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Angela Chang

Ngoc Nguyen

A retail perspective on cross-cultural similarities and differences in

consumer online behavior for US, China, India, South Korea,

Germany and United Kingdom

ABSTRACT

Purpose: This study aims to examine the differences in consumer online behavior for the

following countries: United States, India, China, South Korea, Germany, and United Kingdom.

The study analyzes the regional market differences and the effects they have on online leading

retail companies.

Design/methodology/approach: The data for this research paper were collected through recent

annual market reports of countries from different regions and were each analyzed using basic

marketing principles like marketing segmentation, consumer behaviors, etc. The main sources

used for this research were Journal of Business Research, Journal of Targeting, Measurement &

Analysis for Marketing, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, etc. and the

EBSCO database. Data were also collected through previous literature research and consumer

online behaviors were assessed by survey method conducted in different countries. Cultural

differences were measured using Hofstede 6-dimension model.

Findings: The research found that the decision-making process of consumers purchasing online

is influenced by a number of factors such as purchase intention, emotions or risk acceptance.

These factors differ by culture, which explains the differences in consumer online behaviors

across countries. The study also pointed out that online retail strategies need to vary across

regions to address cultural and social differences.

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Originality/value: This paper collects all necessary data in multiple methods, allowing the

comparison of online consumers from different countries across global regions. This research

provides great insights into online retail markets of each regional country.

Keywords: Online retail, consumer behavior, online marketing, cross-cultural, culture

Paper type: Literature Review

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I. Introduction

In this age of technology, everyone owns a laptop or a mobile device and most often

shops online on Amazon or Ebay. Consumers can get anything and everything they want online:

clothing, shoes, books, cosmetics, and even grocery. Online shopping trend is on the rise because

people enjoy the convenience that the experience brings. According to eMarketer, worldwide e-

commerce sales in 2014 were up by 20% from 2013, with the expected sales by 2018 to be over

$2.3 trillion (Cauley, 2015).

Online retailing has become a popular alternative distribution channel and experienced

significant growth in recent years (Khare, Khare, & Singh, 2012). E-commerce certainly is the

new hot market for companies to invest into; however, with varying profiles of consumers in

different regions of the world, it is crucial for sales managers to understand consumers’ online

behaviors as well as factors that may influence those behaviors in order to create business

strategies that will bring success to online retailing sector.

Earlier research has pointed out multiple factors that have influence on online shopping

behaviors. Those include social factors such as gender, age, beliefs, as well as technology-related

factors: Website features, information availability, convenience (Khare et al. 2012). Those

factors then varies according to cultural differences among consumers in different countries and

regions. Previous research shows that culture plays an important role in forming attitudes of

consumers towards online shopping (Sahney, Shrivastava, & Bhimalingam, 2008).

Retail managers, by gaining an understanding of consumers’ online behaviors and

examining the relationship between those behaviors, social factors and culture of a country, can

use the knowledge to their advantage and develop successful online retail strategies locally and

internationally.

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II China

E-commerce in China was launched back in 1998 by Jack Ma and his partners with a

business to business (B2B) online platform called Ailbaba.com (Clemes, Gan, & Zhang, 2014).

EBay was the first Western multinational to enter the Chinese e-commerce market in 2003,

followed by Amazon. Furthermore, 2003 was a milestone for Chinese e-commerce with the

introduction of Alipay, Alibaba’s version of PayPal that adds security to online payments

(Clemes et al, 2014). According to Internet World Stats in 2010, China is the world’s largest

Internet market. The estimated time Chinese spend on the Internet each day is 1 billion hours,

more than double the daily time spent by United States consumers (Clemes et al, 2014). At the

end of 2010, Internet users in China reached 420 million, a 9.36% increase from the end of 2009

and the number of users is predicted to increase during the next decade (Clemes et al, 2014).

