Contemporary Management Research

Pages 3-16, Vol. 2, No. 1, March 2006

Online Shopping Behavior: Key Dimensions and Research Synthesis

Dong Shen
California State University, Sacramento
E-Mail: dshen@csus.edu
Craig A. Kelley
California State University, Sacramento
Adjunct at Queensland University of Technology
E-Mail: kelleyca@csus.edu
Joseph Richards
California State University, Sacramento
E-Mail: richardsj@csus.edu
Claudia Bridges
California State University, Sacramento
E-Mail: claudiab@surewest.net
ABSTRACT
A growing body of research has emerged related to the online shopping. In this study, the
current literature related to media factors that influence online shopping behavior is extensively
surveyed by identifying key dimensions. Four dimensions of the online shopping channel,
including informativeness, convenience, customer service, and experiential uniqueness, are
proposed based on the literature review and expert judgments. In addition, these key dimensions
are discussed in the context of the established traditional channel literature; and the relationships
between the traditional channel behavior and online shopping behavior are discussed. This
research would help investigators to compare and contrast the developments in online shopping
literature and the more established traditional shopping channel literature. The potential
directions of future research on online shopping are addressed too.
Keyword: Online Shopping Channel, Key Dimensions, Research Synthesis
INTRODUCTION
A growing body of research has emerged related to the choice criteria that consumers use
when choosing to shop online. For example, Lee and Tan (2003) hypothesized consumer choice
to shop online versus in a store was due to their efforts to maximize their utility from the
purchase while minimizing risk. Alba, Lynch, Weitz, and Janiszewski (1997) proposed consumer
attraction to alternative retail formats was determined by the number of alternatives considered,

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the ability to screen the alternatives, the amount of information needed to select from the
consideration set, ordering and fulfillment requirements, and other external benefits. Ward
(2001) found consumers make decisions regarding shopping channel based on the minimization
of expected transaction costs. Kaufman-Scarborough and Lindquist (2002) reported online
shoppers differ their perceptions of convenience from non-online shoppers. Palmer (2000) found
delivery, shopping availability, product display, time spent shopping, and price interacted to
choice of retail format. A sample of the available literature as listed above shows a great variety
of studies in the online shopping area. However, as the literature on online shopping
phenomenon balloons, there is a need to understand the substantial underpinnings of the
phenomenon. This paper is an attempt toward that end.
In particular, the contribution of this paper is mainly of three facets. First, we did a state-ofthe-art review of the current body of knowledge related to media factors that influence online
shopping behavior followed by identifying the key dimensions or constructs of this growing area
of retail shopping. Second, we reviewed these key dimensions of online shopping behavior in
the context of the established traditional channel literature and highlighted the key connections
that serve as bridges between traditional and online shopping channel behavior. Third, we
proposed the possible directions for the future studies in the online shopping area based on the
dimensions developed in part one and the comparisons done in part two. These three facets will
not only help academic researchers better understand online shopping format and where this new
shopping format stands in the traditional shopping literature, but benefit those retailers who
intend to develop their online business based on their brick and mortar format.
KEY DIMMENSIONS OF THE ONLINE CHANNEL
With the growing interests in the online shopping area, more and more studies have been
done to examine the different aspects of the online shopping environment. The studies have
generated a large number of variables and factors. Listing all the individual variables completely
would be a relatively impossible task. Even if it were possible, the complexity and sheer number
of variables would have little pragmatic or academic utility. Therefore, identifying and
developing a set of dimensions or constructs that classify those variables into different groups is
necessary. This forms the first purpose of this study. In particular, a panel of four expert judges
did a state-of-the-art literature review first based on the articles discussing different variables and
factors affecting the online shopping environment excluding those studies focusing on other
aspects of online shopping, such as how consumers off-line shopping behaviors affect their
online shopping behavior, followed by classifying all the variables studied previously into
different dimensions.
Based on the face validity, four dimensions were identified:
informativeness, customer service, convenience, and experiential uniqueness. Each of these
dimensions will be discussed in turn in the following sections. Although there could be other
dimensions that may influence online channel, a complete assessment of this area is difficult
given that the area of research is still in its infancy and continually growing. Table 1 summarizes
the literature and key variables studied in the current extant literature.

