Consumer attitudes towards online shopping

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 707-733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mutaz M. Al-Debei ◽  
Mamoun N. Akroush ◽  
Mohamed Ibrahiem Ashouri
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Online Shopping ◽  
Consumer Attitudes ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Perceived Benefits ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Online Retailers ◽  
Online Shoppers ◽  
Web Quality

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine consumer attitudes toward online shopping in Jordan. The paper introduces an integrated model which includes trust, perceived benefits, perceived web quality, and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) along with their relationships in order to examine their effects on consumer attitudes toward online shopping. Design/methodology/approach – A structured and self-administered online survey was employed targeting online shoppers of a reputable online retailer in Jordan; i.e. MarkaVIP. A sample of 273 online shoppers was involved in the online survey. A series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to assess the research constructs, unidimensionality, validity, and composite reliability. Structural path model analysis was also used to test the hypothesized relationships of the research model. Findings – The empirical findings of this study indicate that consumer attitudes toward online shopping is determined by trust and perceived benefits. Trust is a product of perceived web quality and eWOM and that the latter is a function of perceived web quality. Hence, trust and perceived benefits are key predictors of consumer attitudes toward online shopping, according to the results. Further, the authors also found that higher levels of perceived web quality lead to higher levels of trust in an online shopping web site. Perceived web quality was found to be a direct predictor of trust, and the former positively and significantly influences perceived benefits. Also, the authors found that 28 percent of the variation in online shopping attitudes was caused by perceived benefits and trust. Research limitations/implications – The research sample included only early adopters who are usually described as personal innovators and risk takers. Future research is encouraged to focus on other groups such as non-adopters to understand their online shopping attitudes. Another limitation is derived from the geographical context of the current study; that is Jordan. The findings are not necessarily applicable to other Arab countries and the rest of the world. Therefore, replications of the current study in different countries would most likely strengthen and validate its findings. Also, the study is cross-sectional which does not show how attitudes of consumers may change over time. The authors encourage future studies to employ a longitudinal design to understand the changes in consumers’ attitudes toward using online shopping over time. Finally, this study examined only one case in point and thus findings cannot be generalized to other online shopping web sites. Future research is highly encouraged to examine consumers’ attitudes toward other online shopping web sites inside and outside Jordan. Practical implications – The paper supports the importance of trust and perceived benefits as key drivers of attitudes toward online shopping in emerging markets like Jordan. It further underlines the importance of perceived web quality contribution to perceived benefits and trust as well as the key role of the later in forming online shoppers’ attitudes. Online retailers’ executives and managers can benefit from such findings for future e-marketing strategies and acquire new customers to achieve long-term performance objectives. Originality/value – This paper is one of the very few attempts that examined attitudes toward online shopping in the Arab world. Importantly, it revealed the drivers of online shoppers’ attitudes in Jordan. National and international online retailers planning to expand their operations to Jordan or to the Middle East Region have now valuable empirical evidence concerning the determinants of online shopping attitudes and online shoppers’ behavior in Jordan upon which e-marketing strategies can be formulated and implemented.

The role of perceived benefits in formation of online shopping attitude among women shoppers in India

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nupur Arora ◽  
Aanchal Aggarwal
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Online Shopping ◽  
Product Variety ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Perceived Benefits ◽  
Indian Women ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Online Shoppers ◽  
Women In India