Despite the growth in Internet users, there were only 160 million online shoppers in China at the

end of 2010 (Clemes et al, 2014). Currently, consumer-to-consumer marketing (C2C) is the

largest segment in the Chinese e-commerce industry while business-to-consumer marketing

(B2C) is growing dramatically (Clemes et al, 2014). Comparing to software and DVDs as top

sellers back in the beginning of Chinese e-commerce, clothing, cosmetics, books and airline

tickets are becoming top sellers today. Chinese traditional retailers are paying increasingly more

attention to online transactions as China’s e-commerce activities reached 523.1 billion RMB in

2010 (Clemes et al, 2014). Many traditional retailers are developing e-commerce platforms that

are driving B2C online retailing market growth and attracting more consumer interest in

purchasing products online (Clemes et al, 2014).

In order to help organizations investing in B2C online shopping in better understanding

the factors that affect Chinese consumers′ online buying behavior, a self-administered

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questionnaire was used to gather information from 435 respondents in Beijing, China (Clemes et

al, 2014).

The empirical analysis identifies and ranks seven important decision factors:

perceived risk

consumer resources

service quality

subjective norms

product variety

convenience

website factors

All of these decision factors impact on Chinese consumers’ adoption of online shopping

(Clemes et al, 2014). This study indicates that perceived risk has the strongest influence on the

decisions of consumers to adopt online shopping (Clemes et al, 2014). According to Tong’s

technology acceptance model (TAM) in online shopping across the USA and China, the

perceived risks associated with online shopping consistently had a negative impact on consumer

future purchase intentions in both US and Chinese samples. This confirms that consumers’ risk

perception is a primary obstacle to online commerce’s future growth (Tong, 2010). Therefore,

online retailers should seek ways to minimize the risks that consumers feel when making internet

purchases (Tong, 2010). A further investigation of the present study’s findings reveals that

internet shoppers worry that they will have a hard time returning or exchanging a product bought

online if it fails to meet their expectations or needs (Tong, 2010). In addition, they are also

concerned about product quality and e-retailers’ full refund policy (Tong, 2010). Internet

retailers can address these concerns by ensuring that consumers always receive the merchandise

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they expect to receive, and making it easy to return or exchange an item if they are unsatisfied

(Tong, 2010). The mean comparison test indicated that the perceived risks of internet shopping

were significantly higher in China than in the USA (Tong, 2010). This means that fewer Chinese

tend to trust e-commerce or that more Chinese perceive high risk in internet shopping (Tong,

2010). Such a difference may be a result of the cultural differences between the two countries

(Tong, 2010). In contrast to the USA, China is a society with strong uncertainty avoidance

according to Hofstede’s model (Tong, 2010). A cultural difference in uncertainty avoidance,

which also means a variation in relative emphasis on risk of failure, might also result in a certain

level of difference in the perception of risk (Tong, 2010). Therefore, it is expected that people

from a high uncertainty avoidance culture (like China) would perceive higher levels of perceived

risk for online shopping than those from a low uncertainty avoidance culture (like the USA)

(Tong, 2010). The perceived risk of online shopping is not just a cultural matter (Tong, 2010).

Chinese consumers’ risk perceptions regarding B2C online shopping also relate to the other

factors like privacy and security of personal information, security of online transactions, and

product risk (Clemes et al, 2014). Because China lacks network ID authentication and online

transaction credit system, credit, security and privacy become the spotlight of online shopping

(Liu, He, Gao, & Xie, 2008). China has a less secure e-commerce environment than the USA

(Tong, 2010). The country remains far behind the USA in terms of a secure transaction and

payment system, effective government regulations, and ethical business practices in e-commerce

(Tong, 2010). These weaknesses engender Chinese internet users’ distrust in online transactions

(Tong, 2010). Therefore, it is important for online retailers to create a safe online shopping

environment, provide convenient and safe payment methods, protect customers’ privacy and

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guarantee financial security (Liu et al, 2008). Various risk-reducing strategies should to be

developed by online marketers and retailers to mitigate these risk factors (Clemes et al, 2014).

Consumer resources, including the accessibility to personal computers and the Internet,

knowledge of computers and Internet use, and the knowledge of how to make a purchase online

also have a strong influence on consumers’ decisions to shop online (Clemes et al, 2014).

