ONLINE COMMUNICATION AND SALES PERFORMANCE OF ONLINE SHOPPING IN PORT HARCOURT
This study aims to determine the relationship between online communication and sales performance of online shopping in Port Harcourt.
CHAPTER ONE
Background to study
In the past decade, the Internet has become a widely used communication medium. Almost all Nigerian adolescents use the Internet for online communication, and 68% use the Internet for real-time online communication, such as instant messaging and chatting in chat rooms (Valkenburg & Peter, 2007). Instant messaging has become the most popular online communication function both in Nigeria and other countries (Valkenburg & Peter, 2007) and in the United States (Gross, 2004; Subrahmanyam, Greenfield, Kraut, & Gross, 2001). In contrast to e-mail, instant messaging and chatting are forms of online communication whereby users see the message instantly, as soon as the sender hits the return key. Moreover, in contrast to chatting in chat rooms, instant messaging mainly reflects communication between persons who know each other; that is, the use of instant messaging functions (ICQ, MSN Messenger) requires that both users actively program each other’s instant messaging address (Subrahmanyam, Greenfield, & Tynes, 2004). The nature of online communication has changed significantly over the last few decades with the advent of the Internet and mobile communications. These online communications technologies are becoming increasingly popular with recent surveys showing that 53% of Nigeria households have mobile phones (Dutton & Blank, 2013), 83% of UK adults use the internet (Ofcom, 2014), and 73% do so every day (Office of National Statistics, 2018). In the present study, we investigated the relationships between online communication and sales performance (i.e., email use, instant messaging, and chatting in chat rooms) and their psychosocial well-being. Online communication may be a particularly safe way to communicate for those adolescents who have insufficient social skills or who experience social anxiety (Ybarra et al., 2005). Online communication is suggested to play a central role in the development of compulsive Internet use (Caplan, 2003; Chou & Hsiao, 2000; Ward, 2001; Young, 1997). Purchasing products or services over the Internet, online shopping has attained immense popularity recently mainly because people find it convenient and easy to shop from the comfort of their home or office and also eased from the trouble of moving from shop to shop in search of the good of choice. Online shopping (or e-tail from electronic retail or e-shopping) is a form of e-commerce that allows consumers to directly buy goods and services over the internet through a virtual shop.
Online shopping in Nigeria is a new technology breakthrough since it has just begun to assault the Nigerian retailing sector with online shopping services (Haque, et al 2006). To increase online shopping in Nigeria, understanding consumer online shopping behavior and factors influencing this behavior when shopping online should be given priority. Online shopping is a phenomenon that has changed the way people live and operate daily and can be defined as the purchasing of products or services through the Internet (Javadi, et al 2012), which makes its adoption dependent on consumers’ adoption of information technologies. It has not only become a huge part of the lives of consumers but has also changed how businesses operate.
1.2 Statement of the problem
Over the last few years online shopping has exploded; physical market places are being challenged by marketplaces created by internet technology (Gummesson, 2008). As mobile devices become the de-facto tools to shop. Consumers to meet their moment-to-moment shopping needs are willing to go back and forth, from one vendor to another or from online to offline environments. They not only check products at traditional outlets but also try them out, at times asking sales personnel for information and advice. Sometimes they take product snapshots, scan product bar codes, and access online search engines like Google, to get additional information or compare prices (Bachrach et al., 2016). Lately, the smartphone is no longer only a tool that helps consumers to make the right purchase decision at the point of sale but has become the default point of sale for many products and services. It started with music downloads, app sales, and videos. Consumers are now using mobile phones not only to buy books, clothing, and electronics but also to book bus, train, air tickets, and hotel rooms or share homes through apps like Airbnb or even book taxi rides through Uber. As more and more people are opting for the convenience of online shopping through communication. Combining brick-and-mortar, e-tailing and mobile seems to be the future of commerce. Retailers need to rethink and redefine their strategies around their consumers, as shopping through mobile phones slowly takes over. It is of paramount importance for retailers to strive and create coherently integrated organizations to cope with these connected consumers. These consumers demand a consistent shopping experience regardless of the channel through which they shop, whether online or offline, or a mix of both channels. Aside from the risk of developing symptoms of compulsive Internet use, frequent online communication may directly reduce the psychosocial well-being of Nigerian people.
