NIT6130 Introduction to Research

State your research problems and re-organize your collected literatures
a. Prepare a statement on your research problem
b. Try to structure the problem into a set of smaller sub-problems if possible
c. Organize the collected literatures according to the sub-problems defined 

 

Compare and contrast the features of qualitative and quantitative methodologies Decide what type of methodology you plan to applied in your project and justify your decision Review, analyse and summarize the existing methodologies reported in the collected literatures  Select one sub-problem that you are going to work with. Get all the related literatures ready for further analysis.

With the increase in the use of the internet, needs and desires of the customers have also changed. The enterprises aim at consistently marketing their products according to the needs of the customers. It can be said that the enterprise overall performance plays an important in determining the consumer buying behavior. The companies are continually striving to understand the impact of technology on the consumer buying behavior. The study of consumer behavior is considered as a part of marketing as the companies and marketer aims at understanding the needs, tastes, desires and various other factors that influence a consumer to buy a particular product. The study aims at identifying the impact that E-commerce has created on the buying behavior of the consumer. It is very difficult for the marketers to understand the buying behavior of the consumers, but at the same time is highly important in order to increase the customer base and sales of the products offered. Thereby, in this study, the various aspects that influence the consumers to buy a product are studied (Mittal, 2013).

Research problem into Sub problems

This study is conducted to basically study the impact of E-commerce on the consumer buying behavior. This study has been reviewed two literatures, which can be further explained by dividing the research problem into various sub problems. This will help in conducting the research more effectively. Following are the sub problems generated from the research problem:-

Review of literature

Sub Problem: The role of E- commerce in consumer buying behavior

The E-commerce has changed the era of doing business and inducing the customers to buy the products and services. With advent of technology, the use of internet has considerably increased. The marketing business has changed and has also evolved the various ways of attracting the customers. The social media have been in vogue and has developed the means of marketing the products and services. The internet has provided the companies with various social media platforms that enable the marketers to identify the needs of the customers by communicating with them and also helps in showcasing their products and services with better and creative advertisements. The technology has helped the marketers in advertising their products. The use of internet helps in providing various benefits to the retailers as well as to the customers. The E-commerce has developed various relations with the customers through social interactions. Thereby, it can be stated that E-commerce plays a vital role in consumer buying behavior (Swaminathan, et al., 2009).  

Sub problem: Advantages and disadvantages of using internet shopping

This part of the study highlights the problem, whether the customers and marketers are benefitting through the use of internet shopping or they face challenges. Since every coin has two sides, it can be stated that internet shopping has its two sides i.e., the positive and the negative. The E-commerce has provided the customers and marketers with various advantages. Discussing the advantages of customers, they are provided with convenient, timely delivery of products and services, comfort and a better quality of goods. The customers can shop at any time from any place while shopping at the online stores. This does not require any physical presence of the seller and buyer. The marketers are benefitted through understanding the factors that influence the customer buying by carefully understanding the needs of the customers by interacting through them with the use of social media sites. The cost of promoting and marketing the products has also reduced due to the use of social media.

The marketers can either develop their own websites or they can showcase their products and services on various websites that lead to an effective advertisement (Fotis, 2015). The marketers can gain customer feedback, which can be resolved as per the needs of the customers. The biggest advantage is the satisfaction of the customer needs. The marketers through effective study, understand the needs of the customers and thus, aim at producing according to the needs of the customers. The customers have various alternatives of shopping in the online stores without performing any physical activity.

Coming to the disadvantages of the internet shopping, the trust is the biggest issue. The customers tend to trust the products at a physical store rather than on the online store. The customer faces a threat of performing transactions online. The security threats are the biggest drawback of using internet shopping. Any negative feedback of the customer on a particular product will cause social embarrassment to the company’s image. The use of E-commerce might cause a limitation on the face-to-face interaction between the seller and buyer, which is necessary while buying certain products and services. Thereby, it can be stated that with ample of advantages, there are also some drawbacks of using the internet by the customers and the marketers (Ozer, 2012).

Sub problem : Importance of the factors that influence the consumer buying behavior

This part of the literature is taken from the paper 2, where the factors that influence the consumer buying behavior are outlined. The E-commerce has helped in understanding the consumer behavior. The online marketing process falls under the category of consumer to business marketing. The rise in the use of technology by the consumers has led the marketers to make use of various social media platforms in order to understand the consumer demands. The E-commerce has helped the organizations to gain a better insight of the consumer needs (Babar, et al., 2014). Social media is the new way of attracting the customers to buy the products. But there are factors that influence the consumer buying behavior. It is very important for the marketers to understand the importance of the factors. The first factor is the purchasing power of the customer. The capability of the customer implies to the consumer purchase process. No matter how good the product is, the customer should have the capability of buying the product. Thereby, marketers must understand the purchasing power of each customer.

The influence of marketing campaigns is very high on customer buying behavior (Huang & Benyoucef, 2013). The campaigns must be influential and highly inducing that attracts the customers. The economic conditions influence the customer buying, thereby, the marketer has to study the economic conditions that might cause effects on the decision of consumers to buy a product. The personal preferences of the customers like attitude, morals, values and beliefs play an important role in the consumer buying behavior. The online marketing must identify and provide the products according to the preferences of the customers. The consumer buying decision is also affected by the influence of the neighbours and the group in which the customer resides. Thereby, it can be stated that the purchasing decision of the customers holds a very important place while marketing the products and services. The marketers must aim at understanding the factors (Lim, et al., 2016).