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Table 1 Summary of current online literature

Article

Key Variables

Informativeness
Childers, Carr, Peck, and Carson (2001)
Mathwick, Malhotra, and Rigdon (2001)
Muylle, Moenaert, and Despontin, 1999
Sindhav (1999), Sindhav and Balazs (1999)
Wolfinbarger and Gilly (2003)

Suitability of personal examination

Visual appeal
Informativeness
Logical capability, Variety of
media channels, Underlying
communication model
Informativeness, Information
accessibility

Customer Service
Dabholka (1996)
Francis and White (2002)
Mathwick, Malhotra, and Rigdon (2001)
Novak, Hoffman, and Yung (2000)
Schlosser and Kanfer (2001)
Wolfinbarger and Gilly, 2003
Zeithaml, Parasuraman, and Malhotra (2002)

Expected reliability
Security, Delivery of products,
Ownership conditions, Web store
functionality
Efficiency
Variety, Cutting edge, Reliability,
Customer support, Security
Traditional marketing content
Customer service, Selection,
Fulfillment/Reliability,
Security/Privacy
Reliability, Security, Efficiency

Convenience
Agarwal and Venkatesh (2002)
Bagozzi (1990)
Burke (2002)
Childers, Carr, Peck, and Carson (2001)
Dabholkar (1996)

Ease of use
Ease of use
Ease of use, Convenience
Ease of use, Ease of navigation,
Convenience
Ease of use, Speed of delivery

Convenience (contd.)
Dabholkar and Bagozzi (2002)
Francis and White ( 2002)
Kaufman-Scarborough and Lindquist (2002)
Keeker (1997)
Montoya-Weiss, Voss, and Grewal (2003)
Novak, Hoffman, and Yung (2000)
Spake, Beatty, Brockman, and Crutchfield (2003)
Wolfinbarger and Gilly (2003)

Ease of use
Product attribute descriptions
Convenience
Ease of use
Ease of navigation
Ease of ordering, Ease of payment,
ease of return
Convenience, ease of use
Ease of use, Ease of navigation

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Table 1 Summary of current online literature (Continued)

Experimental Uniqueness
Csikszentmihaly (1997)
Childers, Carr, Peck, and Carson (2001)
Dabholkar (1996)
Dabholkar and Bagozzi ( 2002)
Ghani and Deshpande (1994)
Mathwick, Malhotra, and Rigdon (2001)
Miyazaki and Fernandez (2001)
Novak, Hoffman, and Yung (2000)
Webster and Martocchio (1992)
Wolfinbarger and Gilly (2003)

Level of flow
Usefulness
Fun
Fun
Intrinsic enjoyment, focused
attention
Entertainment value, Escapism,
Intrinsic enjoyment
Risk perception
Telepresence, Time distortion,
Consumer arousal, Level of flow,
Focused attention, playfulness
Playfulness
Entertainment value,
Personalization

The Informativeness Dimension

One of the main advantages of online shopping is a reduction in search costs for products
and search cost for product-related information (Lynch & Ariely, 2000). The Web offers an
opportunity to add differential values by providing full information (Haubl & Trifts, 2000). Full
information can provide a compelling online shopping experience that may improve the quality
of purchase decisions (Novak, Hoffman, & Yung, 2000). Empirical research suggests that
product-related information is an important decision-making variable for online purchases
(Odekerken-Schroder & Wetzels, 2003). The twin advantages of reducing product search cost
and providing full product information drive efficacy of the online decision-making.
According to the current literature on information, informativeness seems to be a general
construct that includes information relevancy, information accuracy, information
comprehensiveness, and information interactivity. Successful online shopping will occur if it
meets consumers wants and needs (Gammack & Hodkinson, 2003). Information relevancy,
information accuracy, and information comprehensiveness have been proposed to link customer
satisfaction with online channel adoption (Muylle, Moenaert, & Despontin, 1999). These
variables have been grouped together as information quality (Novak et al., 2000). Information
comprehensiveness is a measure of the amount of information furnished by the channel.
Consumers expect a certain level of information, and when the information provided by the Web
approaches this level, information comprehensiveness is enhanced. Burke (2002) reported that
consumers preferred using the Internet to search for information on products such as music,
movies, books, and electronics, whereas in-store visits were preferred when shopping for
expensive and infrequently purchased items such as appliances and furniture. This suggests that
information comprehensiveness would be an important dimension for online channel preference.
The vast amount of information available over the web has no value unless there are
efficient mechanisms for identifying, retrieving, and organizing them (Peterson & Merino,
2003). This relates to the relevancy and accuracy of the myriad information available on the

