A comprehensive analysis of preferences for online and offline shopping: differences across products, consumers and shopping stages

4. Results and Discussion 
We will first present aggregate data for each sample for Parts 1-3 of the survey, culminating in an attribute-
level explanation of differences in online/offline shopping preferences across products. (For exposition purposes, 
data for Parts 2 and 3 will be presented before data for Part 1 because the former are used to explain the latter.)
Then data on individual consumer differences will be presented. 
Attribute Importance Ratings 
Table 1 gives the mean importance rating on a scale of 1 (not at all important) to 5 (extremely important) for 
each attribute for each product and each sample. H1 was partially supported. While attributes like “best price,” “no 
hassle exchange,” “large selection,” and “speedy delivery” were rated as important for all products, there were 
notable exceptions. Bonferroni follow-up tests revealed that “enjoying the shopping experience” and “see-touch-
and-handle the product” were less important for airline tickets, a “search” product, than for other products but were 
most important for clothing, an “experience” product (
p
< .01 in each case).
Table 1. Mean Importance Ratings 
(a) Nationwide Sample 
Enjoy Shop 
quick 
Large 
select 
Best 
price 
See-
touch 
Personal 
service 
Speedy 
delivery 
No hassle 
exchange 
Brand 
name 
Airline 
tickets 
2.90 
(1.44) 
3.83 
(1.24) 
4.20 
(1.03) 
4.71 
(0.88) 
2.57 
(1.57) 
4.02 
(1.25) 
4.26 
(1.06) 
4.42 
(1.09) 
4.28 
(1.05) 
Books 
3.55 
(1.29) 
3.60 
(1.29) 
4.37 
(0.92) 
4.61 
(0.84) 
3.35 
(1.40) 
3.93 
(1.16) 
4.15 
(1.09) 
4.46 
(0.97) 
3.77 
(1.32) 
Electronic 
3.73 
(1.13) 
3.83 
(1.07) 
4.47 
(0.84) 
4.79 
(0.65) 
4.07 
(1.11) 
4.34 
(0.97) 
4.35 
(0.94) 
4.69 
(0.70) 
4.51 
(0.83) 
Clothing 
3.98 
(1.14) 
3.68 
(1.22) 
4.46 
(0.91) 
4.69 
(0.75) 
4.35 
(1.03) 
4.17 
(1.09) 
4.22 
(1.01) 
4.66 
(0.81) 
4.12 
(1.08) 
Computer 
3.65 
(1.15) 
3.75 
(1.16) 
4.35 
(0.86) 
4.74 
(0.69) 
3.82 
(1.29) 
4.36 
(0.95) 
4.35 
(0.91) 
4.69 
(0.69) 
4.50 
(0.83) 
(1-5 scale) (Standard deviations in parentheses) 
Page 284

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Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, VOL 6, NO.4, 2005 
(b) University Sample