Student: Nathanael Baker, n9212175

Tutor: Georgia Swalwell, 1-2pm

Table of Content
Marketing and Audience Research

QUANTITATIVE REPORT

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1.0 Participation Reflection...................................................................................................... 2

2.0 Executive Summary/abstract............................................................................................ 4
3.0 Introduction and Background............................................................................................ 5
3.1 Importance of the research............................................................................................ 5
3.2 Scope of the report........................................................................................................ 5
3.3 Research question......................................................................................................... 6
3.4 Aims and Objectives...................................................................................................... 6
4.0 Method.............................................................................................................................. 7
4.1 Methodological considerations and assumptions...........................................................7
4.2 Sample considerations................................................................................................... 7
4.3 Data collection, framework and analytical considerations.............................................8
5.0 Ethical Consideration........................................................................................................ 9
6.0 Analysis........................................................................................................................... 10
6.1 Data cleaning and editing............................................................................................ 10
6.2 Descriptives................................................................................................................. 10
Table 1. Segregation of data set...........................................................................................10
6.3 Attitudes towards online shopping...............................................................................11
Table 2. Group Statistics Male/Female..........................................................................11
Table 3. T test................................................................................................................. 11
Table 4. Group Statistics Instant messenger / email.....................................................12
6.4 Understanding relationship between individual characteristics and attitudes.............12
Table 5. Correlation analysis variety and convenience.................................................12
6.5 Predicting attitudes towards online shopping..............................................................13
Table 6. Regression Values for Variety Seeking and Convenience Seeking.....................13
7.0 Discussion and Recommendations..................................................................................14
7.1 Discussion for part 6.3................................................................................................. 14
7.2 Discussion for part 6.4................................................................................................. 14
7.3 Discussion for part 6.5................................................................................................. 14
8.0 Limitations...................................................................................................................... 15
9.0 References...................................................................................................................... 16
10.0 Appendices.................................................................................................................... 17
Appendix 1......................................................................................................................... 17
Appendix 2......................................................................................................................... 18
Appendix 3......................................................................................................................... 19
Appendix 4......................................................................................................................... 20

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1.0Participation Reflection
I personally enjoyed participating in these quantitative studies far more than the
qualitative ones. Very much like the first round of studies I did earlier in the
semester, I undertook these studies in the computer lab at QUT. These studies
centred on showing participants various advertising campaigns for shows that
different brands sponsored, and then asking questions about what the respondent
remembered at the end.
I did, however, find myself losing concentration and interest through each study and
answered questions without a great deal of thought. I also had a great deal of bias
for only bothering to remember advertisements pertaining to brands that I
personally like such as Armani and Nike.
While this gave the researcher a great deal of insight into who I am as a consumer, I
doubt that they gained any worthwhile information from me, and this is just being
totally honest. Im guessing the information that was gained from all participants
reflected more on what they liked than the effectiveness of advertising campaigns
for functions sponsored by brands.
Both studies I participated in required me to observe advertisements constructed by
specific brands. On top of the reasons mentioned above, I also just want to note
that I did not care one way or another. There was no question asked of me that
allowed the researcher to gauge if I had a bias or, indeed, if I even liked or
participated in the functions being mentioned.
I definitely think in the future that there should be questions before the main ones
that the respondent participates which help the researcher assess whether or not
the information given is going to be viable. For example:
Do you have a bias towards X brands?
Do you engage with X brands outside of purchasing products?
Are you in a position to take your time and answer thoughtfully?
As these studies were conducted in front of a computer in an environment that isnt
ideal for making participants feel most comfortable, information gathered was
purely reliant on the memory of the person on the day as well as how willing they
were to spend time answering questions with a great deal of thought. These
answers, for the most part, did not reflect how the consumer would actually respond
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if presented with the advertising campaign in normal life and so the data was not
overly substantiated.

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2.0 Executive Summary/abstract

Each student of AMB201 was tasked with conducting two quantitative studies
relating to the attitudes that Australian consumers have toward online purchasing.
These two studies were in the form of Likert Scales and the questions within were
pre-determined by staff at the Queensland University of Technology Business
School.
Students were required to interview either male or female test subjects as a way of
obtaining a wide variety of data. Students with last names beginning with A-L
interviewed males and those with names beginning M-Z, interviewed females.
After being allocated the gender of test subjects, students then interviewed one
subject between the ages of 18 and 40, and another over the age of 40.
This report draws on the data collected by AMB201 students through the use of
Likert Scales utilised in quantitative studies, to effectively convey Australian
consumers attitudes towards online shopping.

