Project Proposal (A research plan for you to complete the Final Major Project in Semester 2) (Essay Sample)

FACTORS INFLUENCING CONSUMERS' PARTICIPATION IN ONLINE SHOPPING By [Name] Course Professor Name Institution City/State Date Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Background PAGEREF _Toc156325581 \h 3Aims and Objectives PAGEREF _Toc156325582 \h 5Literature Review PAGEREF _Toc156325583 \h 5The Onset of Online Shopping PAGEREF _Toc156325584 \h 5Nature of Online Shopping PAGEREF _Toc156325585 \h 6The Benefits of Online Shopping PAGEREF _Toc156325586 \h 7Data Collection and Analysis Plan PAGEREF _Toc156325587 \h 9Research Design PAGEREF _Toc156325588 \h 9Population and Sampling PAGEREF _Toc156325589 \h 10Measurement Instruments PAGEREF _Toc156325590 \h 10Data Analysis PAGEREF _Toc156325591 \h 11Area of Concern PAGEREF _Toc156325592 \h 12References PAGEREF _Toc156325593 \h 14Appendices PAGEREF _Toc156325594 \h 19Appendix 1 PAGEREF _Toc156325595 \h 19Appendix 2 PAGEREF _Toc156325596 \h 20 Background The business industry is a dynamic environment accustomed to periodic changes over time. One of the areas that has been a subject of change is consumer trends. Online shopping is one of the most current and rapidly growing consumer trends in the 21st Century (Al-Debei, Akroush and Ashouri, 2015). According to Aryanto and Chang (2019), about 85% of the world's population now prefer to shop online. Whereas the physical dominance of the business environment is significant, online shopping has proved to have tremendous potential in the current setting (Kumar, 2015). Endless online shopping sites have popped up over decades, such as the most famously recognised sites, such as Amazon and eBay, which are still being established (Bauman and Bachmann, 2017). It is expected that more online shopping sites will be set to meet the rapidly increasing consumer trend of online shopping. Companies have facilitated compelling online shopping experiences by establishing websites and mobile applications that allow customers to interact efficiently with their online shops. Each online shopping platform is tailored to ensure a positive user experience (Al-Debei, Akroush and Ashouri, 2015). For instance, online shopping platforms have integrated features that guarantee quality user and customer experience during the shopping process. These features include advanced search engines that ensure efficiency and streamlined operations. Efficiency is a significant aspect of online shopping as the current consumer trend (Al-Debei, Akroush and Ashouri, 2015). For companies to effectively scale their operations and online businesses, they often have to handle a considerable amount of customer data to conduct their various business analysis that can be used to improve operations, customer base, and customer experience, develop customer-tailored advertisements, and increase their revenue and market penetration. Whereas online shopping is a rapidly growing and preferred trend, significant elements may affect the customers' intention to participate in online shopping. Businesses must understand the aspects contributing to positive and negative customer intentions concerning online shopping (Devi, Das and Baruah, 2019). Some major determinant factors that may impact online shopping as a current consumer trend include platform design and handling customer data and information. For instance, how easily customers find it to interact with online shopping platforms such as websites and mobile applications may positively or adversely influence their intentions and motivations in engaging in online shopping (Devi, Das and Baruah, 2019). A well-developed online shopping platform will positively affect consumers' intentions. In contrast, an effectively developed online shopping platform will contribute to positive consumer intentions in online shopping. Cybersecurity, with the advancement of technology, is a crucial element in online shopping associated with the safe handling of consumer or customer data (Muntaqheem and Raiker, 2019). Cybersecurity incidents in the past decades that contributed to huge losses related to customer data leakage have influenced how businesses handle customer data and how customers perceive these online services (Kochar and Kaur, 2018). Online shopping is no exception to cyberterrorist attacks in the past decade as it has been a primary target for cyberterrorists who are more interested in customers' private information, such as credit card details and bank details. These are some of the negative aspects that may adversely impact customers' intention to engage in online shopping. As a growing consumer trend, various aspects have influenced customer preference for online shopping. These aspects include free shipping characteristics, convenience, affordability, comprehensive product options, shopping secrecy, and easy shopping (Naz, 2019). It is important to note that the given characteristics robustly influence customer intentions and purchasing behaviour. Online