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

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Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, VOL 6, NO.4, 2005 
A MULTI-ATTRIBUTE ANALYSIS OF PREFERENCES FOR ONLINE AND 
OFFLINE SHOPPING: 
DIFFERENCES ACROSS PRODUCTS, CONSUMERS, AND SHOPPING STAGES 
 
 
Aron M. Levin 
Department of Management
and Marketing 
Northern Kentucky University 
[e-mail]
Irwin P. Levin 
Department of Psychology
and Department of Marketing 
University of Iowa 
[e-mail]
Joshua A. Weller 
Department of Psychology 
University of Iowa 
 
[e-mail]
ABSTRACT 
In order to develop the optimal mix of online and offline services for a particular product, marketers must 
determine which key attributes are perceived by their target market to be delivered better online or offline. A multi-
part survey was administered to assess how product attribute evaluations drive differences in online/offline shopping 
preferences between products, between consumers, and between stages of the shopping experience. Two groups of 
participants - a student sample and a sample from a national survey panel - were asked to rate their likelihood of 
shopping online or offline for each of a series of products, both at the search stage and at the purchase stage. They 
were then asked to rate the importance of attributes that might have differential importance for products like clothing 
and books, and to rate the extent to which they thought each attribute was delivered better online or offline. For both 
samples, differences in importance weights assigned to attributes that favor online shopping and attributes that favor 
offline shopping were key predictors of observed differences in shopping mode preference across products and 
across consumers.
Keywords: online/offline shopping preferences, multi-attribute analysis