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3.0 Introduction and Background

3.1 Importance of the research
Research shows that 7,630,000 Australians over the age of 14 admit to purchasing
an item online once every four weeks. (Roy Morgan, 2015) This number is
continually growing and represents an enormous and constantly reachable market
for businesses to target. As over 79% of Australians have in their possession a
smart phone (Deloitte, 2016), there is no limit to the time or the place that
advertisers can reach the consumer. This makes it imperative that advertisers
understand each demographic of online consumers as competitiveness of the
market is ever-increasing.
The importance of understanding what the consumer wants and how they go about
researching and buying products is at an all-time high. (M4B Marketing, 2016) Not
only that, but it is essential that marketers be able to differentiate between the
online habits of all varieties of consumers. (Passyn, Diriker, & Settle, 2011) The
habits of males and females differ greatly as do those of consumers in varying age
brackets. It is most important that marketers gain information on every consumer
so that targeting and tailoring of campaigns is as accurate as possible.
Consumer attitudes are a composite of a consumers Beliefs (Cognitive), feelings
(Affect) and behavioural intentions towards some objects within the contexts of
marketing (Lars Perner, 2010). In laymans terms, this means that each consumer
has been programmed to think different things about each product. There is no one
size fits all approach to online marketing but research, such is being deconstructed
in this paper, aids in further understanding of each individuals consumer psyche.

3.2 Scope of the report

The scope of this report is limited to English-speaking Australians who identify as
engaging in online shopping on a regular basis.
Data is broken up into segments of males and females, differentiated by two predetermined age brackets; 18-41 and 41+ years of age. These varying data sets help
the researcher to identify habits within each of the four participant groups so as to
gain a greater understanding of the consumer psychology in the online Australian
market.
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3.3 Research question

What are the determinants of Australian consumers attitudes toward online retail
shopping?

3.4 Aims and Objectives

The aim of this report is to quantitatively examine the online, consumer behaviours
of different genders and age brackets.
Through the deconstruction of pooled data acquired by AMB201 students, this paper
will give insight into the specific habits and views of each group of consumers that
participated in the study.
Obtained data will allow the researcher to further understand the beliefs, feelings
and behavioural intentions of Australian consumers. (Lars Perner, 2010)

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4.0 Method
4.1 Methodological considerations and assumptions
Researchers from AMB201 must take care to accurately describe the way in which
they desire the consumers being interviewed to record answers. Each quantitative
study is in the form of questions presented to the participant and responded to
using the Likert scale.
Quantitative studies carried out in numerical form allow researchers to apply
statistical tests to be able to make statements about the findings. (Meyer-Krahmer,
1999)
Researchers must identify relevant participants for each study. In this case,
depending on the allocated gender to each researcher, the age of participants must
meet study requirements as well as pre-determined assumptions about the
consumer; for example, that they identify as purchasing online regularly.
It can be reasonably assumed that the data recorded is accurate from the
participant, although the gathering of mass information is essential to obtaining
viable information as that gives researchers the ability to eliminate outliers who
dont necessarily represent the collective feelings of the group.
It is important to select a sample size as it reflects a commitment to the production
of findings that can be generalised beyond the boundaries of those who participated
(Bryman & Cramer, 2012).

4.2 Sample considerations

Consideration made be made for a few factors that can mean a variance in results
for researchers conducting these quantitative studies. These include, but are not
limited to:

the
the
the
the
the
the

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reasons for and objectives of sampling.

relationship between accuracy and precision.
reliability of estimates with varying sample size.
determination of safe sample sizes for surveys.
variability of data.
risks posed by biased estimates. (FAO,2016)

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These considerations must be accounted for when analysing the data available in
order to make the most accurate and informative assumptions about the
information gathered from each data set of this study.

4.3 Data collection, framework and analytical considerations

It is the researchers responsibility to identify what data from a study is relevant to
the question being posed. In this case, the data being deconstructed is in the form
of a questionnaire utilising the Likert Scale. Likert-type or frequency scales use fixed
choice response formats and are designed to measure attitudes or opinions
(Bowling, 1997; Burns, & Grove, 1997). These ordinal scales measure levels of
agreement/disagreement. (Simply Psychology, 2016) To further understand the
information, the researcher must also consider all possible variants to the data set.
These include:

Age cohort (Younger 18-40, Older 41+)

Gender (male, female)
Relationship status (single, partnered)
Primary mode of online communication (Email, Instant)
Primary place of Internet access (Home, Work, Other)
Internet usage (number of hours actively engaged)
Social media usage (number of hours actively engaged)
Internet access device (Refer to appendix 1)

These questions are all asked throughout the survey provided to AMB201 students
by the QUT Business School.
When considering the data gathered, researchers must be able to identify
differences between the aforementioned variants within the data sets to gain a
viable understanding of consumer online behaviour. The differentiation is essential
when researching how the consumer psyche works in this regard.

