REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A literature review is designed to identify related research, to set the current research
project within a conceptual and theoretical context. Determine what the most credible
research journals are in the topical area and start with those. It may come across other
similar studies that might not have been included. The study would not be judged
credible if it ignored a major construct. The literature review will help to find and
select appropriate measurement instruments. It will be readily seen what measurement
instruments researchers had themselves in contexts similar to this project.
Review of related studies is essential for a well-designed research study. A summary of
writings of recognized authorities and previous research abstracts provide evidence that
the researcher is familiar with what is already known and what is still unknown and
untested. The survey of related studies implies reading and analyzing the researches
already done and reported in dissertations, thesis, journals, abstracts, encyclopaedia,
yearbooks and hand books or in any other published form. Hence, we can say that
review of related studies provides direction to the researcher in putting a fence around
the research problem. For this research work, the researcher has reviewed the
researches done in the field of environment both in India and foreign countries.

Importance of literature review:

 It provides the sources for hypothesis. The researchers can formulate research
hypothesis on the basis of available studies.
 It suggests method, procedure sources of data and statistical techniques
appropriate to the solution of the problem.
 It indicates weather the evidence already available solves the problem
adequately without requiring further investigation. It avoids the replication.
 It helps in developing expertise and general scholarship of the investigator in the
area of investigated.
 It contributes towards the accurate knowledge of the evidence or literature in
 one’s area of activity is Good Avenue towards making oneself. Whether one is
employed in an institute of higher learning or a research organization, this
knowledge is an asset.
 It provides some insight regarding strong points and limitations of the previous
studies. It enables the researcher to improve his own investigation .The purpose
of this review of studies is to explore past research conducted on the impact of
co-curricular activities on student performance and achievements. A customer is
'a person or organizational unit that plays a role in the consummation of a
transaction with the marketer or an entity'. (Sheath et al., 1999). From this
definition, customers of mobile phone companies could be individuals,
households and organizations. Even as these companies pay more attention to
meeting the needs of their individual customers, they need also to make sure that
the needs of their corporate customers are met as well.
Customer Satisfaction

“Customers needs desires and expectations” Kotler (2003) also defines satisfaction as 'a
person's feeling of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a product's
perceived performance (or outcome) in relation to his or her expectations'. Satisfaction
is an overall customer attitude towards a service provider, or an emotional reaction to
the difference between what the customer anticipate and what they actually receive, as
far as the fulfilment of some need, goal and desire is concerned. (Hans mark and
Albinsson2004).

These definitions all point to the fact that every customer has in one way or the other
something he/she expects from his/her service providers. These expectations have
come into play because of a need that has to be satisfied. These expectations are not the
same as there are many customers. Kotler et al (2002), posit that the customer gets
dissatisfied if performance is below expectation and vice versa. If performance goes
beyond the expectation of the customer, the customer is highly satisfied and delighted.

Motley, (2003), corroborates the idea of matching service performance with customers'
expectations. He notes that the mission of a business is the creation of satisfied clients
who tend to favour the organization through time by patronizing the services being
delivered by the business. He goes further to mentions that, businesses can achieve this
aim by understanding what satisfies and dissatisfies their customers or clients.

Christopher, Payne, and Ballantyne (1993) have defined service quality as the ability of
the organization to meet or exceed customer expectations. Service quality is believed
to depend on the gap between expected and perceived performance (Anderson, Fornell,
& Lehmann, 1994).Gitlow, Oppenheim, and Oppenheim (1989) also stated that service
quality is the extent to which the customer or users believe the service surpasses their
needs and expectations.

Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty: The Relationship

The question which needs to be answered is whether there is any correlation and/or
relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Kotler (2003) put
forward that there is no direct relationship between customer satisfaction and customer
loyalty. In other words, the relationship is not Proportional .The idea of customer
satisfaction not directly linked with customer loyalty is supported by Oechsli and Matt
(2000). They hold the view that; the fact that a customer is satisfied with the services of
a business does not guarantee his or her loyalty. They therefore see a sharp distinction
between customer satisfaction and loyalty. In their own words, 'satisfaction is a fleeting
emotional response to the quality of the client's last business transaction'. 'Being
satisfied at the moment is no guarantee of an ongoing relationship'.

Hokanson(1995) mentions the fact that a very satisfied customer does not necessarily
mean a loyal customer.

