Trust has been observed to be a significant factor in determining whether a consumer

would resort to purchasing a product online or not, therefore the establishment of a trustful

relationship with a consumer can then be translated to the actual purchasing of the products and

services of an E-retailer by a consumer (Delgado, 2004, as cited in Perez, Pring, & Segismundo,

2009). This is merely one of numerous factors that determine whether or not a consumer will

purchase products from a certain source, and trust is merely one of them.

Another factor that may influence how a consumer perceives an online shop is age. In

their study, Chua and Lao (2009) mentioned that most of their respondents were aged 21 to 30.

The influence of age in online consumer behavior is apparent through the fact that younger

adults, especially those that are under the age of 25, are more interested in using new

technologies like the internet to gather knowledge about new products, search for product

information, and compare and evaluate the alternatives available to them relative to older

consumers.

However, different researches have yielded different age groups that shop online.

Although consumers across all ages have, at least once in their life, tried to shop online,

according to Cabalde, De Guzman, Manrique, and Wong (2009), consumers that are aged 18-22

that are still college students are the hottest market of internet retailing and are the prime sources

of future growth in online sales. This group of consumers is one of the heaviest users of the

internet and has more access to it than most. College students may also be more familiar to using

the internet relative to other population segments.

These claims are somehow manifested in the survey conducted by the researchers. In this

survey, all the respondents are students of De La Salle University. As can be seen in Table 1,

there are more female than male respondents. As can also be seen in Table 2, there are more

female respondents that often shop online than male respondents, who mostly only sometimes

shop online. All of our respondents most likely have shopped online at least once, except for the

one respondent that answered “very rarely”. The survey had 15 male respondents and 16 female

respondents.

Table 1: “How often do you shop onine?”

Very Often Often Sometimes Rarely Very Rarely0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

2

4

7

2

0

1

9

3

2

1

MaleFemale

According to Kurth (n.d.), the most enthusiastic group of e-commerce consumers is

between the ages of 25 to 44 years old. This is for those that would search for jewelry in online

shops. This may insinuate that different products may have different consumer age groups as

their prevailing customers. In summary, college students and young adults are the most common

online shoppers, but this may only apply to certain products that appeal to them.

According to Chua and Lao (2009), convenience is the main motivational factor that

makes a consumer choose online shopping over traditional shopping. The advantages of online

shopping offset the risks thereof due to the fact that most of the respondents in Chua and Lao’s

research chose to shop online despite being aware of the risks therein. Therefore, it is important

that online shops conform to the perspectives of the consumers (i.e. they should make the online

shopping experience very convenient).

Another one of the most important factors that may determine the success of online

shopping or E-retailing is how much online consumers would trust those engaged in the E-

retailing business and the players within the said industry. There are several factors that

determine consumer trust in E-retailing, and these differ from one culture to another (Perez et al.,

2009). It is very important that online retailers be able to establish themselves as trustworthy.

When consumers perceive them as such, then they would be able to garner more purchases.

Major problems in E-commerce were identified in a survey conducted by the Information

Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA). Three of the most prominent concerns given

by their respondents were security, risk management, and trust (Pourshahid, 2007, as cited in

Perez et al., 2009). Trust is also the main factor that makes customers feel safe and comfortable

in sharing their personal information. In addition to these, in transactions that involve monetary

accounts and confidential information, the most important concerns posed by consumers were

security, privacy, and consumer protection issues (Walczuch, Seelen, & Lundgren, 2001, as cited

in Perez et al., 2009). When these problems are addressed and consumers are able to trust online

retailers, then the former will tend to purchase more because what they perceive as major

problems are already addressed.

Most online transactions and purchases go smoothly and without problems, but there are

those occasional situations where this is not so. While the item is delivered to one’s domicile, it

may go through a lot of processes that could damage it or there might be problems even before

the item is actually in the process of being delivered. Examples of these instances are when a

seller makes a mistake in filing your order, the product may arrive broken or defective, and other

numerous possibilities (Lynn, 2006).

