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Online Shopping: Effect of Gender Sameer Bajaj 200685
ONLINE SHOPPING:
A STUDY ON EFFECT OF GENDER IN
ONLINE SHOPPING
By
Sameer Bajaj
(200685)
PGPCM II
(2006-2008)
Submitted to
Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad
In partial fulfillment of requirements of the Post Graduate Diploma in
Management - Communications
Dissertation Guide
Prof. Naval Bhargava
Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad

March 2008
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© Copyright 2008 by Sameer Bajaj and

Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA)
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Professor Naval Bhargava, without whose patience I would
have never been able to finish this dissertation. He has been a mentor to me, and has guid
ed me whenever I have faltered or have been in doubt.
My family, who has always believed in me and stood by me, for all my decisions.
I’d also like to express gratitude to all my friends for their constant support. I would like
to thank all those people who have given me their invaluable time for the in depth
interviews and discussions.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
As the footprint of online commerce is increasing in India, both marketers and advertisers
are beginning to become increasingly concerned about the aspect of ‘gender’. This is not
unusual, as across the globe, this is one aspect which has over the years turned into a key
area of interest, given the enormous potential it offers in terms of adopting a more
targeted and focused approach.
How do males and females perceive online shopping? What are the reasons for the
women’s seemingly lack of support for ecommerce activity, even though the gender gap
in use of the Internet is closing every year? What are the ways in which their buying
behavior differs and where lies the opportunity to differentiate the various overall
offering? These are a few questions that crop up when talking about how gender affects
online shopping that need to be answered.
This study seeks to ascertain if there is indeed a notable difference between male and
female behavior towards Internet shopping as e-commerce encompasses both shopping
and technology. The research done incorporates qualitative and quantitative research. At
the end of quantitative analysis, the research reveals in what aspects the male and female
online shoppers are different. It points out the areas where gender does not seem to have
an effect on their online shopping behavior and reveals certain areas which show a
marked difference in male and female online shoppers.
In the end the conclusion made and findings would help marketers and ecommerce sites
decision makers to identify opportunities to target both genders differently in certain
product and service categories.
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CONTENTS
1. CHAPTER 1
Introduction……………………………………………………………………7
2. CHAPTER 2
Literature review………………………………………………………………10
3. CHAPTER 3
The Study………………………………………………………………………30
3.1 Need for the Study…………………………………………………………30
3.2 Scope of the Study…………………………………………………………31
3.3. Beneficiaries of the study…………………………………………………31
4. CHAPTER 4
Research Objectives…………………………………………………………...32
5. CHAPTER 5
Research Methodology………………………………………………………..33
6. CHAPTER 6
Data Analysis & Findings……………………………………………………39
6.1 Analysis……………………………………………………………………39
6.2 Findings……………………………………………………………………60
7. CHAPTER 7
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….65
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8. CHAPTER 8
Limitations of the Study………………………………………………………67
9. CHAPTER 9
Future Scope of the Study…………………………………………………….68
10. BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………69
APPENDIX…………………………………………………………………….71
Appendix I: Questionnaire for Quantitative Research……………………..71
Appendix II: XL sheets of filtered data………………………………………81
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Chapter 1
Introduction
offering? These are a few pertinent questions related to ecommerce in India that need to
be answered.
E-commerce and etailing are now the buzzwords across the world today.The internet has
several roles to play for the retailer today, and is now being viewed as complementary
rather than competitive to traditional retailing formats. With increasing computer literacy
and broadband penetration, the Indian consumer is becoming more and more net savvy,
and not only in the six major metros, but also in the tier II cities to a large extent. This has
provided the retailer a convenient and financially viable channel to touch a largely
untapped consumer base. Electronic retailing (also called e-tailing and Internet retailing)
is a retail format in which the retailer and customer communicate which each other
through an interactive electronic network. After an electronic dialogue between the
retailer and customer, the customer can order merchandise directly through the interactive
network or by telephone. The merchandise is then delivered to the customer’s address.
With increasingly advanced technology, it is now possible for customers to access a wide
variety of information about companies, customer service and purchase 24 hours a day.
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Therefore, new electronic channels such as the internet are increasingly being seen as
complementary rather than competitive to traditional business models.
Setting up of an e-retail channel through the internet holds several advantages for
companies such as reduction in cost, new capability, competitive advantage,
communication improvement, improves control and improvement in customer service. It
becomes imperative to understand that affects genders in their buying behaviors towards
this ubiquitous mode of commerce.
The population of Active Internet Users was 32 million in March 2007 rising from 21
million in march 2006. As these Internet Users mature with respect to exposure and
awareness of internet, they tend to spend more time online; access internet more
frequently and surf non-communication based applications and advanced online
applications like gaming, E-Commerce, etc.
E-Commerce is the future of shopping
The Internet economy in India will continue to grow robustly; Internet users would buy
more products and buy more frequently online; both new and established companies will
reap profits online. As the internet users mature, the demand for customization will
increase. The content would adopt the regional flavors. More niches will be formed,
seeking for offerings made for them and content that meets their requirements. Thus it is
in this area that my interest lies. There is a general absence of research in India on trying
To find out the effect gender has on online shopping behavior of internet users. This
research could help competing companies in the Indian ecommerce market to design their
sites and offers in a particular fashion designed to attract male and female shoppers
separately leading to increase in online sales and gaining a competitive advantage over
other online sites offering similar products or services.
The purpose of this study was to examine the dependence of online shopping behavior on
gender amongst citizens of India who have experienced online shopping on at least one
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occasion in the past. For this purpose I had surveyed a total of 123 respondents after
performing a qualitative and quantitative study, then after a dataset developed for the
analysis of understanding their consumption patterns and to accentuate understanding of
these differences. Online buying behavior was disintegrated into certain variables
available in the dataset and then each of them was cross tabulated to investigated for any
kind of dependence upon gender and their upon differences.
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Chapter 2
Literature review
E- COMMERCE IN INDIA
Electronic commerce or ecommerce is a term for any type of business, or commercial
transaction that involves the transfer of information across the Internet. It covers a range
of different types of businesses, from consumer based retail sites, through auction or
music sites, to business exchanges trading goods and services between corporations.
Ecommerce allows consumers to electronically exchange goods and services with no

barriers of time or distance. In the near future the boundaries between "conventional" and
"electronic" commerce will become increasingly blurred as more and more businesses
move sections of their operations onto the Internet.
Let us understand the origin of e-commerce. Commerce has evolved over the centuries.
Prior to the evolution of money it was a simple “barter process” where things could be
exchanged, say milk for grains. The evolution of money brought with it, the concept of a
“marketplace”. In a marketplace, Commerce is function of 4 P’s – Product, Price, Place
and Promotions. All these four components play a vital role in a transaction to take place.
Different combinations of 4Ps determine different forms of Commerce. Once the
marketplace came into existence, a few pioneers realised that people would be ready to
pay extra if they could deliver products at customer’s doorsteps. A slight modification on
Price and Place led to the convenience of getting products at their homes. This concept
delighted the customers and thus, the concept of “Street Vendors” was born.
When the Postal System came into being the sellers decided to cash in on the new
opportunity and started using mailers giving description of their products. It led to the
concept of “Mail Order Cataloguing”. From here, the evolution of the “Tele shopping”
networks was inevitable with the development of media vehicles. The latest generation of
commerce is one that can be done over the internet. Internet provides a virtual platform
where sellers and buyers can come in contact for sale and purchase of goods and services.
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They can be thousands of miles apart, may belong to different parts of the world, might
speak different languages, “E-Commerce” emerged as the boundary-less trade medium
in the era of globalization. Distribution Channel has started to assume new meaning to
the B2C and C2C eMarketer. The Physical delivery got converted to electronic delivery;
physical products were now electronic products, displayed on a website. With options of
paying online through debit and credit cards, even the transaction was purely electronic.
Another important P for the e marketer, the Promotion, assumed importance, especially
because there is no face to face interaction between the buyer and seller.
The focus of online promotions is the ‘great deals’, ‘discounts’, ‘convenience’ offered by
the eMarketers.
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Barter process
Monetary transactions
Street vendors
Mail order cataloging
Tele shopping
E commerce
Figure – evolution of commerce
This study will cover only B2C/C2C ecommerce market. The B2C/ C2C E-Commerce
market can be defined as Buying and selling of products & services on the Internet or on
any other application that relies on the Internet. In other words, it comprises transactions
for which Internet acts as a medium for contracting or making payment or for consuming
the service/product by the end consumer, who is the individual.
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Combinations of these three conditions can be as follows:
• Paying online & Consuming Online ( e.g. Online gaming)