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5.0 Ethical Consideration

When obtaining information from people through conducting studies, it is important
for researchers to uphold an ethical code of conduct. Perhaps the most important
aspect of conducting an ethical study is informed consent. Informed consent is
gaining consent from test subjects after they are made fully aware of all aspects of
the study, i.e. who will be using the information gathered. (Soazig Clifton, 2016)
Researchers must gain written consent to hold information gathered from the
participant. In this instance, AMB201 students were given the instruction to obtain
written consent from participants via the use of an official QUT Business School
consent form for studies. (See appendix 2)
It is also imperative that researchers not alter any information given in accordance
with the ethical standard afforded to those conducting studies. (Wasserman, 2013)

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6.0 Analysis
6.1 Data cleaning and editing
The raw data gathered by AMB201 students was filtered through the SPSS program.
SPSS is a Windows based program that is capable of holding and analysing large
amounts of raw data. The program can be utilised by researchers to filter out
inaccurate or incomplete data in order to obtain a more accurate data set. (Flinders
University, 2016) For detailed information on tasks carried out by the SPSS program
in order to obtain accurate data for this report please see appendix 3. SPSS also
employed to reverse responses of negatively phrased questions to allow for a
comparable data set.

6.2 Descriptives
702 respondents were interviewed with questions broken up into the following
group of descriptive statistics. Table 1 shows the overall statistics for questions
answered in each of the below categories for the data set as a whole.

Table 1. Segregation of data set

Each data group; male/female, older/younger, single/partnered and email/online

chat was then given a percentage so that the researcher could determine the
comparative proportion of respondents falling within each data set. (see appendix
4)

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6.3 Attitudes towards online shopping

Through the use of the SPSS program and T Tests, researchers for this paper were
able to determine the difference in the attitudes of people towards shopping online
across all of the population segments shown in appendix 4.
In the single / partnered segment, it is shown that the single people had a more
positive view towards online shopping. This is discovered through observing the
mean score in table 2. It is also worth noting that the single segment also recorded
a lower standard deviation which means that the potential for answers to differ from
the mean is lower than that of the partnered segment.

Table 2. Group Statistics Male/Female

This information can be checked through the conduction of a T Test. A T Test is an

analysis of two populations means through the use of statistical examination; a ttest with two samples is commonly used with small sample sizes, testing the
difference between the samples when the variances of two normal distributions are
not known. (Study.com, 2016) If the sig (two tailed) value of the T test is less than
0.5 it can be safely assumed that there is a significant difference between the two
groups. For example, in table 3 below, the Sig (two tailed) value is at 0. This means
that the assumption that single people have a more positive view on online
shopping is substantiated.

Table 3. T test

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In the case of the instant messaging / email data set group, it can be observed that
those who identified as using instant messenger more often, are those who identify
most positively with shopping online. See table 4.

Table 4. Group Statistics Instant messenger / email

The Sig (two tailed) value also remains at 0 for this set of data so the difference
between the two groups on participants is also significant.

6.4 Understanding relationship between individual characteristics and

attitudes
The second objective is to understand the relationship between the individual and
attitudes towards online shopping. Correlation analysis is used to determine the size
and strength of the correlation in selected constructs within the data set. For the
purpose of this report, both variety and convenience seeking are being evaluated.
(see table 5)

Table 5. Correlation analysis variety and convenience

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The table shows that Convenience seeking is represented by a value of 0.399. This
is a moderate correlation and, in turn, means that, as a persons need for
convenience increases, they are more likely to engage in online shopping.
Variety seeking has scored a 0.333 which is also a moderate correlation. This means
that as people seek variety, they too are also more likely to utilise online shopping.

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6.5 Predicting attitudes towards online shopping

Bivariate Regression Analysis was employed as a ways of predicting future
individual characteristics that pertain to online shopping. This is achieved by
building upon the correlation analysis discussed in 6.4.
Utilising the same variables as used in 6.4, convenience and variety seeking, the
below table attempts to predict future data for those data segments.

Table 6. Regression Values for Variety Seeking and Convenience Seeking

The small R squared score of 0.158 in the Convenience Seeking suggests that the
predictive relationship is weak. The standardised coefficient however, shows that
there is a moderate strength in the relationship and that it is in fact significant. The
predicted score for ATTBI will result in a constant value of 1.110 + 0.810 every time
a unit increases in the convenience score.
The Variety Seeking part of the table scores very much the same as the
Convenience Seeking part. That is, the predictive relationship is weak but the
standardised coefficient shows moderate strengths in the relationship. The
predicted score in this case for the ATTBI will be 2.002 + 0.660 for each increase in
the Variety Seeking Score.