In the survey conducted by the researchers, these major concerns are also apparent. In

Table 3, it can be seen that the most prominent concerns of the respondents are the possibility of

the product not arriving, the possibility of being scammed or tricked, and the possibility of their

personal information being compromised. In the subsequent table,

Product

might n

ot arri

ve

Product

might n

ot be w

hat I o

rdere

d

I migh

t be s

cammed

Product

might b

e bro

ken

They

migh

t get

my pers

onal inform

ation

Product

might a

rrive

late

Product

quality

may not b

e what

I exp

ect0

5

10

15

20

25

30

26

9

28

1420

7 8

Table 3: "What are your biggest concerns about buying products online?"

When encountering problems while online shopping, Lynn (2006) advices consumers to

not wait too long to act and fix the problem. When in online auction sites such as eBay, one can

ask the website for help, but there is nothing that can be done if one waits too long to act. This is

one major concern of online shoppers. They are reluctant to act towards fixing a problem

because it is usually a very tedious process. Moreover, if one receives a spam email that

encourages online shoppers to buy from them, never pay attention to them. This is another major

concern that can be avoided merely through taking the proper diligence.

A lot of online consumers also fall for too good to be true offers. If the offer sounds like

it is too good to be true, then it most probably is. According to Lynn (2006), one must educate

oneself to be able to detect these fraudulent offers and avoid being victimized. This merely

highlights the seriousness of this issue for consumers.

Age, income, and gender may also have a relationship to the factors influencing

consumer behavior online namely internet familiarity, attitudes toward shopping, and the

intention of a consumer to actually make online purchases (Dholakia, 1995, as cited in Chua &

Lao, 2009). The level of literacy of an individual may also have significant influence to a

consumer’s behavior towards online shopping (Chua & Lao, 2009).

In Table 4, the financial statuses or incomes of these collegiate De La Salle University

student respondents are assessed. Most of the researchers’ respondents are financially stable or

with just enough income. Following the information from Table 2, income truly has an influence

towards how a consumer shops online. Since most of the researchers’ respondents are financially

satisfied, the majority of them also often and sometimes shop online.

2

1413

2

Table 4: Financial Situation of Respondents

LuxuriousFinancially StableJust EnoughFinancially UnstableBarely Enough

Different sources of data may have different suggestions as to who their online shop

customers are. For example, a survey by PeopleSupport suggests that almost two-thirds of online

shoppers are women while research by ebates.com suggest that online shoppers are mostly men

(71%) while women dominated in purchases only in terms of the health and apparel category

only (Chua & Lao, 2009). As such, online retailers are burdened with the need of adjusting to

these variable characteristics.

Other than what the consumers perceive to be their major concerns when shopping

online, Salkin (2000, as cited in Chua & Lao, 2009) stated that some of the most common

barriers or disadvantages of shopping online include the lack of security and network reliability.

However, most consumers resort to paying with a credit or debit card when purchasing

online. This actually requires one to use a personal identification number and other identification

information. Since these information may be personal, it is encouraged that one take steps in

securing one’s personal information. Using a secure browser and checking the privacy policy of

a website beforehand will help (Jones, n.d.).

The survey results of the researchers’, however, established that the respondents mostly

preferred paying through credit cards and cash, and only one opted to pay through debit cards.

This is seen in Table 5.

Credit Card Paypal Cash Debit Card0

5

10

15

20

25

30

27

8

23

1

Table 5: Preferred Mode of Payment

When asked why they preferred such a mode/modes of payment, they provided

convenience as the main reason as can be seen in Table 6. Since most of the respondents

answered credit card and cash as their preferred modes of payment, it can be established that it is

convenient paying through such modes.

Convenient Safer Cheaper No Personal Transactions0

5

10

15

20

25

3026

6

11

3

Table 6: "Why would you prefer that mode of payment?"

According to Lynn (2006), the structure of the internet makes it relatively easiesr for

people with criminal intentions to actually run and get away with their illegal activities online.

Internet fraud losses are in the ten million figure annually, and the most effective way to avoid

becoming a victim is to educate oneself.

