CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. This chapter provides an overview of the methodology used in this research. The use

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1 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter provides an overview of the methodology used in this research. The use of appropriate methodology forms the basis for a research so that scientifically valid findings and conclusions can be drawn from the research. This chapter is focused on the justification of the study, objectives of this study, the methodology followed by the researcher to identify the sample, sample size and collection of data, measurement development and its validation, the framework of data analysis and finally the scope and limitations of this study. 3.2 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY The study on attitude of the consumers towards online shopping has become crucial, since the growth of online sale of product and services is rising tremendously in recent years. Today, no company can afford to ignore e-commerce. It is even predicted that e-commerce will become a part of core business functions. Many models, frameworks and thoughts towards building a comprehensive picture of e-commerce are evolving says Henry et.al (2001). For building a distinct picture of e-commerce, clear understanding of needs and expectations of the consumers is a must. By determining the underlying factors exactly that convince the customers to buy products online, one may be able to implement strategies to encourage the favorable factors and reduce the unfavorable factors. Though there are several generic studies made on online shopping using Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) with reference to many technological products, little research laid emphasis on online shopping attitude of cosmetic products. Worldwide, there are also evidences for research being conducted for online purchase of products such as books (Shanon Jane Ward, 2008; Ellisavet, 2011), apparels (Hira Cho, 2009), online games (Dauw-Song Zhu, 2012), online groceries (Ronan de Kervenoael, 2007), electronics (Ellisavet, 2011), e-tickets (Ellisavet, 2011).

2 Tirunelveli, being one of the southern end parts of Tamilnadu, has consumers with a more conservative and traditional cultural background. The extent to which consumers living in this locale use internet and shop online and the factors involved in it can be understood through this study which serves as a key for the organizations to understand the attitude of similar kind of consumers. So, the need for study on factors influencing the online shopping attitude in this locale can be justified. Also, for this study, the researcher has intentionally selected cosmetics as the target product. There are several reasons which can justify this choice. Firstly, cosmetic industry is a fast growing industry worldwide, the usage of which has accelerated due to increasing consciousness regarding the personality, lifestyle changes, changing trend in fashion, gaining self confidence and increasing need to make oneself presentable. Secondly, cosmetics are high involvement products, requiring consumers to conduct an extensive research on the information about product attributes and benefits before deciding to purchase. Additionally, there is an increasing trend of consumers turning to the Web searching for information on various products including cosmetics. Also, there are very little studies concerned to online shopping of cosmetic products. Lastly, the researcher is confident of successfully attaining sufficient and reliable data necessary for this study. Hence, cosmetic industry is proved to be an appropriate choice for this study. Also, many important factors that influence attitude of customers towards online shopping is not considered in TAM model. But various researchers have dealt with those factors and proved them to be significant. This study aims at including those factors which are not considered in TAM model in influencing online shopping attitude of the customers. 3.3 AN OUTLINE OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS Apart from the online shopping environment, there are various exogenous factors from the side of consumers, their characteristics and their perceptions about online shopping.

3 This research offers a detailed study on the internal and external factors influencing customer attitude towards online shopping of cosmetic products. It helps to enrich our knowledge about the relationship between the attitude, its antecedents and consequences. The study explores the following research questions: 1. Who are online cosmetic buyers in terms of demography? 2. What are the factors influencing their online shopping attitude? 3.4 MARKETING RESEARCH PROCESS Malhotra (2004) 180, states that marketing research is the systematic and objective identification, collection, analysis, dissemination and use of information for the purpose of improving decision making related to the identification and solution of problems and opportunities in marketing. This involves the process of collecting data and converting it into useful information under six stages as insisted by Zikmund (2003) 181. The stages in marketing research process are as shown below. Figure: 3.1 The Marketing Research Process Source: Adapted from Zikmund (2003) 180 Malhotra, N.K. (2004). Review of Marketing Research. M.E.Sharpe. Armonk, NY, London. 181 Zikmund, W.G. (2003). Business Research Methods.

4 3.5 PLANNING THE RESEARCH DESIGN OF THE STUDY A research design is a framework or blue print for conducting a marketing research (Malhotra, 2004). The research design involves framing the objectives of the study, research method and framing the measuring instrument Objectives of the study 1. To profile the demographic characteristics of online cosmetic buyers of Tirunelveli district 2. To identify the factors influencing the customer attitude towards online shopping of cosmetic products in Tirunelveli district 3. To determine the relationship between the dependent and independent variables 4. To understand the online purchase pattern of online cosmetic buyers. 5. To understand the internet usage pattern of online cosmetic buyers 6. To determine the level of performance of the customers towards online shopping of cosmetic products in Tirunelveli district Research model An exploratory study was made and secondary data about the theories regarding customer attitude, prior researches about online shopping and customer attitude and its factors are reviewed. The study was also focused on the theoretical aspects and growth of online marketing, cosmetic industry. Sources of secondary data include journals, newspapers, magazines, websites and reports published by IAMAI, IMRB, and ASSOCHAM. Based on the review of literature a number of factors are found to have significant influence over the customer attitude towards online shopping. In this study the following conceptual model is framed and tested using hypotheses.

