Customer Purchase Attitude (Research Proposal Sample)

Proposal
Chinese consumers’ purchase attitude towards online shopping of luxury products
Abstract
The great development of Chinese economy enables Chinese people to afford luxury products, and as a result luxury products in China have expanded in a high rate (Kapferer, 2012). Moreover, online shopping of luxuries has increasingly become a trend in the Chinese market. For example, statistics presented by China Market Information Centre (CCID) (2012) show that in 2012 the population of purchasing online has surpassed 194 million and the volume of annual online retail has reached to 123.72 billion dollars. This is because online shopping provides consumers an opportunity of getting luxury products in China at a lower price.
Zhenpin.com is the largest website for online shipping of luxury products in the Chinese market. As a result, this research takes Zhenpin.com as a case to explore Chinese consumers’ purchase attitude towards online shopping of luxury products. As a result, this research will pose following research questions:
1 What is the current market of online purchase of luxury products?
2 What are the drivers behind customers’ purchase of luxury products through online shopping?
Specifically, this research will analyse how consumers’ perceived risks, perceived quality, shopping website design and consumer characteristics can affect customers purchase attitudes towards luxury products through online purchasing.
To better answer these questions, this research will utilise both quantitative and qualitative methods. Further, this research adopts the research strategy of ethnography. On this condition, both questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interview are conducted to collect data from online customers of Zhenpin.com. Data collected from the study will be analysed by adopting descriptive statistical analysis. Besides, this research will be feasible in the aspects of time, fund, and universal scope. Finally, a timeline will be listed to reasonably arrange the dissertation.
Key words: Consumer behaviour, Purchase intention, online buying behaviour, Customer attitude, luxury products online
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Backgrounds
With the great development of Chinese economy and the increased income of Chinese people, Luxury products in China have expanded in a high rate (Kapferer, 2012). A series of statistics from the World Luxury Association has demonstrated that Chinese consumption of luxuries, like perfume, handbag, clothing and jewelry products has ranked at the second largest place in the world, as it reached to 8.6 billion dollars by the end of 2008 and will make up 32% of market share of the global luxuries by 2015 (Zhang & Kim, 2012). In the meanwhile, online shopping has increasingly become a trend in the Chinese market. For example, statistics presented by China Daily (2012) show that in 2012 the population of purchasing online has surpassed 194 million and the volume of annual online retail has reached to 123.72 billion dollars. Moreover, Lee, Phau & Roy (2012) have pointed out that online shopping provides consumers an opportunity of getting luxury products in China at a lower price. Results can be demonstrated by the evidence in the southeast China where most rich consumers live. Many people with high income have limited time to buy luxuries in real stores, and are inclined to purchase online (Gao, Norton and Zhang, 2009). Meanwhile, caused by the limited stores of luxuries in China, it is possible for luxury brands to promote marketing online with effective methods.
However, the question whether consumers who shop online utilize well internet buying for luxury products in the Chinese market arises. Factors affecting consumers’ purchase intention to luxuries purchased online are also focused on so as to better find out methods of increasing purchase behaviours. On this condition, this research takes Chinese consumer purchasing attitudes to luxury products online as the research object to analyse influential factors. This research object proposed by the research is significant. This is because currently studies of luxury products mainly focus on luxury branding, motives of consumption and consumers’ attitudes through implementing qualitative analysis, while lack of systematic quantitative research, which as a result contribute to the insufficiency in guiding business practice (Sivakumar, 2012). Besides, Ngai and Cho (2012) pointed out that current researches also focus on summarizing market situations of luxury products and brand cultures, and little attentions are given to online marketing of luxury products. All these make this research unique, as it helps to fill this research gap and makes the research of innovative theoretical significance.
1.2 Research aims and objectives
Based on the above introductions of backgrounds, this research mainly aims to explore Chinese consumers’ purchase attitude towards online shopping of luxury products. According to Doolin et al. (2005), consumer perceived service quality and risks play important roles in determining consumers’ purchase intention towards online purchase of luxury goods. Also, there are also some other factors that affecting consumers’ attitudes. As a result, to better realise the research aims, this research further proposes the following objectives:
1 To explore the current attitudes of Chinese consumers toward online shopping of luxury products
2 To analyze factors affecting Chinese consumers purchase attitude to online shopping of luxury products
3 To propose suggestions to help online luxury product retailers to form consumers positive attitude
1.3. Definition of terms
Customer perception: According to Blackwell, Miniard and Engel (2006) perception occur when sensory receptors receive motivations through the brain, code and group them and provide specific meanings to them according to an individual’s frame of reference.
Service quality: According to Parasuraman et al., (2005) service quality is a contrast between what consumers feel should be provided against what is offered.
Customer attitude: Customers’ attitude is a directly impacted element that influences the buying nature of consumers’. According to Fishbein and Ajzen (1985) attitude towards behaviour is a person’s assessment of a specific behaviour with reference to an outcome or object.
2.0 Literature Review
2.1 Online purchase of luxury goods
There often have no identifiable definitions of luxury goods as it is subjective and changeable. Dubois et al. (2007) summarised the characteristics of luxury goods, including outstanding quality, expensive price, scarcity, uniqueness, aesthetic and sensory stimulus, continuity, personal history and non-necessity feature. However, continuity and historical features are not considered as fully applicable to experiential luxury goods, such as Burj Al-Arab Hotel in Dubai, universally recognised for its luxury status but only have a history of 13 years. Moreover, it possible for luxury brands to develop online marketing strategies. Peterson et al. (1997) deemed that luxury companies should take online marketing as an effective way to deliver its luxury products to the market and the interactive attribute of internet could perfectly serve as the right channel.
2.3 Consumer attitude towards online purchase of luxury goods
According to Grewal, Iyer and Levy (2004), consumer attitude refers to the emotional response of consumers towards objects, attributes or interests, or to put it in other words, it is the consistent reflective intention of consumers towards certain commodity, brand, or company, based on previous knowledge and experiences. Generally, the main theoretical perceptions used in the study are the Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), usually implemented as two basic research frameworks to measure consumer attitudes (Sandra and Bo, 2003). Although they have differences, it is identifiable that both models can be mutually proved and mutually complemented under different research conditions. Researchers can combine both models when measuring the consumer attitude towards online purchase of luxury goods. In response to the appeal of Sandra and Bo (2003), this study implements an integrated theoretical structure that integrates Innovation Diffusion Theory and the Technology Acceptance Model. Through concurrently taking attitude and motivations into consideration, it will be termed as the attitude-motivation strategy.
2.4 Factors that influence consumer attitude towards luxury goods online purchase.
Firstly, Doolin et al. (2005) pointed out that perceived risks of online shopping plays a major role in hindering online consumers from making consumption decisions. Specifically, consumers’ perceived risks of differences from their expectations and risks of using credit card can exert negative effects on consumers’ intentions toward online shopping (Tsai, 2005). Moreover, perceived quality of purchasing luxuries online is also an important factor affecting consumers’ attitudes (Edward and Sahadev, 2011), as perceived quality is the consumer perception of whether a brand is able to effectively fulfill its function (Hossain and Islam, 2012). Then, given the evidence of technical perspectives, shopping website design can directly affect consumer attitude and explain as well as predict consumer purchasing attitudes (Hausman and Siekpe, 2009). Besides, there also has a certain relationship between consumer characteristics and their attitudes towards purchasing online luxuries (Lian and Lin, 2008). Specifically, Ratchford, Talukdar and Lee (2011) summarised that consumer characteristics that influence consumer online shopping behaviours inclu...