Moreover, the results of this study illustrate that company employees who are well educated are

more likely to shop online which attributed to well educate consumers having computer and

Internet skills (Clemes et al, 2014). Likewise, older consumers are less likely to shop online due

to low Internet experience and risk concerns (Clemes et al, 2014). Meanwhile, the studies show

that Chinese consumers with high incomes do not tend to shop online (Clemes et al, 2014). This

may be because these consumers prefer to purchase branded products (e.g. Nike, Gucci, and

Apple) from up-market retail stores where they want to physically examine the products and

receive good supporting services as branded products has better quality (Clemes et al, 2014).

Furthermore, one of the research findings also indicates that consumers’ with different

demographic characteristic have different views of online shopping adoption (Clemes et al,

2014). For example, this study shows that the Chinese female consumers are more likely to shop

online since they are more influenced by their friends and family (Clemes et al, 2014).

The study also reveals the service quality provided by B2C online retailers plays a

significant role in influencing consumers’ decisions to shop online as it is a priority and one of

the primary concerns in e-commerce (Clemes et al, 2014). Based on Tong’s TAM test in online

shopping, there is a positive effect of perceived ease of use of online shopping on perception of

the internet’s usefulness as a distribution channel for products in both the US and Chinese

samples. Therefore, internet retailers need to focus on making online purchasing easy in order to

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encourage repeat purchases by internet shoppers (Tong, 2010). In an online shopping context, the

neglect of consumers’ concerns and inquiries and delayed delivery times cause customer

dissatisfaction (Clemes et al, 2014). Delivery and customer service play a critical role in Chinese

customer satisfaction (Liu et al, 2008). Hence, online retailers need to offer a prompt delivery

and provide quick responses to customers’ concerns, complaints and inquiries, using

communication channels such as e-mail and customer service online chats to provide a more

personalized service (Clemes et al, 2014). Prompt delivery and prompt response to customers’

concerns and inquiries are crucial because order fulfillment still remains a weak spot for Chinese

online retailers (Liu et al, 2008). Especially, in the Chinese context, which can be worse because

in China the logistic infrastructure lags behind other countries and the sense of customer service

is relatively weak (Liu et al, 2008). Because customers lack direct, face-to-face interaction with

service providers, many issues still demand human intervention (Liu et al, 2008). Therefore,

company representatives must be able to answer customer inquiries and solve problems as soon

as they occur (Liu et al, 2008). Detailed and complete product information should also be

provided as products online are intangible (Liu et al, 2008). To know the quality and

functionality of a commodity, customers can only rely on the pictures and descriptions of the

goods on the web pages (Liu et al, 2008). Therefore, to enhance customers’ degree of

satisfaction, B2C websites should provide descriptive and understandable information of the

goods to online shoppers (Liu et al, 2008). By listing the color, functionality, producer, model,

etc. of the products will ensure the customers purchase decisions. Pictures of the products are

essential as it has greater influence on customer’s purchase decision than just listing out the

product description (Liu et al, 2008). From Tong’s TAMS test, the mean comparison test

revealed that the US sample has higher perceived ease of use of online shopping than the

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Chinese sample. Prior studies suggest that increased user experience with a technology has

positive effect on the mastering of that technology (Tong, 2010). Therefore, this result could be

explained by more experience the US online shoppers had than Chinese online shoppers with

both the internet (online experience: average of seven years for US shoppers versus four years

for Chinese shoppers) and internet shopping (online purchase frequency: average of eight times

per year for US shoppers versus two times per year for Chinese shoppers) (Tong, 2010).

Convenience is also shown to be pertinent in the acceptance of the Internet as a shopping

medium, because consumers no longer need to be concerned about parking, transportation,

crowds, and weather conditions (Clemes et al, 2014). Therefore, online marketers and retailers

need to be innovative with their websites and the product varieties to help the raise consumer

satisfaction. Providing varied types of commodities and preferential price is important as

Chinese are especially sensitive to price and are accustomed to comparing prices (Liu et al,

2008). Many are not willing to spend extra money in shopping (Liu et al, 2008). Moreover, on

the Internet, customers have access to more information which enable their ability to compare

and analyze forces web sites to revalue the products and allows customers to gain material

benefits (Liu et al, 2008). Based on previous studies, online shoppers in the USA and China are

similar with regard to seeking convenience through online shopping, although they might differ

in other aspects of their profile (Tong, 2010). For decades, the Chinese population grew up to

live according to the collective’s needs (Tong, 2010). Today’s Chinese youth, however, attach

more importance than prior generations did to their individual rights and needs (Tong, 2010).

