We carried out two studies (Dittmar, Long, & Meek, 2004) with the explicit aims of examining buying motives not only in conventional buying, but also in the alternative buying environment of the internet, while taking gender differences into account. Our concern with overcoming the limitations of previous research by identifying a comprehensive range of buying motives suggested a qualitative study as a first step. The findings can then be used in the development of a quantitative survey that uses finely grained, multi-item measures of the main buying motives that emerge.
For both studies, we chose students as respondents, because this popula- tion is particularly internet-literate, as well as making tests of gender hypo- theses fairly stringent. They constitute a group of young consumers who all have internet access (through the university if not also at home), who use computers routinely, and who fall predominantly into the 18–25 age group, where internet use is highest. Internet use is encouraged in university settings and it has become almost a necessity for students when they search for information or communicate with tutors. It also seems that there is little difference between the online sites visited by college students and the general
US internet audience (ComScore Media Matrix, 2002). Although students are probably more limited in their capacity for spending money than young adults of a comparable age who are in full-time employment, this difference appears less important for an investigation of motives, as reported here, rather than for a survey of, say, purchase frequency. Moreover, students— compared to the general population—are more likely to have challenged or overcome traditional gender-role identifications.
Bricks versus clicks: Buying motives in conventional and online buying
In the first, qualitative, study, we used thematic analysis on respondents’ written accounts (n = 113) to identify what they experience as advantages and disadvantages when they buy consumer goods, separately for con- ventional shops and the internet. They were specifically instructed to exclude grocery and household shopping, and to focus on personal consumer goods, a distinction supported by the finding of Childers et al. (2001) that, in comparison, everyday household purchases are more strongly driven by practical and economic motives. The analytic process was much the same as the one we used for transcribed interviews on impulsive buying (Dittmar & Drury, 2000). It involved coding of the text to identify recurring themes in responses, and then sorting these into a hierarchical order of pre- dominant themes and associated subthemes. The content and relative promi- nence of primary themes and subthemes was identified across the sample as a whole, as well as in terms of comparisons between women and men, and between those who did and did not buy online, designated as e-buyers and non-e-buyers.
With respect to functional factors, convenience and efficiency emerged as motives in conventional buying, and men in particular referred to shopping with minimum effort and hassle: “[W]hen I go shopping for goods, I don’t like spending much time doing it. Often I’ll buy one of the first things I see” (Dittmar et al., 2004, p. 429). These functional aspects were emphasised by the majority of respondents more strongly in the context of the internet and, in addition, benefits of browsing and comparisons were highlighted, as well as increased access to goods and cheaper prices online. Three main findings emerged with respect to emotional, experiential, and social factors. Both women and men stated that an important advantage of conventional buying was the ability to have direct contact with the good (handle, try on), and women more strongly than men referred to the atmosphere in shops, as well as shopping being a social activity together with others (e.g. friends). In contrast, these social and experiential aspects were seen as comparatively lacking in internet buying by the majority of respondents, particularly non-e-buyers. Spontaneous descriptions of emotional involvement in con- ventional buying were given predominantly by women (75%), with three subthemes: “buzz” or thrill; excitement of an unexpected bargain or find; and
mood regulation in the form of escapism, reward, or distraction. The majority of those respondents who described the internet as less emotionally engaging were also women.
Although not as prominent as the other two themes, buying motives related to identity did emerge as a distinct third dimension. The main focus was on self-expression, increasing self-esteem, and projecting a more ideal image to others and to oneself. This incorporates the ways in which purchases relate to the ideal self, the prestige of newly acquired goods, or how buying can make one feel better about oneself. Subthemes related to bringing new goods home or wearing new clothes when going out, and receiving compliments or feeling better about oneself because of the new goods. For example, respondents reported an additional thrill of wearing newly purchased clothes, in terms of a boost in self-image and self-esteem, as well as compliments they receive from others. This was found both for women—“I like shopping for clothes, to feel better about myself when wearing these new clothes”—and for men—“It is when I get to use the product that I enjoy the most, . . . wearing new clothes out, especially if I am complimented on them” (Dittmar et al., 2004, p. 432). Although identity-related motives were voiced explicitly only with respect to conventional buying, there is no reason why they should not also apply to online buying.
Three findings of our qualitative research are novel. First, three primary themes emerged and recurred: functional issues; emotional, experiential, and social factors; and identity-related concerns. These are consistent with the three main sets of buying motives postulated earlier. Second, functional motives seemed more prominent for internet than conventional buying, whereas online buying was seen as less psychologically involving because it is poorer with respect to social–experiential shopping dimensions and, particularly for women, emotional engagement. Finally, although expected gender differences emerged in conventional buying—women reported psy- chological involvement in the whole shopping and buying process, whereas men focused on efficiency and convenience in obtaining buying outcomes— gender differences were much less evident with respect to internet buying. Overall, there is an indication that the buying environment might play a more important role for women consumers, whose motives related to emo- tional involvement and social–experiential benefits might not easily translate to buying online. In contrast, men seem to be able to address their main concerns equally well in either environment.
