Analysis of Consumer Behaviour Online (1)

8/14/2019 Analysis of Consumer Behaviour Online (1)

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ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ONLINE

Author: Dejan Petrovi

This report will outline the most relevant behavioural characteristics ofonline consumers and examine the ways they find, compare and evaluate

product information. Comparison of the newly collected survey data withthe existing consumer behaviour theory resulted in detection of a numberof issues related to a specific consumer group. The purpose of this report is to translate these findings into a set ofimplementation activities on strategic and technological level. Execution of these recommendations will result in betterconversion of visitors into customers and encourage customer loyalty and referrals.

The focus group of this study will be young adults aged between eighteen and thirty-four interested in buying a mobile phoneor a related product.

Research by Shun !un"ie #$%%&' showed that there are product types, which are more li(ely to be sold online such assoftware, boo(s, electronics and music. Reason for this is that when purchasing these types of products, one does notre)uire personal inspection and most, if not all features, can be outlined in the product description and images. *ostproducts in the mobile phone family belong to this category.

+ccording to the recent research on consumer behaviour on the nternet users #Cotte, Chowdhury, Ratenshwar Ricci,

$%%&', there are four distinct consumer groups with different intentions and motivations

Exploration

Entertainment

Shopping

nformation

*a"ority of young adults interviewed for purpose of this research tend to be active information see(ers. + high level oftechnological confidence within this group tends to be an encouraging factor when it comes to product information researchonline.

The following analysis presents both, focus group results and behavioural theory in a parallel fashion divided into two mainresearch topics

nformation Retrieval and Search atterns

erception of roduct nformation /nline

These two areas are mutually dependent and particularly important in a mar(et where consumers have the power to choosethe right product from a number of competing suppliers. 0ell-structured product information that cannot be found easilyonline is as much of a problem as is having easily accessible information that does not meet the consumer1s expectations.

In!or"ation Retrieva# an$ Searh Pattern%

Effect of consumer search behaviour on online promotions

Combination of practical tests, survey statistics and one-on-one interviews conducted with a group of volunteers, produced afirst-hand insight into behavioural characteristic of the target consumer group. 2uring the survey, participants were as(ed torespond to a list of statements with five levels of agreement and disagreement, each related to search habits, informationretrieval, perception of information presented online and the way it can influence their buying decision. The interview wasconducted on a conversational level as an opportunity for participants to elaborate on their survey input.

Pratia# &e%t: Sta'e one ( Initia# %earh


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3ifteen volunteers were shown an un(nown brand of a mobile phone were only logo was visible. articipants were thenas(ed to find out more about this phone online.

The first search stage in most cases started with a ma"or search engine #4oogle, 5ive, and !ahoo' in its non-local version.6efore clic(ing on a first satisfactory search result, participants were in)uired about the nature of their search, for example,how they searched through results, what they were loo(ing for and what grabbed their attention in the result they were aboutto clic( on. +s illustrated in 3igure $, participants mainly loo(ed for the highest percentage match in the search result titles#blue text' where word proximity in the phrase played an important factor, following the search result description body #blac(text'. 0eb address #green text' was largely ignored.

3igure $ 7ser eye hot spots in the search engine results.

3ollowing is the search referral data for *arch $%%8 for )))*e##"a+in'*o"that illustrates typical user searches thatbring visitors to the site

9. brand new latest no(ia cellphone price list philippines$. ,hone -ran$ #o'o%

:. pantech and curitel logo

;. imap cell phones

e for cingular plan

&. no(ia n8: godfather

8. sony ericsson w==%i

=. no(ia


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3igure : Consumer search engine drill-down ow far are they willing to goD

+ common assumption is that young adults tend to be more technologically minded than the rest of the population.

+n interesting fact is that around a third of the interviewed individuals (new very little or nothing about certain aspects

of their research due to the nature of the product and rapid changes in technology. 3or example, ninety per cent of

participants could not explain the purpose of 0i3i, which is becoming a standard feature in all new mobile phone releases.3or this reason, we must consider extensive problem-solving behaviour #+ndreasen, 9??8'. which consumers will be goingthrough in some stages of their product research. Extensive problem-solving behaviour occurs when a consumer engages ina decision ma(ing process without established evaluation criteria towards multiple product types, for example, comparing alarge number of brands. 0ithout point of reference and way to compare their current findings with previous experiences,consumers find product research activity to be a rather involved activity.

This appeared to be the most sensitive part of the research and most participants re)uired a high level of concentration inorder to gain a satisfactory level of information. articipants were slow to respond to )uestions and appeared to be lightlyirritable when being interrupted.

Consumer research #Raymond, $%%:' showed that brands, which interrupted an intellectually engaging tas(, received aninstant disli(e. 3urther research into tas( interruption online #*oe, $%%&' discusses a possibility of positive effects of variousforms of interstitial promotions, such as pop-up ads, pop-under ads, bridging pages, and in-page animations, depending onthe industry and placement context. The fact that this type of advertising is still commonly used across the nternet indicatesthat there are potential benefits of this method #analogous to spam industry' otherwise it would have been abandoned bypublishers and advertisers.

+ tas( interruption test had to be conducted in order to determine whether this possibility applies to the selected consumergroup.