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Web. When so much information is accessible with little effort and cost, sorting relevant
information at hand is critical. Some researchers have suggested that the myriad information on
the Internet is effectively countered by new developments, such as online screening and smart
agents, because they help consumers to grab the most relevant information related to the
consumers preferences (cf. Alba et al., 1997). When smart agents become smarter, information
relevancy may become an unimportant issue. However, screening based on collaborative
filtering may still have issues related to the information accuracy because such ratings are not
always fair (Koehn, 2003).
As part of the informativeness, the high degree of interactivity between the user and the
channel has also caught attention. Information interactivity may include reciprocity in the
exchange of information, availability of information on demand, response contingency,
customization of content, and real-time feedback (Alba et al. 1997). Interactivity may be
enhanced by making the media richer by text, audio, and video channels separately or as a
multiplex. Chau, Au, and Tam (2000) reported the use of graphics on webpage had better impact
than text-based information. The transaction needs of consumers may be secured by emerging
technology that facilitate the desired levels of engagement associated with consumer decisions
(Gammack & Hodkinson, 2003). Some researchers have suggested that aesthetics in retail
environments are important in fostering interactivity. Aesthetics refer to the salient visual
elements of the retail environment and the entertaining or dramatic aspects (Mathwick, Malhotra,
& Rigdon, 2001). Visual and entertaining aspects of the retail environment may motivate
consumption by implying a desirable consumption experience (Schmid, 1998), or offer pleasure
to some specific shopping task involved in consumption (Deighton & Grayson, 1995).
The Customer Service Dimension
Customer service is one of the key dimensions for any business format to be successful. Ebusiness cannot miss this. Online businesses have to rely on excellent customer service to be
competitive (Lennon & Harris, 2002). When a competitor is only a click away, an online
business is faced with increasing pressure to distinguish themselves with better customer service.
Customer service in the online shopping scope has been conceptualized in different ways in the
literature.
Wolfinbarger and Gilly (2003) developed scales of customer service,
fulfillment/reliability, and security/privacy, separately. They grouped fulfillment and reliability
together as one single concept, which was defined as (1) the accurate display and description of
a product so that what customers receive is what they thought they ordered and (2) delivery of
the right product within the time frame promised. Security and privacy were defined as
security of credit card payments and privacy of shared information.
Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Malhotra (2002) examined privacy and security separately as
two different concepts. They found the determinants of privacy were (1) sharing (selling,
renting) personal information to other companies; (2) tracking of shopping habits, purchases,
etc., (3) placement of cookies on a consumers computer, (4) being contacted by the company
without providing consent; and (5) general privacy concerns. Conversely, security refers to
protecting users from the risk of fraud or financial loss from their use of credit cards during the
transaction. The security determinant includes (1) explaining security information clearly, (2)
guaranteeing credit card security, disclosure by the firm regarding the intended use of personal
details and (3) personal details being treated as private and confidential (Zeithaml, et al., 2002).