This qualitative study is a useful foundation on which to build a quantita- tive assessment of the relative importance of buying motives in conventional and online buying. Questionnaire items to assess each type of motive were either adapted from previous research (e.g. Babin et al., 1994; Dittmar, 2000; Donthu & Garcia, 1999), or they were formulated on the basis of the qualita- tive findings. This quantitative study addresses gaps in the research literature. It covers a more comprehensive set of buying motives, particularly motives related to identity. Previous studies neglected to distinguish explicitly between
the two different buying environments, conventional and internet, and thus could not offer a systematic comparison between them. Through developing scales that can be applied to both conventional and online buying, we are able to make a direct comparison between these two environments as experienced by the same individual.
The findings for four sets of hypotheses are presented in this chapter. First, building on gender differences in conventional buying, men were expected to place more emphasis on functional than emotional–experiential–social and identity-related buying motives, whereas women were expected to show either equally balanced or opposite preferences. Second, in terms of the impact of buying environment on motives, it was expected that functional motives would be more important for online than for conventional buying, whereas the psychological motives may be weaker online. The qualitative findings suggest that the impact of environment should be more powerful for women than for men, which suggests gender-specific patterns. Finally, our qualitative research also suggests that people find it easy to overspend on the internet, because they spontaneously talked about the buying transaction as particu- larly remote—a button click—and the quantitative study therefore also assesses perceptions of ease of spending money, both in conventional and online buying.
The study participants, 240 young consumers typically in their early twen- ties, completed a questionnaire that consisted of a set of statements about buying motives, designed to tap three main dimensions. The first concerned functional issues, which include: economic concerns about the “rational” benefits of goods (e.g. good value for money, price comparison, usefulness);
efficiency and convenience (e.g. saving time, speed and efficiency, constant
access); and information acquisition and exploration, which captures poten- tially important dimensions of internet buying, such as quick and easy access to consumer information. The second main dimension focuses on emotional and experiential–social factors. Emotional involvement in shopping refers to a pleasurable activity in which the actual purchase of goods can be of sec- ondary or even little importance (e.g. leisure activity, enjoyment of browsing without buying), and as an activity that arouses emotions and can be used to regulate one’s mood (e.g. fun, excitement, buzz, better mood). Experiential–
social motives focus on the buying experience, contact, and social interaction.
The final dimension of identity-related concerns includes both social and personal identity. On the one hand, consumers may want to buy consumer goods as a way of moving closer to an ideal self (e.g. feel more like the person they want to be) and, on the other, they can see goods as a means of improving social image and social standing (e.g. impress friends, gain prestige). Respondents were asked to rate the extent to which they agree or disagree with each statement, first with reference to conventional buying, and then with reference to buying online. After exclusion of a few items on the basis of exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) demonstrates that the same model with five factors provides a good fit for
the data, both in the conventional and internet buying environments. We specified a stringent CFA in which each item was allowed to load only on its assigned factor. The items and factor loadings are shown in Table 3.1, confirming that these factors can be treated as separate scales, and can be classified into three main categories.
In support of the gender hypothesis in conventional buying, the relative importance of the three key concerns—functional, emotional–social, and identity-related—differed significantly for women compared to men. Identity- related, emotional, and social–experiential concerns were more important to women than to men, whereas the two functional factors were more important to men than to women. Further findings were that whereas identity was relatively less important to both genders than emotional and social– experiential concerns, this gap was larger for women than for men, which is partly a reflection of women’s emotional involvement being particularly strong. Gender differences were least pronounced on identity-related motives. Scale means are shown in the top half of Figure 3.2. It is also interesting to note that, when gender is not taken into account, functional and psycho- logical motivations are equally important overall, supporting the significance of “passions” when people buy consumer goods.
Next, the impact of the buying environment was examined for those respondents who had bought goods on the internet (n = 110). Women’s and men’s mean ratings for online buying motives are shown in the bottom part of Figure 3.2. A striking finding is just how similar their responses are: in contrast to “bricks”, there is little by way of gender differences in buying motives for “clicks”. An interesting way of making sense of these findings, given the pronounced gender differences in conventional buying motives and our expectation that the internet buying environment is likely to be experienced differently by women and men, is to compare online and conventional buying motives separately for women and men.
For men, buying environment did not have an impact overall on their buying motives, and the strong effect of functional motives being more important than psychological motives holds across both their conventional and online buying. However, a significant interaction showed that the impact of buying environment differs depending on the type of motives. Compared to conventional buying, motives relating to economic concerns and efficiency increased online, whereas psychological motives became less important. However, this decrease is uneven in strength. Compared to conventional buying, identity-related motives decreased less in importance online than the emotional–social–experiential factors taken together. Emotional involvement was not strongly affected by buying environment. In summary, then, the pattern of men’s motives in conventional buying does not change qualita- tively, but simply becomes more pronounced when buying online: functional concerns become more important and psychological motives somewhat less important, although this shift is comparatively less evident for identity-related motives and emotional involvement.
