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Research Report on

“How website design and content element impact on online

customer purchasing behavior?”

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Research Report on

“How website design and content element impact on online

customer purchasing behavior”

Course code: MGT- 407

Course name: Business Research

Prepared for:

Dr. Muhammad Shariat Ullah

Associate Professor,

Department of Management.

University of Dhaka.

Prepared by:

Dip Das

18th Batch, Sec: B, Roll No: 18124

Department of Management.

University of Dhaka.

Date of submission: 22 November, 2015

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Acknowledgement:

Firstly, I would like to thank the almighty GOD who gave me the strength and potential to complete the task which was assigned to me at the beginning of this semester in time. Secondly, I am very grateful to our ‘’Research Management” course instructor, Dr. Mohammad Shariat Ullah whose instruction and inspiration have made this task complete successfully. The success and final aftermath of this research is a result of the help of many people and I extremely luckyto have such kind of assisting people who always encouraged me and extended their kind and whole-hearted co-operation with providing information and assistance for the completion of this Research.

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Letter of Transmittal

November22, 2015

Dr. Muhammad Shariat Ullah Associate Professor,Department of Management,University of Dhaka.

Subject: Submission of research report on “how ecommerce website design and content element impact on online customer purchasing behavior”.

Dear Sir, I am very delightful that I am on the stage of submitting the research report on “how ecommerce website design and content element impact on online customer purchasing behavior”. The report is prepared on the primary data, experience, knowledge, and skill that I have acquired from thecourse conducted by grateful course instructor. I have tried and worked hard to collect data and analyze the research data and I am sure that I have provided real and fair data and idea on theconcerned issue.

I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to know in detail about preparing research report. I sincerely prepared this research report. I truly appreciated this assignment and I enjoyed it very much.

Yours Sincerely

Dip DasRoll no: 18124Section: BSession: 2011-12 Batch: 18th Department Of ManagementUniversity of Dhaka

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List of Figures:

Figure 4.1: Respondent’s age

Figure 4.2: Respondent’s gender

Figure 4.3: Have you shopped online past month

Figure 4.4: Influence of color combination of website

Figure 4.5: Advantage to shop all time on the internet

Figure 4.6 Difficulty of shopping

Figure 4.7 product find is flexible on ecommerce website

Figure 4.8: shopping online is risky

Figure 4.9: Facility to pay on the easy system

Figure 4.10: availability of broad range of product

Figure 4.11: facilitation of FAQ system in the web content

Figure 4.12: Product image quality in the website

Figure 4.13: The sufficiency of product and service information

Figure 4.14 The importance of product review on purchasing decision

Figure 4.15 Hesitation of giving credit card number through website

Figure 4.16 Influence of logo on online customer

Figure 4.17 website design and good content that satisfy the online customer

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ContentsExecutive summery..................................................................................................................................... 7

Chapter 1 (Introductory part)................................................................................................................. 8

1.1 Background of the study ............................................................................................................... 8

1.2 Objective of study ...........................................................................................................................8

1.3 Hypothesis ........................................................................................................................................9

1.4 Scope of the study ..........................................................................................................................9

1.5 Significance of the study ............................................................................................................... 9

1.6 Limitations of the study ...............................................................................................................10

Chapter 2 (Literature review)............................................................................................................... 11

Chapter 3 (Methodology Part) ............................................................................................................. 12

3.1 Research methodology................................................................................................................12

3.2 Data collection ...............................................................................................................................12

3.2.1 Primary sources ......................................................................................................................12

3.2.2 Interview area.........................................................................................................................12

3.2.4 Sampling method....................................................................................................................12

3.2.5 Sample size ..............................................................................................................................12

3.3 Analysis of data.............................................................................................................................12

Chapter 4 (Findings and Analysis Part).............................................................................................. 13

4.1 Findings............................................................................................................................................13

4.1.1 Responses .................................................................................................................................13

4.2 Analysis ...........................................................................................................................................22

4.3 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................23

References:............................................................................................................................................... 24

Appendix .................................................................................................................................................. 25

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Executive summery

Ecommerce is now a wide populated name in the world market and economy. As globalization change the economy in the world so it also making change in Bangladesh. Online market and ecommerce are growing rapidly in the urban place of our country. People are using internet and getting life easier to give order and get service by a single click. Online and ecommerce company make website and webpage to get their products and services.