Contemporary Management Research 8

Fulfillment and reliability are related to customer service. Wolfinbarger and Gilly (2003)
defined them as (1) the accurate display and description of a product so that what customers
receive is what they thought they ordered and (2) delivery of the right product within the time
frame promised. However, Dabholkar (1996) examined reliability separately from fulfillment
and he proposed the term expected reliability, which was defined as how accurately customers
orders will be filled when they used the Web. Another dimension of customer service is delivery
of products (Francis & White, 2002), which focus on online retailers delivery system including
delivering the correct products and receiving an order in good condition.
The Convenience Dimension
In online shopping literature, convenience often refers to the opportunity to shop on a
flexible 24/7 schedule from home (Hofacker, 2001). This dimension has drawn a lot of
consumers to online shopping format. Convenience includes the opportunity to search and
compare a large number of alternatives at a relatively low search cost (Alba et al., 1997) and
eliminates frustrating encounters such as traffic, lack of parking, avoidance of check out lines
and travel to and from various stores (Childers, Carr, Peck, & Carson, 2001). Convenience is
one of the most frequently identified antecedents of consumer adoption of online shopping.
Kaufman-Scarborough and Lindquist (2002) suggested that frequent online shoppers consider
online shopping to be convenient by providing place-convenience since they can shop without
leaving their location and allow them to take advantage of time-convenience.
Childers et al. (2001) found convenience was a significant predicator of usefulness, ease of
use, and enjoyment of online shopping. Meuter, Ostrom, Roundtree, and Bitner (2000) reported
online shopping services were most satisfactory in cases where they saved time, worked reliably,
were easy to use, addressed a salient need, and offered greater control and 24/7 access. A
perception of greater convenience will lead to perceptions of greater ease of use and utility. Lack
of convenience is a source of frustration with brick and mortar stores (Kaufman-Scarborough &
Lindquist, 2002).
Convenience as a construct is linked to ease of use to describe the utility of the Web as a
shopping medium. Burke (2002) found that consumers were enthusiastic about the ease of
shopping across multiple channels. They liked being able to use the Web to check prices,
promotions, and inventory in the closest retail store. Wolfinbarger and Gilly (2003) found
website design (i.e., navigation, information search, order processing, and product selection) was
one of main factors that determines the quality of an Internet shopping experience. Ease of
navigation was found to be the most likely variable to lead to online shopping (Montoya-Weiss,
Voss, & Grewal, 2003). In addition, Spake, Beatty, Brockman, and Crutchfield (2003) suggested
that convenience and ease of use would help a service provider develop and maintain a
relationship with a customer, and are part of a broader concept of consumer comfort.
The Experiential Uniqueness Dimension
Experiential uniqueness refers to how the Web is unique from other shopping channels. If
the first three dimensions - informativeness, customer service, and convenience - can be
measured and matched up between online shopping and other shopping channels, this new
dimension emphasizes some features only provided by the Internet. The online shopping
literature highlights the characteristics of experiential uniqueness as experiential value,