Chinese consumer study also suggested that self-satisfaction is now the number one motivator

among young urban Chinese as they actively seek products or services on the internet that meet

their requirements of individuality (Tong, 2010). They also attach more importance to the

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convenience of consuming than their parents did, because they think that online shopping is

cheaper and more convenient than the traditional methods of bartering goods and services (Tong,

2010).

Overall, China and USA are culturally and economically very different from one another

(Tong, 2010). In Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, the USA represents individualism, weak

uncertainty avoidance, small power distance, and low long-term orientation, while China

represents collectivism, strong uncertainty avoidance, large power distance, and high long-term

orientation (Tong, 2010). The USA and China are also opposites in Fukuyama’s high versus low-

trust society (Tong, 2010). According to Fukuyama (1995), the USA is a high-trust society,

while China is a low-trust society (Tong, 2010). In addition, although China has become the

country with the most internet users, its people’s use of the internet for e-commerce and online

shopping is far behind that in the USA (Tong, 2010). Second, they are the world’s two leading

countries in terms of the number of internet users and strong growth in online retail sales (Tong,

2010). By understanding what decision factors affects Chinese consumer’s behaviors and the

cultural differences between China and US, online retailers and marketers will be able to further

improve their marketing strategies by accommodating to what Chinese consumer’s needs.

III India

India is embracing the phenomenal growth of e-commerce like the rest of the world.

Companies have been constantly improving technology and increasing the use of online retail

channels. The e-commerce industry in India has come to sell everything to consumers, “from

groceries to bakery products, books and computers” (Jain, S.K., & Jain, M., 2011).

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A prior research has examined the influence of the characteristics of products offered

online on the consumers’ intention to purchase. The result of the survey conducted for the

research points out that there is a “general unwillingness” among Indian consumers to purchase

expensive products online (Jain, S.K., & Jain, M., 2011). Only about 11 percent of the

consumers who took the survey have expressed interest in purchasing expensive products such as

jewelry, automobiles, or even electronic items (Jain, S.K., & Jain, M., 2011). Also, in the same

survey, many Indian consumers shows a lack of interest in ordering “frequently purchased

products” such as fruits, vegetables, groceries, or flowers (Jain, S.K., & Jain, M., 2011).

However, a large percentage of consumers surveyed seems likely to make purchase towards

services online such as banking, insurance, loans, travel, airplane ticket, or entertainment (Jain,

S.K., & Jain, M., 2011).

Consumers are less interested in buying expensive products online because of high risk

and trust issue. In terms of products such as groceries, fruits and vegetables or flowers,

consumers are not showing much enthusiasm since in a developing country like India, there is a

lack of quality standardization and therefore, consumers are inclined to purchase those products

in stores (Jain, S.K., & Jain, M., 2011). People prefer to test those products themselves in a

traditional shopping setting. Services online, in contrast, do not require tangibility in purchase,

thus attract more consumers’ attention and they are likely to be less expensive and “quite high in

their intangible value proposition” (Jain, S.K., & Jain, M., 2011).

Different categories of services are determined as below, which bases on the level of

involvement, the amount of investment and time spent by consumers to make a purchase

(Sakkthivel, 2006):

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High involvement services: such as loans for house, car, or investment of fund. Since

there is a high investment, the behavior process as well as the involvement of the

consumer will be longer than usual (Sakkthivel, 2006).

Medium involvement services: such as selecting domestic holiday package or booking an

airplane ticket. It involves medium investment and a certain amount of time spent on the

purchase (Sakkthivel, 2006).

Low involvement services: like purchasing a movie ticket online or booking a table at a

restaurant. Since the investment is low, not too much time and effort will be spent by

consumers (Sakkthivel, 2006).