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of perceived benefits, namely, price, convenience and product variety in formation of online shopping attitude. The paper also studies the impact of online shopping attitude on online shopping intentions by the application of the theory of reasoned action. Design/methodology/approach A self-administered and structured online survey was conducted targeting female online shoppers of four metropolitan cities of India. A sample of 508 online shoppers was considered in the online survey. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the research constructs, validity and composite reliability. Structural equation modeling and path analysis was also used to examine the hypothesized relationships of the research model. Findings The authors of the paper reveals that price benefit, convenience benefit and product variety benefit has a significant positive impact on online shopping attitude and there is a considerable positive relationship between online shopping attitude and online shopping intention among women in India. Product variety was found to be the most important perceived benefit for Indian women. Research limitations/implications The research sample included only women shoppers who indulge in online shopping. Future research is encouraged to emphasize on other groups and gender to identify with their online shopping attitudes. Another important limitation of the study is consequent from the geographical perspective of the present study; that is India. The findings are not necessarily applicable to the rest of the world. Therefore, reproduction of the current study in diverse countries would probably support and confirm its findings. Also, the present study is cross-sectional which does not demonstrate how attitudes of online shoppers may alter over time. The authors of the current study encourage future research to apply a longitudinal design to the study to understand the transforms in consumers’ attitudes toward online shopping over time. Finally, this study explained a general phenomenon, thus future research can be directed toward particular websites which may present different results. Practical implications The study supports the significance of perceived benefits (price, convenience and variety) as key drivers of attitudes toward online shopping among women in India. Marketers should distinguish the way they indulge their customers based on their perceived benefits of online shopping. In developing countries like India, where consumers, especially women, are generally depicted as risk averse, online shopping attitude plays an important role in the success of e-tailers. Certainly, if online shopping would not attach meaningful value and benefits to consumers, they would have negative attitude toward the same. Additionally, the empirical research study demonstrates variety to be the most important benefit for Indian women; ecommerce retailers should focus on maximizing the same to enhance online purchase intention among women customers. Women empowerment being the agenda in India currently, online retailers’ managers can benefit from such conclusions for targeting this huge untapped market and for future e-marketing policies. Originality/value This research paper is one of the very few endeavors that investigated online shopping attitudes in India. Prominently, it exposed the role of perceived benefits in online shopping attitude in India. Price is one of the most critical factor concerning Indian shoppers which is a part of the present study. National and international e-tailers preparing to develop and expand their operations to India have now important empirical verification concerned with the determinants of online shopping attitudes and behavior in India which shall aid in marketing strategy development and implementation.

scholarly journals Unlocking the potential of branding in social marketing services: utilising brand personality and brand personality appeal

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross Gordon ◽  
Nadia Zainuddin ◽  
Christopher Magee
Keyword(s):  
Social Marketing ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Brand Personality ◽  
Consumer Attitudes ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Multiple Mediation ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Behavioural Intentions ◽  
Marketing Service

Purpose This paper aims to demonstrate the utility of branding theory for social marketing services. Specifically, this is to our knowledge the first to investigate brand personality (BP) and brand personality appeal (BPA) in a single study as predictors for consumer attitudes and intentions to engage with a service. Design/methodology/approach The associations between BP and BPA and their subsequent associations with attitudes and intentions are tested in two service types, i.e. a commercial marketing service (banking) and a social marketing service (health screening). This involved a cross-sectional dual online survey administered to a sample of 395 women 50-69 years old in Queensland, Australia. This sampling criterion represented the primary target audience for the social marketing service, which was breastscreening and was maintained for the banking services sample. Multiple mediation analysis using a bootstrapping approach was conducted using Mplus 6.11. Findings BP and BPA perform similarly across the two service types. BP and BPA are related and have direct and indirect associations with consumer attitudes and behavioural intentions towards both commercial and social marketing services. Specifically, the BP traits of responsibility and activity were found to have significant direct and indirect relationships with attitudes and behavioural intentions towards both commercial and social marketing services. The relationships for the emotionality and simplicity traits were non-significant. The results also suggest that the attractiveness, favourability and clarity BPA traits had the strongest associations with consumer responses. Originality/value This study demonstrates the utility of using branding in social marketing services, which to date has been under-utilised. It also offers originality by combining BP and BPA in the same empirical inquiry, which to date has been examined separately. A new and alternative factor structure for BPA is provided, and future research is recommended to further examine BPA in this and other contexts.

