Understanding consumer online shopping behaviour from the perspective of transaction costs

2.3.2.2 Shopping Orientations 
Shopping orientations refer to a consumer’s general predispositions toward shopping 
activities (Baker and Wakefield 2012). They are conceptualized as specific dimensions of 
lifestyle and operationalized based on activities, interests and opinions regarding shopping 
behaviour (Li
 et al.
1999). Researchers have identified a variety of shopping orientations, 
including the utilitarian, recreational, impulsive, convenience, quality, price conscious, brand 
conscious, brand-loyal, and store-loyal (Brashear
 et al.
2009, Cho and Workman 2013)
.
A large number of studies have explored the links between consumers’ shopping orientations 
and their intention (or actual choice) to shop online (Jensen 2012). It has been documented 
that the convenience-oriented and impulsive consumers are more inclined to buy online 
(Donthu and Garcia 1999, Li
 et al.
1999, Swaminathan
 et al.
1999, Bhatnagar
 et al.
2000b, 
Childers
 et al.
2001, Girard
 et al.
2003). The findings on price-conscious were mixed. Price-
conscious consumers were more likely to purchase online when online shopping sites offered 
a lower price or financial benefits (Sim and Koi 2002, Koyuncu and Bhattacharya 2004) 
while two studies (Donthu and Garcia 1999, Li
 et al.
1999) found that price-conscious 

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consumers do not have preference for shopping online. Fenech and O’Cass (2001) revealed 
that consumers who prefer experiencing products tend to avoid online shopping. The 
findings on the impact of the recreational-oriented shoppers who treat shopping as a fun 
activity on online shopping adoption were mixed. For instance, Swaminathan et al. (1999), 
Goldsmith and Goldsmith (2002), van der Heijden and Verhagen (2004), Park et al.(2011) 
and Khare and Rakesh (2011) suggest a positive impact, while other studies found the impact 
insignificant (Donthu and Garcia 1999, Li
 et al.
1999, Bridges and Florsheim 2008). Further, 
since online shopping increases search efficiency and transaction efficiency, time-conscious 
consumers were more likely to buy via the internet (Sim and Koi 2002, Sin and Tse 2002). 
Finally, two studies reported that brand-oriented consumers are more likely to purchase 
online as well-known brands help relieve consumers with respect to perceived risk (Van den 
Poel and Leunis 1999, Lunn and Suman 2002). However, the result was not supported by 
Donthu and Garcia (1999) who indicate that brand consciousness does not lead to the online 
purchase.
2.3.2.3 Consumer Computer/Internet Experience 
Consumer computer/internet experience is related to the knowledge of the consumer on the 
computer and the internet, as well as the frequency and length of his/her usage. A multitude 
of evidences from previous studies have showed that the amount of computer training (Liao 
and Cheung 2001), computer experience (Van Slyke
 et al.
2002) and knowledge of online 
channel (Liao and Cheung 2001) are positively and directly associated with online adoption 
behaviour because a better understanding of computer, online shopping and its operating 
processes alleviates consumers’ concerns over the risks in online environments, which leads 
to the higher adoption of online shopping (Smith and Sivakumar 2004, Chang and Chen 
2008). However, consumers’ general experience with computer/internet does not necessarily 

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result in their online shopping behaviour (Frambach
 et al.
2007). The findings in prior studies 
have been inconsistent and contradictory. For example, the level of internet usage was found 
to positively affect the intention to use and the actual usage of online shopping channel in six 
studies (Alka Varma