AN EMPIRICAL STUDY TO DETERMINE THE E-SHOPPING ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS OF VARIOUS CONSUMERS GROUPS

Purpose -  The purpose of this study is to classify the consumers according to their attitudes towards e-shopping and their differences in eshopping adoption levels, to determine the characteristics of the acquired consumer groups, and make suggestions to businesses for encouraging these consumers to do online shopping.  Methodology - Data were collected through a questionnaire from a convenience sample of 340 consumers living in Ankara. Descriptive analysis and Kruskal Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were done.  Findings- Participants were classified into 4 groups considering whether and how often they do online research and shopping, and consumer profiles are defined in terms of how those people evaluate Internet shopping specific factors and their perspectives of Internet shopping. Generally, it can be said that those who adopt e-shopping are mostly 18-29 years old, high-income and well-educated consumers. Conclusion- The findings show that consumers are actively using the Internet even before the purchasing stage, and that different strategies should be developed to encourage consumers to do e-shopping since they have different behaviors and attitudes towards eshopping.