CHAPTER 4

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4.1

Rationale of the Study

4.2

Statement of the Problem

4.3

Objectives of Study

4.4

Scope of Study

4.5

Significance of the Study

4.6

Research Design
4.6.1 Type of Research
4.6.2 Data Collection Method
4.6.3 Sample Size
4.6.4 Sampling Technique
4.6.5 Sampling Unit
4.6.6 Broader Hypothesis of Study
4.6.7 Data Preparation
4.6.8 Tools and Techniques of Analysis

4.7

Limitations of the Study

4.8

Chapter Plan

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4.1 Rationale of Study

Online shopping is the buzz, the sensation in the current scenario. The Internet
has made a new generation of consumers who like to shop online. Getting
anything by a click of the mouse right from fashion accessories to jewellery,
apparel, electronic items, crockery, home appliances, personal care products,
and more has led to the popularity of the 'online shopping mall' phenomenon. It is
the easiest and fastest way of shopping. At an online shopping mall, one can
catch a glimpse of new product releases, combo deals, packages, discount
offers, seasonal products, etc. and accordingly grab the best deal. Time is not
the constraint; one can shop anytime - the facility is available round the clock.
Besides saving our time of visiting an offline store and staying away from the
hassles involved, one can gain an additional advantage, i.e., saving a lot on the
money factor.

The literature review has revealed that most of the studies have mainly
concentrated on trust and risk independently. There have been hardly any
studies which take into account perceived risk and trust in Internet shopping.

Moreover, on detailed search the researchers have not found any substantial
literature available in the Indian context delving on risk perceptions in internet
shopping. From above literature study, it can be seen that all these studies have
been done in non Indian context.

Through this research, the researchers

expect to find the buying behavior of internet shoppers, in what categories people
intend to spend more, why customers prefer internet shopping, whether trust
matters in internet shopping or not in Indian context. Moreover customer
perception about risks in internet shopping will also be studied and their reasons
for not shopping online.

Under the above context, I realize the need for an extensive and intensive
study to analyze the risk perceptions in internet shopping which will be
helpful to e-tailers in designing an appropriate strategy to attract customers
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to shop online. A comprehensive empirical study of such kind is lacking in

India. The present study attempts to fulfill this void.

4.2 Statement of the Problem

The growth of Internet and its user base in recent years has been truly
phenomenal. Juxt today released their annual India Online 2011 report which
puts number of active Indian Internet users at 65 Million as compared to 51
Million last year. Overall at all India level, there has been 5.44% increase in
internet using households and 28% growth in internet using households
(individuals) in year 20011 as compared to year 2010.1

Despite the phenomenal growth of the Internet over the past few years, the
vast potential of conducting business over the Internet remains largely
untapped. Email is still the most popular activity on the internet, however, online
search of products has picked up significantly making shopping the 2nd most
popular activity online. Moreover, there is still much room for online shopping
to grow. Perceived risk [Hassan, Kunz, Pearson& Mohamed, 2006] 2 and lack
of trust [Lim, Sia, Lee &Benbasat,2006] 3 is the main cited reason for
consumers not purchasing online. Developing trust in online shopping
environment is especially challenging, because of the lack of direct contacts
with the physical stores, salespeople, and physical products in the di gital
world [Uslaner, 2004] 4

The survey of literature reveals that most of the studies in this area are
related to Non-Indian context and hence there is an urgent need to analyze
the risk perceptions in internet shopping. The present study is aimed to ful fill
this requirement. This is a study of understanding whether trust matters or
not in internet shopping and understanding risk perceptions in internet
shopping. Therefore statement of the problem under the study has been

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selected as: DOES E-TRUST MATTER? STUDY OF RISK PERCEPTIONS

IN INTERNET SHOPPING

4.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objective of the study is to understand risk perception in internet
shopping. The study also incorporates some of the basic objectives as under:

1. To analyze buying behavior of internet shoppers

2. To know why customers prefer internet shopping
3. To understand risk perception in internet shopping
4. To know whether trust matters in internet shopping
5. To find out reasons for reluctance to internet shopping
6. To suggest suitable precautions to customers regarding how to shop
safely online

4.4 Scope of Study

The study will be conducted in five major cities covering Central, South and
Saurashtra region in the state of Gujarat with various geographical areas like Ahmedabad, Surat, Vapi, Rajkot and Jamnagar where I think the working women
population is more and also the people are tech-savvy. The reason for selecting
these cities is that these cities fall into urban category and this study aims at
covering urban dwellers as the internet penetration rate in rural area is almost
negligible.

4.5 Significance of the Study

As mentioned above the proposed research is unique and will highlight some
new findings than the earlier research and will be useful to many related to

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marketing activities. Some of the potential beneficiaries from the study are
elaborated as under:

1. Marketers: This will help the marketers perfect the old-tricks that they
have to be perfected over the last few decades and involve more creative
strategies to appeal to this energetic, confident and tech-savvy segment.
Also it will help further to give more appealing web designs, positioning
strategies, web pages, websites, promotional tools, etc for this specific
target.
2. Advertisers: Also the advertisers, having gained knowledge about the risk
perceptions, trust factors and lifestyle predictors about this segment, can
better do justice to their campaigns by designing them taking these factors
in mind.

3. Future researchers- This also gives a base to future researchers to

explore the areas based on the revelations of this research and give
further insights into developing future correlations between various
variables related to this area.