Types of methodology

In order to conduct a research, there are two types of research methodologies that help in ascertaining the results proposed with the research topic. The two types of methodology are Qualitative and Quantitative methods. The qualitative methods refer to the process of conducting the survey through interviews in order to understand the social interactions. This helps in providing a narrative report for the research conducted. The quantitative methods of research refer to the process of conducting the survey through a set of questions to a large number of respondents. The aim of the research is to project the results through statistical tools and techniques. The quantitative methods rely on the studies conducted earlier by the researchers (Bartlett, 2012).

The type of methodology that is suitable for this research project is the quantitative research method. This research method is chosen as the large number of consumers are to be surveyed, which is possible with the help of quantitative method. This method will help in questioning the consumers through a set of questions already determined earlier. Also, this research helps in collecting the data from the previous research papers, thereby, this method will help in conducting the research of the large number of consumers by depending on the previous journals and research papers.

Review and analysis of existing methodologies

The problem of this research is to understand the role of E-commerce in the consumer buying behavior, which can be started by using the Quantitative research method as this will help in understanding the views of a large number of customers as well as marketers through the help of a questionnaire. From the above states literature, it can be summarized that with the growth in the internet, the consumer buying behavior is rapidly changing. The customer expectations change with the change in the technology. E-commerce has evolved the process of online marketing, which seeks to exhibit the benefits to the marketers as well as the customers. The marketers use the social media platforms in order to promote the goods and services. Thereby, it is important to understand the role of E-commerce and the factors that influence the customer buying behavior.

Proposed methodology

The use of the existing methodologies with some minor modification is used to propose the research methodology for this project. This type of methodology is used in order to provide exact results for the research sub problems. The existing methodologies will help in conducting the research for over a large number of customers and marketers. The existing research available on the same research topic is used (Goyal, 2016).

Benefits: This methodology will help in ascertaining the views of customers and marketers on the role of E-commerce in consumer buying behavior. The previous research will help in formulating better results. With the propose set of questions, the true nature of customers and marketers are known.

Limitations: Due to acute shortage of time, the complete geographical area is not studied. The consumers and marketers do not fill the questionnaire with true behavior. The previous research might be of early years, which may not hold the same results in the present scenario (Gotland, 2015).

 Framework of the methodology

• The framework of the methodology is explained through a process involving various steps.
• The questionnaire was first formulated and distributed among the general public and marketers.
• The answers obtained through the questionnaire were summarized in order to attain proper frequency.
• The summarized answers are then interpreted with the help of statistical tool i.e., Pie chart.
• The conclusion regarding the research problem can be easily inferred through the statistical tools provided for each question (Chheda, 2014).

Conclusion

From the above research methodology, it can be ascertained that E-commerce plays a vital role in the consumer buying behavior. It influences the customer to make various decisions depending on the factors like convenience, marketing campaigns, security and etc. The online marketing is increasing its impact on the marketer and customers. The customer buying behavior changes with the change in the E-commerce. Thereby, it can be concluded that E-commerce implies a positive impact on the customer buying behavior, which must be understood by the marketers.

References

Babar, A., Rasheed, A. & Sajjad, M., 2014. Factors Influencing Online Shopping Behavior of Consumers. Journal of Basic and Applied Scientific Research, 4(4), pp. 314-320.

Bartlett, J. &., 2012. Quantitative versus qualitative research, or both?, Available at: http://samples.jbpub.com/9780763780586/80586_CH03_Keele.pdf

Chheda, S., 2014. Impact of social media marketing on performance of micro and small businesses, Available at: http://www.dypatil.edu/schools/management/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/IMPACT-OF-SOCIAL-MEDIA-MARKETING-ON-PERFORMANCE-OF-MICRO-AND-SMALL-BUSINESSES-Shilpa-Chheda.pdf

Fotis, J., 2015. The use of social media and its impacts on consumer behaviour: the context of holiday travel, Available at: http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/22506/1/JOHN%20FOTIS%20-%20PhD.pdf

Gotland, H., 2015. Consumers’ Attitude towards Online Shopping: Factors influencing Gotland consumers to shop online, Available at: https://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:420724/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Goyal, M., 2016. A study of impact of social media on consumer behavior in restaurant on consumer behavior in restaurant. 2(3), pp. 1-7.

Huang, Z. & Benyoucef, M., 2013. From e-commerce to social commerce: A close look at design features. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, July–August, 12(4), pp. 246-259.

Lim, Y., Osman, A. & Romle, A., 2016. Factors Influencing Online Shopping Behavior: The Mediating Role of Purchase Intention. Procedia Economics and Finance, Volume 35, pp. 401-410.

Mittal, A., 2013. E-commerce: It’s Impact on consumer Behavior. Global Journal of Management and Business Studies, 3(2), pp. 131-138.

Ozer, S., 2012. The Effect of Social Media on Consumer Buying Decision Process, Available at: http://trap.ncirl.ie/815/1/Sinem_Ozer.pdf

Swaminathan, V., Lepkowska-White, E. & Rao, B., 2009. The Internet and Consumer Buying Behavior: A Research Framework and Analysis, Available at: http://faculty.poly.edu/~brao/1998.Ebusiness.Purdue.pdf.