An examination of the online service-profit chain

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (8) ◽  
pp. 727-751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grégory Bressolles ◽  
Francois Durrieu ◽  
Kenneth R Deans
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Web Sites ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Online Retailers ◽  
Quality Dimensions ◽  
Service Quality Dimensions ◽  
Information Aesthetics ◽  
Service Profit Chain

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the service-profit chain (SPC) on e-service quality dimensions, online customer value (CV) dimensions, e-satisfaction, and e-loyalty in an e-commerce context. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 2,813 internet customers filled in an online questionnaire after completing a specified task on one of 28 wine web sites from seven countries. Findings – The results highlight the impact of the dimensions of e-service quality (information, aesthetics, ease of use, security/privacy, and reliability) on the dimensions of online CV (functional, economic, and social value) as they affect e-satisfaction, which in turn influences e-loyalty. The results validate the SPC in an e-commerce context and also stress the partial mediating role of the dimensions of online CV between the dimensions of e-service quality and e-satisfaction. Research limitations/implications – The sample may not exactly match the customer profile of the web sites analyzed. In order to generalize the results, future research should replicate this study with a customer sample from each web site. Future research could also take into account other variables that may have an influence on the relationships identified. Additionally it would be interesting to replicate the study in other industries and undertake longitudinal studies in one or more industries. Practical implications – From a managerial point of view, online retailers, especially in the wine sector, can positively affect CV, satisfaction, and loyalty by focussing on information, aesthetics, ease of use, security/privacy, and reliability. Originality/value – This paper is the first to study the SPC by examining service quality dimensions, CV dimensions, satisfaction, and loyalty in an online context. It extends the knowledge of online retailing by validating the SPC on the dimensions of traditional service concepts, such as service quality and CV. The findings can assist online retailers to better understand the dynamics of online customer relationships and the implications for customer satisfaction and ultimately loyalty.

Post-purchase shipping and customer service experiences in online shopping and their impact on customer satisfaction

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 400-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingxia Cao ◽  
Haya Ajjan ◽  
Paul Hong
Keyword(s):  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Online Shopping ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Online Shoppers ◽  
Post Purchase

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of post-purchase logistic services on customer satisfaction and future purchase decision, to reveal any differences across China and Taiwan, to fill in a gap in the literature focused on post-purchase logistic activities related to shipping, return, and tracking, to provide managerial guidance in logistics for e-commerce, and to develop insights on logistic services for future research. Design/methodology/approach Using a validated survey instrument, 384 respondents in China and 145 respondents in Taiwan are collected. The research model is analyzed using component-based estimation approach to structural equation modeling. Findings The structural equation analysis of the study found that post-purchase shipping and tracking have an impact on customer satisfaction in both China and Taiwan. It also found that customer service is the most significant factor among the examined antecedents for online shoppers in China. While, return service is more important for shoppers in Taiwan. Finally, customer satisfaction played a stronger positive role for online shoppers in Taiwan as compared to their counterparts in China. Research limitations/implications This research extended the current literature about post-purchase logistic services in an online shopping environment with a literature-based research model and good empirical data support. However, one limitation of the study is that the data collected represents a cross-sectional sample; future research should examine longitudinal sample to study customers’ purchase intentions over time. Practical implications This study can help both scholars and practitioners understand the importance of tracking, return, shipping, and customer service in an online shopping environment and across countries. It provides insights on designing e-commerce relevant shipping services to satisfy and attract customers across countries. Originality/value The study investigated how post-purchase activities contributed to customer satisfaction in online shopping and explored the influence of customer satisfaction on future purchase intention in China and Taiwan. This is one of the first studies available in the literature to provide empirical support and managerial insights about post-purchase activities related to shipping, tracking, and returns for e-commerce with cross-regional comparison.

