Three Essays of Grocery Consumers' Channel Selection Behavior between Online and Offline Market

Abstract

Electronic commerce has pervaded consumers daily life since the 1990s, but online grocery is still lagging behind. This study aims to identify the hurdles online grocery faces and the ways to get over the hurdles. To accomplish the aim of study, grocery consumers channel selection behavior is investigated using three consecutive studies. Study 1 examines the effects of consumers food-related lifestyles on channel selection. The results show a positive determinant of online channel selection is consumers perception regarding freshness in the case of grains, and cost performance in the case of vegetables. In study 2, factors regarding diffusion rate of online grocery is investigated, and perceived compatibility is identified as a significant determinant of online channel selection. In study 3, grocery consumers exclusiveness of online channel usage is examined. It is shown that grain consumers use the online channel exclusively, but vegetable consumers do not. Several implications are also suggested.