Table 3.1 Factors in conventional and online buying Scale Factor loadings Scale item
Conventional Online Functional issues
Economic .74 .59 I like to compare prices carefully before I buy .59 .59 It is important to me that the goods I buy are
value for money
.58 .27 Goods I buy have to be useful and practical Efficient .82 .74 I want buying to be as fast and as efficient as
possible
.54 .57 Saving time while buying goods is very important to me
.35 .51 It is important to me that I can buy things whenever I choose
.22 .31 Buying things this way avoids hassles
Emotional involvement and social experience
Social– Experiential
.76 .75 I need to see and touch consumer goods before I buy them
.46 .47 The “feel” of the place I buy things is important to me
.45 .43 It is important to me to have contact with people when I make purchases
.42 .44 I wouldn’t want to buy clothes without trying them on first
Emotional .86 .76 Shopping is fun and exciting .83 .63 I get a real buzz from buying things .82 .61 I often buy things because it puts me in a
better mood
.78 .71 For me, shopping and buying things is an important leisure activity
.74 .61 Compared to other things I could do, buying consumer goods is truly enjoyable
.72 .63 Buying things arouses my emotions and feelings
.70 .41 I like to shop, not because I have to but because I want to
.56 .50 I enjoy browsing and looking at things, even when I do not intend to buy something
Identity
.83 .82 I like to buy things which impress other people
.71 .84 I buy consumer goods because they give me “prestige”
.57 .47 I want to buy things which make me feel more like the person I want to be
Adapted from Dittmar, Long, & Meek (2004), Buying on the internet: Gender differences in online and conventional buying motivations, Sex Roles, 50, p. 437 and p. 438, with kind permission of Kluwer.
In contrast to men, environment did have a significant effect on women’s buying motives, such that there is a drop in importance, which suggests that buying online is less involving overall for them than conventional buying. However, this effect is produced by the strong decreases in emotional and experiential–social motives when women buy online, and therefore has to be understood in the context of the powerful interaction between motives
Figure 3.2 Young women’s and men’s conventional and online buying motives. (Note.
Adapted from Dittmar, Long, & Meek (2004), Buying on the internet: Gender differences in online and conventional buying motivations, Sex
and environment. For women, functional motives also increase online, whereas psychological motives decrease, but this shift is much stronger than for men. A closer examination reveals a further interesting finding for women. Although identity-related concerns were less important than emotional–social–experiential factors in conventional buying, the gap closes online, which suggests that the drop in emotional involvement and social experience has the effect that identity concerns become equally important. In summary, buying environment appears to have a stronger impact on women’s than men’s motives, with the possible exception of identity. Moreover, there is an interesting reversal of motivational priorities for women. Whereas emo- tional and social–experiential factors are more important than functional concerns in conventional buying, this order reverses when women buy on the internet.
Men are more functional in their buying orientation in conventional shops and stores than are women, whereas women stress social–experiential and identity-related concerns, and, in particular, emotional involvement. These findings confirm the hypothesised gender differences in conventional buying, which means they are still characteristic of young consumers, who should be less likely than general population samples to express gender- stereotypical motives. The environment in which buying takes place has a much stronger impact on women than on men. For men, functional motives become even more important online than in conventional buying, and psychological motives, especially social–experiential concerns, become less important. Further, men’s emotional involvement in buying is hardly affected by environment, which suggests that men do not experience the online buying environment as dampening their hedonic enjoyment. Overall, their pattern of buying motives is amplified on the internet, rather than fundamentally altered. For women, there is an increase in the importance of functional concerns on the internet, and a strong decline in emotional and social–experiential motives, to the extent that their motivational priorities are reversed. Identity- related motives are affected less strongly. Thus, women’s online buying motives are markedly more similar to men’s online than they are in conventional buying. Once women engage in online buying, their motives resemble those of male internet buyers, with gender differences hardly in evidence. The shift from conventional to online buying entails greater change for women, which might explain why their overall involvement in shopping appears to be reduced on the internet.
So far, the reported findings predominantly describe buying motives, rather than focus on how different motives might influence consumer behaviour, particularly behaviours with negative consequences for consumers’ well-being. The final section of this chapter starts to consider links between buying motives and potentially detrimental consumer behaviours, such as spending money inadvertently without realising just how much, which could easily lead people into paying out more than they can sensibly afford.
Buying motives and perceived ease of spending
In the qualitative study of young consumers’ accounts of conventional and online buying a further theme emerged, additional to buying motives, con- cerning the nature of the purchasing transaction and the extent to which respondents felt in control of their spending. The following excerpt illustrates that internet buying can afford individuals greater control over spending money: “I do not waste so much money, because everything I buy is carefully thought out beforehand and, of course, I do not get intimidated to buy other things as I visit only the sites I’m interested in” (Dittmar et al., 2004, p. 429). This account is consistent with the widespread assumption in the wider social scientific literature, at least as expounded initially, that e-commerce should be