4.6 Research Design

A research design is a framework or blue print for conducting the research

project. It details the procedure necessary for obtaining the information needed to
structure and /or solve research problem. A research design lays the foundation
for conducting the project.5

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4.6.1 Type of Research

The cross-sectional descriptive research design is used for conducting this

research work because this design enables the researcher to study the
problem at given point of time of the population of interest. To identify the
problem, to develop and approach the problem & to formulate an appropriate
research design, primary & secondary data has been used. To collect
information for the study from customers, primary research is used. Several
people who were internet users were identified and primary data were
collected from respondents using structured questionnaire. Firstly pilot study
will be done and its output will be used for the formulation of questionnaire
especially for item construction for the scale to measure risk and trust. A
structured questionnaire will be designed for quantitative research and will be
pre-tested before using as a final instrument for collecting the data.

4.6.2 Data Collection Method

To collect information for the study from customers, primary research is used.
Secondary data has been collected from library of IIMA, Library of Saurashtra
University, various Journals, Magazines, proceedings of seminars and
conferences, Internet etc.

Structured questionnaire was used as instrument for collecting the primary

data. The response were recorded and measured by using nominal scale and
likert scale. The data collected thus was quantitative in nature. The
questionnaire was pre-tested before final use.

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4.6.3 Sample Size

The sample size of 300 respondents were selected from five major cities
covering Central, South and Saurashtra region in the state of Gujarat with
various geographical areas like-Ahmedabad, Surat, Vapi, Rajkot and
Jamnagar.

All

the

respondents

were

administered

structured

questionnaire.

4.6.4 Sampling technique

The sampling procedure used will be convenience sampling combined

with judgmental sampling.

Samples have been taken into consideration on the basis of criteria which
includes that respondent should be an online shopper or at least aware
about internet shopping

4.6.5 Sampling Unit

Respondents who are internet users or at least aware about internet
shopping are the primary unit of analysis. Data will be collected through
structured questionnaire.

4.6.6 Broader Hypothesis of Study

To accomplish the objectives of the study, the following null hypothesis
have been developed for empirical testing. The following null hypothesis is
presented by referring to the conceptual framework which will be tested
through rigorous statistical procedure:

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1. H0: There is no significant difference between preference

towards internet shopping with respect to personal variables.

2. H0: There is no significant difference between risk perception in

internet shopping with respect to personal variables.
3. H0: There is no significant difference between trust in internet
shopping with respect to personal variables.
4. H0: There is no significant difference between reluctance to
internet shopping with respect to personal variables.

4.6.7 Data preparation

Data preparation begins with preliminary check of the entire questionnaire

for its completeness. The collected data was edited, coded, tabulated,
grouped and organized according to the requirement of the study and then
entered into SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) for analysis.

4.6.8 Tools & Techniques of the Study

For analyzing the hypothesis, various parametric as well as nonparametric tests have been used in this research.

4.7 Limitations of the Study

All efforts have been made to ensure that the research is designed and
conducted to optimize the ability to achieve the research objective. However
there are some constrains that do not validate the research but made to be
acknowledged:
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1.

This study is restricted to the state of Gujarat only.

2.

This evaluation is based on primary data generated through questionnaire

and collected from the respondents who are internet users or at least
aware about internet shopping and as such its findings depend on
accuracy of data.

3.

The sample consists of 300 urban Indian customers from different cities of
Gujarat State. The sample is selected conveniently and judgmentally i.e.
those respondents who were internet users were the prime target.

4.

As the primary data has its own limitations and based on the respondents,
the study is limited to Gujarat state only and it cannot be applicable to the
customers of the other states of India or at International Level.

5.

The study is based on the response of the customer who is highly

subjective in nature and hence generalization made may not be totally
true.

6.

Certain issues in the study concentrate on both perceptions and attitude of

respondents.

7.

The major tool which is used for evaluation is 5 point scale known as likert
scale and nominal scale and thus it has its own limitations.

8.

Consistent data from secondary sources was available for last six years
only.

4.8

Chapter Plan of the study

Chapter 1 - Overview of Internet Shopping in India

This chapter will cover introduction, history, need for internet shopping, global
internet shopping scenario, growth, trends, drivers, payment options, product
delivery, problems, challenges, future of internet shopping etc.

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Chapter 2 - Conceptual Framework

This chapter will include definition and role of trust, characteristics of trust, online
and offline trust, trust building process, social learning theory on trust building,
model for consumer trust, concept of perceived risk, perceived risk debates and
definitions, risk, involvement and trust, types of perceived risks, perceived risk
applications, etc.

Chapter 3 - Survey of Existing Literature

This chapter will include the review of existing literature available from several
journals, magazines, website and published data from several research
agencies.

Chapter 4: Research Methodology

This chapter includes comprehensive objectives of the study and hypothesis of
the study. This chapter will also include the methodology adopted for the
research it will include the universe of the study sampling design sampling
unit - Classification of samples period of study Data collection and analysis
tools adopted for the study etc. This chapter will include limitations and several
sources of information used for the purpose of the study.

Chapter 5: Analysis & Interpretation of data

The various statistical tools will be adopted for the data analysis and findings will
be represented in form of charts and graphs.

Chapter 6: Summary of Findings & Suggestions

This chapter highlights general criteria, summary of findings and suggestions of
the study. Also suggested is the path for the improvement and future areas of
research.

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References:
1

India Online 2011 Report, Juxt

Ahmad M.Hassan, Michelle B. Kunz, Allision W. Pearson, Fatma A.

Mohamed. Conceptualization and measurement of perceived risk in online
shopping, Marketing Management Journal, Vol.16(2006), pp.138-147.

Kai H.Lim, Choon Ling Sia, Matthew K.O.Lee and Izak Benbasat .Do I
trust you online and If so wil I buy ?An empirical study of Two trustbuilding strategies .Journal of Management Information Systems , Vol.23(
Fall 2006), No.2, pp. 233-266

Eric M. Uslaner. Trust online , Trust offline. Communication of the ACM ,

vol 47.(2004),No.

Malhotra Naresh K., Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation, (New

Delhi: Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. License of Pearson education in
south Asia, 2006), pg. 102

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