The Influence of Shopping Motivations on the Tendency to Shop Offline

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The Influence of Shopping

Motivations on the Tendency

to Shop Offline

And how to compete with online retailing

Jenny Bekkering

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The Influence of Shopping Motivations on the Tendency to Shop

Offline

And how to compete with online retailing

University of Groningen

Faculty of Economics and Business MSc Marketing Management Master Thesis

9 July 2014

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Management summary

The number of consumers who are using the Internet for shopping is rising steadily, making it increasingly important for retailers to comprehend why consumers decide to shop not online but also offline. As a response, physical stores are trying to offer entertainment in different forms and create a unique and fun experience with the aim of attracting consumers to their stores. However, will this be the remedy against competing to online retailers? Retailers are currently faced with an interesting challenge and management question, that is, how should retailers attract customers to the store and compete with online retailers? Moreover, how can offline retailers take advantage of the endless opportunities that the Internet offers?

In order to provide retailers with an answer to this question, it is important to gain knowledge about consumers’ shopping motivations for shopping offline instead of online and how these variables are interrelated. The goal of this research is to find out the relation between shopping motivations and the tendency to shop offline. Additionally, product-‐related variables such as product involvement, risk aversion and hedonic product value are incorporated to see if these variables have a moderating effect on the relation between shopping motivations and the tendency to shop offline. This leads to the following research question:

What is the influence of hedonic and utilitarian shopping motivations on the tendency to shop offline and do product-‐related variables such as product involvement, risk aversion, and perceived hedonic product value influence this relation?

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motivations was expected to negatively influence the tendency to shop offline, but showed a positive relation with the tendency to shop offline. No moderating effects are tested significant, but risk aversion and perceived hedonic product value do have a direct (respectively negative and positive) effect on the tendency to shop offline. Results also showed that women are more likely to shop offline than online compared to men.

This study has attempted to offer insights to which customers offline retailers should attract to their stores and how, in order to maintain store traffic and compete with online retailing. It also offers guidance in how offline retailers can take advantage of the opportunities that the Internet offers. Although the results suggest that under some conditions it is better to have offline presence and under some conditions it is better to have online presence, it is believed that the key to success is to develop a multi-‐channel strategy in which retailers offer their products and services not only online or offline, but in both channels. Offline retailers cannot survive in a landscape that is continuously changing due to technological but also social developments. Different channels are needed to serve different types of consumers who have different shopping motivations for different types of products. Therefore, retailers should carefully decide which customers they want to serve in which channel and with what assortment of products.

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Preface

The master thesis in front of you is the final product after four years of studying at the University of Groningen. In 2009, it took little time for me to decide that business was the area of my interest. I started following a Bachelor in International Business and Management, and soon marketing became my favourite subject of the study. In the meantime I had a part-‐time job at an online holiday houses rental, and my responsibility was online marketing. Moreover, the year between finishing my bachelor and starting my master, I organized a research project of the University of Groningen to Colombia, and again, PR and marketing was my responsibility. This further enhanced my interest and passion for marketing, and the decision to start a Master in Marketing was made very easily.

I soon knew that I made the right decision for choosing Marketing Management. I have enjoyed the large majority of the courses I took, and feel like I have gained extensive knowledge during the past year. In particular, retail marketing and brand management are the topics that I appreciated very much. Hence, the thesis topic I chose is closely aligned with my interest in retail marketing. Moreover, Marketing Intelligence has increasingly caught my attention during the year, and I hope to enhance my skills in that area in the near future. Although I greatly enjoyed my time as a student at the University of Groningen, I do feel that I am ready for the next step and challenge.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people who have guided, supported and helped me along writing my master thesis. First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor prof. dr. Laurens Sloot, whose expertise, guidance and support has been highly valuable throughout the process. Furthermore, I would like to thank my fellow thesis group members for their feedback and support throughout a period of nearly six months. Lastly, I would like to thank my friends and family for their help and feedback when needed and who supported me throughout my studies.