3ive participants were as(ed to find out more information about a specific model of a mobile phone online #SonyEricsson0==%i'. Their browser1s home page was purposely set to an online portal that contained a single popup and colourfulanimated ads #ring tones, emoticons, computer wallpapers and screen savers'. +ll participants have closed the pop-up ad


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and spent an average of twelve seconds loo(ing at the portal before visiting their favourite search engine.

ncredibly, none of the participants remembered the model of the phone while one could not even recall the brand.Consumers tend to rely on short-term memory while accessing various resources across the nternet. Rememberingeverything does not seem to be practical in the initial stages of the search due to the amount of potentially visited resources.nterruptions caused by interstitial promotions could therefore permanently disrupt the research and displease the consumer.

Pere,tion o! Pro$ut In!or"ation On#ine

How consumers see and understand product information online

0hen buying products and services online, consumers are facing two fundamental differences removal of physicalpresence and #as a compensation' abundance and versatility of product information #Furnia Schubert, $%%&'. n otherwords, a physical product has been replaced by product information.

Pratia# &e%t: Sta'e three

The third stage in the product research involves product information collection, pricing and featureGbenefit evaluation. Searchengines at this stage do not necessarily represent the main resource any more. Survey participants were at this stage "ustas li(ely to visit product reviews or news websites, see(ing human advice and consumer reviews.

3igure ; Search behaviour and response to online advertising

2ue to rapid growth in technology, information collection and organising is has become a rather feasible activity and moreconsumers are turning towards their own research @pullingA the information than information being @pushedA to them as thatwould be the case in most forms of non-interactive media.

+ccording to study on +ustralian consumers #5indstrom, $%%9' one of the main emerging characteristics of online users isthe growing lac( of patience #3igure


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3igure one1 can delay or cancel thepurchase.

/nline stores have an obvious advantage in this case. The absence of the sales person allows website visitors to researchproducts in their own time and pace, with no external pressure or time restrictions. +fter receiving a satisfactory level of


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information, consumers either ma(e a further in)uiry or complete their purchase.

3igure 8 Consumer opinions towards place of purchase I art 9

+ website can traditionally be seen as a place of purchase, however, for consumers it is also a store, a brochure and a salesperson, and is expected to serve )uic(ly and perform well. Survey results show that the )uality of presentation andinformation brea(down can affect consumer attitude towards the product and buying confidence. 3or example, basic )ualitystandards are necessary in order to create consumer trust #speed and structural integrity'. Second most prominent factorseems to be simplicity of the chec(out process. *a"ority of participants have stated that they prefer not to fill out longregistration forms.

Survey participants responded best to the product information available on the actual product description page.

+s visible from the 3igure =, consumers favour almost all timesaving tools such as

op-up descriptions

hoto galleries

roduct summaries before full product information

roduct comparison

+n interesting observation is that most interviewed consumers considered automated product suggestions either irrelevantor unnecessary, therefore most would not follow such leads +n example of this would be +ma>on1s @Customers who boughtthis item also bought the followingJA and e6ay1s @Related productsA section. nstead, members of this consumer groupchoose to do their own independent research, compare their own findings and read other people1s reviews andrecommendations. n addition, very few consumers were willing to read 3+K, as they tend to appear too generic and broad,therefore re)uiring extra effort to f ind the re)uired piece of information.


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3igure = Consumer opinions towards place of purchase I art $

Su""ar. o! Fin$in'%

I",#iation% )ith ,ro"otion:

9. Consumers use search engines on both global and local level$. Result pages are scanned for context corresponding to a supplied search term

:. ace of search decreases in proportion to the depth of the research

;. ntrusive advertising campaigns can create negative image

P#ae o! ,urha%e an$ ,ro$ut in!or"ation:

9. +mount of information online directly affects consumer search behaviour$. /nline consumers value integrated timesaving features

:. nformation brea(down is re)uired to prevent information overload

;. Consumers value human reviews more than automated recommendations

Reo""en$ation%Searh En'ine Pro"otion

6ased on the analysis of consumer search behaviour, it is evident that the typical consumer is li(ely to Bscan1 rather thanread search result pages. n order to maximise on potential traffic it is necessary to enhance search result page positioningand increase visibility of search terms in result page titles. This can be achieved by search engine optimisation. + ay-er-Clic( campaign can be used as an alternative for more immediate results.


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Stati A$%

The focus consumer group did not respond well to aggressive advertising methods. +lthough not recommended, this type ofadvertising could be implemented in a subtle contextual advertising campaign. +d placement could, for example,compliment the website content and be accessible on consumer demand. +rticle lin( ads #see example left', for example,would outperform banners or pop-up ads.

Pro$ut In!or"ation

*ain consideration when it comes to product information is segmentation and lac( of physical presence. +s discussed in thebehaviour analysis, consumers prefer to read and compare short summaries before choosing to read the full description.Kuality and amount of product information will compensate for the lac( of physical presence, while implementation oftimesaving mechanisms and human-based recommendations would encourage product research and purchase.

A$$itiona# Fin$in'%

/nline pricing strategy may strongly affect consumers in a number of ways. art of the research paper on consumptiondecisions and personal rules #+mir, 5obel +riely, $%%


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3igure 9% Expectations from online pricing and payment options.

3igure 99 rivacy and security.


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3igure 9$ hysical proof.

Re!erene%

Cotte, L., Chowdhury, T. 4., Ratneshwar, S. Ricci, *. 5. #$%%&'. Pleasure or Utility?

Time Planning Style and Web Usage Behaviors Lournal of nteractive *ar(eting, $%, ;


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Pop#Up Promotions Lournal of nteractive *ar(eting, $%, :;-;;.

Foiso-Fanttila, O. #$%%

Documents

Analysis of Consumer Behaviour Online (1)