5 Figure: 3.2 Proposed research model Source: Developed for this research

6 3.5.3 Hypotheses The following hypotheses are framed related to the objectives of the study. To identify the factors influencing the customer attitude towards online shopping of cosmetic products H 1 : There is no relationship between the factor Web specific self efficacy of the customers and their attitude towards online shopping of cosmetic products. H 2 : There is no relationship between the factor Internet self efficacy of the customers and their attitude towards online shopping of cosmetic products. H 3 : There is no relationship between the factor Personal Innovativeness of the customers and their attitude towards online shopping of cosmetic products. H 4 : There is no relationship between the factor Perceived risk of the customers and their attitude towards online shopping of cosmetic products. H 5 : There is no relationship between the factor Perceived usefulness of the customers and their attitude towards online shopping of cosmetic products. H 6 : There is no relationship between the Perceived ease of use of the customers and their attitude towards online shopping of cosmetic products. H 7 : There is no relationship between the factor Trust of the customers and their attitude towards online shopping of cosmetic products. H 8 : There is no relationship between the factor Subjective norms of the customers and their attitude towards online shopping of cosmetic products. H 9 : There is no relationship between the factor Website features of the customers and their attitude towards online shopping of cosmetic products. H 10 : There is no relationship between the factor Enjoyment of the customers and their attitude towards online shopping of cosmetic products.

7 To identify the relationship between customer attitude, intention and actual purchase of online cosmetic products H 11 : There is no relationship between the online shopping attitude of the customers and their intention to buy online cosmetic products. H 12 : There is no relationship between the customer intention and their actual purchase of online cosmetic products. To identify the effect of demographic characteristics of the respondents towards the factors of online shopping attitude of cosmetic products and online purchase pattern H 13 : There is no mean difference among the gender groups of the respondents towards the attitude factors H 14 : There is no mean difference among the marital groups of the respondents towards the attitude factors H 15 : There is no mean difference among the age groups of the respondents towards the attitude factors H 16 : There is no mean difference among the educational groups of the respondents towards the attitude factors H 17 : There is no mean difference among the occupational groups of the respondents towards the attitude factors H 18 : There is no mean difference among the income groups of the respondents towards the attitude factors H 19 : There is no mean difference between the area of ethnicity of the respondents towards the attitude factors H 20 : There is no mean difference between the number of years of internet usage of the respondents towards the attitude factors

8 H 21 : There is no mean difference between the time spent in internet by the respondents towards the attitude factors To identify the relationship between level of income and number of years of internet usage towards the frequency of online purchase H 22 : There is no mean difference among the income groups of the respondents towards the frequency of online purchase H 23 : There is no mean difference between the income groups of the respondents towards the frequency of online cosmetic purchase H 24 : There is no mean difference between the number of years of internet usage of the respondents towards the frequency of online purchase H 25 : There is no mean difference between the number of years of internet usage of the respondents towards the frequency of online cosmetic purchase Primary research method The primary research can be done using three methods- survey, experiment and observation. The survey method is chosen in this study, in which well structured questionnaire was used to collect the primary data Measurement development The questionnaire is designed considering the objectives, hypothesis and conceptual model of the study and based on the variables obtained from the literature. The first part of the questionnaire includes questions regarding the demographic profile, cosmetic consumption pattern, internet usage pattern and online purchase pattern of the respondents. Screening questions were included in the questionnaire so as to filter those respondents who have bought cosmetics at least once from online shopping websites. Online cosmetic buyers were filtered and were asked to fill the second part of the questionnaire which includes items regarding each independent factor that are found to have influence on the customer attitude

9 towards online shopping. The third part of the questionnaire includes items in context with customer attitude, behavioral intention and actual purchase of online cosmetic products. Likert scales were used to measure the functional variables of the study in which the respondents were asked to rate a five point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The sequence of the questionnaire is as follows: Demographic questions Cosmetic consumption pattern Internet usage pattern Online purchase pattern Screening question Online cosmetic purchase pattern Items regarding the functional variables of the independent factors influencing customer attitude towards online shopping of cosmetic products Items regarding customer attitude, behavioral intention and actual purchase of online cosmetic products. Questions regarding motivating factors and barriers to buy cosmetics online Pilot study The pilot study is an essential step to revise the strength of the questionnaire. This step helps the researcher to identify and remove the unclear or ambiguously formulated questions and to test the reliability of items generated in the questionnaire. The questionnaire was given to 30 samples and the respondents were asked to notify the researcher about the face validity, inconsistency, irregularity in any question. The reliability of the items in the completed questionnaires was checked using Cronbach s coefficient alpha. Out of 52 items used for pilot study, only 38 were shown to have an alpha of more than 0.7 while performing