Determinants of purchasing intentions of energy-efficient products

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mamoun N. Akroush ◽  
Majdy I. Zuriekat ◽  
Hana I. Al Jabali ◽  
Nermeen A. Asfour
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficient ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Consumer Attitudes ◽  
Energy Industry ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Energy Awareness ◽  
Perceived Benefits ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Perceived Price

PurposeThis paper aims to identify factors affecting consumers’ purchasing intentions of energy-efficient products (energy awareness, perceived benefits, perceived price and consumers’ attitudes). Also, it examines the effect of consumers’ attitudes on purchasing intentions of energy-efficient products (EEP) from households’ perspectives in Jordan.Design/methodology/approachA self-administered survey was hand-delivered to the targeted sample of households in Amman, Jordan. A total of 516 questionnaires were delivered to households from which 474 were valid for the analysis. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to assess the research constructs dimensions, unidimensionality, validity and composite reliability. Structural path analysis was also used to test the hypothesised relationships of the proposed research model.FindingsEnergy awareness positively and significantly affects purchasing intentions, perceived benefits and consumer attitudes. Energy awareness negatively but non-significantly affects perceived price. Perceived benefits positively and significantly affect consumer attitudes and purchasing intentions. Further, perceived price negatively and significantly affects perceived benefits and consumers attitudes. Also, consumers’ attitudes positively and significantly affect purchasing intentions. Consumers’ attitudes exerted the strongest effect on purchasing intentions of EEP; meanwhile, consumers’ attitudes are a function of perceived benefits and energy awareness. Finally, the results show that 50 per cent of variation in purchasing intentions of EEP was caused by perceived benefits–consumers’ attitudes–energy awareness path.Research limitationsFuture research needs to investigate other factors that may affect households’ intentions of purchasing EEP such as perceived brand and image of EEP, perceived risk, word-of-mouth, subjective norms and households’ cost-saving experience. Investigating and identifying types of perceived benefits of purchasing EEP from households’ perspectives is also important. Comparative studies between Jordanian and non-Jordanian consumers/households are potential areas of future research. Methodologically, future research can conduct comparative analysis between households and energy industry engineers and managers perceptions’ with regard to determinants of perceived benefits and purchasing intentions.Practical implicationsThis paper highlights the crucial role of perceived benefits and energy awareness in formulating households’ attitudes towards EEP and the vital role of such attitudes on purchasing intentions. Marketing directors and CEOs of the energy industry should recognised that perceived benefits, attitudes and energy awareness are vital building blocks in formulating and implementing marketing strategies to operate in this industry. Also, purchase intentions are a function of positive attitudes of household toward EEP and are at the heart of EEP marketing communications campaigns.Originality/valueThis is the first paper in the energy industry of Jordan devoted to develop and test a model of determinants of purchasing intentions of EEP that focuses on energy consumption behaviour. CEOs, international manufacturers and marketing managers of EEP can benefit from the study’s empirical findings concerning the drivers of EEP purchasing intentions and behaviour decisions of households in Jordan as an emerging market in the Middle East.

Online repatronage intention: an empirical study among Malaysian experienced online shoppers

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 390-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sajad Rezaei ◽  
Muslim Amin ◽  
Wan Khairuzzaman Wan Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Online Shopping ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Online Shoppers ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – Prior studies mostly investigate initial shopping intention in developed countries. The purpose of this paper is to sketch and determine the impact of perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), perceived value (PV), trust (TRT), perceived risk (PR), privacy concern (PC), internet literacy (IL), satisfaction (SAT) on online repatronage intention (ORI) among Malaysian experienced online shoppers. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 219 valid questionnaires were collected via an online survey among experienced online shoppers across young and old students aged 18-31. Subsequently, the two-step structural equation modelling (SEM) technique was employed to empirically examine the proposed integrative theoretical research framework and model fit with maximum likelihood estimation. Findings – The statistical analyses support the relationships between PU, PV, TRT and SAT with ORI while the relationships between PEOU, PR, PC and IL with ORI were rejected in which all the factors affecting ORI occur similarly across the study sample. The behaviour of experienced online shoppers was found to be different from findings of previous literature that examined initial adoption and intention. Due to the lack of distinction in the literature concerning experienced and inexperienced shoppers, our results show inconsistencies with prior research in examining ORI. Research limitations/implications – The paper suggests that future research consider multicultural analysis, atmosphere design, developing internet methodology and the role of flow experience in determining ORI. The research limitations and implications are also discussed. Practical implications – By realizing the differences between inexperienced shoppers and experienced shoppers, online retailers should segment these groups more effectively and should implement a different marketing strategy to target the right segment, right shoppers along with the right marketing tactic. The antecedents of future intention of online shopping are influenced by various variables because the human behaviour is sophisticated in nature. Thus, academicians and practitioners should realize the implications of examining their target population/market based on an assessment of different antecedents. Originality/value – This study is among the few attempts to examine attitudes and behaviour of Malaysian experienced online shoppers who have formed relevant experiences and skills in online shopping. Additionally, the paper empirically examine and distinct user perception of online retail attributes (including PU, PEOU, PV and PR), pre-purchase user attitudes (including TRT, PC, IL) and post-purchase users attitudes (including SAT) in forming ORI simultaneously.