This research would seek for the relation of website design and content and purchasing behavior of online customer. This research would answer the question of the impact of website design and content on online customer behavior.

The research aimed at assessing the impact of website design and content of webpage on customer purchasing behavior in ecommerce.

The total number of respondents is 121 including both male and female who are selected by purposive sampling technique.

Acquired data in research have been analyzed by STATA-13 software. To evaluate the data, descriptive statistical methods (Number, Percentage) have been used. Microsoft office 2013 has been used to make chart and graphical view.

The website design, content element and online customer’s purchasing behavior would mark the relationship. The dependent variable is r purchasing behavior of online customer and independent variable is website design and content element of ecommerce.

By analyzing the data it was found that website design and content elements are inter-related to the online customer purchasing behavior.

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Chapter 1 (Introductory part)1.1 Background of the study

The definition of e-commerce includes business activities that are business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), extended enterprise computing (also known as "newly emerging value chains"), d-commerce, and m-commerce. Conducting business online. Selling goods, in the traditional sense, is possible to do electronically because of certain software programs that run the main functions of an e-commerce Web site, including product display, online ordering, and inventory management. The software resides on a commerce server and works in conjunction with online payment systems to process payments. Since these servers and data lines make up the backbone of the Internet, in a broad sense, e-commerce means doing business over interconnected

In the emerging global economy, e-commerce and e-business have increasingly become a necessary component of business strategy and a strong catalyst for economic development. The integration of information and communications technology (ICT) in business has revolutionized relationships within organizations and those between and among organizations and individuals. Specifically, the use of ICT in business has enhanced productivity, encouraged greater customer participation, and enabled mass customization, besides reducing costs.

With the fast development and increasing use of the World Wide Web as both an information seeking and an electronic commerce tool, web usability studies grow in importance. Numerous web design checklists have been developed that focus on features such as loading time, color and font use, organization of information content, navigability, active links, etc.---features that may influence users' satisfaction with the website. Yet it is unclear whether there is an inclusive collection of features, whether some of these features are more important than others, and whether addressing these features is sufficient to make users satisfied with the websites, to keep their interest in the websites, and eventually to motivate them to revisit the websites.

This research significantly define the relation between the website design and customer behavior because it really create impact on human psychology. This research will briefly shows the two variables and indicate that website and pictorial display have impact on human behavior.

1.2 Objective of study

The research focuses on the following objectives-

Determinates the Website design and content element of e-commerce that impact on

customer purchasing behavior.

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1.3 Hypothesis

H0: There is no significant positive relationship between website design and content

element and customer purchasing behavior.

H1: There is positive relationship between website design and content element and

customer purchasing behavior.

1.4 Scope of the study This study focuses on the impact of website design and content element on customer purchasing

behavior. This survey has been conducted in the following area- Dhaka, Dhaka University area and

Sherpur through the google forms.

1.5 Significance of the studyEcommerce now considers a fundamental and necessary way to trade and business. People are

more interested to gain more time saving way to get service and product. As this reason people

are attracting to the online market. In the metropolitan area like Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna,

Mymensingh, Bogra, Rangpur, Rajshahi peope are ordering product or services through internet.

There are many online market and website to sell and purchase product to the customer. In this

time people give order like food order through the website to the restaurant or linkage site by one

click. As example Food Panda is one of the most popular online market to get food on

emergency.

People are entering to the website to give order but people mind are wanting and impressing on

good looking website and ample storage product website. If people search product on website

but can not find their expecting product then they will be disappointed and demotivated. If

ecommerce website will provide enough product and high definition picture of product then they

will be motivated. There will be facilitation of product review option and FAQ content to gain

better service.

The main significance of this study to reveal the impact of content element and design of website

on online customer purchasing behavior. The study has revealed that people are cautious about

website design and information that include in website about their purchasing intention. By this

study the online shopping user has also revealed.

