Socio-Cultural Influence on Consumer Behavior in Traditional and Online Shopping: A case study of twin cities.

Abstract

The rise of internet for the previous two decades has made easier for consumers to adapt online shopping gradually from traditional markets. This study accounts for the cultural aspect of consumer behavior in the traditional markets and online shopping. It investigates the change online shopping is offering towards this consumer behavior and examines the benefits, and constraints of online shopping by the analysis of cultural aspect of buying behavior. consumer behavior studied under anthropological lens is a new phenomenon, so this study fulfills the research gap. Our society is experiencing the cultural evolution towards digitalization and COVID-19 is a catalyst for that therefore this study has great importance since people now prefer to shop online in order to save them from getting infected. Mixed method approach has been used for data collection, structured interviews and questionnaires were conducted of 48 people of age 18-30 using convenient sampling, six informal interviews were also part of data collection from the female respondents’ mothers or aunts. The findings show that consumer behavior is evolving from traditional markets to the online shopping practices. Yet consumers have still preference for the certain advantages of traditional shopping as they have learnt the art and enjoy marketplaces as a part of recreation. 58% people now prefer to shop online as it provides convenience and ensures their safety. However, they expect online shopping to have customer services, detailed content and design, security certification, multiple payment methods, product delivered on time with quality and price assurance. The challenges they face are 61 % got scammed, 56 % waiting more than given delivery time, 9 % talked about added shipping cost, lack of after sales services etc. This study can act as a reference for online marketers to make strategies as it highlights cultural aspects of consumer behavior. The study explains the benefits and constrains of online shopping by the analysis of the cultural factor of consumer behavior. Keywords: Consumer Behavior, Traditional shopping, online Shopping, Trust, Convenience, Language, Time, Culture. 4