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1. Introduction

The rise of the Internet worldwide has led to many opportunities for companies and consumers. Among the numerous opportunities that the Internet offers, is the possibility to buy and sell products online. The number of consumers who are using the Internet for shopping is rising steadily, making it increasingly important for retailers to comprehend why consumers decide to shop not online but also offline. According to Mintel (2013), European online sales will double to €323 billion in 2018, large online retailers such as Amazon are gaining market share between 2010 to 2013 and in some European countries such as the UK, online grocery shopping is becoming more popular. At the same time, traditional brick-‐ and mortar stores are under high pressure as more shops are filing for bankruptcy and shop vacancy rates are hitting records (Retail Gazette, 2013). As a response, physical stores are trying to offer entertainment in different forms and create a unique and fun experience with the aim of attracting consumers to their stores. For example, Dutch supermarket Jumbo opened a Food Market in one of their stores and Barns and Nobles have incorporated in-‐store Starbucks cafes.

Will this be the remedy against competing to online retailers, declining store traffic, and high store vacancy rates?

Due to social and technological developments – time is scarce and the rise of smartphones and tablets – retailers are currently faced with an interesting challenge and management question, that is, how should retailers attract customers to the store and compete with online retailers? Moreover, how can offline retailers take advantage of the endless opportunities that the Internet offers?

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aims to answer the following research question:

What is the influence of hedonic and utilitarian shopping motivations on the tendency to shop offline and do product-‐ related variables such as product involvement, risk aversion, and perceived hedonic product value influence this relation?

The goal of this research is to find out how shopping motivations are related to the tendency to shop in a physical store and how product-‐related variables influence this relation. This study contributes to current literature by enhancing academics’ knowledge of shopping motivations and their effect on the choice of shopping channel. Moreover, three moderators are included to gain more knowledge about the conditions under which offline shopping might be preferred to online shopping and vice versa. Whereas current research is primarily focused on the benefits and opportunities of online retailing, this research aims to focus on offline retailing instead, in response to the high pressure that offline retailers are faced with due to the fast developments in online retailing. The conclusions of this research will have

relevant implications for retail managers. The study is aimed at providing offline retailers with insights about the motivations of consumers to shop offline and online, which can be used to enhance consumers’ offline retail experience. Moreover, guidance is offered as to how different types of products are more suitable to be offered offline and online in order for retailers to carefully consider which channels should be used and how.

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2. Literature review

2.1 Shopping motivations

Purchasing products offline and online both have different advantages and disadvantages and consumers have different shopping motivations for deciding from which channel they will purchase a product. Research on shopping motivations has long been focused on utilitarian shopping motivations, which can be described as rational and task-‐oriented (Batra & Ahtola, 1991). However, the traditional model did not incorporate the emotional and irrational aspects of shopping motivations (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982a; Sarkar, 2011). Therefore, in order to obtain a more complete concept of consumers’ shopping motivations, hedonic shopping motivations have been looked into. Batra and Ahtola (1991) have examined the composition of the total consumer attitude and found that it consists of two dimensions, not only utilitarian but also hedonic motivations. This implies that consumers do not always have utilitarian, rational shopping motivations but are also motivated to shop based on more emotional feelings that they derive from shopping. The two dimensions are not mutually exclusive and together form the totality of

consumers’ shopping motivations (Batra and Ahtola, 1991). Also, they found that the relative proportion of the dimensions differ per brand or product. According to Babin et al. (1994), consumers also have both hedonic and utilitarian shopping motivations for different shopping modes e.g. offline vs. online, and the relative proportion of the dimensions is likely to be different for shopping on the Internet or in a physical store. Both utilitarian and hedonic shopping motivations will be discussed in more detail in order to gain a deeper understanding of the two dimensions of shopping motivations and their differences.

