Global view on Consumer behavior

Global View on Consumer Behavior:

Impacts of the Internet all along the Consumption Decision-Making Process

Gregory Franusic

Eastern New Mexico University

Impacts of the Internet all along the Consumption Decision-Making Process

In today's world, doing without the Internet is becoming an increasingly difficult task. Indeed, the Internet plays an important role in our daily lives because people can talk to someone on the other side of the world via the Internet, send emails 24 hours a day, search for information, play games with other Internet users, and have the opportunity to purchase new products in cyberspace. In the meantime, Internet shopping has gained wide acceptance as a means of purchasing products and services, leading to a decrease in the number of people visiting traditional points of sale. It has also given customers a greater choice in comparing products and prices, more selection, more convenience, and an easier way to shop online. It has been shown that online shopping offers greater satisfaction to present-day consumers who are looking for convenience and rapidity (Yu and Wu, 2007). At the same time, for many consumers, buying online is still uncomfortable. For instance, lack of trust appears to be the primary reason why consumers are unable to buy online. In addition, consumers might need to examine and scent the products, socialize with people and obtain other feedback on the products before purchasing them. These types of factors can negatively influence the consumer's decision to buy online. So, how does a company have to rely on the Internet to boost its sales on a global scale? First, the paper will highlight the differences between online and offline consumer behavior processes. Then, a second part will identify some basic factors that drive consumers to decide whether or not to buy online. Finally, these factors will lead to managerial changes in how online sellers can use this knowledge to improve their online sales.

First of all, the decision-making process is quite common, regardless of the consumer's online or offline status. However, one of the main distinctions is the business environment and marketing communication. Under the traditional consumer decision-making model, the consumer's purchasing decision generally begins with awareness of needs, followed by information seeking, alternative assessments, the decision to buy and, finally, post-purchase behavior. From an online communication perspective, where clients are exposed to online banner ads or promotions, these ads can capture the interest of customers and drive their specific appeal.

Before making a decision to buy, they may require additional information to provide assistance. If they lack sufficient information, they may search online, for example in catalogues, websites, online search engines or through their peers' feedback on social networks. When clients have sufficient in-depth information, they should compare these product or service choices. During the search phase, they can seek product or customer feedback. They would identify whichever brand or company offers them the best service to meet their expectations. At this step, the well-organized architecture of the website and its eye-catching design are significant components in persuading consumers to be motivated to consider purchasing goods and services. In addition, the nature of the information sources can affect buyers' behavior (Bigné-Alcañiz et al., 2008). The most valuable feature of the Internet is that it handles the pre-purchase phase (Maignan and Lukas, 1997) because it allows customers to compare various possibilities. At the purchasing stage, the product mix, selling services and the quality of information appear to have the greatest importance in helping consumers to determine which product to choose or which seller to use. The behavior after the purchase becomes more relevant once they have purchased online. In some cases, consumers may have a concern or issue with the product, or they may be willing to return or replace the product they have purchased. As a result, the services of exchange and return are becoming stronger at this point.

Similarly, there are a number of risks that consumers may encounter throughout the Internet shopping process. This happens from the beginning, during the search process, which is an important part of the customer's online buying behavior. The source risk is located at the search and evaluation stage of the information, as the content of the websites may contain some errors or may not be reliable at all. A number of websites may require customers to sign up prior to performing a search on their website. Thus, as well as the risk associated with products, consumers are also exposed to information security risk. Due to the nature of online purchases, clients are running the risk of not being able to inspect the product before the purchase. They also accept risk in the checkout procedure because they may be required to disclose any personal details, such as a credit card number. Credit card data information can circulate anywhere on the web, as well as data hacking can be common use on some unreliable sites. Security issues do not cease at the time of purchase, but persist into the post-purchase period because their personal details may be used inappropriately. Indeed, the cookie system used on web browsers makes it possible to inform the actors of my Internet world of the preferences and habits of each Internet user in order to propose commercial offers or advertisements that can be embarrassing or too present. Spam in mailboxes is a perfect example of this method.

At the same time, there are elements to consider for a consumer who wishes to buy products on the Internet. Laudon and Traver (2009) developed a framework that weighs online consumer decision-making against offline decision-making, and suggest that a generic framework for consumer behavior needs to be modified to reflect new factors. As consumers seek to purchase a product, they would consider the brand and features of the product or service. Certain products can be easily acquired and mailed online, such as software and books. In addition, there are some products that are difficult to determine through the online channel. Website attributes, human resource management capabilities, marketing communication incentives and consumer expertise are also relevant to the proposed framework (Laudon and Traver, 2009). The functionality of the website is one of the key factors that can encourage consumers to buy online products. For instance, online merchants can use advanced technology to enhance their websites in an effort to impact consumers' perception of the online environment. When the website is overly slow, with a lack of airworthiness or safety, it may have a negative impact on consumers' desire to experiment with or purchase products on the website. Consumers' shopping experience or competencies, which are referred to as their knowledge of products and the functioning of online shopping, also have an impact on online shopping behavior. The behavior of the navigation path is another aspect that is becoming more prominent in the online world. It relates to the behavior of consumers who seek information on several websites at the same time, followed by a single site, followed by a single page, and finally a purchase decision (Laudon and Traver, 2009). All of these factors drive particular attitudes and behaviors towards online shopping and give them the feeling that they can control their shopping environment through the online world. With the same vision, this set will create purchasing incentives that will push the consumer to take the first step to buy on the Internet.

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