A STUDY OF ONLINE SHOPPING BEHAVIORS OF CONSUMERS IN

YANGON

The Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that affect online purchasing behaviour of

consumer groups from Yangon, Myanmar. Customer behaviours are influenced by different

factors such as culture, social class, references group relation, family, salary level and salary

independency, age, gender etc. and so they show different customer behaviours.

A questionnaire was designed online, since the research was an online consumer behaviour

study, online data collection method is used. The link of the questionnaire has been sent online

between May 7 and May 15, 2016. 45 were responded and 39 were used for analysis (six

incomplete responses have been eliminated). The sample consisted of individuals from Yangon

only.

Key Words: Online Shopping, Online Shopping Behaviour,e-Commerce

Add Headings (Format > Paragraph styles) and they will appear in your table of contents.

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

This introduction section covers the background research, the problem statement and the aim and

the purpose of the research.

Online shopping is a rapidly growing e-commerce area. The Internet has changed the way

consumers purchase products or services.

Online shopping basically provides the way consumers go shopping and purchase services and

goods with reasonable price on the Internet. For some consumers, shopping online have become

part of their daily lives, while others may not even care about it.

With online shopping, different types of businesses have gained an opportunity to increase their

sale and can maintain a direct relationship with its customers. Online shopping has helped a lot

in the globalization of businesses throughout the world. Companies can easily market their

product in the whole world and can create great market of their product.

An internet negotiate incarnation applies to the psychological state of our customers, in terms of

online shopping. Some consumers are reluctant to buy products online and it has many reasons

for this phenomenon because they consider that they do not believe in the process of online

purchases for the insecurity of credit or debit cards, the passwords, the process of hacking

information, less time to devote, unreliable, untrustworthy, a breach of privacy and social risks.

At this point, we would figure out which factors influence online purchasing behavior and

explain the difference in online buying behavior among online users.

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW

This study combines factors that will influence the consumer's purchasing decision in online

stores.

It includes

1. Purchase Intention

2. Price attractiveness,

3. Time saving,

4. Perceived risk,

5. Tangibility and

All of these factors will contribute to the study of customer's purchasing intention (eagerness of

purchasing the product) on online shopping.

In online shopping, it is expected that shoppers are more likely to associate price attractiveness

and time saving with their intention to shop while in offline shopping, consumers are more likely

to associate tangibility, high interactivity and enjoyment with their intention to shop. As a result,

online marketers or retailers should be aware of the problems faced by the consumers and their

perceived risk to increase their intention to shop in online.

1.Purchase Intention According to Pan (2007), "Purchasing Decision Process" is when the relevant information is searched by the consumers that are motivated by the fulfillment of demands according to personal experience and the external environment; then after accumulating a certain amount of information, they begin to evaluate and consider; and finally after comparison and judgement, they make the decision on certain products.

There are five external factors to understand consumer's intention to purchase online which is the

1. consumer personality

2. situational factors

3. product characteristics

4. previous online shopping experiences and

5. the trust in online shopping

Consumer's trait includes their demographic factors such as age, income, gender and educational

level will lead them to have the intention to shop online.

Situational factors will also lead a consumer to have the intention to shop online such as time

pressure, lack of mobility, geographical distance, need for special items and attractiveness of

alternatives.

Product characteristic can be tangible or intangible; standardized or customized.

Another factor that influences the consumer's intention to purchase online is the previous online

shopping experiences. Consumers will continue to shop in the internet in the future is because

they are satisfied with the online shopping experience and it was evaluated positively

Consumer's perceived risk will tend to reduce when they are satisfied from the shopping

experiences .

The last factor that will influence consumer's intention purchase in online is the trust in online

shopping. Consumer's trust towards online shopping is based on the level of security and

privacy.

2.Price AttractivenessIt is predicted that price of a product differs in online and offline shopping. Consumers will save

in monetary when there are price promotions on specific products. When there is promotional

offers, consumers will have higher intention to purchase online; purchasing decisions and choice

making from alternative evaluations can be made easily when there is the presence of

promotional offers.

Price promotion have several benefits such as to increase demand, adjust fluctuations in supply

and demand, and increasing consumers' purchasing over time.

As we know that online shopping requires shipping fees for product delivery. Some consumers

who would prefer a quick delivery will have to pay higher cost while others may prefer to wait if

they pay lower shipping and handling charges.

It is important for e-tailers to provide various types of merchandise and preferential price

because customer satisfaction is still based on product price and product variety; to create

competitive advantage. In online shopping, consumers are able to compare prices online and they

will have the material benefit because they can analyze and compare prices based to enhance

their decision to purchase.

Shoppers who value convenience can obtain the benefits of product and services with less money

spent and this would have a positive relationship with shoppers' excitement; increasing search

efficiency by eliminating travelling costs and psychological costs brings convenience in e-

shopping.