2.1.1 Utilitarian shopping motivations

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irrational pleasure they receive from the product or shopping trip (Batra and Ahtola, 1991). Consumers that have higher utilitarian shopping motivations regard the shopping trip accomplished when they have purchased everything needed in a timely and efficient manner. Furthermore, consumers that have relatively high utilitarian shopping motivations are likely to compare a shopping trip to work and are satisfied when it is done and completed (Babin et al., 1994). They do not go on a shopping trip to purchase products because they feel the need to be entertained or experience fun out of it. Babin et al. (1994) have developed a measurement scale for hedonic and utilitarian shopping values and concluded on a four-‐item measurement scale for utilitarian shopping values. The four items were all related to the expressions of accomplishment and/or disappointment over the ability (or inability) to complete the shopping task. Thus, consumers who have a higher proportion of utilitarian motives than hedonic motives like to complete their shopping task efficiently and are disappointed when they can not find what they are looking for or have to look hard to find what they are looking for. Hence, convenience is valued highly

when utilitarian shopping motives are strong. Moreover, Batra and Ahtola (1991) have also developed a measurement scale for hedonic and utilitarian sources of consumer attitudes and found that products that are superior on utilitarian aspects are considered to be beneficial, useful and valuable. Translating this to utilitarian shopping motivations would imply that consumers with relatively high utilitarian shopping motivations are looking for products and functional attributes that are beneficial, useful and valuable to them. According to Sarkar (2011), examples of utilitarian shopping motives can be the search of quality products against a reasonable price, convenience seeking or variety seeking.

2.1.2 Hedonic shopping motivations

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hedonic shopping motivations are more related to the pleasure experienced with a product or the shopping trip. Moreover, hedonic shopping motivations are more personal and subjective and regard the enjoyment and fun of shopping as more important than task completion (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982; Babin et al., 1994). According to Langrehr (1991), the essence of hedonic shopping motivations is that “consumers buy so they can shop, not shop so they can buy”, indicating that the shopping experience itself is more valuable more than the completion of the shopping task. Thus, shopping can provide hedonic value with or without consumption and much research has been dedicated to find out more about the reasons for consumers to have hedonic shopping motives. Babin et al. (1994) have found that hedonic shopping values are enjoyment, excitement, escapism and spontaneity. Similarly, Batra and Ahtola (1991) state that products that are superior on hedonic aspects are considered to be beautiful, interesting and pleasant. In this light, consumers with a high proportion of hedonic shopping motives are appealed to products and experiences that they evaluate as

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Gatherers, Providers, Enthusiasts and Traditionalists. The segments can be valuable to retailers as they can more effectively design communications strategies to the different segments, with the goal to attract consumers to their stores. For example, Enthusiasts and Traditionalists highly value the social experience of shopping and if retailers find a large segment of these in among their regular customers, they should aim to facilitate a social experience to these customers. A well-‐ known example of this -‐ which is also mentioned in the introduction of this paper – are the in-‐store Starbucks cafes in book store Barnes and Nobles.

2.2 Offline shopping

Shopping in a physical retail store offers benefits to consumers that to some degree cannot be achieved by online retailers, as well as the other way around. According to Babin et al. (1994), consumers shop differently depending on whether their motives are primarily experiential or task-‐oriented. An important benefit that offline shopping offers compared to online shopping is the ability to physically examine the product before purchasing it (Broekhuizen, 2006). As consumers can better assess the tangible characteristics of products in a store, it will make their

choice to purchase the product easier (Ba and Pavlou, 2002). Consumers do not have to rely on the Internet and make their purchasing decision based on their own experience with the product. For example, consumers shopping for clothing tend to prefer physical stores to the Internet as it allows them to try on clothes before purchasing them (Gehrt and Yan, 2004). Moreover, consumers that are shopping offline do not have to wait for their purchases to be delivered, stimulating immediate gratification (Broekhuizen, 2006). Furthermore, offline shopping also provides social benefits. First, this can be referred to as the presence of personnel that offer services to consumers when needed or wanted (Francis and White, 2004). For example, a consumer might like to speak with an employee about a product they want to purchase. However, the social benefits of shopping offline are not only based on employees but also on other people in the shopping environment. For example, consumers like to go shopping with friends or family or have the opportunity to assist (or be assisted by) other consumers in the environment (Nicholson et al., 2002; Verhoef et al., 2009).