shopping significantly provides more beneficial opportunities and incentives than traditional shopping trends (Naz, 2019). Understanding the aspects that affect customer intentions in participating in online shopping is essential for businesses to know how to scale their operations for practical customer experience. Aims and Objectives With the shift towards online shopping as a changing consumer trend, it is essential to understand the factors influencing the trend and the type of population inclined towards it. Therefore, the primary aim of this project is to explore the factors that influence consumer intentions in online shopping. In line with the primary aim of this project, some of the objectives that this project will strive to achieve are to determine the consumer category that is more inclined to online shopping, explore the positive attributes that incline consumers to online shopping, and determine the concerns that consumers have when shopping online. Another pivotal objective is determining ways businesses can improve their online shopping operations for practical customer experience and sustainability with the new trend. The given aims and supportive objectives will be pivotal in obtaining the necessary information to understand online shopping as a changing consumer trend and the associated factors. The objectives will also be vital in finding the required information to develop effective improvement interventions for online shopping practice. The aims and objectives will aid in learning the changes associated with shopping behavior linked to online shopping and how to meet consumer needs effectively and providing direction for future research. Literature Review The Onset of Online Shopping Whereas today it is tough to live without the convenience of online shopping, the roots of online shopping were established four decades ago, and this trend has continued to grow with the advancement of technology and consumer attitudes (Rungsrisawat, Sriyakul and Jermsittiparsert, 2019). At the start of the late 20th Century, the invention of electronic data interchange in line with teleshopping opened the doors for e-commerce and online shopping, as seen now. The inception of online shopping can be linked to the invention of the Internet, as the Internet made the establishment of online shopping possible (Sajid, Rashid and Haider, 2022). For instance, Amazon.com is one of the first online shopping or e-commerce platforms established shortly after the invention of the Internet, encouraging thousands of companies to venture into selling their products and services online (Shaw, Eschenbrenner and Baier, 2022). Over the years, markets have consistently grown complex and challenging for consumers to navigate effectively, and online shopping has become one of the most robust ways of navigating these challenges. Nature of Online Shopping Devi et al. (2019) define online shopping as buying or purchasing items from online and internet retailers rather than purchasing at a shopping store. In their study on the inclination towards online shopping as a form of changing trend among consumers, they explore online shopping as an electronic form of commerce that allows people to purchase goods and services directly on internet shopping platforms. These shopping platforms are mainly accessed through the web browser. Devi et al. (2019) add that online shopping is becoming a preferred consumer trend because it allows consumers to compare different prices online, unlike physical shopping environments that may fail to indicate the prices of their products to customers (Shcherbakova, 2019). Therefore, online shopping effectively provides cost awareness to customers in line with a wide variety of products at the click of a mouse or button. According to Shcherbakova (2019), trends within the marketing and business realm have constantly changed over the years, with the most popular consumer trend being online shopping. These changes have been aggravated by the rapid growth and advancement of technology and the availability of information on the Internet. People are mainly delving into extensive and intensive engagement in online technologies due to the ease of availability of information, and this number has been increasing daily (Bauman and Bachmann, 2017; Mandal and Sur, 2017; Bulsara and Vaghela, 2020). Numerous channels facilitate easy access to information geared towards product purchasing and service provision over the Internet. The availability of an expansive online environment has allowed businesses to expand their operations beyond physical and geographical restrictions since people do not need to visit stores to buy goods physically (Kanwal et al., 2021; Bucko, Kakalejčík and Ferencová, 2018). The shift in consumer trends to online shopping can be attributed to the rapid development of different societal aspects, such as changes in lifestyle and significant attitudes (Bucko, Kakalejčík and Ferencová, 2018). In modern society, people are unwilling to spend mor...