| Today's companies are studying methods to identify and attract potential customers and maintain a long-term relationship with current customers. The emerging population segment born since 1976, known as Generation Y has tremendous buying power; retailers plan to attract youth and keep them as returning customers. This study, conducted on 343 university students, compared two groups, Internet shoppers and nonshoppers. The study examines socioeconomic characteristics and motivational factors related to shopping. Attitudes toward shopping, direct marketing, and advertising were also analyzed. The study results demonstrated little significant difference between the two groups with the exception that the Internet shopper placed more value on convenience. Minor differences were also found between education level and age. The neutral survey responses indicate that these consumers may not have fully developed shopping opinions or that the survey did not reflect the shopping behavior that motivates this population, such as purchasing for occasions. Although there were some tendencies toward specific buying behavior characteristics, such as the negative attitude toward direct marketing, the survey results demonstrated the Internet buyers lacked strong opinion with the exception of their desire for convenience when shopping. |
