La fragilidad del poder

Product characteristics shape online shopping habits. Online sale channels can accommodate many kinds of products, although not all products are suitable for online sales. Bruwer et al. (2011) and County (2014) show that different products are more attractive to consumers in differing settings. For example, the appeal of a luxury car may seem greater in a television advertisement or a showroom than on a dealership website (Bruwer et al., 2011).

Consumer goods can be classified into three major categories: convenience goods, shopping goods, and specialty goods. Convenience goods are those which are bought frequently, immediately and with minimum shopping effort. Examples include groceries and newspapers. Shopping goods are generally durable, pricier than convenience goods, and their purchase is generally pre-planned. Examples are furniture and electronics. Specialty goods require special purchasing efforts, and the items possess some special features. The buyers are willing to spend a lot of time and money to buy them in contrast with shopping goods. Examples include jewelry and antiques (Kim et al., 2012).

Online marketing studies have shown that online shopping platforms are highly specialised. Studies in the past have concentrated mainly on similar goods (Liao & Cheung, 2001; County, 2014). A study undertaken by Aladwan (2013) focused on e-learning, while Dahlen and Lange (2009) explored the online selling of groceries. Bigne-Alcañiz et al. (2009) and Amaro and Duart (2013) evaluated online travel services. Al-Somali et al.

(2009) delved into online banking. In other words, the results of each study reflected a specific product or service market.

The level of consumer satisfaction regarding delivery, new products and post-delivery services differ according to the commodity type (Koo et al., 2008; County, 2014). Consumers were more satisfied with the delivery and post-delivery services of shopping and convenience goods. On the other hand, evaluation of the suitability of online buying was not effectively carried out by such classifications (Thirumalai & Sinha, 2005). Additionally, the degree of acceptance of online shopping differs among customers particularly when they are purchasing dissimilar goods (Zhou, 2004). In some cases, customers link certain risks to certain products (Bhatnagar & Ghose, 2004). There is a difference in customer innovativeness and customer shopping orientation amid a variety of goods. Ultimately, the types of goods being sought influences whether consumers will turn to online or offline formats for their shopping.

3.3.1.6 Culture

The term ‘culture’ is complex and involves the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, ethics, customs, and many other abilities and habits that are obtained by an individual participating in a given society (Hawkins, 1997). It also refers to social factors such as reference groups, family, social roles, and social status (Wu, 2003).

In addition, ‘culture’ refers to a shared set of values that impact societal perceptions, attitudes, preferences, and responses. Hofstede’s cultural model (1991) develops five main cultural dimensions based on differences experienced within various countries and cultures across the world. The model includes notions of agency, gender, risk, orientation, and societal organization (Hofstede, 1991).

This model hinges on rather rigid interpretations of these notions. For instance, notions of gender may differ in various locales, while beliefs regarding individualism or collectivism are broad. In fact, these ideas do not seem to affect consumption habits, as those who are

common outlets. In other words, political dispositions may have little impact on consumption habits.

In other studies, differences in cultures reflect differences in online shopping. For instance, an individualistic culture is realised within the US whereby inter-individual relationships are not strong. In these cultures, individuals utilize the Internet for personal purposes such as e-commerce and information searching (Chau et al., 2002; Park & Jun, 2003).

In a collectivist culture such as China, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Mexico, individuals place immense importance on communal relationships. Individuals within these cultures utilize the Internet for social communication and hobbies, such as sending/receiving e- mails, accessing/downloading software, and conducting work-related research (Wee & Ramachandra, 2000). On the other hand, Sakarya and Soyer (2013) examined the effects of different cultures in online shopping by comparing online shopping in Turkey and the United Kingdom. Their study found that online shopping behaviour significantly varies between these two cultures, and that culture has a significant differentiating effect on consumption value. Moreover, Alsuwat (2013) studied different cultures of online shopping between Saudi Arabia and New Zealand, and found that culture affects how individuals make decisions regarding buying online.

Another example of the relationship between a nation’s population and culture is food delivery. It has been suggested that rapid development can be brought to the food delivery sector by facilitating the following:

- Adequate quantities of domestic products and services; - Modifications in the lifestyles; and

- The promotion of online culture among the masses (Zaki, 2013).

The practice of both traditional and online food delivery is as familiar in Saudi Arabia as in other countries of the world, as families still rely on cooking and preparing food at home. Food preparation by housewives has its rituals, and families still prefer to eat homemade food, which provides an incentive for food retailers in the country. Hence, there are vital chances for a quick response to online food delivery in Saudi Arabia if it manages to get good advertising and marketing promotion. Moreover, a lack of public transportation and

Cultures vary widely in this dimension, leading to the identification of different online shopping behaviours (Chau et al., 2002; Huang, 2003; Park & Jun 2003; Park et al., 2004). Some studies have found that there are relationships between resident areas and online shopping (Chau et al., 2002; Chen & Lee, 2005; Koyuncu & Lien, 2013; Doolin et al., 2005; Gong & Maddox, 2011; Van Slyke et al., 2010; Thamizhvanan & Xavier, 2013). Sociocultural pressure has enhanced men’s independence in their purchase decisions. Women, on the other hand, place more emphasis on personal contact and social relations in (Van Tubergen et al., 2016). Society has generally encouraged the development of affective relations among women through the incorporation of shared activities with adults of similar gender, as it enhances individual levels of interdependency in existent social relations (Rajput, 2012).

Gong (2009) identifies the sociocultural and technical factors that influence Saudi females’ online shopping acceptance. The researchers present a semiotic diagnosis of the sociocultural e-commerce design requirement in their study, including human information functions (e.g., social world, pragmatics and semantics) and the IT platform (e.g., synthetics, empirics and physical world).

The research findings illuminate how sociological and cultural components drive female consumers to participate in online commerce platforms. In the next section, shopping motivation will be discussed, one of the factors of OSAM, and a factor inherited from the traditional (non-online) consumer.

Furthermore, a recent study comparing cultures between Saudi Arabia and the United States has concluded that an extraordinary doubt avoidance dimension would not accept any modification, and so opposed it. Therefore, this illustrates the substantial and major dissimilarities between customers living in the United States and in Saudi Arabia. According to the aforementioned survey, American consumers feel at less risk with online shopping generally and also less at risk in all six risk dimensions compared to Saudi Arabian consumers. Performance risk was rated as the highest by the US customers, followed by privacy risk, whereas consumers from Saudi Arabia felt the most risk