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However, apart from the benefits of shopping in an offline environment such as physically examining products, immediate gratification and social benefits, there are also elements that can be viewed as less appealing to shopping in a physical store and are more in favour of online stores. Time scarcity and the rise of tablets and smartphones allow consumers to make the majority of their transactions online, posing a threat to offline retailers. Convenience is a characteristic of online shopping that is highly valued among consumers, leading to time and effort savings (Broekhuizen, 2006). For physical retail stores, these benefits are hard to compete with, as it will always take time and effort to visit a physical store. Convenience is referred to as the ease of shopping, accessibility and comparison shopping (Broekhuizen, 2006). In particular comparison shopping is difficult to offer in an offline shopping environment as consumers would have to visit multiple stores to compare products and prices, which is not efficient. Conversely, the Internet provides opportunities to compare different products and prices in one click, allowing substantial time efficiency. Moreover, it also provides consumers to purchase products for the

best price available, which is harder for offline retailers to facilitate. Therefore, physical retail stores should create a customer experience in which people enjoy making time to visit their store instead of using the Internet. Wolfinbarger and Gilly (2001) state that offline shopping is more hedonic than online shopping, as offline shopping primarily facilitates hedonic values such as a fun and entertaining experience, and less utilitarian values such as search efficiency and shopping effectiveness. However, Childers et al. (2001) claim that hedonic aspects are equally important in an online shopping environment and should not be undervalued compared to hedonic aspects in physical stores.

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benefits in offline shopping? As utilitarian shopping motivations are mainly based on the ease and convenience of shopping (Forsythe et al., 2006), offline shopping could offer fewer benefits to consumers who have utilitarian shopping motives. Sarkar (2011) states that hedonic shopping motivations dominate in an offline retail environment where consumers can experience the product and interact with sales people and/or other consumers.

Considering the findings about hedonic and utilitarian shopping motivations and the characteristics of shopping in a physical store, leads to the following hypotheses:

H1: Hedonic shopping motivations are

positively related to the tendency to shop offline.

H2: Utilitarian shopping motivations are

negatively related to the tendency to shop offline.

2.3 Product involvement

Gaining more insights about different shopping motivations and the effect on the tendency of consumers to shop in an offline retail environment should offer retailers guidance in developing marketing strategies to attract

consumers to their stores and compete with the fast-‐growing online retail environment. However, it is likely that the effect of shopping motivations on the tendency to shop in a physical store will be different for different retail stores. Retail stores exist in many different forms and formats and vary in the product categories they offer, service levels and more. Taking this into consideration, this research will attempt to obtain knowledge as to whether the level of a consumers’ product involvement has a moderating effect on the relation between shopping motivations and the tendency to shop in a physical store. For example, do consumers with high hedonic shopping motivations tend to shop in a physical store when they are highly involved in the product they are purchasing or do they tend to shop online? On the contrary, do consumers with high utilitarian shopping motivations tend to shop in a physical store when they are lowly involved with the product they are purchasing or do they tend to shop online instead?

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more effort is required by the consumer to reach a satisfactory outcome, the higher the involvement. Beatty and Talpade (1994) have developed a four-‐ item scale for measuring consumer’s product involvement, related to the personal interest and relevance of a product to the consumer.

