What motivates people to purchase online?

Group Project: Secondary Data Analysis
and Qualitative Research

The project involves the collection and analysis of bothsecondary data and primary qualitative research. The general topic of the research is drivers and threats of online shopping behavior.In 2018, approximately 1.8 billion people globally purchased products online. In the same year, global e-retail sales also amounted to USD 2.8 trillion and was expected to grow up to USD 4.8 trillionby 2021 (Statista, 2018). Online shopping is generally perceived to be more flexible and convenient. However, drivers may vary across age group, product categories, level of trust consumers have, and other factors (Al-Debei et al, 2015; Lian and Yen, 2014). Furthermore, consumers may also abandon the cart after shoppingor may repurchase the product or may be deterred to make purchases due to the susceptibility of using technology or the lack of acceptance of technology(Kukar-Kinney and Close, 2010; Tsai and Huang, 2007).

Within the general context of online shopping behavior, a variety of marketing research problems can beidentified, some of which are identified below:

1. What motivates people to purchase online? Are they more driven by convenience factors or they imitate their social network in their decision of online shopping?
2. How incentives given by firms, online retailers influence their behavior? Does online advertisement, price discounts or other marketing activities of firms influence their decision?
3. What deters consumers to purchase online? Can susceptibility to technology acceptance or risk aversion diminish the online purchase propensity of some group of consumers?What makes consumers to abandon a cart or repurchase a product?

Based on this background, the task is to chooseone of the above outlined broad
aspects and develop specific questions for this aspect. This marketing research problem has to be investigated within the group work. To investigate the marketing research problem, two research methods should be utilized:

1. Secondary data analysis, and
2. Qualitative Interviews.

Based on the data collected and analysed, each group should:

10. a) Submit a written group report of a maximum of 4,000 words, based on the analysis of
    the data collected. All reports should be handed by 00am onMonday6th January
    2020(online via turn it in/Blackboard and offline via hand in boxes in the
    postgraduate student reception area).
11. b) Maintain a group diary. This should detail agendas, minutes of meetings, including
    roles, responsibilities and timeline for tasks; and other evidence of participation. All
    group diaries and peer review forms should be handed in (offline only) by 00am on
    Monday6th January 2020(hand in boxes in the postgraduate student
    reception area).

Groups are not expected to conduct research other than that specified.

1. Analysis of secondary data

Each group should conduct a review of secondary data sources on the subject and identifiedresearch question. To do so, groups should consult academic (e.g. Journal articles identifiedfrom sources such as Google Scholar, Web of Science or Scopus) and non-academic sources(e.g. market research reports from market research providers).

All sources should be detailed in the written report using Harvard style referencing. It is
anticipated that at least one core reference used will be theoretical or conceptual in nature.Emphasis should also be placed upon the managerial relevance of your project.

The analysis of secondary data should precede and inform the subsequent step of qualitativeinterviews.

1. Qualitative Interviews

Each group should conduct a set of qualitative interviews with online shoppers or who have given up online shopping. Each groupshould appoint a moderator and decide on the specific set of questions to be asked and theordering of such questions. A full list of questions asked should be detailed in an appendix(around 8-10 questions). Interviews should be recorded to facilitate textual analysis. Eachgroup is expected to conduct a set of 6-8 interviews with online shoppers or who have given up online shopping(others than groupmembers or members of the course).Interviewees may be selected using nonprobability sampling techniques. For each of the interviews an Informed Consent Form should be completed and signed by the interviewee and the interviewer. All the informed consent forms should be attached to the final group project report.Transcripts (core answers given by the participants with respect to the questions) of therecorded interviews have to be prepared. These have to be saved in a Word-File and to be submitted online together withthe final report. A standardized form for conducting theinterviews will be provided until 5th of November, 2019.

Written Report

The report should present the findings of all methods, drawing out differences / similaritiesbetween responses. Groups should reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the datacollected.

Structure of Research Reports

1. Title page
2. Table of contents
3. Executive summary (150 words)
4. Introduction (550 words)
5. Literature Review (brief, but concise overview of academic literature related to your topic) (1200 words)
6. Research methodology (600 words)
7. Analysis and findings (1000 words)
8. Conclusion, Managerial Relevance and Limitations (500 words)
9. References
10. Appendices

Assignment Mark

This assignment is worth 50% of your final module mark. The final mark will depend on

written report. Group marks will be moderatedaccording to the peer review process, to derive individual marks.

Useful Reading

Before conducting your research, it is recommended that you read Chapters 4 and 5 from

theMalhotra (2010) book.

For a general introduction into the topic of online shopping behavior,the following articles might be helpful:

• Luo, J., Ba, S. and Zhang, H., 2012. The effectiveness of online shopping characteristics and well-designed websites on satisfaction. Mis Quarterly, 36(4), pp.1131-1144.
• Mallapragada, G., Chandukala, S.R. and Liu, Q., 2016. Exploring the effects of “What”(product) and “Where”(website) characteristics on online shopping behavior. Journal of Marketing, 80(2), pp.21-38.
• Zhang, Y., Trusov, M., Stephen, A.T. and Jamal, Z., 2017. Online shopping and social media: friends or foes?. Journal of Marketing, 81(6), pp.24-41.

For analysing qualitative data, groups may want to look at:

• Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative
  Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
• Miles, M. B. & Huberman, A.M. (2009). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded
  sourcebook, London: Sage Publishing

Very Important:

Each group member should complete the Ethical Approval Form and submit it online (through blackboard) by5^th November,2019. This is a very importantrequirement. Only once approved, may studentsproceed with data collection.