10 Cronbach s reliability test. Hence, the remaining items were excluded from the instrument for the further study. 3.6 SAMPLING DESIGN FOR THE STUDY Identification and specification of the target population The target population includes every element or every person relating to a research. In this study, since the research is made on the customer attitude towards online shopping of cosmetic products in Tirunelveli, the researcher considers the online buyers in Tirunelveli district as a whole as the target population, from which the online cosmetic buyers are filtered for the in-depth study. According to this study, online cosmetic buyers refer to those customers who have bought cosmetic products at least once through online shopping medium. Online cosmetic non-buyers are those who purchase other products but not cosmetics through online shopping medium Determining the sample size As proposed by Hair et al (1998) 182, the minimum sample to have at least five times as many observations as there are variables to be analyzed, and the more acceptable size would be a ten-to-one ratio. As proposed by C.R.Kothari (2004) 183, the pilot study can be used to determine the number of samples necessary for the main study. The formula for infinite population is n= (z 2 * s 2 ) / e 2 Where, n z s e - Minimum number of samples necessary for the study, - Confidence level, - Standard deviation obtained from pilot study and - Allowable error term. 182 Hair, Joseph, F. Jr., Anderson, R.E., Tatham, R.L., & Black, W.C. (1998). Multivariate Data Analysis, (5th Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall C.R.Kothari. (2004). Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques. New Age International.

11 Here, the researcher is with a confidence level of 95%, and allows an error term of 4%, the standard deviation obtained is The value of standard deviation is obtained from pilot study using the formula: variance =. Hence, the minimum number of samples needed is 288. n = ( * ) / = 288 The researcher aims at distributing double the number of minimum sample size required i.e., 600 questionnaires to online shoppers so as to obtain the sufficient number of target samples of the study Choosing the sampling method This study has to undergo non probability sampling method since the sample frame of total online buyers in Tirunelveli for a particular period of time is not available. The convenience sampling technique since the total list of all online cosmetic buyers cannot be obtained Processing and analyzing the data The completed questionnaires were analyzed so as to remove the invalid questionnaires which are not completely filled by the respondents or due to improper legibility or consistency. Among the 600 questionnaires distributed, only 553 questionnaires were valid. Among which 316 respondents have bought cosmetics at least once through online. The sample size 316 is found to be sufficient in accordance with both Hair et.al and C.R.Kothari. The data available in these questionnaires are converted to codes and spss version 20.0 was used to analyze the data statistically. The reliability and validity of the data obtained was checked as an initial step. Reliability-Cronbach s alpha value was used to determine the reliability of data and is listed in the Table 3.1.

12 Table 3.1 Reliability test Factors Cronbach s alpha Number of items Web specific self efficacy Internet self efficacy Personal innovativeness Perceived risk Perceived usefulness Perceived ease of use Trust Subjective norms Website features Enjoyment Source: Primary data The validity of the data was checked using factor analysis. Factor analysis is used to check the validity as well as to reveal the underlying factorial structure of the various constructs used in the study. This is explained in detailed in chapter 5. The Kaiser-Mayer- Olkin measure of sample adequacy and Bartlett s test of sphericity reveals the existence of construct validity in the data. 3.7 DATA ANALYSIS The next step involves two types of analysis namely descriptive and inferential analysis. The statistical methods chosen are concerned to the objectives of the study and the nature of data obtained from the respondents Descriptive analysis The descriptive analysis helps the researcher to portray the characteristics of the sample respondents. The raw data obtained from the respondents are rearranged into tables and charts so that it could be easier to infer results from the manipulated data. The descriptive statistical tools used in this study are: Percentage Cross tabulation

13 Percentage is simple descriptive statistical tool to portray the characteristics of the sample respondents. A percentage is a number or ratio expressed as a fraction of 100. In this study, the demographic variables such as age, gender, marital status, education, occupation, online purchase frequency, amount spent for online purchase are expressed in terms of percentage. Cross tabulation is a tool that allows the comparison of relationship between two variables. In this study level of performance is compared with the demographic variables of the respondents Inferential analysis Inferential analysis is used by a researcher to infer judgments about the population parameters from the sample study. This involves testing of hypotheses framed based on the objectives. The statistical tests along with the significance level are used to determine whether a null hypothesis can be accepted or not. The inferential statistical tools used in this study are: Z test Z test is applied to determine the mean difference between two independent samples or groups. This study uses Z test to find the difference in mean scores of demographic variables- gender and marital status towards the attitude factors. The formula for z test is, - 2 Where z is z statistic, 2 2 s 1 2 s 2 - Mean of second sample - Standard deviation of first sample - Standard deviation of second sample