Winstanley and Martha (1997), have a different view about the relationship between
customer satisfaction and loyalty. They perceive a direct relationship between
satisfaction and loyalty. They claim that when customers are satisfied, they concentrate
their business with one business or service provider. Also customers who are highly
satisfied are much more likely to view their service providers as their main relationship
business Thus, Clarke (2001), has put forward the argument that, 'a business that
focuses exclusively on customer’s satisfaction runs the risk of becoming an
undifferentiated brand whose customers believe only that it meets the minimum
performance criteria.

A brief literature would be of immense help to the researcher in gaining insight into
selected problem. The researcher would gain good background knowledge of the
problem by reviewing certain studies. A reference to these entire studies will be related
in the contest of the shaping the present study. There are very limited studies, which
are directly relevant to the study concerned. They have been taken from journals,
articles, PhD thesis and unpublished research work.

Weber, K. and Roehl, W. S. (1999), conducted a study on those who search for
or purchase travel products through on-line with the age group of 26 to 55 years.
Results on the basis of the study concerns about credit card security, evaluation of
product quality, and privacy issues are the main problems faced while on-line purchase
of travel products, were made.

Vellido et al. (2000), pointed out in his research, that there are nine factors
associated with user’s perception of online shopping. Among those factors the risk
perception of users was demonstrated to be the main discriminator between people
buying online and people not buying online. Other discriminating factors were control
over, and convenience of, the shopping process, affordability of merchandise, customer
service and ease of use of the shopping site.

Jarvenpaa et al, Tractinsky & Vitale (2000), tested a model of consumer attitude
towards specific web base stores, in which perceptions of the store's reputation and size
were assumed to affect consumer trust of the retailer. The level of trust was positively
related to the attitude toward the store, and inversely related to the perception of the
risks involved in buying from that store. The study concluded that the attitude and the
risk perception affected the consumer's intention to buy from the store.

Bhatnagar, Misra, and Rao (2000), in their recent study made an attempt to
study the risk, convenience and Internet shopping behavior. They found that marital
status has no effect on purchase behavior and found mixed results based upon gender
(except for specific gender-related products), years on the Internet, and age.

Lohse et al. (2000), used panel data to explore the predictors of online
purchasing behavior. They found that the typical online consumers are characterized by
their wired lifestyle, and are time starved. Therefore, they suggested providing
customized information for the online shoppers who buy standard or repeat items,
which can lead to shoppers gaining a feeling of increased convenience, and allow them
to make quick purchase decisions.

Dr.Panicos Georgiades (2000), carried out in his study that there were no
differences found between males and females in all three occupational groupings with
regard to security and convenience. In particular respondents’ attitudes toward security
were found to be in agreement in that “they did not feel confident with the provision of
information concerning their personal and financial details and that technology backing
the Internet is reliable”. This suggests that companies can standardize their
communications strategies aiming at alleviating the fears of Internet users with regards
to security concerns.

According to the study by Armstrong and Kotler, (2000), a person’s shopping

choices are influenced by four major psychological factors: motivation, perception,
learning and beliefs and attitude. This means that, through motivation and perception,
attitudes are formed and consumers make decisions. Attitudes serve as the bridge
between consumers’ background characteristics and the consumption that satisfies their
needs.

Goldsmith and Bridges (2000), found that consumers who felt that it was easy to
buy over the web were more likely to buy, implying that confidence leads to greater
purchase likelihood. A positive relationship between Internet experience/confidence
and amount of shopping is thus found in his study.

David M. Szymanski and Richard T. Hise (2000), observed that e- retailers

promise their customers that online experiences will be satisfying ones, understanding
what creates a satisfying customer experience becomes crucial. Even though this
understanding appears crucial, no studies have examined the factors that make
consumers satisfied with their e-retailing experiences. The authors examine the role
that consumer perceptions of online convenience, merchandising (product offerings
and product information), site design, and financial security play in e-satisfaction
assessments. They concluded that convenience, site design, and financial security are
the dominant factors in consumer assessments of e-satisfaction.

Baveja, S. and S. Rastogi (2000), have identified that customer loyalty on the
Internet is a key driver of long term profitability. Loyal online customers, just like
offline ones, spend more, refer more people, and are more willing to expand their
purchasing into new categories. As a result, they are more profitable than one-time
shoppers. Online retailers who succeed in building customer loyalty will ultimately be
more profitable than online competitors who focus only on transactional metrics such
as number of visitors, number of shoppers, eyeballs, and so forth.