According to Broekhuizen (2006), product factors have a strong effect on the consumers’ decision to shop offline or online. Likewise, Black et al. (2002) state that for more high-‐involvement products such as laptops, consumers tend to shop in a physical store because of the more personal and direct service level. In a physical store, consumers can ask for sales people to provide more information on products or help them making a decision. However, Kwon and Jain (2009) argue that consumers purchasing a high-‐involvement product have equally utilitarian and hedonic shopping motivations that have to be satisfied. They want to have access to a rich bundle of product information and engage in comparison shopping, but also want to be entertained (Verhoef et al., 2007). Whereas the former can be more completely facilitated online, the latter can more likely be achieved in an offline environment where consumers can

physically touch, feel and experience the product. This would imply that retailers of high-‐involvement products should aim for a multi-‐channel strategy in which they can cater both utilitarian and hedonic shopping motivations of consumers.

Moreover, Wang et al. (2008) state that when consumers are low involved with a product, the online service quality of the retailer is more important than when consumers are high involved because low involved consumers are more motivated to use the Internet for the purchasing of low involvement products.

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Spangenberg et al. (1997) also found a positive relation between product involvement and utilitarian values. These findings result in the following hypotheses:

H3a: The level of a consumers’ product

involvement positively moderates the relation between hedonic shopping motivations and the tendency to shop offline.

H3b: The level of a consumers’ product

involvement positively moderates the relation between utilitarian shopping motivations and the tendency to shop offline.

Figure 1 and Figure 2 illustrate the expected moderating effect of a consumers’ product involvement between, respectively, hedonic and utilitarian shopping motivations, and the tendency to shop in a physical store.

2.4 Risk aversion

This research will be further extended by not only including product involvement, but also product risk aversion. According to Schröder and Zaharia (2008), risk aversion is referred to as the perceived risk i.e. the uncertainty as to the negative consequences of a purchase and the significance of these consequences.

Figure 1: H3a

Figure 2: H3b

Incorporating this variable in to this research leads to the following question: do consumers with high hedonic shopping motivations tend to shop in a physical store when they perceive high risk in the product they are purchasing or do they tend to shop online?

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financial, social and overall perceived risk. They found that performance risk is most predictive of overall perceived risk. Brooker (1984) added another component to the model of Kaplan and Jacoby, time perceived risk. According to Black et al. (2002), products that carry more complexity with them – such as mortgages -‐ are perceived as more risky and are more suitable to be purchased in an offline shopping environment, and vice versa. Moreover, they also claim that products perceived as expensive are also considered to be more risky, and are more likely to be purchased in a physical store. Also, experience goods such as shoes can also be regarded as risk aversive as consumers like to physically examine or try these types of products before purchasing them (Liang and Huang, 1998). As physical stores enable physical examination and trials, it is expected that experience goods are preferred to be purchased in an offline shopping environment.

In particular for shopping in an online environment, the perceived risk is one of the most important barriers to purchasing (Schröder and Zaharia, 2008). These risks are related to three types of risks: financial, product and convenience risks (Forsythe et al.,

2006). Financial risk is related to the loss of money due to online credit card usage, product risk is related to the lack of physical examination of online shopping, and convenience risk is referred to as the inconvenience experienced when placing an order online due to technological complications (Sarkar, 2011). These types of risks are mostly related to utilitarian values and research showed that there is a positive relation between utilitarian shopping motivations and the perceived risk of online shopping (Sarkar, 2011). This outcome is interesting and contradicting as it assumed that consumers with high utilitarian shopping motives tend to shop online while at the same time they also experience higher perceived risk of doing so.

Based on the findings about product risk aversion, the following hypotheses will be tested:

H4a: The level of product risk aversion

positively moderates the relation between hedonic shopping motivations and the tendency to shop offline.