14 n 1 n 2 - Number of samples in first group - Number of samples in second group Analysis of variance Anova is applied to determine the mean difference between more than two independent samples or groups. It determines whether the mean of the groups change with respect to some variable. This study uses Anova to find the difference in mean scores of demographic variables- age, education, occupation, internet experience, online purchase frequency of the respondents towards the attitude factors. Pearson s Product Correlation The Pearson s product correlation is used to measure the relationship between two variables. The correlation coefficient focuses on measuring the linear relationships between the variables ranging from -1 to +1. The Pearson s correlation does not find the causal relationship between variables. In other words, it does not measure the influence of one variable over the other. This study uses Pearson correlation to prove the existence of relationships between the attitude and its factors. Regression Regression analysis is used to investigate the relationship one independent variable and one dependent variable. Regression also helps the researcher to measure the influence of independent variable on the dependent variable. This study uses regression analysis to test hypotheses and to find the direction and strength of relationship among the independent and dependent variables. Ranking Weighted ranking method is used to find the ranking of the motivating and demotivating factors towards online purchase of cosmetic products.

15 3.8 FORMULATING CONCLUSIONS AND PREPARING THE REPORT The interpretation based on each analysis is made and the major findings, conclusion and suggestions are drafted in chapter 6. This information would be more useful for the marketing managers and online retailers. 3.9 AREA OF STUDY The area of study is Tirunelveli district which consists of eleven Taluks with a population of more than 30lakh people. The district has a number of engineering, medical, private and government colleges which may be responsible for the high literacy rate of more than 77 percentage out of the total population in the district. The infrastructure of the district relating to 3G internet connection and other facilities are developing at a greater speed so as to provide technological facilities equivalent to that of the metropolitan cities. The people living in this area are conservative in nature, have more concern towards utility of the product and more price sensitive. Besides agriculture, the rising industrial sector in the district leads to an increase in the opportunities for better occupation for the people with regular and high income level SCOPE OF THE STUDY The change in the trend and consumer behavior style is an evergreen concept. At all changing trends, the prime aim of the organizations is to create satisfaction among the consumers. The organizations aim at attracting new consumers as well as retaining the existing consumers through customer satisfaction. This study acts as an eye-opener for those organizations that are willing to sell cosmetic products through the Internet. The study helps to improve their quality of their service with respect to online sale or marketing of cosmetic products. The study acts as an insight to know the particular area which creates a favorable or unfavorable attitude among the consumers.

16 3.11 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The scope of the study is limited to the particular factors of attitude that are considered in this study. There are many other internal as well as external factors existing in the environment apart from those considered in this research. The study area is limited to Tirunelveli district and so the findings of the study cannot be generalized to all online shoppers. The study focuses on the aspects of consumer attitude regarding the cosmetic purchase. Hence the findings of the study cannot be generalized to other type of products such electronic, apparels, etc. The sampling method used in this is convenience sampling which is a non-probability sampling technique and is subjected to its own merits and demerits CHAPTERISATION This thesis is structured into six chapters as shown below. Chapter 1 presents an overview of the growth of e-tailing and online marketing in today s business world as well as the growth of cosmetic industry in the past decades. Chapter 2 provides a theoretical overview of theoretical aspects of customer attitude and prior researches on factors influencing consumer attitude towards online shopping. Chapter 3 deals with research problem, objectives, its justification, framing the hypotheses, scope and the limitations of the study and methodology adopted for this study. Gaps in the literature are identified and a preliminary model explaining factors influencing online purchase intention of cosmetic products is developed from the literature. Questionnaire development, data collection, and the method of survey are explained, substantiated, and discussed in detail.

17 Chapter 4 describes the analysis and interpretation of demographic variables of the respondents and the level of performance prevailing among the customers. The results are tabulated and represented as charts. Chapter 5 includes the determination of factors influencing the online shopping attitude of the customers to buy cosmetic products. The statistical differences among the demographic groups of the respondents towards these factors of online shopping attitude are also depicted in this chapter. Chapter 6 contains the major findings obtained through the analysis, the suggestions based on these findings, the conclusions and the scope for future research. Figure: 3.3 Outline of the thesis 3.13 CHAPTER SUMMARY This chapter discussed the methodology used in this study. The methods adopted to design the research process are discussed and the results of the tests are discussed in next chapter.