According to Rehman (2000), a factor concerning consumers' willingness to buy

online is response time. Response time is understood to be the time between user input
and system output. The system response time is not only influenced by its hardware,
such as the CPU and transmission rates, but also by good design which aims at
reducing the necessary amount of data transmission to a minimum. On the subjective
level, long shop response times leads to frustration and boredom and may result in the
shopper leaving the site. Research shows repeatedly that users complain about long
waiting times.

David (2000), in his research report made an attempt to project the world wide
sale of goods and services and the amount of goods traded through online. It was found
that by 2004 about 8.6 percent of worldwide sales of goods and service are traded on
the internet and the amount of goods traded would be worth $6.8 trillion. The study
concluded that online sales will not be uniform across the world but will differ from
country to country and region to region.

Goldman Sachs (2001), found in his study price, quality of service and
information, speed and reliability of delivery, ease of on-line ordering, and trust
towards vendors are important factors for consumers considering online purchases that
will increasingly determine their propensity to engage in e- commerce.

Sang Yong Kim and Young Jun Lim (2001), examine that the relationship between
consumers' perceived importance of and satisfaction with Internet shopping. They find
that the factors of entertainment, convenience, reliability, information quality and
speed are important for choosing shopping sites and also find that the factors of
entertainment, speed, information quality, and reliability are related to consumers'
satisfaction with Internet shopping.

In the study by Vrechopoulos et al. (2001), demographic, behavioral and

attitudinal characteristics are used to classify different segments of e- shoppers in
Greece. These authors distinguish between actual shoppers and those interested in
adopting Internet as a shopping channel (potential shoppers), describing the profile and
behavior of both groups. One of the main conclusions of their study was that for both
groups the most highly valued characteristics on a website were quality and the amount
of information provided (on the product and on comparing prices) and quick and easy
access to the virtual store. The most significant purchase motivations

were: discounts and promotions, range of products, quality of delivery and 24 hours
access to the virtual store.

Verhoef and Langerak (2001), also employed the theory of reasoned action in a
study of 415 Dutch internet shoppers and found that outcome beliefs had a significant
influence on the intention to shop online. They found that this intention was positively
influenced by the perceived 'relative advantage' of shopping online, compared to other
forms of shopping, and negatively influenced by the degree of complexity which these
consumers perceived would be involved in the process.

Miyazaki and Finandez (2001), made an attempt to explore the relationship

among the internet experience levels, risk perception and online purchasing rates. They
analyzed that higher level of internet experience could lead to lower risk perception
regarding online shopping, fewer specific concern regarding system security or fraud
and more concerns regarding privacy, consumer participation on another remote
purchase methods relates to lower risk perception regarding online shopping. It was
concluded that higher internet experience and the use of other remote purchasing
methods were related to lower levels of perceived risk towards online shopping which
could result in higher online purchase rates. That is consumers who are experiencing
with shopping by telephone, mail order or through other traditional shopping channels
have low perceived risk and a higher prosperity for making online purchases.
Volk and Ferderick Allen (2001), made an internet survey of 201 people using the
internet worldwide.

The study focused on the consumer behavior. The Consumer Decision Process can be
categorized into five sub- processes such as motivation and need recognition,
information search, alternatives evaluation, purchase decision and purchase and
purchase outcomes. Internet user attitudes and intention to use the internet for each of
the behaviors were studied within the theoretical constructs of the theory of reasoned
action. It was found that the attitudinal component of the theory of reasoned action was
consistently predictive of the users' intention to participate in all nine of the consumer
behaviors during the year 2000 holiday shopping season.

A survey (2001), was conducted by the Charted Institute of Purchasing and

Supply on the e-procurement needs of the consumers. They revealed that 35 percent of
the European manufacturers expect that internet purchase of goods and service will
grow in the forthcoming period. They have identified five steps for the improvement of
the internet business to be done by the manufacturer. The steps are i) identify any
inefficiencies in the existing procurement process ii) determine if the inefficiencies are
based in prices or process iii) Setting objectives as to what is hoped to achieve iv)
allocate resources and v) set timelines and set target return on investment.

