Internet Shopping Orientation Segments: An Exploration of Differences in Consumer Behavior

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the orientations that consumers have toward Internet shopping. This study used factor analysis to reduce a set of 25 orientation statements into a smaller set of factors and cluster analysis to group respondents with similar consumer behavior. Results revealed 5 different orientations of Internet shoppers. The shopping segments were named the confident convenience‐oriented comparison (3C's), store preferred, highly involved, apathetic, and apprehensive. Differences were found among the shopping segments in the frequency of visits to Internet shopping sites and the frequency of products purchased at the sites.