Contemporary Management Research 9

entertainment value, escapism, fun, flow, and usefulness and playfulness. Mathwick et al.
(2001) suggested a customers perception of value is based upon interactions with direct usage or
distant appreciation of goods and services. Furthermore, they argued that these interactions can
offer both extrinsic and intrinsic benefits.
Entertainment value is the appreciation for the retail spectacle or those who shop for the
sake of entertainment. Entertainment is an aesthetic response that offers immediate pleasure for
its own sake regardless of the online shopping environments ability to facilitate the achievement
of a specific shopping task (Mathwick et al., 2001). Escapism was identified by Mathwick et al.
(2001) as a component of playfulness. They argued escapism allows the shopper to temporarily
get away from it all and the behavior is an end unto itself. Mathwick et al. (2001) also
suggested there is a degree of intrinsic enjoyment in engaging in playful shopping behavior.
Childers et al. (2001) used the Technology Adoption Model to assess motivations for online
shopping behavior. They suggested the enjoyment construct (i.e., the extent to which the activity
of using the technology is perceived to provide reinforcement in its own right apart from any
performance consequences) is a hedonic motivation for online shopping. A related component
of intrinsic enjoyment is fun. Dabholkar (1996) reported that the potential for enjoyment
increases the use of a technology. In the case of online shopping, if someone enjoys the
shopping experience, they will utilize the Internet more often to shop for a wider variety of
products. Therefore, fun and enjoyment aspects of the Internet need to be built into the design of
a Website. Additionally, usefulness and personalization also have been identified as two
components of the experiential uniqueness (Childers et al., 2001; Novak et al., 2000).
EVALUATION OF ONLINE CHANNEL LITERATURE
IN THE CONTEXT OF TRADITIONAL CHANNEL LITERATURE
In this section we discuss how the above discussed online channel literature and the four
groupings in Table 1 relate to the established traditional channel literature. There are two
purposes for this discussion. First, comparing and contrasting the online channel literature to the
traditional channel literature by using these four dimensions can provide a clear understanding of
the relationship between these two steams of literature. Consequently, the possible directions for
the future research on online shopping can be discussed. Secondly, this discussion is presented
to suggest face validity for the development of the four dimensions laid out in the previous
section. In particular, we proceed by reviewing the traditional channel literature and assessing
how the four dimensions of online channels relate to the theories developed in the traditional
channel literature.
Informativeness
According to the traditional channel literature, information comprehensiveness is the extent
to which information is available. Information relevancy and accuracy determine the usefulness
of the available information. It may be hypothesized that consumers are likely to prefer a
shopping media that would closely furnish them with the full extent of expected information
based on the past experience (cf. Moorthy, Ratchford, & Talukdar, 1997). Therefore,
information comprehensiveness, information relevancy, and information accuracy are all factors
that may impact prior beliefs and consequently impacting channel preferences. Alba and
Hutchinson (1987) proposed that familiarity and expertise are the dimensions of consumer

Contemporary Management Research 10

knowledge. Familiarity is defined as the number of product-related experiences that have been
accumulated by the consumer, and expertise as the ability to perform product-related tasks
successfully. Given that consumers at varying levels of knowledge are interacting with the
medium, the perceived comprehensiveness of information offered by the online medium may
show marked variation across consumers. In other words, consumer expertise and knowledge
may determine the relevancy and accuracy of information available in a channel.
Interactivity is a critical factor in the effectiveness of marketing communications (Stewart
& Pavlou, 2002). Interactivity is defined as having the following exchanging characteristics: it is
(a) multiway (it involves two or more actors), (b) immediate (responses occur within seconds),
and (c) contingent (response of one actor follows directly and logically from the action of
another) (Alba et al., 1997). Interactivity involves transfer and exchange of information and
therefore is the chief currency underlying the characteristic features of interactivity.
Comparing the traditional channel literature to the online literature, we can see that the
basic concepts, such as information comprehensiveness, information relevancy, information
accuracy, and information interactivity, which were discussed in the previous section of online
shopping, have been covered and applied in the traditional literature too. However, the
differences between these two streams of literature are still noticeable. First, when information
comprehensiveness is still a challenge for other shopping formats, Internet often overwhelms
shoppers with too much information. Second, in the traditional literature, information relevancy
and information accuracy are often associated with familiarity, past experience, and prior beliefs,
whereas due to the vast amount of information available over the Web, efficient mechanisms for
identifying, screening, organizing, and retrieving information, such as online screening, play a
more critical role for the information relevancy and information accuracy in the online literature.
Customer Service
One key factor that influences purchase choice is customer service (Blodgett, Wakefield, &
Barnes, 1995). In the context of traditional channels, customer service is defined as a process
for business to provide significant value-added benefits to customers in a cost effective way (La
Londe, Cooper, & Noordewier, 1988). There are two components included in customer service:
(1) those related to physical distribution service; and (2) those related to other functional units in
the organization (Mentzer, Gomes, & Krapfel, 1989).
Customer service is critical for the survival and expansion of a business because it
contributes to the satisfaction of the customers; contributes to the attitudes toward the firm held
by the customers; and contributes to the purchase and repurchase intentions of the customers
(Innis & La Londe, 1994). Ultimately, customer service is the key to customer satisfaction,
customer loyalty, and market share (Innis et al., 1994). There are two aspects of customer
service. The first one is associated with attributes like the level of responsiveness, reliability,
accuracy, and friendliness (Zeithaml, Berry, & Parasuraman, 1988). The other one is related to
how the business responds to customer complaints (Goodwin & Ross, 1990).
When the relationship between the traditional channel literature and online literature is
examined, we can see that when the traditional side provides a more foundational and broader
scope, the online side focuses more on the specific factors which have impacts on the customer
service performance, such as fulfillment, reliability, privacy, and security. Obviously, these
specific factors have been the main concerns of online shoppers and the main sources of