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1.6 Limitations of the study Research is a matter of time. It requires sufficient time, extensive study on subject matter,

sufficient monetary support etc. As it is a research which is conducted personally, the main

obstacles are monetary support and time shortage. Difference in view of male and female in

same regards has made the observation very difficult. Moreover, time shortage and no monetary

support have compelled the research interview to be limited only within 2 districts.

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Chapter 2 (Literature review)

E-commerce, business based on the Internet, has changed not only the customer’s buying activities but also the seller’s business and marketing strategies. E-commerce is not only about Websites but also includes the customer’s privacy, secure check out, delivery, and service. A homepage, which is the first loaded web page on a website, creates a first impression for users. Nielsen and Tahir [3] point out that "homepages are the most valuable real estate in the world." Users will see the homepage first and then stay for a while to see whether the website is useful or interesting. Mahlke’s research [4] showed that usefulness was a top factor that can make a customer stay on the website. Van Duyne et al [5] noted that balancing the branding, navigation, content, and download speed can be factors to entice customers. Well-organized information and other elements will be keys to successful E-commerce. There are many guidelines suggesting how to make more usable Websites but research in how to organize visual elements for E-commerce is very rare. W3C providing a more contextual definition for the term, states “Web Accessibility is a term used to identify the extent to which information on Web pages can be successfully accessed by persons with disabilities including the aging” (W3C, 2000).On the basis webpage and its loading speed a survey conducted by Hamilton (1997) [6] speed (i.e., slow speed) was the number one complaint of Web users (77%). Most potential e-commerce customers do not want to wait for a seemingly endless page to load. Instead, they hit the browser ‘stop’ button and go elsewhere. Therefore, large, pretty graphic files and “cool” animation may come at a price to the Web business owner in terms of lost business (Busch [June 1997, pp. 98-99]). Tadjer (1998) [7] recommends to “design for flexibility.” This means that urgent changes can be made without having to take the site off line.

By applying Herzberg's [8] motivation-hygiene theory, we hypothesize that there are two types of features in the web environment that play different roles on user satisfaction or dissatisfaction with a web interface. According to Marchionini [9], users’ information seeking tasks or searching behaviors make use of two classes of strategies, browsing and analytical strategies.According to Gill [19], user satisfaction with a system can be enhanced through intrinsic motivational factors similar to those identified by Herzberg. An early paper by Jarvenpaa et al. (11) considered the question of trust for Internet store consumers across a variety of culture.Past studies such as Cyr (2008) or Yoon (2002) (12)provided empirical evidence on how various design factors build trust in the context of B2C ecommerce.

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Chapter 3 (Methodology Part) 3.1 Research methodology Though sometimes researcher follows a particular methodology to conduct his research, I have

followed a mixed methodology to conduct my research consisting of mainly quantitative and

sometimes with association of empirical method. On the one hand, it has analyzed the collected

primary data; on the other hand, I have gone for field study to see the impact empirically

3.2 Data collection For this research, the data are collected from 2 sources.

1. Primary sources

3.2.1 Primary sources

Primary data are collected from personal interview with structured questionnaire.

3.2.2 Interview area As a part of research, I have taken some interviews in three areas of Bangladesh. This interview

includes different professions of people so that I can easily understand the impact of political

conflict on human security. The areas are: 1. Dhaka 2. Dhaka University 3. Sherpur

3.2.4 Sampling methodIn order to keep the research crystal clear and acceptable, I have done my sampling by purposive

sampling technique.

3.2.5 Sample size The total number of respondents is 121 included both male and female who is selected purposely

3.3 Analysis of data Acquired data in research has been analyzed by STATA-13 software. To evaluate the data,

descriptive statistical methods (Number, Percentage) have been used. Microsoft office 2013 has

been used to make chart and graphical view.

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Chapter 4 (Findings and Analysis Part)4.1 Findings Basically the hypothesis is a causality based hypothesis, the variables of website design and

content element and online customer purchasing behavior would mark the relationship. The

dependent variable is online customer purchasing behavior and the independent variables the

website design and content element of ecommerce.

