A Comparison of Online and Offline Gender and Goal-Directed Shopping Online

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to model the effect of the consumers’ perceptions of their offline and online gendered behaviour on online utilitarian shopping motivation and purchase intentions. We propose that when consumers shop online their behaviour is mediated by two gendered behaviors; offline and online. Therefore, gender is defined by the environments effect on behaviour To test this proposition, five hundred and fifteen usable responses were collected in face-to-face interviews. The conceptual model was tested with confirmatory factors analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) across 5 product categories. Our findings show that the effect of a consumer’s perception of their gendered behaviour offline vs. online on, online utilitarian shopping motivation and purchase intentions is significantly different. We conclude that online gender for females has a strong mediating effect across all product categories on online utilitarian shopping motivation and purchase intentions. For males it is their offline gender that has a strong mediating effect. Research implications are discussed.