Sami Alsmadi (2002), study pointed out that most Jordanian consumers are
likely to have enough knowledge and skills in using the computer and dealing with the
Internet, and have reasonable access to Internet services, with a positive impression
about the current presentation and promotion of companies’ web sites on the Internet.
The study concluded that the issue of security of online transactions seems to be a
major factor that restricts the willingness to make a better use of online shopping and
also no significant differences in consumer attitudes due to demographic variables,
with the exception of income Athiyaman (2002), also highlighted the importance of
such word of mouth recommendations, finding that social influences have been found
to be important determinant of internet users' intention to purchase air travel online,
second only to the attitude towards online purchasing.

Corbitt, Thanasankit, and Yi (2003), argue that information to make the

 purchase and to be able to make comparisons with alternative offers, plays an
important role in the absence of sales staff and the inability to see and try the
product.
Chung-Hoon Park and Young-Gul Kim (2003), have mentioned that the real
world shopping are mainly based on face-to-face activities between consumers and
service personnel’s, interactions in electronic commerce take place mainly through the
retailer’s Web site. From this context the present study focused on the relationship
between various characteristics of online shopping and consumer purchase behavior.
Results of the online survey with 602 Korean customers of online bookstores indicate
that information quality, user interface quality, and security perceptions affect
information satisfaction and relational benefit that, in turn, are significantly related to
each consumer’s site commitment and actual purchase behavior.

Rong Chen and Feng He (2003), have developed and tested conceptual model based on
brand theory, risk theory and information theory to understand the causal relationships
among brand knowledge, perceived risk, online search action and the intention to adopt
an online retailer. Results show that brand knowledge has a direct and positive effect on
intention to adopt an online retailer and this effect can be mediated by perceived risk to
a large extent. In addition, perceived risk also positively relates to online search action,
which is important in realizing that searching for information increases the risks faced
by an online retailer through an expansion of the consumers' opportunity to find more
favorable choices.

Hong-Youl Ha (2004), examined how brand trust is affected by the following Web
purchase-related factors: security, privacy, brand name, word- of-mouth, good online
experience, and quality of information. The author argues that not all e-trust building
programs guarantee success in building brand trust. In addition to the mechanism
depending on a program, building e- brand trust requires a systematic relationship
between a consumer and a particular Web brand. The findings revealed that brand trust
 is not built on one or two components but is established by the interrelationships
between complex components. By carefully investigating these variables in
formulating marketing strategies, marketers can cultivate brand loyalty and gain a
formidable competitive edge.
Lillian Clark and Peter Wright (2004)2, in their study reviewed the research into
the various issues that may differentiate online consumer behaviour and whether they
are able to produce the understanding needed to construct behavioral models that can
help realize the full potential of e- commerce. The study concluded that a more
comprehensive approach to modeling online consumer behaviour is needed in order to
coherently describe the online consumer experience.

Gurvinder S Shergill & Zhaobin (2005), has conducted a study on “Web-Based

Shopping: Consumers’ Attitudes towards Online Shopping in New Zealand”. The
study revealed that website security/privacy, website design, website
reliability/fulfillment and website customer service are the four dominant factors which
influence consumer perceptions of their online purchasing experiences. New Zealand
online buyers had different perceptions of these four factors. Website
reliability/fulfillment had the highest rating score, followed by website customer
service. Website design ranked third, and the lowest was website security/privacy.

Nik Kamariah Nik Mat (2005), studied that the higher website trust will create
higher intention for online shopping. The study provides the consumers do not trust the
website during online shopping. Maybe another factors are very important than trust
like types of products. This result however is in contradiction with the result depicted
in other research which shows trust level may affect consumers’ willingness to
purchase and propensity to return to the site.
Sriram Thirumalai & Kingshuk K. Sinha (2005), focuses the proverbial “last mile” of the
retail
supply chain – i.e., delivering products to the end- customer – and highlights the need for
recognizing product type differences in configuring order fulfillment processes in
electronic business-to-customer (B2C) transactions The empirical analysis for this study
is based on data collected on dimensions of customer satisfaction with order fulfillment
from a sample of 256 firms engaged in electronic B2C transactions. Firms also included
in our study sample that their products can be classified into only one of three product
types: convenience, shopping, or specialty goods. The results of the empirical analysis
indicate that, on average, customers tend to have higher satisfaction levels with the order
fulfillment process of convenience and shopping goods than with the order fulfillment
process of specialty goods.