Preceding studies have been done on online communication and sales performance (Liao & Keng 2013; Lian & Yen 2014 and Hsieh & Tsao, 2014). But no studies have been done on online communication and sales performance of online shopping in Port Harcourt. It is against this backdrop that this study seeks to investigate the relationship between online communication and sales performance of online shopping in Port Harcourt.
1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study
This study aims to determine the relationship between online communication and sales performance of online shopping in Port Harcourt, while the specific objectives of this study are listed below:
- To determine the relationship between web interactivity and sales performance of online shopping in Port Harcourt.
- To determine the relationship between the instant messenger and sales performance of online shopping in Port Harcourt.
1.4 Research Questions
With regards to the study, the following questions are formulated:
- What is the relationship between web interactivity and sales performance of online shopping in Port Harcourt?
- What is the relationship between the instant messenger and sales performance of online shopping in Port Harcourt?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
Based on the research questions, the following hypotheses are formulated
Ho1: There is no significant relationship between web interactivity and profitability of online shopping in Port Harcourt.
Ho2: There is no significant relationship between web interactivity and productivity of online shopping in Port Harcourt.
Ho3: There is no significant relationship between instant messenger and profitability of online shopping in Port Harcourt.
Ho4: There is no significant relationship between the instant messenger and the productivity of online shopping in Port Harcourt.
1.6 Study Variables and Conceptual Framework
In this study, online communication is the independent variable having its dimensions as web interactivity and instant messenger.
Sales performance is the dependent variable in this study having its measures as profitability and productivity.
For this study, we are developing models. The functional relationships involved are as follows:
Premised on the research variables, the study was expressed in the functional relationship as follows:
OC= (SP) —————————————————-1
SP= (P, P) —————————————————2
OC= (WI, IM) ———————————————–3
SP= (WI, IM) ———————————————4
OC=(P, P) —————————————————5
WHERE
OC = Online Communication
SP= Sales Performance
WI = Web Interactivity
IM = Instant Messenger
P = Profitability
P= Productivity
Conceptual Framework
Figure 1:1 Conceptual Framework on online communication and sales performance of online shopping in Port Harcourt.
Source: the researcher’s conceptualization from a review of relevant literature, 2019
1.7 Significance of the Study
The outcome of this study will be useful to both marketing practitioners and managers of retailing firms in Port Harcourt. The study will aid the understanding of the relevance of online communication as a strategic tool for achieving customer satisfaction.
This study, therefore, will add to the existing literature on the topic to close the existing knowledge gap and provide information to both students and other interested scholars.
1.8 Scope of the Study
The scope of this study is in three dimensions, namely; the content scope, the geographical scope, and the unit of analysis. Content scope: covers the extent of the relationship between online communication and sales performance of online shopping in Port Harcourt. Geographical scope: This study covers online shops in Port Harcourt. Unit of Analysis: the micro-level of analysis was adopted and the units of analysis were thus, customers.
1.9 Limitation of the study
These include factors that are capable of affecting the authenticity of the entire work. Such as the inability to completely avoid bias from the respondent, inability to study all the five human sensory receptors, the researcher studied only two measures of online communication. That is, web interaction and instant messenger more also, geographically, the study is limited to Port Harcourt as the researcher may not be able to cover the entire country. The reluctance and un-cooperative attitude of responding to customers to discuss feely and objectively to questionnaires establish a major limitation.
1.10 Definition of Terms
Online Communication: This is how people as well as computers communicate with each other through a computer network and the internet.
Sales performance: This can indicate the rate of customer loyalty to the business or a specific employee.
Web interactive: This is an Internet page that has features that customers can actively engage with.
Instant messenger: This is a process of a relatively means of online communication.
Profitability: The money a business earns above and beyond what it spends on overheads and other costs.
Productivity: Is the quantum of sales done by salespeople in a given period, which can be measured by both the number and quality & quantity of publication and research.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.