware of product need
develop specification
|3 Supplier
search
|4 Evaluate and
select
|5 Purchase
|6 Post-purchase evaluation
and feedback
|-
|Communications
objectives
|Generate awareness
|Position features,
benefit and brand
|Lead generation
(from range of customers)
|Assist purchase
decision
|Facilitate purchase
|Support use and
retain business
|-
|Internet marketing
techniques
|Banner advertising,
PR, links
|Web site content
(plus search support)
|Search engines,
intermediates
|Web site content
intermediates
|Web site content
|Personalised web site content
and interaction
|}
As the preceding table shows, the first row indicates the process of a consumer buying a new product, while the second and third row illustrates the positive influences the Internet could have on buying process by creating effective communications with online consumers. For example, suppose a consumer carelessly sees an advertisement about laptops on [[WeChat|Wechat]], a popular Chinese social media developed by [[Tencent]]. He begins to feel that his laptop is a bit out of date and wants to buy a new one, which is the outcome of good advertisement placed on a daily Internet tool. He does not know anything about how to buy a new one as business changes so fast today, so he searches on [[Google]] to find an answer. On the results page he finds promotional ads which mainly come from [[JD.com]] and [[Taobao]], two competing Chinese online retailers in this field. He prefers to use [[JD.com]], which provides detailed comparisons of brands, prices, locations, and methods of payment and delivery. After careful selection, he makes his order through [[JD.com]] via [[WeChat|Wechat]] payment. [[JD.com]] has one of the fastest distribution channels within China and it supports excellent post-purchase service to maintain its position in the market.