According to the responses of respondent to the questions in the data collection tool, the

following conclusions are reached:

4.1.1 Responses According to the survey total 121 respondents response is including 82 male (68.9%) and 37

female (31.1%). They are segmented by age including 15-18 range age people are 2(1.7%), 19-

22 are 27(22.5), 23-26 are 59(49.2%), 27-30 are 24(20%) and 30+ are 8(6.7%). On this

respondents there are 56(47.5%) people were shopped online last month and 62(52.5) were not.

4.1 Respondent Age

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Figure 4.2: Respondents gender

Figure 4.3 Respondent purchasing history

The data are collected by 5 point scale where 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 =

agree and 5 = strongly agree.

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Figure 4.4 Influence of color combination of website

Figure 4.4 shows that only 5 respondents strongly agreed to the question that color combination

of website influence the online customer where 9 respondents strongly disagreed and 21

respondents were neutral).

Figure 4.5 Advantage to shop all time on the internet

This figure shows that 53 respondents are agree to that question that advantage to shop at any

time on the internet and 32 respondents are neutral about that question and 3 are strongly

disagree.

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Figure 4.6 Difficulty of shopping

This figure shows the percentage of respondents who answer about difficulty of shopping on the

internet. The 32 are strongly disagree to this question and 13 are agree to this question.

Figure 4.7 product find is flexible on ecommerce website

This figure shows that 46 respondents are agree that flexibility in product finding on ecommerce

site and 21 are disagree about this question.

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Figure 4.8 shopping online is risky

This figure shows that 35 respondents are neutral and confused and 24 are strongly agree and 23

are strongly disagree about this question.

Figure 4.9 Facility to pay on the easy system

This figure shows that 52 respondents are agree that it has easy payment system and 21 are

disagree and 29 said may be.

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Figure 4.10 availability of broad range of product

This figure explained that 24 respondents are agree that it has broad range but 34 are confused

and agree.

Figure 4.11 facilitation of FAQ system in the web content

This figure shows that whether website has FAQ system in the content or not. The 37

respondents are agree to that question and 23 are disagree and 36 are neutral.

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Figure 4.12 Product image quality in the website

In this figure shows the respondents response about product image quality of ecommerce

website. The 24 respondents are disagree that product images are accurate and 27 are neutral and

31 are agree.

The information given about the products and services on the internet is sufficient.

Figure 4.13 The sufficiency of product and service information

In this figure shows that 11 respondents are strongly agree that information of product and

service on the internet is sufficient and 23 are disagree to this fact. But 44 are agree that

information that provide is sufficient.

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Figure 4.14 The importance of product review on purchasing decision

The website has product review content that influence on online customer purchasing decision.

The 47 respondents are agree to this question and 2 are strongly disagree.

Figure 4.15 Hesitation of giving credit card number through website

This figure shows that 45 respondents are agree that they are hesitate to give credit card number

and 31 are said may be. Only 17 respondents are disagree.

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Figure 4.16 Influence of logo on online customer

This figure shows that 42 respondents are agree that ecommerce companies logo influence

them.21 are strongly agree and 19 are disagree about this question.

Figure 4.17 website design and good content that satisfy the online customer

Figure shows that 30 respondents are agree that good website design and content element satisfy

their shopping and only 4 are strongly disagree that question

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4.2 AnalysisTable Q.5: Shopping online is risky

Variable Coefficient t-value p-value significance

Q.1 color combination -.2916523 -2.66 .009 significant

Q.2 Advantage to shop at any

time

-.0754667 -.53 .597 insignificant

Q.3 difficult to shop on the

internet

.4369095 4.85 .000 significant

Q.4 flexible to find out product .0496762 .45 .650 insignificant

Q.6 easy payment system .0349904 .28 .780 insignificant

Q.7 broad products availability .0504529 .49 .627 insignificant

Q.8 frequently ask question

system

.0500751 .42 .677 insignificant

Q.9 image accuracy -.2540602 -2.79 .007 significant

Q.10 sufficient information -.011473 -.11 .916 insignificant

Q.11 product review system -.03854 -.34 .732 insignificant

Q.12 hesitation to give credit

card number

.0518763 .48 .631 insignificant

Q.13 influence of companies

logo

.1676456 -1.59 .114 insignificant

Q.14 website design and

content is crucial part of

satisfaction

-.0370095 -.34 .731 insignificant

“R-sq” .5160 Average

F 7.22 p=.0000 Significant

N 121

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On the basis of Table 4.2 analyzed by stata 13, this research is significant because of the F value is 7.22, P value is 0.0000. This research explaining power 52% where R2=.5160, and rest of 0.484 (48%) are unexplained. This research perform three significant which says online shopping is risky, difficulty to shop in the internet, image that show on the website are not accurate .

