A Study On The Impact Of E-Commerce Marketing On Consumer Buying Behaviour In India: An Analytical Perspective

Abstract

The marketing of ecommerce has changed the Indian consumer's recognition of needs, search process for information, comparison of options, trust and purchase completion process. The impact is not confined to ads; it's the impact created by a connected choice environment that consists of social media material, personalised recommendations, price promotions, ratings and reviews, influencer interaction, mobile convenience, payment assurance, delivery promises and much more. This paper examines the effect on India's consumers' purchase behavior with respect to these mechanisms. It is descriptiveanalytical and draws on secondary data that has been used recently, as well as a simulated data set of 300 online consumers, which is clearly identified. The analytical model is based on the stimulus-organism-response model, Theory of Planned Behaviour and technology-acceptance studies. Five relationships are explored through cross tabulation analysis and chi-square analysis: marketing exposure to purchase frequency, trust to purchase intention, purchase intention to purchasing by impulse, purchase confidence to relying on reviews, and acceptance of personalisation to privacy concern. All five illustrative tests are statistically significant at the 5 per cent level and the highest relationships are found for the items dealing with trust and privacy-related items. The analysis suggests that there are four main routes of influencing buying behaviour via e-commerce marketing: value creation, uncertainty reduction, social validation and behavioural activation. The mechanisms, however, can lead to consumer harm when they are too intrusive, confusing or push too much urgency and discounting. The paper suggests that there should be transparent personalisation, verified review systems, responsible promotional design, multilingual communication, first mobile, a better service after purchase and compliance should be consumer-centred. It concludes that while ecommerce marketing in India needs to speed up the transactions, it also needs to enhance the quality of decision making and its confidence. VOL.: 2, ISSUE: 3, JULY-SEPTEMBER 20