By categorizing services purchased online into different groups, service providers can

build online consumers’ profile for each of the segment and offer services that are specifically

made for the “target group” (Sakkthivel, 2006). For example, with high involvement services,

providers can build an extra layer of security for consumers to prevent fraud or theft online.

Also, service companies may provide consumers with 24/7 online customer service to answer

questions and to help with problems in order to build a relationship with online customers. Or in

terms of medium involvement services, a cancellation policy can be offered to consumers to

increase the level of convenience. As Indian consumers have a preference of buying services

online, if service providers can meet the needs of each specific type of consumers, the e-

commerce industry will experience great growth in the near future.

IV South Korea

Korean retail market is shifting focus and shoppers are changing their habits (Blecken,

2008). The market was once dominated by domestic brands such as the giants LG or Samsung

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since “Korea is good at making things” (Blecken, 2008). Because of that, Korean market is

considered to be unappealing for foreign companies seeking to enter and expand in this market

(Blecken, 2008).

However, there is a growing interest in lifestyle trends among Korean consumers which

opens up a lot of new opportunities in areas such as foreign luxury goods or financial services

(Blecken, 2008). Especially foreign fashion brands are attracting lots of attention from Korean

consumers.

Prior research points out that Korean consumers are quickly becoming global consumers,

finding themselves developing the same taste in fashion as those in Western countries,

purchasing and wearing the same brands or styles of clothing (Hye-Jung, Leslie Davis, & Nancy,

2007). Korean consumers, especially young generation, have become fashion-conscious, even

trend-setter and have familiarized themselves with foreign famous brands and products (Hye-

Jung et al, 2007). The purchase of foreign luxury goods significantly increases and the Korean

central bank has indicated that 19.5 percent of household spending on goods was for imported

goods in January 2002 (Kirk, 2002 and Hye-Jung et al, 2007).

Online shopping for foreign luxury goods across border has become a new trend since the

availability of store-based foreign goods cannot meet the needs of Korean consumers (Hye-Jung

et al, 2007). People go directly to the websites of foreign retailers to purchase instead of going to

a store due to its lack of product variety or price differences. In the past, the purchase of products

from online foreign retailers proves to be an extremely challenging task due to the lack of proper

payment methods or poor shipping infrastructure (Hye-Jung et al, 2007). However, online

shopping has improved significantly with retailers providing convenient method of payment,

delivery, and other services related (Hye-Jung et al, 2007). Also, with Korea having one of the

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most advanced internet infrastructure in the world, the country has a great environment for

online businesses to grow (Hye-Jung et al, 2007).

Korean consumers are motivated by fashion innovativeness and materialism to shop

online across national borders (Hye-Jung et al, 2007). Innovativeness refers to the openness of

consumers towards new ideas or experiences; or in the case of fashion, new brands and styles of

clothing. As fashion innovativeness significantly urges the brand seeking behavior among

consumers and as foreign retailers offer latest fashion goods which are not available in offline

stores, Korean consumers are motivated towards purchasing foreign luxury goods online instead

of relying only on domestics fashion brands (Hye-Jung et al, 2007). Besides fashion

innovativeness, the trend of Korean consumers buying luxury goods on foreign online channels

is also influenced by materialism. As the country itself experiences growth and the income of

people is on the rise, people start pursuing a material lifestyle and they view expensive fashion

items as a symbol of prosperity (Solomon 2004 and Hye-Jung et al, 2007). As people think of

well-known brands as a way to show off to others, they will make purchase to raise appearance

and status, especially searching for items that are rare and not available yet in the country’s

online or offline stores. Therefore, materialism is another crucial motive that encourages

consumers in Korea to shop online for luxury goods across national borders.

Recognize this trend going on among Korean consumers, internet fashion retailers should

pursue marketing and promotional efforts not only online but also offline such as advertisements

in newspapers, fashion magazines or word of mouth (Hye-Jung et al, 2007). People often look

for new products and trends in these offline sources. Taking advantage of these promotion

channels would more likely to help increase online sales. Also, since purchases are made online

and goods are shipped across the border, sales managers should also focus on building a strong

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logistics infrastructure and a great customer service to provide help to consumers in case of

missing or damaged goods. An increase level of trust and convenience among customers is likely

to boost online traffic and sale revenue.