Ainin Sulaiman (2005), focused on Internet users working in an urban area of

Malaysia. It was found that out of 123 respondents 65.9 % of them have transacted
online. They bought air tickets and books as well pay their utility bills online. In the
research conducted by David M. Walters and Catherine Maria Toase (2005), the
majority of the respondents was confident in using the Internet and has done online
shopping. However, only one third of them have tried Online Grocery Shopping, and
only half of these had done so recently (previous 6 months). Some of the respondents’
comments indicate that this may be due to reluctance to trust shop personnel with the
task of selecting appropriate and high quality merchandise. The findings indicate that,
the majority of the people in our sample have experience of on-line shopping, very
few actively engage in on-line grocery shopping.

Salam, Lakshmi Iyer, & Prashant Palvia (2005), have conducted a study on the
importance of nurturing consumer trust in the context of e- commerce. The results
shows that trust is a complex social phenomenon reflecting technological, behavioral,
social, psychological, and organizational interactions among human and nonhuman
technological agents. Web vendors must align both their long-term and short-term
relationships with consumers and develop interventions to inspire consumer beliefs that
affect their attitudes, intentions, and dependence, and ultimately their willingness to
 spend money.

Anthony D. Miyazaki & Ana Fernandez (2005), pointed out in his study that the
government and industry organizations have declared information privacy and security
to be major obstacles in the development of consumer-related e-commerce. Risk
perceptions regarding Internet privacy and security have been identified as issues for
both new and experienced users of Internet technology. The present study reveals that
significant relationship exists among consumers' levels of Internet experience, the use
of alternate remote purchasing methods (such as telephone and mail-order shopping),
the perceived risks of online shopping, and online purchasing activity.
Sylvain Senecal (2005), analyzed how different is online decision- making processes
used by consumers influence the complexity of their online shopping behaviors. During
an online experiment, subjects were asked to perform a shopping task on a website
offering product recommendations. The study concludes that there is a significant
difference observed between subjects’ decision-making processes and their online
shopping behavior.
May, Wong and Danny (2005), made an attempt to examine the web- shopping
behaviour by examining the following aspects such as identifying the general attitude
towards web-shopping, relationships between past web- shopping experience, attitude
towards web-shopping, adoption decisions, search behaviour and web-shopping
intentions and influences of promotional offers on web-shopping intentions. A web-
based questionnaire survey was used to collect the data. It was found that web-
shopping intentions directly affects the web-search behaviour and web-shopping
adoption decisions, and indirectly affects web-shopping attitudes, past web-shopping
experiences and past experience with the web. Web-search behaviour was a stronger
factor than adoption decision in terms of influencing web-shopping intentions. The
presences of promotional offers have a positive effect on web-shopping intentions, and
web-shopping intentions were different for different product categories. It was further
found that experienced internet users and experienced web-shoppers are more likely to
 be potential future web- shoppers.

Internet and Online Association of India (2005), made a survey of e- commerce

security in 2005. The study was conducted through online and gathered information
regarding the solicited information on the user’s profile, internet usage, their
perception of the security associated with transacting online, their areas of concern and
factors that would increase their faith of online transactions. It was found from the
study that 45 percent of window shoppers at e-commerce sites represent an audience
that shopping sites make informed decisions, a huge opportunity not exploited by
marketers. It was further found out from the study that majority of the online customers
are male in the age group of 26 years to 35 years and they are well aware about the
plastic money.
Thompson S. H. Teo (2006), has conducted a study on the perceptions of
adopters and non-adopters of online shopping in terms of demographic profile,
consumer expectations of online stores, advantages and problems of online shopping
and transaction cost. The results shows that consumers have certain expectations from
online stores such as easy to contact, provide sufficient information and ensure security
of transactions and personal information.

Thompson S. H. Teo (2006), has conducted a study on the perceptions of adopters and
non-adopters of online shopping in terms of demographic profile, consumer
expectations of online stores, advantages and problems of online shopping and
transaction cost. The results shows that

consumers have certain expectations from online stores such as easy to contact, provide
sufficient information and ensure security of transactions and personal information.
Online stores should study these expectations carefully and devise ways to reassure
consumers that the online stores are able to meet these expectations.

Changfeng Chen (2006), conducted a study on important determinants of a consumer’s

overall trust in an online travel site. Through an empirical data collection, six factors,
including a website’s reputation, characteristics, service quality, a consumer’s
education level, a consumer’s overall satisfaction with such a site, and perceptions of
risk associated with online shopping were identified as having a statistically significant
influence on a consumer’s overall trust in an online travel web site.

