Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to determine the factors influencing the online consumer buying behavior towards essential oils in Penang as there is dissonance between what the consumers want and what has been made available in the purchase of essential oils. There are four factors influencing the online consumer buying behavior that are being evaluated in this research which are brand image, price, quality, and online advertisement. Past literatures have been reviewed on the factors to understand consumers' preferences that leads to consumer buying decision. This study adopted the theory of reasoned action (TRA) as the grounded theory. Questionnaires will be used to collect consumers' response for further testing and analysis to test the relationship and strength of factor variables by using the outlined research methodology.
TopIntroduction
Consumer purchasing power is on the rise these days and there has been a growing interest in recognizing the importance of consumer actions in the field of marketing (Auf et. al., 2018). Consumer buying behaviour is the personality and perspective of the consumer that could lead to the purchase of a good or service on the market (Nathwani, 2017). In today’s world where consumer has many options in choosing a certain product or service and yet many companies are still struggling to keep up with consumer’s demands and satisfaction (Kumar and Taunk, 2018). This is very different from the previous generation in the 1990s, since the tastes and desires of the new generation are evolving, resulting in a transition in consumer demands (Chander and Raza, 2015). In order to keep up to date, the marketing team needs to understand the relationship between consumer purchasing process and buying decision (Khaniwale, 2015). A way to identify these factors is through research on consumers’ buying behavior as the knowledge on consumers’ preferences will ensure current marketing strategies to be aligned with consumers’ preferences (Auf et. al., 2018).) Besides that, market research also helps in understanding past trends and predicting future trends (Nathwani, 2017). By analyzing consumer buying behavior, more detailed insights can be extracted to improve products and services, changing prices and proposing new marketing channels which are essential in meeting and satisfying customers’ needs and preferences (Santpal and Pradeep, 2015). Therefore, being well-grounded on consumer behavior is the key to marketers’ success in influencing purchase behavior (Stankevich, 2017). Although good comprehension in buying behavior is crucial in a successful business venture, it is more complex than it seems (Hanaysha, 2018). This is because factors such as cultural, social, personal and psychological background heavily influences a consumer’s buying behavior (Madhavan and Chandrasekar, 2015). If marketers have an access to these insights, marketers are able to predict future trends and demands of consumers’ preferential products or services (Khaniwale, 2015).
The presence of the Internet transforms the environment that consumers buy via social media platform (Nash, 2019). Rising fame of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, and YouTube enable consumers to communicate with convenience (Zulkefli et al.). Social media changes the consumers behave and their decision making (Ringim and Reni, 2019). It has been identified that social media influences the interaction between consumers and sellers that determines consumers’ behavior, awareness and attitudes (Nash, 2019). Hence, high acceptability of social media platform usage for online buying does not exclude for essential oil products in Malaysia.
Essential oils can be defined as volatile liquid taken out from the plant source (Mazlan and Diah, 2017). These essential oils provide countless benefits for human health which include act as anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-diabetic and anti-oxidant agents (Tanu and Harpreet, 2016). Due to the lifestyle and behaviours of the new era of consumers, they have a better understanding and awareness of health as well as concerns of the adverse effects of certain traditional medicines (Yan et al., 2019). As a result, essential oils become highly sought products as an alternative medicine among consumers (Liu et al., 2019). According to Kunal Ahuja (2019), in the world of essential oils market, Asia Pacific has been listed as the fastest growing region in the year 2018. As essential oil industry is growing in business industries, therefore, a further study is required to comprehend the buying behaviour of online consumers on essential oils. There is a lack of understanding on how consumers behave online towards the purchase of essential oils in Penang which resulted to the growth in the industry. Although online consumer buying behavior has been extensively researched around the world, however the studies on essential oils context is still limited in Penang. Through this research it would be useful knowing the motivations of online consumer buying behaviour which consequently enable marketers to increase the repurchasing rate through good leadership strategies.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Quality: Value is a perceptual, conditional, and rather intangible attribute that can be interpreted differently by different individuals. Consumers can rely on the specification of the standard of the product/service or on how to compare it with the competitors on the market. Producers can calculate the level of conformity or the degree to which the product/service has been generated correctly. Help staff can assess quality to the extent that the commodity is reliable, usable or sustainable.
Online Advertisement: Online advertisement, also known as online marketing, Internet ads, interactive advertising, or web advertising, is a method of marketing and advertising that uses the Internet to send promotional marketing messages to customers. Some users find web ads intrusive and have gradually turned to advertising blockers for a number of reasons.
Essential Oils: Essential oils are compounds extracted from plants. The oils capture the plant’s scent and flavor, or “essence.” Unique aromatic compounds give each essential oil its characteristic essence. Essential oils are obtained through distillation (via steam and/or water) or mechanical methods, such as cold pressing. Once the aromatic chemicals have been extracted, they are combined with a carrier oil to create a product that’s ready for use.
Price: Price is the rate of money or reward received by one party to another in exchange for one unit of products or services. The price is determined by the cost of manufacturing, the availability of the requested commodity and the market for the good. The price may be dictated by the monopoly or may be imposed on the company by market conditions.
Social media: Social media are collaborative computer-based technologies that promote the development or exchange of content, thoughts, job preferences and other modes of expression across virtual communities and networks. E.g. Yes. Yahoo, Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok, Pinterest, LinkedIn...
Consumer Buying Behavior: Consumer buying behavior refers to the actions taken (both on and offline) by consumers before buying a product or service. This process may include consulting search engines, engaging with social media posts, or a variety of other actions. It is valuable for businesses to understand this process because it helps businesses better tailor their marketing initiatives to the marketing efforts that have successfully influenced consumers to buy in the past.