Contemporary Management Research 11

customer complaints. As a result, they caught more attention from academic researchers and
business practitioners. However, whether the broader foundation provided by the traditional
channel literature can bring more aspects to the online channel research still needs more studies.
Convenience
The concept of convenience has been discussed in the business literature since the early
1920s (Copeland, 1923). Originally, convenience referred to a category of goods which
required minimal time and physical and mental effort to purchase (Berry, Seiders, & Grewal,
2002). As time went on, this category came to denote the time and effort consumers used in
purchasing the product rather than as a characteristic of the product itself (Brown, 1990). Terms
that were used in conjunction with this concept were considered to be the resources given up,
such as time, energy, or opportunity, in order to acquire the product. This led to the view that
convenience was the non-monetary price of a product (cf. Kotler & Zaltman, 1971).
Berry et al. (2002) identified time and effort as the predominant streams of research on
convenience. Effort is also considered a non-monetary cost. It is viewed as a relevant and
positive input to an exchange (Berry, et al., 2002) and is related to time, intellectual thought and
emotion (Youngdahl & Kellog, 1997). Anderson and Thomas (1971) examined convenienceoriented consumption while Yale and Venkatesh (1986) identified convenience preference as a
consumption strategy. Morganosky (1986) created a definition of the convenience-oriented
consumer. Convenience has also been categorized into different types. Seiders et al. (2000)
discussed access-convenience and search-convenience. There are also possession-convenience,
transaction-convenience and time-convenience (Kaufman-Scarborough & Lindquist, 2002).
In addition, the service-convenience literature has focused on the opportunity costs that
prevent consumers from participating in other activities (Bivens & Volker, 1986) to the
psychological costs of time spent waiting (Osuna, 1985). Brown (1990) suggested that
convenience should be seen as a multidimensional construct: time, place, acquisition, use, and
execution. The first four are suggested by economic utility theory and the last one relating to the
amount of mental or physical effort the consumer wishes to expend in obtaining a product or
service. Berry, et al. (2002) stated that the consumers perceived expenditure of time and effort
influences their perceptions of service convenience.
Comparing the traditional literature to the online literature, we can see that they share a very
common foundation.
More specifically, time-convenience, place-convenience, accessconvenience, search-convenience, and service-convenience, which were first developed in the
traditional literature, have been studied and examined in the online literature too. This is
because, fundamentally, both streams of literature support the idea that convenience is a concept
involved in the non-monetary cost during the whole purchase process.
Product Uniqueness and Experiential Uniqueness
It is established in the traditional channel literature that the need for personal uniqueness
plays an important role in consumer behavior. Snyder and Fromkin (1980) suggested uniqueness
is a major reason why consumers seek out specific products and services. The motivation for
consumers to separate themselves from others varies across individuals and situations (Snyder &
Fromkin, 1977, 1980). The intensity of the motivation to be unique depends on ones internal
need to be unique (Synder & Fromkin, 1980), status aspiration (Cassidy & Lynn, 1989), and