Kanokwan Atchariyachanvanich (2006), has analyzed what keeps online

customers repurchasing through the Internet. By expanding the existing customer
satisfaction/continuance model based on the expectation- confirmation model identifies
the factors involved in online repurchasing. The results of an online questionnaire of
1,215 Japanese online customers pointed out that not only basic factors of
confirmation, satisfaction, perceived usefulness, and perceived incentives, but a new
factor, customer loyalty, are factors significantly influencing the online customers’
intention to repeat purchase through the Internet.

Ahasanul Haque (2006), mentioned that only two factors, gender and family
income has significant relationship with overall attitudes towards online shopping. The
results also indicated that weekly internet use, having experience in e-shopping, and
willingness to shopping online in the future have significant relationship with overall
attitude towards online shopping. Moreover, results proved that there is significant
difference between human senses in online decision-making process and it is explored
to customers who experienced shopping a product or they were satisfied previously,
which have stronger confidence to do online shopping.

Ali.Khatibi and Hishamuddin (2006), conducted a study to examine online and

non-online shoppers purchase decision. The study indicated that there is a significant
difference between online shoppers and non-online shoppers in gathering product
information and comparing price of goods and services before a purchase decision.
Results also indicate that this group of non-online shoppers constitutes more than 60%
of the total number of online consumers in Malaysia, implying a huge potential of
online shopping to online retailers. The study also indicates online consumers in
Malaysia still lack confidence and trust in utilizing the Internet as a shopping channel.

Venkoba Rao (2006), carried out in his study consumers attitude towards online
shopping is a prominent factor affecting actual buying behavior. The results of study of
perceptions of 200 online purchasers in Hyderabad reveal trust, security, Internet
speed, and responsiveness significantly affect online purchasers’ behavior. In addition,
on examination of demographic variables like gender, age and education are used; the
study reveals that might help organizations develop effective strategies eventually
leading to customer satisfaction.

Ahasanul Haque and Ali Khatibi (2006), have conducted a study towards online
shopping. In the study stating that there are three factors that significantly influence the
frequency level of online shopping activities done by Malaysian consumers. Those
factors include the online products prices, consumers trust towards internet stores and
their education levels. Hence Malaysian online consumers still lack of confidence and
trust using the internet as a shopping channel.

Dejan Petrovic (2007), in his study examined the ways to find, compare and
evaluate product information required by online consumers. The major findings of the
study are, the consumers use search engine on both global and local level, the result
pages are scanned for context corresponding to a supplied search term, pace of search
decreases in population to the depth of the research, intrusive advertising campaign can
create negative image, amount of information online directly affects consumer search
behaviour, integrated time saving features of online customer value and consumer
value human review than automated recommendations.

Erden Tulin (2007) in his research report helped the business owners again, by
posting some comprehensive status about online consumer behaviour. For this purpose,
the study has broken out the industry, into particular field. The study revealed that 80%
of internet users go online to find health related information, 85% of Google users have
made an online purchase in the past six months, approximately 20 million people are
browsing new home listing each month and more than 70% of Google users have
shown some interest in a financial service product.

Prof. Mohsin Islam (2008), has conducted a study on Changing Attitude of

Indian Consumer towards Online Shopping. He pointed out in his research, that three
out of the five dependent variables such as consumer attitudes, intentions, and
purchasing behavior and three out of the five independent variables such as perceived
usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment, information on online
shopping, security and privacy, quality of internet connection gets the most attention.
Hence found that the personal characteristics such as vendor/service/product
characteristics and website quality significantly affect online shopping attitudes,
intention, and behavior.

Syed Shah Alam & Zaharah Bakar (2008), have investigated in their study the
relationships between young consumers’ perceptions of the factors that influence their
intention to buy through online. The analytical results are generally consistent with
consumers’ perceptions of the customer service, reliability and trust of online
purchasing. Trust has received the most consistent support as factors that influence
online buying. Marketers need to realize that the online marketing environment affects
the way consumers view and develop relationships.
Oliver B. Büttner and Anja S. Göritz (2008), indicated that trust has been found
to be crucial for consumer behaviour towards online shops.In a web-based study, 634
participants interacted with a provider of medical goods that is a simulated online
pharmacy. The study develops and employs a psychometrically sound scale for
assessing perceived trustworthiness of online shops. Results show that trustworthiness
promotes both intention to buy and actual financial risk taking. Perceived risk was not
 found to moderate the relationship between trustworthiness and intention to buy.
Instead of trustworthiness partially mediated the influence of perceived risk on
intention to buy.

