Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design, Department of

 

First Advisor

Jennifer Johnson Jorgensen

Date of this Version

Fall 12-2-2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Comments

A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Major: Human Sciences (Textiles, Merchandising, and Fashion Design), Under the Supervision of Professor Jennifer Johnson Jorgensen. Lincoln, Nebraska: November, 2020

Copyright © 2020 Md Rashaduzzaman

Abstract

The number of internet users and online shoppers in the United States has grown at an incredible rate over the past few decades. Greater convenience and availability of a wide assortment of apparel products at a cheaper price made online shopping very enticing to consumers. Amazon.com (Amazon) gained unprecedented popularity among consumers with its Amazon Prime program. Amazon’s retail revolutions changed consumer’s way of shopping and expectations. Both online and physical store retailers are facing tremendous pressure to fulfill that level of expectation. Thus, it is essential for retailers clearly understand the shopping expectations and preferences of Amazon Prime members and non-Prime shoppers. Little research has been carried out to understand the online apparel purchasing behavior of Amazon Prime members and non-Prime shoppers.

The purpose of this study was to identify and explain the perceived benefits that Amazon Prime members and non-Prime shoppers in the United States engage when developing intention to purchase apparel online. A conceptual model was extended from the Theory of Planned Behavior by incorporating external variables such as convenience, time-savings, price, and product variety.

Quantitative research method consisting of an explanatory research design was used in this study. Multiple regression was selected to test the relationships based on a convenience survey sample of 334 U.S. Amazon Mechanical Turk workers.

The results of this study showed that convenience, price, and product variety significantly influenced participant’s intention to purchase apparel online. Thus, participants intended to purchase apparel online when they perceived online shopping websites provided a higher level of convenience, cheaper prices, and a wide variety of apparel. However, time-savings was not found to have a significant impact on developing online apparel purchase intention. Results also indicate that Amazon Prime members perceive greater price comparison than non-Prime shoppers when shopping apparel online. Except for the price, none of the variables was significant in determining the differences between Amazon Prime members and non-Prime shoppers’ intention to purchase apparel online.

Advisor: Jennifer Johnson Jorgensen

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