So if this color combination reduced by 1 unit than risk increase -.2916523.

If difficulty to shop on the internet reduced by 1 unit than risk decrease .4369095

Lastly if image accuracy that show on the website reduced by 1 unit than risk increase -

.2540602.

So the hypothesis is failed to reject.

4.3 ConclusionThe demand and use of ecommerce is increasing day by day. People are more concern about

their time and product/service quality. So they are adopting time saving way to get product. This

research shows that people are using online shopping increasingly. But website design and

content element that including in webpage influence and impact on customer adoption and

purchasing behavior. If Ecommerce site and webpage provide secure and attractive design and

content then people will more attract to the online shopping and ecommerce. Lastly concluding

that ecommerce company need to provide good webpage design and affluent content element to

attract and satisfy customer.

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References:

1. Diane Cabell, http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/olds/ecommerce/introduction.html,30 April 2001

2. Tadjer,R.,“ How to Avoid the 10 Fatal Website Mistakes,” March 1998,

http://www.techweb.com/netbiz/archives/fatalmistakestop1 -2.html

3. F. Herzberg, Work and the Nature of Man. Chapter 6, World Publishing, NY, 1966, 71-91.

4. G. Marchionini, Information Seeking in Electronic Environments, Cambridge University

Press, Cambridge, 1995

5. T. G. Gill, “Expert Systems Usage: Task Change and Intrinsic Motivation”. MIS Quarterly,1996, Summer, 301-329.

6. Jarvenpaa, S, Tractinsky, N, & Saarinen, L. (l999). Consumer Trust in an Internet Stores: A cross-cultural validation, Journal of Computer Mediated Communications, 5 (2), December, at http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol5/issue2/jarvenpaa.html.

7. Cyr, D. (2008) ‘Modeling website design across cultures: relationships to trust, satisfaction, and e-loyalty’, Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp.47–72.

8. Zorayda Ruth B. Andam, en.wikibooks.org/wiki/E-Commerce_and_E-Business/Introduction

9. Nielsen, J. and Tahir, M., Homepage Usability, New Riders, Indianapolis, Preface, (2001).

10. Mahlke, Sascha, Factors Influencing the Experience of Website Usage, CHI 2002, April

20–25, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 846-847 (2002).

11. Van Duyne, D,K, Landay, J. A., Hong, J. I., The Design of Sites, Addison Wesley, Boston, 229 (2003).

12. Hamilton, A., “Avoid the #1 Website Sin: Slow Loading

Pages,” September 9, 1997, http://www4.zdnet.com/anchordesk/story/story_1244.html.

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Appendix

The questionnaire are given below:

“How ecommerce website design and content element impact on online customer purchasing behavior?”

1. Age:

o 15-18

o 19-222

o 23-26

o 27-30

o 30+

2. Gender:

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o Male

o Female

3. Have you shopped online within past month?

o Yes

o No

On a scale of 1 to 5 , how would you rate each of these statements.

1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=maybe, 4=agree, 5=strongly agree

Question 1 2 3 4 5

1. Color combination of

ecommerce site influence you

2. Advantage to shop all time

on the internet

3. It is more difficult to shop

on the internet

4. Flexible to find out

product/service on

ecommerce site

5. Shopping online is risky

6. Facilitation of easy to use

payment system in content

7. Selection of goods

available on the internet is

very broad

8. It has facility of frequently

ask question(FAQ)system in

web content

9. The images of products

shown on the web sites are

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very accurate

10. The information given

about the products and

services on the internet is

sufficient.

11. Content of product review

impact you in purchasing

decision

12. While shopping online, I

hesitate to give my credit card

number

13. Companies logo influence

on visit ecommerce site

14. Website design and

content is crucial part that

satisfy you

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