Torben Hansen (2008), has identified three groups of consumers: consumers who
have not yet bought anything on the Internet; consumers who have bought something on
the Internet – but not groceries; and consumers who have bought something on the
Internet – including groceries. Data were collected from an online survey of Swedish
consumers using self- administered questionnaires. The findings suggest that consumers
may link personal values to attitude towards online grocery buying but also that this
relation may be moderated by whether the consumer previously has carried out an
online purchase or an online grocery purchase.

Dinesh, Amit, and Raghav Rao (2008), in their study compared online store
rating with other e-store loyalty factors. It was found that the number of years on the
web has the least impact on repurchase intention. This has significant implications for
managers of online stores because it suggests that stores would attract more customers
by having positive customer reviews. The amount of time the store has been in
business does not seem to affect the repurchase intention of consumers. “Word of
mouth” remains the most powerful customer acquisition tool and impact on the trust
that the customers have.

Purva Bhathia and Surbhi Goel (2008), studied about the internet users in Indian
as on 2008. It was found that 49 million users have logged on to internet in the year
2007-2008 and 70 percent of the internet users reside outside metros. Internet
penetration in urban India is at 12% in the year 2007– 2008 compared to 9 percent in
the year 2006-2007. Further, it was found

that urban netizen has increased from 30 million to 40 million in the year 2007-08 and
70 percent of users are between 19 – 35 years of age.
 Bhavani and Prakash (2008), in their article have explained the importance of
online shopping, its advantages and disadvantages and also the impact of doing
business online. The internet has become a preferred place for the shoppers to carry out
their business. The number of shoppers and volume of business continue to surge.
They have given three main factors which mainly make online shopping attractive,
they are abundance (i.e.) the customers have a vast choice, vast selection (i.e.) various
products can be displayed reviewed and compared at no cost in time or funds and quick
comparison (i.e.) consumers can quickly compare products in terms of price, quality,
shipping cost, etc., before making a final choice.

Venkatesh (2008), is his article analyzed the new trends in marketing and
observed that several developments in technology have completely transformed the
world and made life easier for people on the transactions of business and work.
Notable among these is called “Internet and Online Marketing”. In essence, this
activity enables buyers and sellers of goods and services to get their task accomplished
without the necessity to travel. In internet marketing, the users access the products of
their choice but it is not possible to trace and test all aspects of the marketing
campaign.

Based on the proceedings of (2009), international symposium on web

information systems and applications (wisa’09) found that the results of the analysis,
long-term observation of "corporate reputation", "security awareness", "pickup,
replacement and maintenance" are essential to establish a trust factor. To enable
consumers to increase trust in the shortest possible time, the entire management should
concentrate on consumers who purchase goods met during the deletion of e-commerce,
put forward some suggestions for reference as follows, but the future for further
verification recommendations are reputation in the enterprise and security on cognitive.

Chih-Chien Wang (2009), analyzed that knowledge is one important factor

influencing the level of trust. The results revealed that knowledge is positively
associated with trust and online shopping activities. In other words, people who know
more about online shopping will trust and go shopping more online. Online retailing
practice should make the public knowledgeable about online transaction security
mechanisms to build users’ trust in online shopping.

Leva Andersone (2009), has examined the differences in behavior between

online and traditional shopping of Latvian consumers. According to the study the
consumers are looking for information about product, shopping frequency, about
pricing, buying volume and time. Most important benefits of the shopping process at
traditional buying process are buying process, contact with equal and for e-shopping
money saving, time saving, conveniences and all around a clock. The study concludes
that average size of purchase in traditional shopping still is larger than in the internet
shopping and friends are main sources of information to search the products. The
author also pointed out that one can expect changes towards the internet as a main
source in the nearest future and no special time or day for purchasing.

Amar Cheema and Purushottam Papatla (2009), made an attempt to study the
relative importance of online information versus offline information for internet
purchase. The study found that relative importance of online information is higher for
utilitarian products such as computer hardware and software than for hedonic products
such as books, music and movies, the relative importance of online information
decreases with increasing consumer internet experience and consumers trust of online
search engine information decreases with increasing internet experience.

A study has conducted by Feng Zhu (2010), indicates that how product and
consumer characteristics moderate the influence of online consumer reviews on
product sales using data from the video game industry. The findings reveal that online
reviews are more influential for less popular games and games whose players have
greater Internet experience.