Online Shopping in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The research is initially drafted as an experimental study of Consumers' Attitude and Behaviour towards Online Shopping in Saudi Arabia.

Chapter 1

Introduction

Modern Saudi Arabia today comprises a unique and convergent blend of communal conservatism and technological prowess, a marvellous transformation from an isolated, desert land that it was over 50 years ago. Achieving this however has often mandated novel advances, which strive to merge expertise into the living societal structure and avoid possible confrontations of interest. The development of the international Internet and its absorption into the mainstream Saudi humanity has arguably been the most significant of such endeavours. The effort is ongoing as the Kingdom farther opens Internet get access to, discovering opportunities for the Internet in education, government and business.

Research Methodology

Adoption forms strive to accomplish a robust predictability for social response, demeanour towards adoption of new tendencies and technologies. Most such forms chase a linear approach, wherein advancement is characterised in stages such as knowledge acquisition, difficulty border, decision, implementation and confirmation (Mintzberg et al. 1976; Simon 1977; Rogers 1995). Although some of these forms aim only on adoption related undertakings while taking a black-box approach for the adopter, there has been an expanding tendency of incorporating the concept of sense-making into the study. Sense-making is defined as the cyclical process of taking action, extracting data from stimuli producing from that activity, and incorporating data and stimuli from that activity into the mental frameworks that direct farther action (Seligman 2000). The models using this concept also account for the adopter's mental perceptions and the effect of these perceptions towards his or her adoption of new behaviours (Huang, 340).

There are numerous models that chase this adopter-centric approach such as Diffusion of Innovations idea (DoI), idea of Reasoned Action (TRA), Technology Acceptance form (TAM) and Theory of designed Behaviour (TPB). Diffusion of Innovations theory (Roger 1995) identifies the following five characteristics of an innovation that augment its chances of wide acceptance within the population: its relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trial ability and operability. According to this idea, relative benefit is the degree to which an innovation is seen as better, while compatibility represents the degree to which the discovery is reliable with existing standards and customs. Complexity assesses the degree to which discovery is considered to be difficult. The last two factors, trial ability and operability, measure the degree to which the innovation can be experienced and observed. Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) focuses on two independent factors for determining behavioural intention - the attitude towards behaviour and the attitude towards subjective norms.

Figure 2: Framework for Theory of Planned Behavior

Chapter 2

Qualitative Method

The qualitative research is appropriate for measuring both attitudes and behaviour. Qualitative research can be used to create models that predict whether or not someone holds a particular opinion or would act in a certain way based on observable characteristics. Moreover qualitative researchers stress the socially constructed nature of reality that states relationship between the researcher and the phenomenon under ...