Identity theft is one of the most prevailing crimes when it comes to online shopping.

There is a small chance of being victimized of this crime when making purchases in a secure site,

but the same cannot be said for other websites. According to Lynn (2006), one of the most

successful identity theft crimes is from online “phising” scams whereby an entity online poses as

trustworthy to make consumers input sensitive information. Lynn (2006) proceeds then to

provide tips on how to avoid being victimized by identity thieves, which emphasizes the

importance of being an educated online consumer and the seriousness of these crimes. That is

one reason that online consumers must be extremely cautious when making purchases.

Moreover, in the survey conducted by the researchers’, most of the respondents are

moderately confident that their personal information is kept confidential. This may insinuate a

culture of cautiousness amongst the respondents when it comes to purchasing online. While this

may be the case, there are those that are extremely confident or quite confident that their

personal information is secured online. These are such consumers that are most likely targeted by

identity theft criminals.

1

6

14

6

4

Table 7: Respondent confidence of online shopping security

Extremely ConfidentQuite ConfidentModerately ConfidentSlightly ConfidentNot at All Confident

Another significant consumer characteristic to be tackled is the level of education. It was

found that consumers with a higher level of education are more comfortable and able to utilize

different store channels such as the internet to shop (Burke, 2002, as cited in Chua & Lao, 2009).

One reason for this is laid down by Li (1999, as cited in Chua and Lao, 2009). He states that the

level of education of a person is positively correlated with an individual’s level of internet

literacy and capabilities.

Shopping online requires a huge amount of knowledge and skills. Consumers must learn

the skills needed to actually be able to gain the necessary information to make an informed

decision when purchasing. Aside from knowing the basics of using a computer, learning to shop

online is very time-consuming especially for consumers that have little to no knowledge with

regards to that. Consumers may discourage themselves from learning the necessary sets of skills

for shopping online by weighing the benefits against the disadvantages before actually trying to

learn the said skills. “Learning-by-doing” is a very essential part of acquiring such skills, but also

exposes consumers to risks when unguided (Chua & Lao, 2009).

As have been mentioned before, there are numerous criminals in the internet that prey on

unsuspecting consumers and those that lack caution. According to Lynn (2006), there are

numerous websites that take advantage of the lack of internet familiarity among consumers. The

most common ways that they do this is through scams, “phishing”, and spoofing (fake emails

and web sites that attempt to trick people into providing sensitive information). All it takes for

these crimes to succeed is an unwitting cooperation from the consumers, and only those

consumers that are unaware or unfamiliar with internet territory will be ignorant enough to

actually give these criminals a chance to take advantage of them. Other forms of crimes that take

advantage of consumer ignorance concerning the internet include link alteration, whereby a

hacker’s website is made to look legitimate and similar to actual websites that make consumers

provide them with their personal data, and Shipping Agent Scam. There are more types of these

crimes; that is why one must always be aware and cautious when shopping online (Lynn, 2006).

These statements are supported by previous information presented in this paper. Since all

of the researchers’ respondents consist of tertiary students, they most likely all have sufficient

education to utilize online shops and such. Out of 31 respondents, 24 respondents are

moderately, slightly, and not at all confident with their security when shopping online as can be

seen in Table 7. Also, since the respondents are most likely educated enough to be able to shop

online, the majority of them frequent online shops often and sometimes, as can be seen in Table

2.

Online shopping is one of the greatest features of the internet nowadays. By choosing to

shop online, consumers will be able to enjoy many benefits, such as convenience, diversity and

the cut-price rates of the products. Although for an online shop to be effective, it has to be able to

reassure user and consumer satisfaction. It is in the nature of people to select the fastest and most

convenient way of accomplishing any task from finding, buying, and doing what they want (Gao,

2005). According to Vredenburg et al. (2002, as cited in Gao, 2005), complexity will be the

biggest hindrance to the success of a product.