• Consuming online & Paying offline ( e.g. Matrimonial ads)
• Contracting & Paying online & Consuming offline (e.g. Travel, Books)
According to the survey conducted by IMRB in 2007 among the Industry players, the E-
Commerce Industry in India was worth Rs 7080 crores at the end of 2006-07.
The adoption and usage of E-Commerce in the country is a function of the overall
environment for Internet usage in a country. Thus in order to correctly understand the
likely growth path for E-Commerce in India it is important that we take a look at the
internet scenario in India. Some of the key variables that need to be understood are the
proportion of computer literates, internet penetration, frequency of access to the internet,
purpose of internet access etc. A correct mapping of these would help in understanding
the overall framework of E-Commerce in the country.
The PC literate population is on a fast growth curve having grown 100% in 2006 over
2004.Though in India overall penetration is still low the important factor is that a critical
mass of users is shaping up which will fuel rapid growth over the next 3-4 years.
A Claimed or Ever Internet User is defined as one who has ever accessed Internet. A
subset of Claimed Internet users, Active Internet Users are defined as those who have
accessed Internet at least once in the last one month. They are the regular users of
Internet and are aware of the recent trends and applications emerging on the Internet. The
population of Active Internet Users was 32 million in March 2007 rising from 21
million in march 2006.
As these Internet Users mature with respect to exposure and awareness of internet, they
tend to spend more time online; access internet more frequently and surf non-
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communication based applications and advanced online applications like gaming, E-

Commerce, etc.
Source: Active Internet Users, I Cube 2007, Syndicated Research of Technology

Group@IMRb
Though the percentage contribution of E-Commerce is almost same over the years,
however, the number of Internet users using E-Commerce is growing rapidly.
Thus, E-Commerce is surely being adopted by the Internet users as a way to shop. They
are buying a variety of products online and visiting various websites to buy products
from. Given the rate of growth in E-Commerce users, size of the E-Commerce industry is
expected to reach Rs. 9210 crores at the end of 2007-08, a big jump of 30% over the
current industry size.
The e commerce industry in India can be divided mainly into two parts:
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1. Online Travel Industry, comprising Air, Rail, Hotel Reservations; Car Rentals,
Tour Packages
2. Online Non-Travel Industry, comprising eTailing, Digital Downloads,
Classifieds and Paid Content Subscription.
Size of the Indian Online Travel Market for the year 2006-07 and 2007-08
Due to overwhelming response from the Online Buyers, the size of Online Travel
Industry stands at Rs 5500 crores at the end of 2006-07.
According to one of the industry expert, “airlines travel is the biggest sub-segment in the
online travel market. It accounts for 80 per cent of the travel industry". The segment has
witnessed a revolution with the entry of low cost carriers. As a result, air travel that was
earlier limited to the upper and upper-middle strata of the society is now affordable to the
masses. Given the current scenario, the number of travelers is expected to increase five-
fold, from around 300,000 to 1.5 Million within a year.
Online railway bookings also witnessed a major jump in the revenues and the number of
travelers. The transaction value has more than doubled in a year, from Rs.300 crores in
the year 2005-06 to Rs.700 crores in 2006-07. The total transaction value is expected to
rise to Rs 1500 crores by the end of current year. The number of users has increased three
folds, from 25 lacs to 70 lacs in a span of one year.
Online hotel industry is yet to take off as their target group is limited to the most affluent
Indians and NRIs and overseas travellers. Unless the concept of motels and budget hotels
gets popular in the country the rate of growth of hotel industry would be limited.
From above, it can be deduced that travel sold online, or “online travel”, is the leading
and the fastest category in the E-Commerce market.
Size of the Indian non travel industry
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The Online Travel Industry caters to the masses, whereas, the Online Non-Travel
Industry caters to niches, thereby attracting comparatively less number of Internet users.
Another roadblock in the growth of Online Non-Travel Industry is the lack of ‘touch-feel-
try’, especially in case of eTailing and Classifieds. In absence of the same, risk in buying
products and availing of services online are felt to be higher. The usual suspicion is that
the products and services offered online once delivered might differ from what the
customer had anticipated it to be.
source: IMDB research
Thus as the above diagram reveals there different aspects to online non travel industry
and have to be looked at separately.
e-Tailing
As the name suggests, e-Tailing is the web version of Retailing. In other words these are
online shops where a customer can choose from a variety of items like Apparel,
Accessories, Mobiles/Cell Phones, Cameras, Computers, Books, Magazines, Music CDs
and DVDs, Electronic Goods, Shoes, Furniture, Health Equipments, Flowers, Jewelry,
etc.
The two popular models that exist in the eTailing marketplace are Online Retailers and
Online Auctions. The Website of an Online Retailer is used as a storefront to sell
physical goods that are then delivered by a third party.
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The Online Auctions, on the other hand, serves as a platform where a seller can offer to
sell its products to interested buyers and provides the enabling infrastructure for
electronic transactions. In the past, auctions were limited to only high valued items such
as paintings, antiques and collectibles or for commodities in the wholesale market places.
However, now it is possible to auction even low valued items like old books, music
cassettes, CDs, etc. Thus, both formats of eTailing differ in the procedure for conducting
an electronic transaction.
Size of the eTailing Market for the year 2006-07 and 2007-08
After collating the responses from various players in the Industry, the size of eTailing
Market for the year 2006-07 was computed to be Rs. 850 crores. eTailing contributes
around 12% to the total E-Commerce Market size in the year 2006-07.The reasons that
limit the growth of this online segment comprise of lack of trust, especially for unknown
brands, lack of ‘touch-feel-try’ experience, higher chances for discrepancy in the product
delivered, low margins, etc. These factors have been elaborated upon in the next section.
However, with branded stores coming online, providing consistent service delivery, both
online and offline, this segment is expected to rise by 30% to Rs. 1105 crores at the end
of 2007-08. These branded stores are likely to be visited by more buyers in the metros
than from non-metros.
Online Classifieds
B2C Online Classifieds is a customer driven market. It enables Internet Users to place
their offerings, including, CVs for jobs, profile for matrimony, ads to buy/ sell property
and automobiles on websites. Though the Online Classifieds market targets niche
segments, for example, the working population can place their CVs on job portals, those
greater than 18 years are eligible to avail of services of a matrimonial website, etc., this
segment still manages to attract the maximum attention owing to the fact that it targets
the young population, that contributes maximum to the pie of Internet users.
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However, there is another potential segment comprising of middle aged and senior
citizens, who might be interested in availing matrimony services (for their children) and
buying/ selling property.
Since this segment is not comfortable in accessing the internet, they still rely on service
of middlemen like marriage consultants and property dealers. Having realized this,
players in the Online Classifieds Market are opening physical counters. The physical
counters assist the not-so- Internet-savvy population by applying search as per the
parameters specified by the customer.
Size of Online Classifieds segment for the year 2006-07 and 2007-08
As mentioned above, most of the online classified portals have set up offline counters
that use the database from the portal, the size B2C Online Classifieds segment has been
calculated by taking into account the money spent by the consumers at the online and
offline counters of the Online Classifieds players. Taking these figures into account, the
size of Online Classifieds industry comes to Rs. 540 crores for the year 2006-07. At the
end of 2007-08, the industry is expected to grow by 52% to Rs. 820 crores.
Paid Content Subscription
After a faltering start at the end of the nineties, the content subscription market is now
building on a very solid foundation. Content providers have realized the power of Internet
for dissemination of the ‘right’ content.
There is no dearth of data available freely over the Internet, but the value being added to
that data makes it saleable even on the internet. Having realized the potential of selling
information online, today, Internet is swarmed with the paid-content providers and other
fee-based service providers, selling information across verticals. The most popular
verticals with paid-content are: sports, games, research and reports, shopping guides,
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exclusive videos, financial information, adult content and audio books. It also comprises
of brick-and-mortar models of magazines and newspapers.
Size of Paid Content/ Subscription-Based Market
Since this category targets niche segments, it attracts the smaller percentage of Internet
users who would be ready to pay for getting information online. In the year 2006-07, the
size of the paid-content industry was around Rs. 20 crores. With players mushrooming in
the paid-content space, the industry is expected to grow by 50%, and is expected to be
worth Rs. 30 crores at the end of 2007-08. The paid-content market is growing well,
given the rising awareness about the sources for quality content online and changing
perceptions of Internet users towards paying for quality content.
The total market size of B2C and C2C E-Commerce industry in India was around Rs.
7080 crores at the end of 2006-07. It is expected to be Rs. 9210 crores by the end of
2007-08. The size of Indian ecommerce industry is still not as huge as compared to other
developed countries but is increasing with increase in number of internet users.
E-Commerce is the future of shopping
The Internet economy in India will continue to grow robustly; Internet users would buy
more products and buy more frequently online; both new and established companies will
reap profits online. As the internet users mature, the demand for customization will
increase. The content would adopt the regional flavors. More niches will be formed,
seeking for offerings made for them and content that meets their requirements. Thus it is
in this area that my interest lies. There is a general absence of research in India on trying
To find out the effect gender has on online shopping behavior of internet users. This
research could help competing companies in the Indian ecommerce market to design their
sites and offers in a particular fashion designed to attract male and female shoppers
separately leading to increase in online sales and gaining a competitive advantage over
other online sites offering similar products or services.
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EFFECT OF GENDER ON WEB BASED SHOPPING
The abovementioned topic has been of consequence to online marketers and etailing
website owners in the western world since the past decade almost. There have been a few
researches in the west on understanding the perceptions of men and women online.
Gender differences have been of interest to advertisers and marketers for decades.
Because websites tend to be targeted to one or both genders, attempting to understand the
different ways that males and females perceive online shopping is appropriate. In the
context of the internet, gender is believed to influence, or perhaps moderate, the extent
and pattern of participation in web activities.
Men have long been associated with technology while women have often been depicted
as somewhat passive users. Starting as early as high school, female students seem to be
noticeably less interested in technology and are underrepresented in computer application
courses. Moreover, evidence suggests this trend may continue in the workplace.
Differences in how genders are portrayed with respect to information technologies offer
interesting insight into how men and women might differ in their perceptions of Web
technologies. A study of advertisements for high technology products in business and
technology magazines demonstrated that depictions of males and females in these
advertisements were largely stereotypic. Men were portrayed as deep thinkers who are
connected to the future. In contrast, the advertisements used women to convey the notion
of simplicity of use. Consumer behavior research indicates women truly enjoy the
shopping experience compared to their male counterparts. Women who enjoy going to
the mall outnumber men who enjoy going to the mall by a factor of 1-1/2. Further, 60%
of all shopping addicts are women. An important question for the online shopping
industry is whether women are willing to relinquish the traditional shopping trip (during
which time items can be carefully examined) for the virtual reality version. A recent
study implies that women may not be quite ready or willing to depart with the
conventional shopping experience. The study finds that gender is a significant predictor
of the respondents’ overall and personal/ business Web usage. In addition, the study finds
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that gender is a significant predictor of the respondents’ history of Web-based purchases,

