INFLUENCE OF ONLINE MARKETING ON CONSUMERS IN INDIA

Abstract

India’s substantial e-retail opportunity across multiple segments, investors have been aggressively funding the e-commerce sector. This growth has been fuelled by rapid adoption of technology, improving standards of living, an increasing young population, and economically advancing middle class, besides increasing access to the Internet through broadband and use of smart phones and tablets. The entry of global e-commerce giants has intensified the competition for home-grown players. E-retailers use web atmospherics to differentiate themselves from their competitors and evoke positive cognitive and emotional states of online consumers. However, though this Indian online market is growing at an exponential rate, it is still unexplored in terms of its shopping behavior. Using structural equation modeling, this study applies the concept of the stimulus–organism–response to explain Indian buyers’ online shopping behavior, besides examining the importance of design elements in enabling website satisfaction (WS). Malls in India have flourished in recent years. This has resulted in transformation of the Indian retail and metamorphosis of consumer behavior. The extant literature recognizes mainly two shopping motivations: utilitarian and hedonic motivations. The study provides theoretical contribution to the research by identifying materialism as a significant predictor of mall patronage intention in the Indian context. The results of the study unfold the motives shaping the Indian consumers’ mall behavior.