Female online shoppers

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 542-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shihyu Chou ◽  
Chi-Wen Chen ◽  
Jiun-You Lin
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Web Design ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Privacy And Security ◽  
Online Store ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Online Shoppers ◽  
Clothing Store

Purpose – As the number of female customers shopping in online clothing stores increases, understanding how female customers’ e-loyalty is formed and fostered in this type of online store becomes very pivotal. Yet, despite its importance, little research has been done on this issue. The purpose of this paper is to focus on female online clothing shoppers and aim to examine the mediators of e-loyalty in the context of online clothing stores: e-satisfaction and e-trust. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 482 subjects who are female and have online clothing store shopping experience in Taiwan were obtained and structural equation modeling was performed to analyze the measurement and structural models. Findings – The results show that both perceived online privacy and security are positively associated with e-trust, whereas web design is not. Furthermore, perceived delivery time and web site design are positively associated with e-satisfaction. Both e-trust and e-satisfaction in turn positively influence e-loyalty for female online clothing shoppers. Research limitations/implications – On the basis of the literature review, there is a lack of theoretical knowledge of the relationships between e-loyalty, e-satisfaction, and e-trust among female online clothing shoppers. The research fulfills this important theoretical gap by extending prior studies on e-loyalty to further examine the factors that form e-satisfaction and e-trust, and how they, as mediators, influence the development of female customers’ e-loyalty in the context of online clothing stores. The result provides a model that contributes to understanding the formation of female customers’ e-loyalty. Practical implications – The results of this study are helpful to online store managers in increasing their customers’ loyalty. Specifically, online clothing store managers have to create quick item delivery methods and friendly online shopping web sites that provide all necessary information and are easy to navigate and use so as to increase customers’ e-satisfaction. They also need to establish reliable and trustworthy web sites by letting their customers easily perceive the web sites’ privacy and security features to enhance customers’ e-trust. As e-satisfaction and e-trust increase, e-loyalty is fostered. Originality/value – The contributions of this study are threefold. First, this study focusses on an important but previously neglected group in the context of online clothing stores: female online clothing shoppers. Second, the authors’ investigation extends the literature on e-loyalty by identifying important mediators (e-satisfaction and e-trust) and probing into their relationships to e-loyalty in the context of online clothing stores. Third, the findings contribute to academia and to future research by increasing understandings of the importance of the concerns and experiences of female online clothing shoppers and by suggesting that future research pay more attention to female online shoppers.

Factors influencing consumer attitudes toward online shopping: the mediating effect of trust

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Youssef Chetioui ◽  
Hind Lebdaoui ◽  
Hajar Chetioui
Keyword(s):  
Online Shopping ◽  
Consumer Attitudes ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Relative Advantage ◽  
New Wave ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Female Consumers ◽  
Moderating Factors ◽  
Online Shoppers ◽  
First Time