with male respondents more likely to have purchased a product or service on the Web.
It has been established that women tend to be more rational catalog shoppers. It may be
that for many product categories (for example, clothing) it is more difficult to make
rational, informed decisions when shopping online. With many products, it may be
difficult to judge the quality or fashion of a product on a Web site. For example, two
different pairs of shoes may look identical on a Web site. These same two pairs, however,
may be quite different in the quality of materials and workmanship—differences that may
be hidden on the Web. In general, women view some forms of shopping as more of a
social activity than do men.
Although some merchants attempt to build a sense of community by allowing limited

interaction among customers (for example, Amazon’s customer reviews), online
shopping remains a solitary activity. In fact, early proponents of online shopping touted
the ability to avoid mall crowds, pushy salespeople, and so on. Some consumers may
view this as a benefit, while others may enjoy the interaction involved with traditional
shopping. If women tend to gain benefit from the social aspects of traditional shopping,
Web-based shopping may be viewed less favorably, thus affecting women’s perceptions
of the relative advantage and compatibility of Web-based shopping. The types of
products available online may also impact perceptions. In the early days of Web-based
shopping, computer hardware and software, consumer electronics, and product categories
typically associated with men, were among the most popular products online. If products
typically purchased by men dominate the Web landscape, women may view online
shopping online as less advantageous and less compatible. In addition, if female-oriented
products are less available online, women are not as likely to have online purchases to
show their friends, resulting in lower result demonstrability.
As the popularity of Web-based shopping increases, product offerings may continue to

expand into products more oriented toward women. However, it is important to note that
perceptions are primarily based on past experience. Since male-oriented products
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dominate the relatively short history of Web shopping, it is not surprising that women
have a less favorable view. In addition, past socialization of women away from
technology may also be to blame.
Early on, experiences with technology tend to be oriented toward males rather than girls.
For example, there are very few video or computer games designed to appeal to girls.
This socialization away from technology may lead to a feeling that “computers are for
boys,” resulting in lower levels of computer experience by women. This lack of
experience may translate into increased perceptions of Web shopping complexity.
Finally, traditional gender-role stereotypes tend to portray females as less technology
oriented, which may degrade women’s attitude toward computers. This less favorable
attitude may extend to Web shopping, impacting perceptions of compatibility and
complexity.
A research performed on analyzing online shoppers and affect of gender on it was

conducted by Ruby Roy Dholakia and Kuan-Pin Chiang from College of Business
Administration (University of Rhode Island) -Shoppers in Cyberspace:
Are they from Venus or Mars and does it Matter?
This is one example of how international research has been conducted on the topic. The
authors say that because the consumer role has been assigned to females, it is likely that
as new shopping alternatives emerge, such as TV shopping or factory outlets, they will be
associated with female shoppers. As technology-intensive shopping outlets emerge, such
as Internet or e-shopping, they are likely to create some conflicts in the association
because while shopping is “female-typed”, technology is in the “male domain.” In
addition to global stereotypes, there are likely to be important variables that affect these
perceptions. In this study, the authors explore the role of outlet type, product type, and
purchase purpose.
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Outlet type. Many types of retail formats, both store and non-store, have developed over
the years. Early successes in e-shopping were attributed to male shoppers. According to
some analysts, “what you see here on the Internet is for the first time, you’ve got a
retailing space where a guy will go and browse, they’ll go and shop” (Moran, 1998,
p.E1). Women, on the other hand, had been associated with shopping trips to the brick
and mortar store. In fact, Oakley (1974) had noted that going shopping was a major
source of relaxation as well as a household chore. We therefore expect very specific
gender associations with types of outlets patronized by specific buyers.
Product type. Successes of retail formats are determined, to a large extent, by the
characteristics of the products and services they offer (Peterson, Balasubramanian, &
Bronnenberg, 1997). In this study, the authors look at products, which are relatively new
and complex (DVD player), have some degree of success in online sales (particularly
music CD), available in multiple retail formats (both CD and DVD players) and used
extensively by younger people. Because DVD players are more complex than CDs, we
expect female shoppers to be less associated with DVD players and more with CDs. The
reverse is expected for DVD players.
Purchase purpose. Buttle (1992) described shopping as a “contextualized act” with the
three most common shopping episodes consisting of shopping for groceries and
household items, for clothing and for gifts. The motives for these shopping episodes are
different as well as the frequency of purchase, the purchase process and the outlets at
which the purchases are made. Dholakia (1999) reported greater sharing of shopping
responsibility among husbands and wives when the product was a household item
(grocery products) than when it was a personal item (clothing). Thompson (1996) found
female shoppers to show feelings of care and concern since females are generally
responsible for the maintenance and nurturance of family and community. It is likely,
therefore, that shopping for gifts will be seen as more “female typed” than shopping for
oneself. To explore these issues regarding shopper stereotypes, the researchers offered
the following hypotheses:
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H1: Because feminine roles are culturally determined and include primary roles as
shoppers, any shopping scenario is more likely to be associated with a female buyer than
a male buyer. (Overall gender stereotype)
H2: Because technology, in general, is associated more with males than females and new
technology is risky, the purchase of technology-intensive, new and complex products
(such as DVD players) is more likely to be associated with male rather than female
buyers. (Product type)
H3: Because computer technology is associated more with males than females and new
technology is risky, the adoption of e-shopping is more likely to be associated with male
than female buyers. (Outlet type)
H4: Because feminine roles are culturally determined and include roles as caregivers,
creators of intimacy and community, purchase of a gift is more likely to be associated
with a female than a male buyer (Purchase type)
The research proved that both the genders perceived the females were the primary
shoppers and it did not change with this perception among respondents when the
hypothesis was applied to e-shopping. The second hypothesis was also proved correct as
this phenomenon was actually visible. The third hypothesis did not find enough support
and proof and was rejected and so was the fourth hypothesis. Another research done
based on gender and e-commerce by Shelly Rodgers University of Missouri-Columbia
and Mary Ann Harris University of Minnesota throws light on difference in online male
and female shoppers in the western economy.
They proposed the following hypothesis:
H1: Women will report being less emotionally gratified by online shopping than will
men.
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If women are less emotionally satisfied with the online shopping experience, as suggested
above, their overall satisfaction with e-commerce will probably be poor as well. This
logic they quoted was consistent with their overall assumption that negative perceptions
'breed' negative attitudes. Consistent with this rationale, they believed that women will
report less positive attitudes than men toward e-commerce as articulated by the following
hypothesis:
H2: Men will report more satisfaction with making online purchases than will women.
Trust is an aspect of emotionality that is often associated with a positive perception state
engendered by a comfortable relationship with that entity. In a world where the consumer
is king, trust is a key building block in brand marketing. The goal of a company or
product is to gain the consumer's trust with the expectation that trust will ultimately
translate to company sales and profits. This goal is especially important for e-commerce
marketers who have been accused of advertising practices such as trick banners that
engender consumer distrust. In fact, skepticism or a lack of trust has been cited as one of
the key deterrents of e-commerce and has been cited as one of the greatest obstacles for
online marketers in general and marketers of online catalog companies specifically.
Males and females have also been shown to express different levels of trust in internet-
related activities. Their secondary analysis found that, in general, internet users tended to
have a positive view of big business and advertising, particularly among male users.
Female users, however, were not as positive toward these entities and appeared to be less
trusting of web-based activities in general. These findings led us to predict that:
H3: Women will be less trusting and more skeptical of e-commerce than will men.
Practicality or convenience has been cited as the primary reason to shop online, and in the
context of the American consumer today, could be considered an emotional benefit. In a
number of studies, time is considered a critical benefit to overextended American
consumers who are looking for ways to simplify their lives with simple conveniences
such as internet shopping. Shopping in the convenience of home and not having to wait in
long lines are just some of the reasons marketers expected e-commerce to become a more
25
integral part of consumers' lives, and a number of studies confirm these benefits (Alba et
al., 1997; Jupiter Research, 1999, 2000). However, it is unclear whether women will view
the web as a convenience to the extent that men will. Previous findings have
demonstrated that men are more likely than women to use the internet for practical and/or
utilitarian purposes (Jupiter Research, 1999; Wells and Chen, 1999) whereas females are
more likely than males to use the internet for social purposes (Rodgers and Sheldon,
1999). Thus, because females are more prone to using the internet for nonshopping
purposes, it seems likely that they will perceive online shopping as more of a hassle than
a convenience, particularly when one considers the hassle involved with purchasing
and/or returning a product to a virtual retailer. Based on this brief discussion, we
hypothesized that:
H4: Men will find e-commerce more practical and convenient than will women.
If the underlying assumption of this article is correct—that negative perceptions result in

