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From visitor to customer : persuasion in online stores

Put, N. (2015) From visitor to customer : persuasion in online stores.

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Abstract:Persuasion can be found anywhere. Especially in the marketing sector, where an organization wants their customers to behave in a certain way. For example: a store who wants his customers to buy their products. Since there is a huge shift from shopping in physical stores to shopping in the online environment, people have to be persuaded in a different way. This study investigated how people can be persuaded to buy products from a sports nutrition web shop. The persuasion techniques used for this research, are the authority technique and the social proof technique. The purpose of the present research is to measure if the authority technique and the social proof technique, as well as the level of involvement, have an impact on the attitude towards the product and the website, and on the purchase intention. The theoretical framework was designed based on the literature. The following important issues were established: attitude towards online shopping, attitude towards working out, involvement with sports nutrition, attitude towards the product, attitude towards the website, purchase intention, and persuasion knowledge. Based on these issues, a questionnaire was created. 216 Respondents completed the questionnaire, from which 111 can be considered not involved with the product, and 105 are involved. The results indicated that the presence of an authority technique did have a negative effect on attitude towards the product and the website, as well as the purchase intention. The social proof technique did not have an effect on those three variables. The level of involvement, on the other hand, had an effect on attitude towards the product and towards the website, and on the purchase intention. Hence, the use of authority is not recommended. However, the persuasion techniques should be further examined in a real web shop.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:05 communication studies
Programme:Communication Studies MSc (60713)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/68978
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