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7.0 Discussion and Recommendations

7.1 Discussion for part 6.3
Throughout part 6 of the paper, research was conducted in order to gain an
understanding of how respondents perceive online shopping and whether or not
they are averse to it. This was achieved through breaking up the data set of
respondents into more beneficial groups so as to learn how best to target the online
market.
The data in part 6.3 suggests that single people are more likely to purchase items
online than those in a relationship. This could be for many reasons including that it
could be reasonably assumed that a lot of people who had partners and were over
the age of 18 were in serious relationships. This would mean they would be more
likely to save money and not make impulse purchases as is the case for over 40% of
Australian consumers. (CNBC, 2016)
The results for the email / instant messaging group is far less surprising as young
people utilise instant messaging far more often on average than older people.
(Deloitte, 2016) For this reason it can be assumed that as the instant messaging
group was more embracive of online shopping, than young people are as a whole.
Future online marketing campaigns should focus the young, single consumer as this
study has identified that they are the most accepting of the new way of buying
goods.

7.2 Discussion for part 6.4

Part 6.4 shows a correlation between people who seek variety and convenience also
using online shopping as a means of purchasing goods. This is to be expected as
online shopping has been shown time and time again that the consumer finds
shopping easier than physically going to the store. (Al-Debei, Akroush, & Ashouri,
2015)

7.3 Discussion for part 6.5

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The data in this section very much mirrors that of section 6.4. The information
gathered suggests that, so long as there is a need for convenience and variety from
the consumer, they will continue to utilise the internet as a way of purchasing
goods.

8.0 Limitations
A major disadvantage for quantitative studies is that they have a tendency for the
context of the experiment to be ignored. In this case, when respondents are
answering questions on the Likert Scale, they may not be taking into account the
actual specifics of the study. (Catherine Jones, 2016) This is a direct result of
quantitative studies not gaining information from things in a natural setting.
Information is not being gained whilst a consumer shops online, rather, it is being
gathered whilst they sit at a table filling out a form. This means that the information
is dependent on the subjects recollecting of past behaviours and not how they
necessarily happen. (Salinger, 1992)
Another limitation of the quantitative research carried out is that it requires an
extremely large sample of people to be statistically accurate. (Catherine Jones,
2016) In this case, as each student of AMB201 was only required to conduct two
studies, this significantly hindered the accuracy of the information gathered as
there was only a limited number of participants in each data set.
From personal observation, it was also noted that participants rushed when filling
out the quantitative studies. This suggests that data gathered was rushed and not
overly well thought out which could affect the accuracy. This is a well-known
weakness of quantitative research as it relies on the participants actually engaging
in the research thoroughly.

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9.0 References
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Al-Debei, M., Akroush, M., & Ashouri, M. (2015). Consumer attitudes towards online shopping. Internet Research,
25(5), 707-733. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/intr-05-2014-0146
Ethical Issues
in Quantitative Studies. (2016).
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Khalifa, M. & Liu, V. (2007). Online consumer retention: contingent effects of online shopping habit and online
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Kim, K. (2011). Likert Scale. Korean Journal of Family Medicine, 32(1), 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.4082/kjfm.2011.32.1.1
Likert Scale | Simply Psychology. (2016).
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Meyer-Krahmer, F. (1999). Quantitative approachesStrengths and weaknesses. Scientometrics, 45(3), 413-415.

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Mobile Consumer Survey 2015 - The Australian Cut. (2016). landing.deloitte.com.au. Retrieved 27 October 2016,
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Passyn, K., Diriker, M., & Settle, R. (2011). Images of Online Versus Store Shopping: Have The Attitudes of Men and
Women, Young and Old Really Changed? Journal of Business & Economics Research (JBER), 9(1).
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Salinger, M. (1992). Standard Errors in Event Studies. The Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 27(1), 39.
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The Importance of Understanding Your Customers Buying Behaviour | M4B Marketing. (2016). M4bmarketing.com.
Retrieved 27 October 2016, from http://www.m4bmarketing.com/small-business-marketing-customers-buying/
The state of Australias $37.8b online shopping landscape. (2016). Roy Morgan. Retrieved 27 October 2016, from
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Tricks to make you spend more online. (2016). CNBC. Retrieved
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What Is a T-Test? - Procedure, Interpretation & Examples - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com . (2016).
Study.com. Retrieved 27 October 2016, from http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-a-t-test-procedureinterpretation-examples.html

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10.0 Appendices
Appendix 1
Manual Cabrera

Daniel Cabrera

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Appendix 2

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Appendix 3

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Appendix 4

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