lower behavioral intentions—then we would expect that because women are less positive
about e-commerce than men, women will also express lower intentions to purchase
products online. Thus, we will test the hypothesis that:
H5: Gender will interact with emotion, trust, and convenience to predict online purchase
behavior and overall attitudes toward online shopping.
The research conducted found support for the five hypotheses. The premise that women's'
perceptions of internet shopping were less favorable than men's was supported and
ultimately resulted in lower self-reports of purchase behavior. Men also reported a more
satisfying online shopping experience than women (Hypothesis H2). Additionally,
women did not trust e-commerce to the same extent as men (Hypothesis H3) and men
found online shopping more practical and convenient than women (Hypothesis H4) did.
Finally, we also predicted that gender would interact with emotion, skepticism, and
practicality to influence purchase behavior and overall attitudes toward e-commerce
(Hypothesis H5). This hypothesis was tested in a series of linear regression analyses
using frequency of online purchases as the dependent variable and trust, convenience, and
26
emotion as the predictor variables. It was found women's negative and men's positive
attitude toward online shopping was affected negatively/positively by their self-reported
online experiences related to trust, convenience, and emotion. Thus these researches
show that there are some differences in the western world in online shopping behavior of
men and women but how radically or does it really differ in India. This is the question my
research will attempt to answer.
A look at a few statistics of women in India using online shows that women in India are
quickly adopting online and its various applications. 33% of women are in 18-25 age
group, 39% in the 26-35 age group and 21% in the 36-45 age group; 6% in the 46-60 age
group and 1% in the 61+ years group. With India’s Internet population poised to reach
100 million by 2007-08 the online male female ratio is estimated to change to 60:40 by
2007-08 46% are Unmarried, 13% are married without kids, 38% are married with Kids
and 4% are Divorced/Separated. 34% women have been using the Internet for more than
6 years, 44% women have been using the Internet for 3-5 years, 14% women have been
using the Internet since 1-2 years, 5% women have been using the Internet for 6-11
months and 2% of women have been using the Internet for less than 6 months.
Women use the Internet for varied purposes - Online Activities:
• Email: 96% of women use the Internet for Emailing for personal use and 92% for work
purposes. Increasing communications related activities especially for personal use would
over a period of time make Internet extremely integral in a user’s day to day life.
• Chatting: 44% of women use the Internet for Chatting and the activity is reduced to
almost half where only 26% chat regarding work related purposes.
• Surfing: 63% of women use the Internet for Surfing for personal purposes and 50%
surf the Internet for work related issues.
• Search: 65% of women use search engines for their personal requisites and 66% use
search engines to find work related information.
• Research: 29% of women use the Internet for personal research and 37% use the
Internet for work related research.
27
• News Online 51% of women look up news online as a personal activity whereas 38%
look up news online for their professional requisites.
• News on Mobile 10% of women read news on their mobile as a personal activity and
7% read news on mobile related to work.
• Matrimonial Purposes 15% of women use the Internet for ‘Matrimonial” related
activities. It is 3% higher than men as the medium offers Privacy, confidentiality and the
convenience of meeting people whilst being able to be selective.
• Jobs 55% of women use the Internet to Search for Jobs. This is 5% higher than men at
50%
• Astrology 36% of women use the Internet for Astrological Predictions while 22% men
use the Internet for the same.
• Religious & Spiritual Information 17% of women use the Internet for Spiritual
Information compared with 15% of Men who use the Internet for the same.
• Financial Transactions Online : Online women in India are cautious about their online
transactions as clearly seen by the below mentioned statistics
1. Online Auctions 11% of women use the Internet to participate in an Online
Auctions
2. Online Stock Trading 9% of women use of the Internet for Online Stock
Trading.
3. Online Bill Payments 12% of women use the Internet for Online Bill Payments
4. Online Banking 24% of women the Internet for Online Banking
5. Online Shopping 22% of women use the Internet for Online Shopping
6. Donating or Charity Online 4% of women donate online
Reference cited from-IAMAI Report on Varied Activities of Women Online – 2006
Demographic Profile: Ownership of Credit / Debit Cards

(By credit card/debit card ownership)
28
14% of women use their Credit Cards online, 10% of women use their Debit Cards online
and 8% of women use both Credit & Debit Cards Online. Thus the research shows that
Indian women are increasingly becoming internet savvy and a sizeable chunk of them are
buying online.
29
CHAPTER 3
The Study
NEED OF THE STUDY
offering?
This study seeks to ascertain if there is indeed a notable difference between male and
female behavior towards Internet shopping as e-commerce encompasses both shopping
and technology. Though e-commerce is still in its nascent stage in India, it still is of
critical importance to most such business due to its rapidly growing population of internet
users and the overall rise in affluence. Also, the managerial implications of this study
would be more pronounced for some specific type of company and its products such as
lingerie and cigars. Marketing managers of these products and services can use the
findings of this research to investigate the needs and expectations of their online target
market. For example, an online lingerie vendor might be interested in assessing whether
their online offerings require more personal sales assistance or more privacy features, or
what are the barriers to women buying online. A lot of research is going on the issue of
gender in online shopping but there is no research being done in India on the topic though
the ecommerce is growing and showing promise for the future. This research tends to
find the difference in the male and female online shopper.
30
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study aims to study the difference between male and female online shopping
behavior. It tries to understand their frequency of buying, their motivations to buy online
and the barriers to buying certain products. The research also aims to find the problems
they face on online buying/selling sites, the categories they are comfortable buying in. it
also aims to understand their influencers while buying online, their level of apprehension
while buying online and perceptions of men and women buying online
BENEFICIARIES
The dissertation will be relevant to:

• Online marketers looking for appropriate touch points with their consumers online
, that will also yield economic gains
• E-commerce application vendors attempting to design transactional online
interfaces in India.
• Entrepreneurs aspiring to extend an idea into a transactional online domain.
• International online transactional online communities, ecommerce
sites looking to gain acceptance by the Indian online population
• Academic researchers interested in the emerging trend of ecommerce in India
Finally, this work will contribute to domain understanding of online transactions and
ecommerce in India and how are male and female online shoppers different
and will attempt to deal with the dearth of literature on the specific topic under study.
31
CHAPTER 4
Research Objectives
• Understanding the consumer Ecommerce market in India

• What factors determine whether internet users choose to buy/not buy certain
products and how frequently they make these purchases?
• Explore and compare the various factors associated with online buying
behavior on the basis of gender
Statement of the Problem
In efforts to develop an insight into the reasons affecting online purchase behavior,
gender can be an important variable as it symbolizes certain intrinsic human
characteristics derived and nurtured from the very beginning. Also, most of the other
differentiating factors between humans are in some way or the other associated to it. E-
Commerce belongs to a highly dynamic landscape and since limited work is in existence
on this subject, more research is needed to investigate and analyze the role of gender in
differentiating between various factors that drive a purchase decision in the online space.
The results of this study will provide vital information for marketers/advertisers while
planning to launch any e-commerce related initiative [online sales, online ad-campaign]
especially in case of gender specific products[e.g. lingerie, cigars].
32
CHAPTER 5
Research Methodology
The research methodology will adopt the following approach-
Phase 1:
Secondary research
The secondary research was done to understand the Indian online scenario and the
Indian e- commerce industry. The secondary research would also be needed to
understand the international perspective on the problem statement under research that
how does gender affect online buying behavior.
The secondary research would also be done to understand burgeoning segment of

women in India who are internet savvy and what are they using the internet for.
The review of literature had thrown the following observations:
• The size of the E-Commerce industry is expected to reach Rs. 9210 crores at the
end of 2007-08, a big jump of 30% over the year 2006-07.
• The online travel industry is the biggest contributor to revenues of Indian e-
commerce industry.
• Though etailing is still not as prominent in India as in western countries it is
pegged to increase by 30% from the previous year.
• In developed countries a lot of research is being conducted on understanding how
different male and female online buyers are. These researches show that even in
developed countries there are certain differences in consumers’ outlook towards
online shopping on the basis of gender.
• In India the number of women going online is increasing rapidly and more than
three quarters of these women own a credit or debit card and close to a third of
these women use these cards for online shopping.
• Thus in this age of segmented marketing initiatives, there is a need to analyze
whether consumer purchase behavior in online space is differentiated on gender
33
so that marketers/ advertisers can use this to target specific products and services
to both genders differently.
Phase 2:
Taking the above observations into consideration the next phase of research is an
qualitative study to understand the problem to be addressed through primary research.
This will enable us to identify the underlying trends and motivations for online
buying for both men and females.
Phase 3:
Quantitative research to accept or refute and quantify the findings of the qualitative
research using a largely close ended questionnaire.
These interviews will be conducted in both modes, online and offline.
Phase 4:
Analyses of findings of the qualitative research to zero down on the parameters that
can help us frame the questionnaire for the quantitative research.
This will take place in between the two modules.
Analysis of the findings of the quantitative research to find out if there is any
difference between male and female buying behavior.
RESEARCH DESIGN
SAMPLE
Universe: Internet consumers above the age of 18
The sample will consist of:
1. Buyers
2. Non-buyers
Sampling: Random sampling among acquaintances.
The Qualitative research will comprise of:
4 Focus Group discussions:
34
Uniform 18-35
yrs.
Female Male
Buyers 1 1
Non-buyers 1 1
The Quantitative research will comprise of:
The respondents were spread across the cities Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Hyderabad
Pune and Chandigarh.
Sampling: random sampling
- The questionnaire was administered online and offline. The link to the online
questionnaire was sent to college students of various graduation and post
graduation colleges. Also the link was mailed to acquaintances working in MNC’s
and government offices. The offline research was done in MICA.
Sample Size
– Phase – III (Quantitative Research) – 123
GUIDELINE FOR FGD
Universe – Web Literate Population