V Germany

Germany is Europe’s largest and most important market with a population of 82 million

people. According to the website Emarketer, the e-commerce sales of Germany alone was over

63 billion in 2014 (ranked 5th worldwide) and accounted for 7.3% of total retail sales (higher than

the US- 6.5%). These numbers prove this market is great to invest in and is likely to grow more

in the future.

The online shopping behavior of consumers in Germany is compared to those in the US

to identify significant characteristics and to understand cultural differences’ influence on noted

behavior. Choosing to put Germany and the US into perspective and compare one to another is

because these two countries bear many resemblances in terms of macroeconomics characteristics

as well as a well-developed e-commerce industry; yet they still represent distinct cultures (Smith,

Deitz, Royne, Hansen, Grünhagen, & Witte, 2013).

Prior research has shown that there are many factors affecting consumers’ decision to

shop online instead of going to traditional brick-and-mortar stores. Ghosh (1998) suggests that

convenience, information, customization as well as interaction are the reasons that lead

consumers to online shopping (as cited in To, Liao, & Lin, 2007). Morganosky and Cude (2000)

also propose that convenience and time efficiency are what Internet shopping offers consumers

(as cited in To et al., 2007). All of these factors mentioned above are related to utilitarian

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motivations (To et al., 2007). Therefore, as suggested by prior research, utilitarian values are the

underlying reasons for people to shop online (To et al., 2007).

An individual’s perceived shopping value is believed to have two dimensions: utilitarian

and hedonic (Sarkar, 2011). Utilitarian buying motives consist of convenience-seeking, quality

and reasonable price seeking (Sarkar, 2011). On the contrary, hedonic buying motives include

“emotional needs of individuals for enjoyable and interesting shopping experiences” (Sarkar,

2011). In other words, utilitarian-motivated consumers view the purchasing as a problem-solving

activity and look forward to maximizing utility by focusing on the benefits of the product

(Sarkar, 2011). Consumers who looking for hedonic values, instead, find online shopping itself

as an experience that provides them with enjoyment.

For people who come from cultures that are motivated by utilitarian motives, they are

more likely to seek online shopping if they see it as easy and convenient (Smith et al., 2013).

Prior research shows this holds true in Germany and in the US- that utilitarian motives seem to

dominate shoppers’ intentions and perceptions (Smith et al., 2013).

Adding to the conclusion that consumers in Germany as well as in the US are led mostly

by convenience factor to shop online is the fact that these two cultures are highly individualistic.

And people from more individualistic cultures “tend to have stronger desires for personal

convenience” (Smith et al., 2013). This individualistic dimension of culture comes from

Hofstede’s model which he built in the 1960s and 1970s for IBM. In this model, Hofstede (1991)

identifies six dimensions along which cultural values could be analyzed: Power distance,

individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation and indulgence.

According to the definition from the Hofstede’s model, individualism addresses “the degree of

interdependence a society maintains among its members” or in other words, it refers to the extent

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of relationship between an individual and societal groups in a culture (Smith et al., 2013).

Among Hofstede’s dimensions, individualism is believed to be the most important cross-cultural

influence on consumers’ online shopping motivations (Ozen, & Kodaz, 2012). According to the

model, Germany has quite a high level of individualism (67/100) and the US even has a higher

score in this dimension (91/100).

However, there is a slight difference in the level of relationship between utilitarian

motives and online shopping behavior in Germany and the US. The consumers in the US, with

an extremely high score on individualism, almost always choose Internet shopping because it is

easy, convenient and also many great deals can be found online. On the other hand, German and

many Scandinavian cultures are viewed as highly egalitarian (Smith et al., 2013). Therefore,

consumers, besides the convenience that online shopping brings, also see this method of

shopping as “a useful tool that levels the playing field, leading to fair outcomes for all parties”

(Smith et al., 2013). They believe that online shopping enables them to achieve tasks that cannot

be done by traditional retail stores (Smith et al., 2013).