PurposeThe coronavirus pandemic has created a new wave of first-time online shoppers in both industrialized and emerging countries. More interestingly, scholars and practitioners expect this transition to online shopping to eventually persist in the next few years. The current research study aims to investigate the factors explaining attitudes toward online shopping. The authors propose an integrated model in which trust mediates the effects of relative advantage and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on attitudes toward online shopping. The moderating effect of gender was also assessed using the multigroup analysis (MGA).Design/methodology/approachBased on data collected from 378 Moroccan online shoppers, the authors empirically tested the hypothesized model using a partial least squares (PLS) estimation.FindingsFirst, relative advantage, eWOM and trust significantly impact consumer attitudes toward online shopping; at the same time, trust is influenced by relative advantage and eWOM. Second, results confirm that trust mediates the effects of relative advantage and eWOM on attitudes toward online shopping. Third, the MGA reveals that female consumers tend to exhibit a stronger effect of eWOM on trust and on attitudes toward online shopping.Originality/valueMost relevant studies have focused on the main predictors of attitudes toward online shopping but did not suggest mediating and moderating factors that can help in explaining indirect effects. The present paper bridges a gap pertaining to antecedents of attitudes toward online shopping by incorporating the mediating effect of online trust. The authors also examine gender disparities related to the predictors of trust and consumer attitudes toward online shopping. This study is the first of its kind to investigate the antecedents of attitudes toward online shopping in an African country.

Understanding female consumers’ intention to shop online

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 1138-1160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prashant Raman
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Online Shopping ◽  
Reasoned Action ◽  
Behavioural Intention ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Female Consumers ◽  
Online Retailers ◽  
Online Shoppers ◽  
Customer Services

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a model to examine the female consumer’s intention to shop online. The rising number of female online shoppers has compelled the analysts and online vendors to believe that understanding the attitude and behaviour of the female consumers is very crucial for their growth. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual model is proposed that expands the theory of reasoned action (TRA) with three additional constructs, namely, trust, convenience and customer service. The proposed model is examined with the help of questionnaire responses collected from 909 online shoppers from India. Findings The paper empirically shows that there is a significant influence of attitude, convenience, customer service and subjective norm on the female consumer’s intention to buy online. Customer service acts as the most crucial factor in influencing the attitude of female consumers towards online shopping. The paper also points out that trust does not directly affect the female’s intention to shop online but indirectly influences it through attitude. Practical implications The paper has significant implications for practitioners. First, the results advocate that convenience and customer service are the vital antecedents to both behavioural intention and behavioural attitude. Second, the paper also showcases that trust influences behavioural intention indirectly through attitude, stressing the need for the online retailers to develop consumers’ trust in online shopping. Originality/value The paper examines TRA framework in the context of female online shopping, while earlier studies have concentrated completely on efficiency-based software tools like word processing, spreadsheets, etc. The integration of the three constructs – trust, convenience and customer service – in the TRA framework has not been studied in the past. The interaction effect of the different elements of customer services on the female consumer behaviour has never been examined in the previous research works.

Breaking it down: unpacking children’s lunchboxes

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 438-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Crespo Casado ◽  
Sharyn Rundle-Thiele
Keyword(s):  
Social Marketing ◽  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Exchange Theory ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Perceived Benefits ◽  
Healthy Foods ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate children’s school lunchboxes and explore the influence of carer’s perceived benefits and barriers towards healthy eating on the food contents packed for lunch. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on exchange theory, the study explores the relationship between carer’s perceived benefits and barriers towards healthy eating and the lunchbox contents a carer packs for their child. An online survey was completed by 876 parents and carers. Statistical analysis techniques, including one-way ANOVA and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) were used to analyse the data. Findings – The analysis revealed that perceived benefits and barriers towards packing healthy foods had a significant impact on the reported contents packed for lunch. Results indicate the segment with the highest perceived benefits and the lowest perceived barriers towards packing healthy lunches reported packing healthier foods than the remaining three segments. Practical implications – Social marketers should develop interventions to promote the benefits of healthy eating, while overcoming the perceived (and real) barriers that prevent healthy lunches from being packed. Study limitations and future research directions are outlined. Originality/value – Drawing on exchange theory, the current study demonstrated how simultaneous measurement of benefits and barriers that are later divided into high and low groups impacts lunchbox packing behaviours (Nelson et al., 2010). This study contributes to the literature providing further empirical evidence that use of commercial marketing theories in social marketing is warranted and that theoretically derived segmentation approaches are available for social marketing practitioners.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document