Buyers – People who make any kind or purchase online
Non-Buyers – People who have never bought online
Sampling:
Random sampling from amongst acquaintances.
35
Discussion guideline for Focused group discussion
Introduction
Section 1
Objective: Introduction
Hello! I am Sameer, a student of Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad. I am

doing my post‐graduation final year report / thesis on transaction‐based online
communities, for which I need your opinion. This interview will take about thirty‐forty
minutes. Please feel free to express your views towards the questions and issues in the int
erview. In order to retain as much of this valuable discussion, I would like to record the
proceedings with your permission. I assure you these will be kept strictly confidential.
Section 2
To know the respondent’s internet usage habits
Since how long have you been using the internet? Has the way we use the internet change
over that period?
Which online activities do you spend most of the internet for?
Section 3
Buying and channels
Do you shop?
Where all do you buy?
Let us discuss all these channels one by one.
Describe your experience in each of the channel/medium. How is the shopping
experience of one channel different from the other?
Do you think any one medium is better? Why?
36
Section 4
Shopping Procedure
Let us see shopping as a process. How would you describe it?
So how do you go about for each of these steps? What are various concerns in different
mediums?
E.g. before any purchase when you are searching for information, how do you go
about it? Etc.
It was made sure that none of the important steps is missed during the discussion. The
important steps being:
1. Need/Desire
2. Search/Information gathering
3. Evaluation/Comparison
4. Transaction
5. Post purchase – usage, service]
Section 5
Feelings & Emotions
• Why according to you people shop?
• What are the feelings that you associate with shopping? Why?
Section 6
Online v/s offline
• What are the things that you think are available online?
For buyers only

What all have you bought online? Why?
How is the experience different from the offline experience?
What else did you think of buying online but never bought? Why? Any concerns? What
if some of the concerns were removed? Would you still consider?
37
For Non-buyers only

Is there any friend or relative of yours who buys online?
(If yes) Why do you think he/she buys? If you were in his/her shoes would you also
consider buying?
• Is there something that you would never buy online? Why?
Thank everyone for their valuable time.
38
CHAPTER 6
Data analysis and findings
6.1 Analysis Plan

The analysis of the data obtained has been done in two parts. I have used ‘cross tabs’
(descriptive statistics) function to do a bivariate analysis of part of the data with respect
to gender. Secondly I have also used XL to filter data on the basis of male and female
respondents and analyze their responses separately.
6.1.1. Analysis using crosstabs:

First the data was analyzed using cross tabs wherever the technique was applicable.
Thus follows the observations gauged after applying cross tabs.
• Relation between gender and time since the respondents had been using the
internet:
sex * how_long Crosstabulation
Count
how_long
2.00 3.00 4.00 Total
Sex 1.00 5 6 51 62
2.00 2 19 40 61
Total 7 25 91 123
* in all the questions sex(1) stands for male and sex(2) stands for female respondents.
Observations:
• 82 % of the males have been using the internet for than five years
• 65% of the females have been using the internet for more than five years and in
total 96% of the women have been using the internet for more than three years.
39
Inference: more number of male respondents have been using the internet for a longer
period of time than females.
• Relation between gender and online purchase:

sex * purchase Crosstabulation
Count
Purchase
1.00 2.00 3.00 Total
Sex 1.00 48 3 11 62
2.00 52 4 5 61
Total 100 7 16 123
Observations:
• 87% of the respondents had bought something online at least once and almost
82% were regular shoppers.
• Surprisingly the survey revealed that more women (85%) continue to buy online
than men (77%) among respondents.
Inference: more number of female respondents continued to buy once they had bought
something online before.
• Relation between gender and frequency of online buying:

sex * frq_buying Crosstabulation
Count
frq_buying
999999.0
1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 0 Total
Sex 1.00 8 23 13 3 2 2 51
2.00 2 13 26 4 6 0 51
Total 10 36 39 7 8 2 102
40
Observations:
• Majority of the respondents (73.5%) shopped online or bought something online
either once a month or at least once in a quarter.
• Majority of the males (45%) bought something online at least once a month.
• Majority of the female respondents (51%) bought something whether it be
products or services online at least once in four months.
Inference: males were more frequent buyers than females among respondents who
continue to buy online.
Relation between gender and reasons for not buying online:
sex * rsn_notbuy1 Crosstabulation

Count
rsn_notb
uy1
1.00 Total
Sex 1.00 5 5
2.00 4 4
Total 9 9

Count
rsn_notb
uy2
1.00 Total
Sex 1.00 6 6
2.00 2 2
Total 8 8

Count
rsn_notb Total
41
uy3
1.00
Sex 1.00 2 2
Total 2 2

Count
rsn_notb
uy4
1.00 Total
Sex 1.00 3 3
2.00 2 2
Total 5 5

Count
rsn_notb
uy5
1.00 Total
Sex 1.00 2 2
2.00 2 2
Total 4 4
Observations:
• The main reasons for men who did not buy online were that of-
a) they had issues with security while purchasing online
b) Secondly they found nearby shops more convenient.
• For women the main reason for not buying online was that they too had issues
with security.
42
Relation between gender and goods people are buying comfortable online:
sex * comfort_book Crosstabulation
Count
Tot
comfort_book al
1.00
Sex 1.00 35 35
2.00 30 30
Total 65 65
sex * comfort_bank Crosstabulation

Count
comfort_ba
nk Total
1.00
Sex 1.00 43 43
2.00 32 32
Total 75 75
sex * comfort_travel Crosstabulation

Count
comfort_tra
vel Total
1.00
Sex 1.00 41 41
2.00 53 53
Total 94 94
sex * comfort_soft Crosstabulation

Count
43
comfort_sof
t Total
1.00
Sex 1.00 19 19
2.00 4 4
Total 23 23
sex * comfort_cd Crosstabulation

Count
comfort_
cd
1.00 Total
Sex 1.00 20 20
2.00 8 8
Total 28 28
sex * comfort_elec Crosstabulation

Count
comfort_ele
c Total
1.00
Sex 1.00 20 20
2.00 4 4
Total 24 24
sex * comfort_gift Crosstabulation

Count
comfort_gif
t Total
44
1.00
Sex 1.00 20 20
2.00 14 14
Total 34 34
Observations:
• Travel is most sought after service on the net with 76% of the people are
comfortable buying online. Out of which 56% are females.
• Thus more number of females are comfortable booking tickets and rooms online
than men with 87% of the respondents being comfortable with it.
• Banking (61%) and buying books( 53%) are the next most sought after products
online
• Gifts (28%), cds (23%), electronic (20%) and software (19%) are the next sought
after products people are comfortable buying online. These are mostly men
dominated. In all of these categories 33% of the male respondents are comfortable
buying online.
• Males are most comfortable with travel and banking online with 69% of the
respondents comfortable with these services
• Females are most comfortable with travel (87%), banking ( 52%) and books
(49%) . the percentages the number of female respondents comfortable with
buying these products online.
Relation of gender with main motivation of buying online:

sex * motivate Crosstabulation
Count
Motivate Total
1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00
sex 1.00 16 12 8 4 2 11 2 1 56
2.00 18 14 11 9 2 2 1 0 57
45
Total
34 26 19 13 4 13 3 1 113
Observations:
• The two top motivations among both male and female respondents is that buying
online-
a) saves time and
b) ease of purchase buying online
Relation of gender with barriers of purchasing certain goods online:

sex * barrier2 Crosstabulation
Count
barrier2
1.00 Total
Sex 1.00 14 14
2.00 34 34
Total 48 48