H4b: The level of product risk aversion

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Figure 3 and Figure 4 illustrate the expected moderating effect of product risk aversion between shopping motivations and the tendency to shop in a physical store:

Figure 3: H4a

Figure 4: H4b

2.5 Perceived level of hedonic product value

The last product-‐related moderating variable that is incorporated in this research is a consumers’ perceived hedonic product value. According to Gray et al. (2010), the perceived hedonic

value of a product can be regarded as to which extent a consumer feels that the product offers experiential enjoyment. On the contrary, the perceived utilitarian value of a product is assessed as to which extent a consumer feels that the product is functional. In order to better explain the relation between shopping motivations and the tendency to shop in a physical store, a deeper look will be taken into whether the type of product will have an impact on this relation. For example, do consumers with high hedonic shopping motivations tend to shop in a physical store when the perceived hedonic product value is high? Or would they rather tend to shop online? Likewise, do consumers with high utilitarian shopping motivations more likely shop in a physical store when the perceived hedonic product value is high?

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consumers experience enjoyment of and that they enjoy consuming. Examples of such products are fashion clothing, flowers, music and chocolate. Utilitarian products are primarily instrumental and are either necessary to be purchased (Khan, 2004). Consumers do not generally experience enjoyment of these products but are mainly functional in its use. Examples of utilitarian goods are vacuum cleaners, detergents and microwaves. However, it should be noted that the difference between hedonic and utilitarian products are a matter of consumer perception. For example, to one consumer purchasing a wristwatch can be perceived as a hedonic product whereas another consumer might perceive this as a utilitarian good. In this line, Spangenberg et al. (1997) have developed a measurement scale for hedonic and utilitarian attitudes towards products. For example, Nike shoes appeared to be hedonic in value whereas detergents were rated as highly utilitarian among consumers.

According to Nicholson et al. (2002), hedonic products are more likely to be purchased in a physical store due to the opportunity to physically examine the product and the social experience.

Purchasing products online is assumed to be more suited for standardized products that are often seen as functional or necessary (Broekhuizen, 2006). However, Cheema and Papatla (2010) found that music and books, both considered as hedonic products, are mostly purchased online instead of offline. Nevertheless, in line with the expected effect of hedonic and utilitarian shopping motivations on the tendency to shop in a physical store, it is expected that hedonic products are in general more likely to be purchased in a physical store than an online store.

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will most likely search for hedonic products to be consumed and vice versa. The following hypotheses have been formulated with regards to the perceived hedonic product value:

H5a: The consumers’ perceived hedonic

product value positively moderates the relation between hedonic shopping motivations and the tendency to shop offline.

H5b: The consumer’s perceived hedonic

product value positively moderates the relation between utilitarian shopping motivations and the tendency to shop offline.

Figure 5 and Figure 6 illustrate the expected moderating effect of the perceived hedonic product value between shopping motivations and the tendency to shop in a physical store.

3. Conceptual model

The variables discussed in the literature review, along with the resulted hypotheses, leads to the following conceptual model (Figure 7). Following the previously discussed concepts, it is assumed that hedonic shopping motivations have a positive influence on

Figure 5: H5a

Figure 6: H5b

the tendency to shop in a physical store, whereas utilitarian shopping motivations are expected to have a negative influence on the tendency to shop in a physical store. However, it is expected that this influence is moderated by the following variables:

• Product involvement • Risk aversion

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Figure 7: Conceptual model

Table 1: Overview of hypotheses

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4. Methodology

The previous chapter showed the conceptual model and subsequently the hypotheses of this research. To test the conceptual model, empirical research is conducted. This chapter will discuss how the research is conducted and how the results are analysed. First, the research design and method of data collection is explained, followed by the questionnaire design. Subsequently, the measurement of the variables is discussed and the chapter will conclude with a plan of analysis.