With its increasing popularity and the ease of accessibility of the internet, it offers the

consumers one of the most convenient ways to conduct different activities. With merely a few

clicks on the computer mouse, a person can already make purchases online. Compared to the

traditional ways of shopping in stores and groceries, this is relatively very convenient (Perez et

al., 2009).The convenience of this method of shopping is the best advantage of online

shopping.The consumers should take advantage of it, because people often purchase an item(s)

with just a simple click of a button while staying within the comfort of their home and find that

perfect item no matter how rare or readily available, thus saving time. Also, it can offer the

avoidance of the holiday rush, the waiting in line, the weather elements, traffic, and having to

carry all of the shopping bags around. Online shopping is also perfect for those items and

purchases that the consumers want to keep secret, such as a surprise gift or other items that

people may be ashamed to purchase in public. In addition, if they hate joining the crowded

population of shoppers, this is a great opportunity.

Moreover, many online shops not only give huge discounts on different products, they

also provide free shipping. The world’s technology continues to advance without slowing in

pace; the lives of people around the globe are continuously revolutionized. Through the modern

invention known as the internet or the World Wide Web, as well as several developments in the

field of Information and Communication Technology, online shopping has become possible.

This in turn has lead to far more convenient and even cheaper ways to conduct business

transactions or to shop (Perez et al., 2009). Online shopping not only saves time, it also saves

money. Everyone is always searching for a great deal; online shopping can offer just that. The

cheap deals and better prices from online stores are possible because products come to you direct

from the manufacturer or seller without any middlemen involved. Many online shops offer

discount coupons and rebates. An excellent example of the money saving benefit is what is given

by Lazada. These are deals that are typically offered by retailers that also possess offline sales

structures. The benefit of this is that they will often offer extensive discounts and savings only to

those who purchase specific items online.

There are several online websites where one can do shopping. Social media such as

Facebook are indirectly being used by consumers as a medium of buying and selling products. In

fact, as can be seen in Table 8, it is one of the most popular media of purchasing and selling

transactions online. The responses of the respondents in the researchers’ survey concerning

online shopping websites can be seen in Table 8.

Sulit.p

h

Lazad

a.com

Kim S

tore

Zalora

Philipp

ines

Ayos D

ito

Amazon

e-Bay

Faceb

ook S

elling

Gro

ups

Any w

ebsit

e fou

nd in

Goo

gle05

10152025

19

9 104

10 1216

2216

Table 8: "Where do you usually shop online?"

Online shopping gives the consumers the opportunity of comparing products at different

online stores at the same time, an activity which is impossible in any store. Instead of having to

visit a number of different retail outlets, the user simply has to open different internet window

tabs to compare prices or features of the product/service they wish to purchase. There is no

restriction on when a consumer can shop online; the internet is available all day every day.

People who are searching for very specific and particular items that might be very unique to their

tastes can now find it easily and conveniently in the internet. Through the internet, consumers are

now able to find these unique products, compare them with other such products, and purchase

these items all through the internet. Thus, they are able to purchase items regardless of where

they may reside (Chua and Lao, 2009). Also, there are online auctions in which one can find both

new and used items, as well as unique and hard-to-find ones. These auction sites mostly have

search engines that make it easy to search for what you want and to see if it is available. Online

auctions give access to millions of sellers on one site which could be individuals, small

businesses, or even huge corporations. A good example of this would be eBay. When purchasing

from eBay, one is actually buying from a seller and not from eBay itself. These sellers range

from individuals merely wanting to clear his/her garage to large successful corporations (Lynn,

2006).

In the survey conducted by the researchers, the products that the respondents purchase

online were assessed. The results can be seen in Table 9.

Home A

pplia

nces

Acces

sorie

s

Clothin

g

Health

and B

eauty

prod

ucts

Compu

ter G

adge

ts

Mob

ils an

d Tab

lets

Games

Books

0

4

8

12

0

8 8

2

9 10

14

41

13 12 13

0

107

11

Table 9: "What products do you usually purchase online?"

Some products, such as health and beauty products and books, were mostly bought by

females only. Some were mostly bought by males only such as games and computer gadgets.

This would imply that gender would have an impact on the kinds of products that a consumer

would purchase online.