Count
barrier3
1.00 Total
Sex 1.00 37 37
2.00 42 42
Total 79 79

Count
barrier5
1.00 Total
46
Sex 1.00 22 22
2.00 15 15
Total 37 37
Observations:
• The biggest barrier to buying certain products online was cited as – “I like to
see/touch the product before I buy it” with 64% of total respondents choosing this
option
• The other two major barriers were “I enjoy going out to shop” at 39% and “I am
worried about the hassles of returning the product in case I don’t like it” at 30%.
• Individually for males the biggest barrier was “I like to see/touch the product
before I buy it” at 60% and “I am worried about the hassles of returning the
product in case I don’t like it” at 35%.
• For females the factor that they “I like to see/touch the product before I buy it” at
69% was the biggest barrier followed by “I enjoy going out to shop” at 56%.
Relation between gender and problems faced while buying certain products off the
net:
sex * problem Crosstabulation
Count
problem
1.00 2.00 Total
Sex 1.00 26 28 54
2.00 32 25 57
Total 58 53 111
Observations:
• 52% of the respondents faced problems while buying on the net.
• 42% of the males faced problems while buying only whereas 52% of the females
found some problem while buying online
47
Relation between gender and the problems people faced while buying online:
sex * prob_type1 Crosstabulation
Count
prob_typ
e1
1.00 Total
Sex 1.00 7 7
2.00 13 13
Total 20 20

Count
prob_typ
e2
1.00 Total
Sex 1.00 11 11
2.00 4 4
Total 15 15

Count
prob_typ
e4
1.00 Total
Sex 1.00 4 4
2.00 11 11
Total 15 15
48

Count
prob_typ
e8
1.00 Total
Sex 1.00 2 2
2.00 10 10
Total 12 12
Observations:
• The biggest problem while buying online was cited that the sites were too
confusing.
• The other major problems were that sometimes the desired product was not
available online, the delivery time was high and sometimes respondents were not
sure of the actual size/fit etc. of garments and similar specifics.
• For men the biggest problem was that sometimes the desired product was not
available on site.
• For women the biggest problems were that the site was too confusing and
sometimes the delivery time was high.
Relation between gender and the credibility of the offers made online:
sex * cre_fin Crosstabulation
Count
cre_fin
2 3 4 5 Total
Sex 1 1 20 27 4 52
2 7 27 18 4 56
Total 8 47 45 8 108
49
sex * cre_hlth Crosstabulation

Count
cre_hlth
1 2 3 4 Total
Sex 1 3 8 34 6 51
2 1 16 36 3 56
Total 4 24 70 9 107
sex * cre_matri Crosstabulation

Count
cre_matri
1 2 3 4 5 Total
Sex 1 2 13 24 9 4 52
2 0 11 40 5 0 56
Total 2 24 64 14 4 108
sex * cre_astro Crosstabulation

Count
cre_astro
1 2 3 4 Total
Sex 1 6 14 22 8 50
2 2 28 18 8 56
Total 8 42 40 16 106
sex * cre_books Crosstabulation

Count
cre_books
1 2 3 4 5 Total
50
Sex 1 1 4 5 34 8 52
2 1 8 11 32 4 56
Total 2 12 16 66 12 108
sex * cre_comp Crosstabulation

Count
cre_comp
2 3 4 5 Total
Sex 1 3 12 30 8 53
2 18 25 13 0 56
Total 21 37 43 8 109
sex * cre_cd Crosstabulation

Count
cre_cd
2 3 4 5 Total
Sex 1 2 12 30 8 52
2 19 20 16 1 56
Total 21 32 46 9 108
sex * cre_event Crosstabulation

Count
cre_event
2 3 4 5 Total
Sex 1 0 7 31 15 53
2 10 12 32 2 56
Total 10 19 63 17 109
sex * cre_gift Crosstabulation
51
Count
cre_gift
1 2 3 4 5 Total
Sex 1 0 3 21 25 3 52
2 2 14 21 19 0 56
Total 2 17 42 44 3 108
sex * cre_travel Crosstabulation

Count
cre_travel
1 2 3 4 5 Total
Sex 1 2 2 11 30 11 56
2 0 1 0 39 16 56
Total 2 3 11 69 27 112
Observations:
• Male respondents believe that majority of the offers made online are credible.
• The most credible offers online were made in event/entertainment tickets, books
and travel according to 74%, 68% and 66% of the male respondents respectively.
• The women however believed that most credible offers were made in travel and
heath/beauty products where 90% and 64% were the positive responses of the
female respondents for the these categories
• An overwhelming number of women believed that offers related to travel were
credible- a whopping 90%.
• Stark differences were found in the belief of credibility in two type of products-
computer peripherals and cds/dvd. In both of the categories 61% of the men felt
the offers online were credible. Whereas only 21% women felt that offers on
computer peripherals were credible and 28% of the women felt offers on cds were
credible.
52
• The most non credible offering on net according to male respondents were in the
field of astrology with 34% of the men feeling the offers were not credible
• The most non credible offers according to women were in the field of astrology
with 50% feeling so and 31% of the women also felt that offers in computer
peripherals and cds online were non credible.
Relation between gender and level of apprehension while buy online:

sex * app_hlth Crosstabulation
Count
app_hlth
1 2 3 4 Total
Sex 1 7 18 21 4 50
2 1 10 40 4 55
Total 8 28 61 8 105
sex * app_travel Crosstabulation

Count
app_travel
1 2 3 Total
Sex 1 28 16 9 53
2 41 14 0 55
Total 69 30 9 108
sex * app_fin Crosstabulation

Count
app_fin
1 2 3 4 Total
Sex 1 14 22 11 6 53
2 3 11 29 12 55
Total 17 33 40 18 108
53
sex * app_apprl Crosstabulation

Count
app_apprl
1 2 3 4 Total
Sex 1 13 21 12 5 51
2 0 20 32 3 55
Total 13 41 44 8 106
sex * app_matri Crosstabulation

Count
app_matri
1 2 3 4 Total
Sex 1 7 10 18 16 51
2 0 4 29 22 55
Total 7 14 47 38 106
sex * app_astro Crosstabulation

Count
app_astro
1 2 3 4 Total
Sex 1 12 7 16 16 51
2 7 16 18 14 55
Total 19 23 34 30 106
sex * app_book Crosstabulation

Count
app_book
1 2 3 4 Total
Sex 1 27 22 3 0 52
54
2 20 24 10 1 55
Total 47 46 13 1 107
sex * app_comp Crosstabulation

Count
app_comp
1 2 3 4 Total
Sex 1 13 25 14 2 54
2 0 10 38 7 55
Total 13 35 52 9 109
sex * app_gift Crosstabulation

Count
app_gift
1 2 3 4 Total
Sex 1 12 26 9 5 52
2 3 25 22 5 55
Total 15 51 31 10 107
sex * app_elec Crosstabulation

Count
app_elec
1 2 3 4 Total
Sex 1 6 30 12 3 51
2 0 13 38 4 55
Total 6 43 50 7 106
sex * app_cd Crosstabulation

Count
55
app_cd
1 2 3 4 Total
Sex 1 22 17 11 2 52
2 7 19 24 5 55
Total 29 36 35 7 107
sex * app_event Crosstabulation