4.1 Research design

To provide an answer to the research question and test the proposed conceptual model, quantitative research is conducted. A questionnaire is developed in which items related to the variables in the model are represented. The research consists of six variables: two independent variables (hedonic shopping motivations and utilitarian shopping motivations), one dependent variable (the tendency to shop offline), and three moderators (product involvement, risk aversion, and perceived hedonic product value). Variable perceived hedonic product value is manipulated, as a distinction is made between products that are

expected to have high hedonic product value and products that are expected to have low hedonic product value. Three products for each condition are used in order to improve the representativeness of each condition. As Batra and Ahtola (1991) claimed, products can be both hedonic and/or utilitarian, depending on the situation. In order to ensure that the six different product categories are truly either hedonic or utilitarian, a pre-‐ test was developed. The measurement scale of Spangenberg et al. (1997) has been used for the pre-‐test, to which eight marketing master students have responded. The dimensions used are:

Hedonic dimensions: -‐ Fun/Not fun -‐ Exciting/Dull -‐ Delightful/Not delightful -‐ Thrilling/Not thrilling -‐ Enjoyable/Not enjoyable Utilitarian dimensions: -‐ Effective/Ineffective -‐ Functional/Not functional -‐ Helpful/Unhelpful -‐ Necessary/Not necessary -‐ Practical/Impractical

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categories used are: fashion clothing, tablets, smart phones, shampoo, wrist watch, flowers, books, flight tickets, water boiler, vacuum cleaners, detergents, laptops. As can be concluded from Figure 8 and Appendix I, detergents (x̄ = 6,4), water boilers (x̄ = 6,4) and vacuum cleaners (x̄ = 6,565) are the most pure utilitarian products resulted from the pre-‐test. Hence, these three products represent the utilitarian product categories in the questionnaire. Moreover, many products scored high on both hedonic and utilitarian dimensions (upper-‐right). As these products are neither pure hedonic or utilitarian in dimension, they will not be taken into account in the questionnaire. Figure 8 also shows that flowers (x̄ = 4,925), chocolate (x̄ = 5,125) and perfume (x̄ = 5,3) are the most pure hedonic products. However, fashion clothing also scores high on hedonic dimensions (x̄ = 6,05) and relatively low on utilitarian dimensions (x̄ = 4,0). In order to have more variation in the hedonic product category, fashion clothing is selected to represent a hedonic product instead of flowers as flowers score lowest of the three hedonic products. Therefore, fashion clothing, chocolate and perfume

represent the hedonic product categories in the questionnaire.

Respondents are asked to answer to a set of statements concerning shopping motivations in general i.e. this is not product-‐related. Additionally, for each of the six products they are asked to answer questions related to product involvement, risk aversion and the perceived hedonic product value of the product. Also, statements regarding the tendency to shop offline for each of the products are incorporated into the questionnaire. Lastly, the questionnaire concludes with a set of questions related to control variables that are taken into account in the research.

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Figure 8: Results pre-‐test

The questionnaire is distributed among Dutch people aged 18 to 65 years old, as it is expected that most people within this group have both experience with shopping in a physical store but also with shopping online.

4.2 Questionnaire design

The questionnaire begins with a small introduction about the purpose of the research, information about what is expected from the respondents and the time it will take to fill out the questionnaire.

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relatively high hedonic product value (fashion clothing, chocolate, perfume) and three have relatively utilitarian product value (vacuum cleaner, detergent, water boiler). The statements are the same for every respondent. Three product categories for each condition have been selected, not only to increase the representativeness of the condition but also because when adding more products, it is expected that people will not finish the questionnaire due to the length.

The last part of the questionnaire consists of a set of questions that are related to the demographics of the respondent and other control variables such as Internet usage. After completing the questionnaire they are thanked for their participation (See Appendix II).

4.3 Measurement of variables

This section will discuss the measurement of the variables in the conceptual model and described in the literature review. The measurement of the different variables is based on existing literature and earlier developed scales. The variables are measured using a 7-‐point Likert-‐scale, as this enhances the understanding of the questions by respondents (Malhotra, 2006). The measurement of respectively the

independent variables, dependent variable, moderators and control variables will be discussed next.