3. Time savingA major benefit is that no travel time is needed if you want to shop online. It can be done within the comfort of your own home, it can be done at any time of day. Search options also significantly reduce shopping time. (Jayawardhena et. al., 2009)In an online store you can instantly look for what you need and want. Prices are often cheaper

too, with online retailers not having to pay large overhead expenses for brick-and-mortar shops

and many retailers can be found. And with search options often offering categories, pricing

ranges, sizes, or quantities, life can be made much quicker and easier.

4. Perceived risk

Consumers are concerned about the performance and quality of the purchased product, loss of

time or money, or whether the purchased product matches the online description.

understanding consumer’s perceptions and attitudes of risks for internet shopping is a very

important component for understanding e-commerce.

5.TangibilityTangibility is expected to be a factor that consumers will consider during the purchasing process. (Rajamma, Paswan and Ganesh, 2007).

Consumers are particular about the tangibility of a product is because they need the security and

assurance of the product purchased is in a good condition and assurance of purchasing the right

thing.

Assurance is important to capture confidentiality, shopping security, complaint resolution,

problem solving and warranties.

For online shopping, tangible products are more likely to have higher potential to be purchased by the consumers while products such as car, computers, perfume, perfume or lotion has the lower potential to be purchased by the consumer because it requires more personal knowledge and experience (Grewal, Iyer and Lavy, 2004)

Some consumers may perceive that the items offered in online shopping will be difficult to choose than offline shopping because they need to seek advice from sales personnel. The products are intangible in the online shopping environment, detailed and complete product information should be provided; to know the quality of a product, consumer can only rely on the pictures and description on the web page (Lindstrom, 2001).

CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter illustrates the way of the research has been conducted by presenting the

methodologies and theories used. The technical details of the research are described and detailed.

Important issues such as, philosophy of the research, preparation of the research, the method and

procedure of data collection, components of questionnaire, sampling decision are covered.

The first process is topic selection. The knowledge, observations and interest on a topic help to

finalize the topic. After that, theories and literatures have been searched to support the research.

Next, the problem and the research question has been developed and research method has been

selected. The next step is to collect data with using the methods planned. After the data is

collected, we analyse the data with selected theories. At last, the conclusion was drew.

3.1 Research Approach and Research PhilosophyThe deductive approach attempts to figure the theory first and then moving from the theory, the

collected data is tested. Moreover, the deductive approach is valid for quantitative data and since

this study consists quantitative data, it is appropriate for this study.

3.2 Data CollectionIn order to accomplish the research objectives and to address the research question this

dissertation draws on primary data collection methods. The questionnaires were sent out to the

population via internet, email and facebook using Google Forms. The data were collected

between May 7 and May 15, 2016. 45 were responded and 39 were used for analysis (six

incomplete responses have been eliminated).

3.3 Primary DataSurvey

In order to collect data from viewpoint of consumers, the strategy of the research is the survey.

To investigate consumer behaviours and purchasing decisions, a quantitative approach is used to

analyse the results from the survey. Survey in the form of questionnaire is chosen for this

research. The questionnaire were prepared as self-administered and published electronically

using the Internet, Internet-mediated questionnaires. After finalising the questionnaire, before the

distribution of them, the questionnaire presented to three participants to test it. Pilot test provided

to receive suggestions from respondents to enhance the questionnaire.

Sampling strategy

In order to address the research aim the participants were selected using convenience sampling

method. Survey forms were created using Google Forms and surveys were collected by sharing

among social network.

Methods of spreading the questionnaires

Since the topic deals with behaviour of online consumers, online questionnaires were used. A

free service website, Google Spreadsheets, used for the survey and allow participants to answer

the questionnaire online. After the online questionnaire have been created, the questionnaire link

was emailed to participants. At the same time, it is also asked them to forward the questionnaire

to their cases. Secondly, the questionnaire distributed through Facebook. The respondents could

easily click on the link which directly lead them to the questionnaire. To be a participant of this

survey, respondents were expected to have minimum one online shopping experience. This

limited participation and lowered response rates; however, this condition was necessary because

of the topic of the study. The results are then recorded into an excel document by the Google

Spreadsheet. The link of the questionnaire have been sent online between May 3 and May 17,

2016. 40 were responded and were usable for analysis.

Components of the questionnaire

The questionnaire was designed online, since the research was an online consumer behaviour

study, online data collection methods were preferred. It has prepared with an introductory part

which explains the purpose and the content of the study. The questionnaire consists of 21

questions.

Demographic questions were asked to respondents in the first part of the questionnaire, including

the township that they live, gender, age, occupation, education level, monthly income. The

questions distributed to individuals who use the Internet and what are the reasons of using the

Internet, what kind of products they buy, how much did they spend. In addition to these

questions various statements offered to the respondents regarding their attitudes toward online

shopping and asked to rate them on a Likert five point scale from 1= strongly disagree and 5=

strongly agree. Moreover, selective ranking questions, yes/no questions, filter questions and open

ended questions have been used to generate the questions.

Questionnaire form can be found at http://goo.gl/forms/NqXZqkARDhTdoF3Z2 .