Count
app_event
1 2 3 4 Total
Sex 1 31 13 8 1 53
2 14 24 16 1 55
Total 45 37 24 2 108
Observations:
• There were stark differences in level of apprehension of men and women.
• Except from buying services related to travel online, where men were more
apprehensive than women in all the other options available online men were less
apprehensive.
• Women had the highest apprehension in buying health/beauty products, computer
peripherals and electronic items online with 66% of the female respondents being
highly apprehensive on the first option and 62% of the female respondents being
highly apprehensive of buying electronics and computer peripherals online.
• On the other hand only 34% of the men were highly apprehensive of buying
health products online, only 22% of the men were highly apprehensive of buying
computer peripherals and just 19% were highly apprehensive of buying electronic
goods online.
56
• Male respondents were least apprehensive in buying tickets for events etc. online
with 50% of respondents claiming so, this was followed travel and books with
45% of the male respondents claiming so.
• Female respondents were least apprehensive in buying travel tickets online at
67% and next thing they were least apprehensive about was books at 33%.
• No female respondent was highly apprehensive of buying travel tickets online
while 14% of the men were highly apprehensive.
6.1.2. Analysis using filters in XL
The data was filtered on basis of gender in the xl sheet containing the responses of all the
respondents to analyze responses of males and females separately.
In this analysis firstly it was analyzed that who was the strongest influencer for male and
female respondents for buying certain products online.
Male respondents-
Experts – for male respondents experts were the strongest influencers in financial
matters and buying computer peripherals.46% of the respondents claimed experts as
strongest influencers in these two categories.
Friends - friends were the strongest influencers for purchasing online in maximum
categories. In travel (38%), health/beauty products (42%), books/magazines (52%),
apparels/accessories( 57%), CD/DVD( 54%) , gifts (54%), event/entertainment
tickets(59%). The percentages show the number of respondents who considered friends
as their strongest influencers while buying these services/products online.
Family- family was the strongest influencer only while looking for matrimonial online.
Website- the only place where website influenced was travel at 28% of the respondents
saying so.
Female respondents-
Experts- for female respondents experts were the strongest influencers in financial
matters, buying computer peripherals and electronic durables.38% of the respondents
57
claimed experts as strongest influencers in the first two categories and 30% of the
respondents marked experts as strongest influencer in buying electronic durables online.
Friends - friends were the strongest influencers for purchasing online in maximum
categories. In travel (56%), health/beauty products (48%), books/magazines (82%),
apparels/accessories (61%), CD/DVD (64%) , gifts (67%), event/entertainment
tickets(74%). The percentages show the number of respondents who considered friends
as their strongest influencers while buying these services/products online.
Family- family was the strongest influencer only while looking for matrimonial online.
Now the filtered data was used to understand the price bracket in which the respondents
were comfortable spending online for various product categories.
Male respondents-
More than Rs. 5000- Majority of male respondents were comfortable spending this
amount on travel and financial related activities online.
Rs 1000- 5000- Majority of the male respondents were comfortable spending anything in
this range for buying apparels/accessories, computer peripherals and electronic durables
online.
Rs. 500- 1000- Majority of the male respondents were comfortable buying books, gifts,
and event/entertainment tickets online.
Rs. 200-500- Majority of the men were comfortable buying CD/DVDs in this price
bracket
Less than Rs.200- majority of male respondents were comfortable for paying for
astrology in this price bracket.
Female respondents-
More than Rs. 5000- Majority of male respondents were comfortable spending this
amount financial related activities online.
Rs 1000- 5000- Majority of the female respondents were comfortable spending anything
in this range for buying books and travel tickets online
Rs. 500- 1000- Majority of the female respondents were comfortable buying gifts
58
Less than Rs.200- majority of female respondents were comfortable for paying for
CD/DVDs in this price bracket.
Lastly filtered data was used to find what were the perceptions of male and female
respondents on who were likely to buy products in different categories – males or
females.
Male respondents-
Men- majority of the respondents felt that in the categories- travel, finance, computer
peripherals, electronic durables men would buy more.
Women- majority of the respondents felt that in the categories- health/beauty,
apparels/accessories and astrology women would buy more.
Both equally- the majority of respondents felt that CDs, gifts, books, matrimonials and
event/entertainment tickets would be bought equally by both sexes.
Female respondents-
Men- majority of the respondents felt that in the categories- finance, computer
peripherals, electronic durables men would buy more.
Women- majority of the respondents felt that in the categories- health/beauty,
apparels/accessories and astrology women would buy more.
Both equally- the majotity of respondents felt that travel tickets, CDs, gifts, books,
matrimonials and event/entertainment tickets would be bought equally by both sexes.
59
6.2 Findings
Internet usage and online purchasing:
More number of male respondents have been using the internet for a longer period of
time than females. A surprising result contrary to popular belief that came out was
more number of female respondents continued to buy once they had bought
something online before; though males were more frequent buyers than females
among respondents who continue to buy online
The main reasons for men who did not buy online were that they had issues with security
while purchasing online and they found nearby shops more convenient. On the other hand
for women the main reason for not buying online was that they too had issues with
security.
Comfort w.r.t. different product/service categories while buying online:
While analyzing the products/services the respondents were comfortable buying

online it came out that more number of females are comfortable booking travel
tickets and rooms online than men with 87% of the respondents being comfortable
with it.
Gifts (28%), CDs (23%), electronic (20%) and software (19%) are the next sought after
products people are comfortable buying online. These are mostly men dominated. In all
of these categories 33% of the male respondents are comfortable buying online. Males
are most comfortable with travel and banking online with 69% of the respondents
comfortable with these services.
Females are most comfortable with travel (87%), banking ( 52%) and books (49%) . the
percentages the number of female respondents comfortable with buying these products
online. In addition to travel and banking women were also comfortable buying
books/magazines online.
60
Motivations and barriers for online shopping:
The two top motivations among both male and female respondents are that buying
online saves time and the ease of purchase buying online.
Individually for males the biggest barrier was “I like to see/touch the product before I buy
it” at 60% and “I am worried about the hassles of returning the product in case I don’t
like it” at 35%.For females the factor that they “I like to see/touch the product before I
buy it” at 69% was the biggest barrier followed by “I enjoy going out to shop” at 56%.
Thus the different factor for men was that they were worried about returning the
product once they had bought it online. Whereas for the unique factor was that they
liked to go out and shop.
Problems with online purchases:
More number of females faced problems while buying online than male
respondents. For men the biggest problem was that sometimes the desired product was
not available on site. For women the biggest problems were that the site was too
confusing and sometimes the delivery time was high.
Credibility of offers and apprehension level of online shoppers:
Male respondents believe that majority of the offers made online are credible. The most
credible offers online were made in event/entertainment tickets, books and travel
according to 74%, 68% and 66% of the male respondents respectively. The women
however believed that most credible offers were made in travel and heath/beauty products
where 90% and 64% were the positive responses of the female respondents for the these
categories.
An overwhelming number of women believed that offers related to travel were
credible- a whopping 90%.
Stark differences were found in the belief of credibility in two types of products-
computer peripherals and cds/dvd. In both of the categories 61% of the men felt the
61
offers online were credible. Whereas only 21% women felt that offers on computer
peripherals were credible and 28% of the women felt offers on cds were credible.
The most non credible offering on net according to male respondents were in the
field of astrology with 34% of the men feeling the offers were not credible.
The most non credible offers according to women were in the field of astrology with
50% feeling so and 31% of the women also felt that offers in computer peripherals
and cds online were non credible.
Except from buying services related to travel online, where men were more
apprehensive than women in all the other options available online men were less
apprehensive.
Women had the highest apprehension in buying health/beauty products, computer
peripherals and electronic items online with 66% of the female respondents being highly
apprehensive on the first option and 62% of the female respondents being highly
apprehensive of buying electronics and computer peripherals online.
On the other hand only 34% of the men were highly apprehensive of buying health
products online, only 22% of the men were highly apprehensive of buying computer
peripherals and just 19% were highly apprehensive of buying electronic goods online.
Male respondents were least apprehensive in buying tickets for events etc. online with
50% of respondents claiming so, this was followed travel and books with 45% of the
male respondents claiming so. Female respondents were least apprehensive in buying
travel tickets online at 67% and next thing they were least apprehensive about was books
at 33%.
No female respondent was highly apprehensive of buying travel tickets online while
14% of the men were highly apprehensive.
Strongest influencers for men and women:

For both male and female respondents friends were biggest influencers while buying
majority of products online. Experts were the strongest influencers in financial
62
activities, computer peripherals and electronic durables while buying online for both men
and women. Family came into picture only while looking for matrimonial.
Websites were voted as strongest influencer for buying activities related to travel by
only 28% of the male respondents.
Spending online for different categories:
While understanding the price brackets revealed that men were comfortable
spending more on products on online in general. They were comfortable spending
more on travel related services available online (over and above Rs. 5000 as compared to
women who were ready to spend between 1000 to 5000 for travel related services),
apparels/accessories, computer peripherals, electronic durables, cds, and event tickets
online.
Women were only comfortable spending more on books than male respondents
online.
Perception of respondents about online shoppers:
On understanding the perceptions of respondents on who was more comfortable in

buying what products online a few interesting facts were revealed.
Both men and women believed that men were comfortable buying computer peripherals,
electronic durables and financial services online. Both male and female respondents
believed that women were more likely of the two to buy apparels, health beauty products
and astrology advice online. Majority of the respondents felt that both male and female
would equally likely to buy cds, gifts, books and matrimonial services and
event/entertainment tickets online. Whereas earlier it came out that men are less
apprehensive and comfortable in spending more than more than women on cds and
event/entertainment tickets. Also women were more comfortable than in spending more
online on purchase of books and magazines.
63
Men although believed that they were likely to buy more in the travel category
online but earlier it was pointed out that women were less apprehensive than men
while buying travel related services online.
64
Chapter 7
Conclusion
The research was performed to understand the differences in male and female online
shoppers if any. The research did throw up some interesting findings which showed that
though male and female shoppers were different in some aspects there were similarities
too in their buying behavior.
The research did show that men were the more frequent buyers online and had been using
the internet for a longer period of time, but there were a few surprises like the percentage
of women who continued to buy online after they had bought something once online was
more than the corresponding percentage of males for the same scenario. Though men
generally were more comfortable in buying products and services online ; there were a
few cases where women were more comfortable buying on the net and were even willing
to spend more than men online like in the case of buying services related to travel and
buying books online. The main motivations for buying online for both sexes were similar
though the main barrier to shopping online were a bit different and the love women had
for buying products offline and going out to shop was a barrier to online purchases. Thus
to attract first time female online shoppers a way has to be found to make online
shopping more interactive and involving and further research is needed to find out how to
reduce the gap between online and offline shopping for women.
A larger number of female respondents faced problems while buying online and maybe
the navigation through ecommerce sites could be made simpler to help these buyers. The
female respondents were more apprehensive generally than males and did not think offers
in many categories were credible. The categories men and women less apprehensive
about were starkly different and thus the marketers need to handle these shoppers
differently. On understanding the perceptions of respondents on who was more
comfortable in buying what products online a few interesting facts were revealed.
65
Their perceptions of who bought what product/services online were similar. For both
male and female respondents friends were biggest influencers while buying majority of
products online. Men were more comfortable in spending in the higher price brackets.
Thus there are differences that exist in online male and female buying and in certain
cases the targeting strategies should be segregated. There is a need to inform the female
shoppers online and to create credibility of online ecommerce sites among them.
There is a scope for further research to understand the attitudes and psychographics of
male and female online shoppers. A need is there to understand psychological reasons
behind the differences in male and female shoppers online.
66
Chapter 8
Limitations of the research
The limitations of the research were that-
1. A narrow segment of the population was chosen. This sample set might not be the
complete representative of the universe of online shoppers in India. Respondents from a
few cities could only be covered.
2. The research was done to analyze the effect of only gender on online shopping
behavior and the research did not involve other parameters like age and education in
conjunction with gender.
67
Chapter 9
Scope for further study
This research can be used as a basic study from where further research on the topic can
stem out.
• There is a scope for further research to understand the attitudes and
psychographics of male and female online shoppers.
• A need is there to understand psychological reasons behind the differences in
male and female shoppers online. The research can try to understand the reasons
why a certain population of web literate women are still not comfortable with
buying online and what are the need gaps that need to be plugged to increase the
ecommerce business.
68
BIBLIOGRAPHY
PERIODICALS/ JOURNALS
• Hui, T. K., & Wan D. (2007). Factors affecting Internet shopping behavior in
Singapore:
• Gender and educational issues. International Journal of Consumer Studies.
• Ghose, S.,Tang,Y.E., & Kau, A.K. (2003). Typology of Online Shoppers. Journal
of Consumer Marketing.
• Slyke, C.V., Comunale, C.L, & Belanger, F. (2002). Gender Differences in