Contemporary Management Research 12

degree of materialism (Belk, 1985). Consumers that need to be unique find it unpleasant to be
too similar to others (Snyder & Fromkin, 1980). Consumers may manifest their need for
uniqueness by selecting products different from mainstream products (Brock, 1968; Snyder,
1992; Snyder & Fromkin, 1980). Status aspiration is the desire for an individual to secure a high
level of importance and take leadership in a social hierarchy (Cassidy & Lynn, 1989). Another
way uniqueness is manifested is through the degree of materialism of the individual.
Materialistic consumers are more apt to try to attain a degree of uniqueness and social status by
acquiring and possessing unique products (Belk, 1985; Richins & Dawson, 1992).
Research has demonstrated a relationship between uniqueness and purchasing behavior.
The purchase of scare products is a way that consumers can attain a certain level of status or
degree of materialism (Brock, 1968, Snyder & Fromkin, 1980). Another way consumers may
become unique is by purchasing new innovative products that others cannot afford or are
difficult to acquire (Burns & Krampf, 1992). Customized products by their nature are different
from standard products and consumers that acquire them may achieve a higher level of status
within a group (Harris & Lynn, 1996). Consumers may choose a particular shopping venue
because of the unique mix of specialty stores that carry a unique product assortment that allow
the consumer to accomplish materialistic or status aspiration objectives (Burns & Warren, 1995).
It seems that the uniqueness studied in the traditional channel literature is different from the
uniqueness of online shopping we discussed in the previous section. The uniqueness in the
current online channel literature emphasizes more on the experiential uniqueness whereas the
product uniqueness is the focus of the traditional literature. However, in a larger scope, product
uniqueness is part of experiential uniqueness in that searching for the unique products, buying
the unique products, and consuming the unique products are part of the whole experience.
Because many of the various features offered by online shopping format become the motives of
online shoppers, experiential uniqueness seems to be a more appropriate construct for online
shopping studies than product uniqueness.
In summary, the four dimensions we identified in the online shopping literature,
informativeness, customer service, convenience, and experiential uniqueness, have been studied
and examined in the traditional channel literature from different angles. As one of the newest
shopping formats, online shopping came into being sharing similarities with traditional shopping
formats. Therefore, searching for brand-name frameworks and models to study online shopping
seems inappropriate. However, the similar dimensions and structures between online shopping
and other traditional shopping channels should not disguise the uniqueness of this new shopping
format.
CONCLUSION AND DISCUSION
This paper reviewed the literature related to online shopping in an effort to arrive at a stateof-the-art understanding of what is known about the dimensions that determine consumer choice
of the online channel. After reviewing the literature, we found that the variables and factors
studied previously could be categorized into four dimensions: Informativeness Dimension,
Customer Service Dimension, Convenience Dimension, and Experiential Uniqueness
Dimension. After we reviewed the relevant traditional channel literature, we found similarities
and differences between the online shopping literature and traditional channel literature
regarding those four dimensions.

Contemporary Management Research 13

The dimensions of online shopping as derived by the extensive incidence and interest in
literature and corroborated by expert judgments implying their face validity is neither a complete
assessment of everything we ought to know nor a measure of what we ever will know. Our focus
was to delineate connections between the emergent online channel literature and the established
traditional channel literature. Reassuringly so far, developments in online shopping behavior
research have charted well trodden paths of the established traditional channel literature. But
such a reassurance should not be at the cost of the more plausible reality that online shopping
behavior could differ in substance and style from its traditional counterpart. From the discussions
here, we at least have an idea what these two streams of literature have in common.
Furthermore, it is our modest hope that this discussion will stimulate efforts directed with
curiosity and vigor to unearth points of departure between online shopping behavior and
traditional shopping behavior.
The need and necessity of such an effort is easy to see. We are yet to see a comprehensive
model of online shopping behavior developed in the literature; or more modestly, to affirm
conclusively one way or other that a comprehensive model is either an unnecessary theoretical
flourish or a fundamentally important concept to our understanding. With existing ambivalence
in such aspects, a question as basic as whether a consumer will choose to buy online rather than
through another shopping medium is painfully moot. On a more pragmatic note, because online
shopping is still in its infancy, there is that ever present need to understand the characteristics of
online shopping that a marketer may use to encourage a consumer to choose an online medium.
When shopping behavior is little understood or key variables impacting behavior is clouded in
confusion, opportunities for manipulative efforts by marketers abound. Online privacy and
security issues raging in the popular press discussions attest to such concerns. As we elaborate
and debate on these pressing issues, the judicious measure by which online shopping behavior is
outlined in this paper should contribute to the growing impetus for more substantive elaboration
of theory and empirical work in future research.
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