4.3.1 Measuring utilitarian shopping motivations

Babin et al. (1994) have developed a scale for utilitarian shopping values, and is frequently used in papers related to shopping motivations. They established a four-‐item measurement scale for measuring utilitarian shopping value, and are related to the expressions of accomplishment and/or disappointment over the ability (or inability) to complete the shopping task. Based on the framework of Babin et al. (1994), Kim (2005) has extended the construct by adding two items. Four items are related to the efficiency of shopping and two items are concerned with task completion.

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Efficiency

1) It is important to accomplish what I had planned on a particular shopping trip.

2) On a particular shopping trip, it is important to find items I am looking for.

3) It feels good to know that my shopping trip was successful. 4) I like to feel smart about my

shopping trip.

Task completion

5) It is disappointing when I have to go to multiple stores to complete my shopping.

6) A good store visit is when it is over very quickly.

4.3.2 Measuring hedonic shopping motivations

For measuring hedonic shopping motivations, the measurement scale developed by Arnold and Reynolds (2003) is used. The measurement scale for hedonic shopping values consists of 18 items and is concerned with the enjoyment and excitement of shopping. Arnold and Reynolds (2003) have identified six categories for hedonic shopping motivations: adventure, gratification, value, social, role and idea. For each category, three items are used.

Again, respondents are asked to respond to the items for each of the six products in the questionnaire on a 7-‐point Likert scale.

Adventure

1) To me, shopping is an adventure. 2) I find shopping stimulating. 3) Shopping makes me feel like I am

in my own universe.

Gratification

4) When I’m in a down mood, I go shopping to make me feel better. 5) I go shopping when I want to

treat myself to something special. 6) To me, shopping is a way to

relieve stress.

Role

7) I like shopping for others because when they feel good I feel good. 8) I enjoy shopping for my friends

and family.

9) I enjoy shopping around to find the perfect gift for someone.

Value

10) For the most part, I go shopping when there are sales.

11) I enjoy looking for discounts when I shop.

12) I enjoy hunting for bargains when I shop.

Social

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14) I enjoy socializing with others when I shop.

15) Shopping with others is a bonding experience.

Idea

16) I go shopping to keep up with the trends.

17) I go shopping to keep up with the new fashions.

18) I go shopping to see what new products are available.

4.3.3 Measuring the tendency to shop offline

The variable tendency to shop offline is a simple and straightforward variable and does not need an existing measurement scale in order to gain insights. Two items concerning the preference and tendency to shop offline are incorporated in the questionnaire, which are:

1) I prefer to purchase this product 2) I tend to purchase this product Respondents have to respond to the items by stating whether they would prefer/tend to purchase the product online or offline on a scale ranging from 1 (‘Online) to 7 (‘Offline).

4.3.4 Measuring product Involvement

Beatty and Talpade (1994) have built a scale for measuring a consumer’s product involvement, and will be used in in the questionnaire. The measurement

scale consists of four items, of which the first three are related to personal interest and the fourth item is related to personal relevance. The measurement scale resulted in a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.74, 0.80 and 0.93, which makes it a reliable scale for measuring a consumer’s product involvement.

A 7-‐point Likert scale ranges from 1 (‘No, definitely not’) to 7 (‘Yes, definitely’). The items will be included for each of the six products in the questionnaire.

1) In general, I have a high interest in this product category.

2) This product category is very important to me.

3) This product category matters a lot to me.

4) I get bored when people talk to me about this product. (R)

The last item is a reversed question, which needs to be recoded when analysing the data.

4.3.5 Measuring risk aversion

The Influence of Shopping Motivations on the Tendency to Shop Offline

The Influence of Shopping

Motivations on the Tendency

to Shop Offline

And how to compete with online retailing

Jenny Bekkering

The Influence of Shopping Motivations on the Tendency to Shop

Offline

Management summary

Preface

Table of contents

1. Introduction

2. Literature review

3. Conceptual model

4. Methodology