perceptions of web based Shopping.Communications of the ACM.
• Dholakia, R. R., & Chiang, K. P. (1999). Shopping in Cyberspace. Journal of

American Consumer Psychology.
• Dholakia, R. R., Kshetri,N., & Dholakia, N. (2003). Gender and Internet Usage.
The Internet Encyclopedia
BOOKS
• Combe Colin (2006). Introduction to E- business management and strategy
• Principles of internet matrketing, / by Ward Hanson 2003
69
• Quicksilver companies : the battle for the online consumer, / by Alan Griffiths
2001
INDUSTRY REPORTS
• I Cube 2007 – Internet in India

Report by IMRB & IAMAI
• The cyber window shopper 2005

Report by IMRB & IAMAI
• IAMAI Report on Varied Activities of Women Online – 2006
INTERNET SITES
http://www.iamai.in/
http://www.clickz.com/
http://www.emarketer.com/
http://www.contentsutra.com/
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infotech/Internet_/Indian_netizens_worlds_third_bi
ggest_online_shoppers/rssarticleshow/2738125.cms
70
APPENDIX 1
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
*1) Do you use the internet?
yes no
*2) How long have you been using the internet?
Less than 1 year 1-3 3-5 more than 5

years years years
*3) How often do you use the internet for the following activities? ( choose only
which are applicable)
multiple multiple
atleast once a once a
times in a times in a
once a day week month
day week
2 4 5
1 3
Email
Discussion or chat
groups;blogs
Transanctions-
banking,shopping,booking
of hotel rooms etc.
71
Entertainment-online
games,music, watch
videos
Information seeking for

work/college/school
Information seeking for

personal reasons-online
news,softwares,travel
information etc.
*4) Have you purchased anything online ever ?
Yes and continue to Yes but Never bought

buy discontinued anything
5) If yes, how often do you buy products,services or make transanctions online
at least once in a fortnight
at least once a month
at least once in a quarter
at least once in six months
at least once in a year
Other (Please Specify):
6) If no, then why do you not purchase online?
72
1. Issues with security
2. Convenience of shops nearby
3. Prices difference with delivery fees
4. Issues with trust on company
5. Unfamiliar with processes/procedures
7) Please indicate your degree of agreement to the following statements
strongly strongly
agree can't say disagree
agree disagree
2 3 4
1 5
I prefer buying online to

shopping in malls and
stores
I prefer buying online to

home shopping services (
cataloguesor television)
Internet provides me with

entertainment while I
shop.
I receive special rewards

and discounts while
buying online
The look of online retailer

web sitess appeal to me
Internet is the one of the

first places I look when I
intend to purchase
I get good value for

money when I buy online
73
8) Which categories of goods are you comfortable buying online? ( Choose all that
apply)
books
banking
software
cd/video
travel/hotel/car rental
hardware
clothing
collectibles
electronics
gifts
toys
health and beauty aids
jewels/accessories
food/groceries
home furnishings/improvements
pharmaceuticals
appliances
others
9) What is the main motivation for online buying of your preferred product
category
Saves time
74
Ease of purchase
Hassle free
Not bound by time
Better prices
Larger choice/availability
Dont know/cant say
others
10) What according to you are the barriers for purchasing certain category of
products online?
unauthorized charges are added to my credit card
I enjoy going out to shop
I like to see/touch the product before I buy it
it is too impersonal
I am worried about the hassles of returning the product in case I don’t

like it
delivery costs are too high
11) Did you face any problems while purchasing certain products off the net?
Yes No
75
12) If yes what are the problems you faced
site was too confusing
desired product was not available
could not contact customer service
delivery time was very high
could not return the product
site made unauthorized charges to credit card
product was never delivered
was not sure about the actual fit/size /color of garment or other
specifics
13) Please tell us who is the strongest influencer in your buying these categories
Experts Friends Family Salesman/website Cant say

1 2 3 4 5
travel
financial
health/beauty
astrology
matrimonials
books
apparels/accessories
computer/peripherals
76
cd/dvd
gifts
electronic/durables
events/entertainment
tickets
14) How credible do you think are the online offers made for the following
categories
cant
highly non non highly
say/dont credible
credible credible credible
know 4
1 2 5
3
travel
financial
health/beauty
matrimonials
astrology
books/magazines
cd/dvd
tickets
gifts
77
15) In which price bracket are you willing to spend in these categories
Rs1000- Rs500- Rs200-

>Rs5000 <200 cant say
5000 1000 500
1 5 6
2 3 4
travel
financial
astrology
health/beauty
matrimonials
books/magazines
gifts
electronic/durables
cd/dvd
tickets
16) What is your level of apprehension after buying any of these products
low medium high cant say

1 2 3 4
78
health /beauty
travel
financial
matrimonials
astrology
books/magazines
gifts
electronics/durables
cd/dvd
event/entertainment
tickets
17) Who do you think is more likely to buy these categories
cant say/dont
men women both equally
know
1 2 3
4
health /beauty
travel
financial
79
matrimonials
astrology
books/magazines
gifts
electronics/durables
cd/dvd
event/entertainment
tickets
*18) gender
male
female
*19) Please indicate your age
<18
18-25
26-35
35-45
45+
80
APPENDIX 2
XL SHEETS OF FILTERED DATA
81
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Online Shopping: Effect of Gender Sameer Bajaj 200685

Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad

© Copyright 2008 by Sameer Bajaj and

E-Commerce is the future of shopping

Ecommerce allows consumers to electronically exchange goods and services with no

Mail order cataloging

Figure – evolution of commerce

Combinations of these three conditions can be as follows:

• Paying online & Consuming Online ( e.g. Online gaming)

communication based applications and advanced online applications like gaming, E-

Source: Active Internet Users, I Cube 2007, Syndicated Research of Technology

Size of the Indian non travel industry

source: IMDB research

Paid Content Subscription

Size of Paid Content/ Subscription-Based Market

E-Commerce is the future of shopping

EFFECT OF GENDER ON WEB BASED SHOPPING

that gender is a significant predictor of the respondents’ history of Web-based purchases,

Although some merchants attempt to build a sense of community by allowing limited

As the popularity of Web-based shopping increases, product offerings may continue to

A research performed on analyzing online shoppers and affect of gender on it was

Are they from Venus or Mars and does it Matter?

They proposed the following hypothesis:

If the underlying assumption of this article is correct—that negative perceptions result in

Women use the Internet for varied purposes - Online Activities:

Reference cited from-IAMAI Report on Varied Activities of Women Online – 2006

Demographic Profile: Ownership of Credit / Debit Cards

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The dissertation will be relevant to:

• Understanding the consumer Ecommerce market in India

Statement of the Problem

The secondary research would also be done to understand burgeoning segment of

The Quantitative research will comprise of:

Sampling: random sampling

GUIDELINE FOR FGD

Universe – Web Literate Population

Discussion guideline for Focused group discussion

Hello! I am Sameer, a student of Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad. I am

over that period?

Which online activities do you spend most of the internet for?

Where all do you buy?

Let us discuss all these channels one by one.

Describe your experience in each of the channel/medium. How is the shopping

experience of one channel different from the other?

Do you think any one medium is better? Why?

For buyers only

For Non-buyers only

• Is there something that you would never buy online? Why?

Thank everyone for their valuable time.

6.1 Analysis Plan

6.1.1. Analysis using crosstabs:

• Relation between gender and online purchase:

• Relation between gender and frequency of online buying:

Relation between gender and reasons for not buying online:

sex * rsn_notbuy1 Crosstabulation

sex * rsn_notbuy2 Crosstabulation

sex * rsn_notbuy3 Crosstabulation

sex * rsn_notbuy4 Crosstabulation

sex * rsn_notbuy5 Crosstabulation

sex * comfort_bank Crosstabulation

sex * comfort_travel Crosstabulation

sex * comfort_soft Crosstabulation

sex * comfort_cd Crosstabulation