By understanding the fact that German consumers seek online shopping more because of

utilitarian than hedonic motives and that German is a highly individualistic and egalitarian

culture, managers can improve sales by enhancing perceptions of retailing websites. This can be

done through “broader product selections, exclusive promotions, and the availability of features

that provide easier access to information such as chat-based customer service” (Smith et al.,

2013).

VI United Kingdom

Online retail in United Kingdom has been particularly strong as the British shoppers have

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high levels of trust in online retailers and the way products are advertised on the web. The U.S

and U.K share English as a common language which is very important part of culture (Ueltschy,

Krampf, & Yannopoulos, 2004). Language has been said to establish the categories in which our

perceptions of the world are organized, not merely a mechanism for communicating ideas but

shaper of ideas (Ueltschy, 2004). Thus, U.S and U.K are culturally unified to a certain extent by

the language they share (Ueltschy, 2004). Additionally, considering Hofstede’s (2001) cultural

paradigm, one can see that US and UK are located very close to each other on the uncertainty

avoidance dimension (Ueltschy, 2004). Low scores on the uncertainty avoidance dimension

indicate that individuals in these cultures are open to change rather than fear it (Ueltschy, 2004).

However, in spite of these similarities, there are many differences in attitudes and values which

make each culture unique (Ueltschy, 2004). Previous studies found significant differences in

advertising appeals used in print ads targeting the markets of Canada, the United States and the

U.K (Ueltschy, 2004). Additional support for the premise is that the cross-country analysis

indicates these similar cultures perceive significantly different risk overall towards online

purchasing as U.S. respondents were more risk averse than respondents in the U.K (Ueltschy,

2004).

Meanwhile, online grocery shopping takes on as a noticeable UK e-commerce consumer

trend. Based on previous research in 2004, the UK “has arguably the most developed online

grocery retail market in the world”, with more than 1.3 million people shopping for groceries

online (Robinson, Riley, Rettie, & Rolls-Willson, 2007). Of course, online shopping in general

has been growing at a much faster pace since then. Since a decade has passed with e-commerce

becoming more common and advanced for consumers, it is believable that the number of UK

online shoppers has increased dramatically presently.

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Shopping online for groceries can be classified as a discontinuous innovation, since the

behavior pattern of selecting grocery items online is considerably different from personally

choosing items on display on a supermarket shelf (Robinson et al, 2007). This is particularly the

case for produce such as fresh meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, which are rich in sensory

attributes (Robinson et al, 2007). Based on previous studies, consumer perceptions of the relative

advantage and compatibility of electronic grocery shopping positively influenced the intention to

adopt online grocery shopping (Robinson et al, 2007). For example, busy consumers regarded e-

grocery as compatible with their shopping experiences, while the physical effort associated with

in-store shopping and time pressure positively influenced the perceived relative advantage of

shopping online (Robinson et al, 2007). Perceived convenience therefore emerged as a

potentially decisive factor in determining consumers’ perceived relative advantage and

compatibility of electronic grocery shopping (Robinson et al, 2007). Finally, as expected,

consumers’ perceptions of the complexity of electronic grocery shopping had a negative

influence on their e-grocery intentions (Robinson et al, 2007). Previous findings show that US

online grocery shopper adopters attached higher compatibility, higher relative advantage, more

positive social norms and lower complexity to internet grocery shopping comparing with

consumers who make purchases online or consumers who had never bought anything on the

Internet (Robinson et al, 2007).

