Date of Award

2008

Degree Type

Thesis

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Blake, Brian

Subject Headings

Teleshopping, Consumer behavior, Internet Shopping, Product category clusters

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether or not differences occurred in how individuals visited and purchased products from the Internet. The study utilized data administered through an online survey to 441 individuals in the United States. The survey included items regarding general Internet use, website visit and purchase behavior, preferred website attributes, innovativeness, trust, presence, and demographics. Two cluster solutions were identified from the sample by clustering individuals based on website product categories visited and purchased separately. A new technique known as PermuCluster 1.0 was employed to enhance the stability of the cluster solutions. Results revealed that the visit and purchase cluster solutions contained different patterns, indicating that there is a distinction between the way individuals visit and purchase products online. Therefore, it cannot be assumed that an individual's online search behavior reflects patterns in their online purchases. However, the cluster solutions did contain some similarities. The attribute dimension of 'Reliable, Quick, Cheap, and Easy Websites', as well as innovativeness, differentiated clusters in both the visit and purchase solutions. Implications of this research include the ability for practitioners to increase website sales by identifying which type of individuals to target in their website development and marketing

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