3.1.2 Reliability of result and evaluationQuantitative research measures the data using descriptive statistics. The coding process is to

transform the raw data from the results of questionnaires into numerical data. In terms of the

reliability of results, the accuracy of raw data has been generated through Microsoft Excel

Spreadsheet program. The data are presented in the form of diagrams or bar charts and following

the figures a detailed explanation is offered.

CHAPTER 4. RESEARCH FINDINGS & DATA ANALYSIS

In this chapter analysis of the data collection and the findings of the study are discussed. The

descriptive information and statistical analyses produced by the collected survey data are shown.

Records are analysed with Microsoft Excel program.

Demographic Variables

Demographics features of the respondents were gathered from the first questions of the

questionnaire and exhibited in the graph below.

Figure 4.1 : Distribution of respondents in terms of location

Figure 4.2 : Frequency distribution of the respondents with respect to their gender

An analysis of sample characteristics indicates that the number of female respondents slightly higher than male respondents. 57.5% of the respondents are female while 42.5% of them are male.

Figure 4.3 : Frequency distribution of the respondents with respect to their age group

Five categories were used gathering information about the age of the respondents. Respondents who were in the age group of 21-30 were composes the majority of the respondents and the total rate is 77.5%. 15% of the respondents belong to the age group of 31-40, 5% belong to 41-50 and 2.5% belongs to the age group 51 and over. Age group data of respondents show that the survey mostly represented by a young group.

Figure 4.4 : Frequency distribution of the respondents with respect to their occupation

A big part of the respondents were composed of full time working people, 67.5% of the respondents were working whereas 15% of were self-employed. What is more, 10% of the respondents identified themselves as professional. This is understandable, since more of the respondents were relatively young (between 21 to 30 years of age, 77.5%) this data is predictable.

Figure 4.5 : Frequency distribution of the respondents with respect to their educational levels

30% of the survey respondents have a master's degree; as a matter of fact all 100% of the respondents are well-educated have either a master’s or a bachelor’s degree. In terms of educational level, university graduate students dominate the sample.

Figure 4.7 : Frequency distribution of the respondents with respect to their monthly income

Big part of the respondents consists of the middle and high-income individuals, 34.2% and 44.7% respectively. Since the biggest part of the survey composed educated full time workers this result is predictable.

Internet usage

Figure 4.8 : Frequency distribution of the respondents with respect to their internet usepurposes

The results indicate that respondents mostly use the Internet for the communication opportunities. The second common purpose is looking for information. This might be because of the majority of the survey completed by full time workers and self employers.

Figure 4.9 : Mostly buy products and services over the Internet

For understanding what kind of items are bought or want to buy online mostly by the respondents they were asked to choose 11 product/service types and they were also allowed to choose more than one and one an ‘other’ option has been put to see different responses. According to Figure 4.9, respondents mostly chosen items are clothing and accessory on the Internet.

Figure 4.10 : Frequency distribution of the respondents with respect to their spend

The results illustrated the consumption on services and products in the last six months in Yangon via online. Considering mostly bought items were clothing & accessories, and since these are not that expensive expenditure these numbers are proper.

Figure 4.11 : Frequency of finding an online store

Majority of the respondents (83.8) answered that they find online stores via Facebook and this is no surprise given that Myanmar people use Facebook as a primary entertainment and news source. Recommendation of friends comes second with 62.2%.

Figure 4.12 : The effect of opinions and experiences on online buying behaviour

The table above shows the influence of family, friends and online discussion forums during the online purchasing decision on individuals who participated in the survey. As seen in the table, the effect of the circle of friends on the Internet buying decision has been found higher than the effect of the family. Facebook opinions come close which again explains that the role of Facebook is an important one for online community in Yangon.

Respondents’ attitudes towards online shopping

When the respondents were asked to rank (1 to 70 the factors important to them for an online store, the perceptions received were quite even. However, detailed product information available and cheaper price are noticeably standing out.

CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION

One of the key and significant factors in assessing customer perception on online shopping is

consumer satisfaction. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that affect online

purchasing behaviour of consumer groups from Yangon, Myanmar. We find that Facebook is the

dominant channel for finding an online store in Yangon and thus, it is highly suggested that an

online store should be clearly standing out in Facebook. Another important factor we find is that

buying decisions are largely influenced by friends and again word-of-mouth discussion on

Facebook.

And also a concern for security is one of the important disadvantages of online shopping. For

Yangon customers, online shopping has disadvantages such as security concerns, not having

sufficient information about products, and not having the chance of physically trying the goods

which are all related to trust. Trust in online shopping is an important concern for Myanmar

consumers as people of a conservative culture.

The analysis of online shopping website quality as an important factor affecting shopping

behavior was beyond the scope of this study.

Thus, in conclusion, we would like to recommend all the online shopping websites that online

shopping concept has to be developed more. Marketing activities, especially close group

discussions, testimonial forums should be focused for more word-of-mouth promotions and

efficient consumer loyalty. Therefore, the reputation of the online shopping should be focused on

a more convenient payment system, guaranteed quality and timely delivery of the goods ensuring

the loyalty of the consumers by quality after-sale services.

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