As UK e-grocery market is still growing and intensifying competition, it is important to

look at consumers’ motivations for adopting the online mode of shopping for groceries, as well

as into the dislikes which may threaten further diffusion and growth (Robinson et al, 2007). A

major motivation for purchasing groceries online is convenience, both in terms of being able to

shop anytime and of having bulky items delivered (Robinson et al, 2007). From the research

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interview conducted by Robinson (2007), a female answered that she shops groceries online “for

bulk buying so they (the site) can cart it home rather than her carting it home, things like bottled

water, sacks of dog food, and sacks of potatoes.” It is understandable that lack of males in the

house may be an incentive for females to bulk buy online to avoid all the hassle carrying heavy

goods from local stores to their houses. Online grocery shopping is considered ideal for heavy or

bulky goods as buyers tend to order large quantities of daily necessities such as cat litter, diapers,

detergents and toilet paper. At the same time, instead of only reading the label of a product in a

shop, online browsing allows one to have decent informational description of the product which

further increases the reason for online shopping. Also, life events emerge as the catalyst for

either starting or discontinuing online grocery shopping, suggesting that adoption of online

grocery shopping is reconsidered in view of changing lifestyles (Robinson et al, 2007). Through

a qualitative research conducted by Robinson (2007) with 32 respondents in Greater London,

situational variables appeared to be the dominant triggers for starting online grocery shopping

because of the convenience. Breaking a limb, busy working, caring for elderly parents, having a

baby are some of the reasons that motivated people to start Internet grocery shopping. After the

elders passed away or injuries healed, people usually tend to return to their normal grocery

shopping habits at traditional supermarkets. Online grocery shopping is more of a complement

with traditional store shopping than an alternative.

The British shoppers’ preferences towards online grocery brands in the UK are mainly

Tesco, the largest UK provider and also the world’s biggest Internet grocery business (Robinson

et al, 2007). Tesco.com’s online market share currently represents 45% of the UK online grocery

market (Wilson-Jeanselme, & Reynolds, 2006). For a particular sample drawn from high net

worth families from independent schools in Surrey, 50.39% of respondents were currently

21

shopping online with Tesco.com for groceries (Wilson-Jeanselme et al, 2006). Sainsburys.co.uk

and Ocado.co.uk come close in competition with Tesco.com. These three brands represent the

leading online grocery retailers in the UK.

By understanding that British consumers often buy groceries online, supermarkets and

brands need to find ways to bridge the gap between shoppers searching online for product

information to actual sales. Brands also have to come out with new digital marketing ideas to

engage customers online by creating user friendly search engines and also more

illustrations/animations, recipes, simulated stores/games on their websites to make online

grocery shopping more interesting.

VII Conclusion

The Internet is a global communication medium that is increasingly being used

worldwide as an innovative tool for marketing goods and services (Clemes et al, 2014).

Competitions between online retail sites become more intense as online shopping users

worldwide dramatically increase every year. Convenience and time efficiency are mostly the

main reasons why consumers start to shop online instead of going to traditional brick-and-mortar

stores. With the widespread use of smartphones and tablets, online shopping enable people to

shop anywhere, anytime with just a click away. . Cultural dimensions of uncertainty avoidance

and trust as well as gap in the development of e-commerce seem to significantly influence

consumers’ perceptions and adoption of the internet for shopping in the international market

(Tong, 2010). Online retailers need to build an understanding of why and how online consumers

from different cultures make their decisions to know what areas to improve on to increase their

sales and further grow their business.

22

Since the literature reviewed only focused on cultural differences in consumer behaviors

from few countries, there can be more in-depth research conducted in the future. Future research

can focus on online shopping categories such as frequency of shopping (e.g., non-shoppers,

occasional shoppers, and frequent shoppers), or types of product categories purchased (e.g.,

goods versus services or luxuries versus necessities) (Clemes et al, 2014). Furthermore, the

relationship between customer satisfaction, e-loyalty and continuous shopping intention in the

Chinese online shopping environment should be scrutinized (Liu et al, 2008).

Second, beside decision factors, there are other factors that may influence consumers’

adoption of online shopping such as product features, incentives, or past shopping experiences.

Future research can develop more detailed models that can capture and explain the differences

across product categories or focus on one category, such as clothes, books, CDs or airline tickets

(Liu et al, 2008). Also instead of focusing on many countries around the world, future studies

can focus just on the countries in one continent. For example, the cross-cultural study can center

on countries in Asia like China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, etc. By concentrating

on one continent, research can contribute more details to the understanding of the difference in

cultures in that one region. On the other hand, surveys can expand to other geographic regions of

a country, not just restricted to one city.

23

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