Demographic Variables That Should Be

¶ … demographic variables that should be taken into account when modeling online consumer behaviors (Vasquez & Xu, 2009). Some social researchers, for example, evaluate the effect of age and gender on online consumer purchasing behaviors. For instance, a study by Vasquez and Xu investigated online consumer behavior by grouping their subjects into the following age categories: 15 to 24 years of age, 25 to 34 years of age, and 35 to 44 years of age. Women and men were represented nearly equally in the study (49.8% women, 50% male with .2% not indicating their gender) (Vasquez & Xu). These researchers used these and other data to identify age and gender groups that had used the Internet for five years or more and to determine that online shopping motivations, information searches, and attitude all had a significant affect on online purchases (Vasquez & Xu).

Other demographics variables to can be used to evaluate online consumer behavior include sexual preference. For example, a study by Koyuncu and Lien (2003) determined that sexual preference had a statistically significant effect on online purchasing behaviors. Sexual preference, according to their research, showed that bisexuals bought online in greater numbers compared to heterosexuals, a finding that reflects the potential bias against this segment of the population in American society today (Koyuncu & Lien, 2003). Other demographic data analyzed by these researchers included self-reports of race, income, marital status and education (Koyuncu & Lien).

The results of their data analysis showed that the average annual income of the 7,026 respondents who reported being online shoppers was between $50,000 and $74,000 compared to the average incomes for the non-online shoppers of between $30,000 and $40,000. The average for education levels reported was "some college" for both groups. Almost 90% were white and 60% were male. Slightly less than half of all the respondents reported being married, although these researchers did not explain how this affected their findings concerning the preponderance of bisexuality among online shoppers in their study (Koyuncu & Lien). Nevertheless, the conclusion of this research clearly showed that sexual preference had very important positive effects on online shopping behaviors (Koyuncu & Lien). Likewise, there have been gender-related differences identified by Janda (2008) concerning opnline behaviors. This study determined that women were more venerable to risks and perceived risks as higher compared to male shoppers, and women used the Internet less frequently and were less confident concerning their online abilities (Janda). Finally, females were found to enjoy the experience of shopping more than men and women leaned more toward the sites which provided information and education features.

The data for this gender research was gathered through surveys that were handed out. The opinions were taken from a quota sampling of different age groups. Responses totaling 404 were collected. The sample included a total of 196 men and 208 women. The median age was 32.8 years old. Another noted point was that the participants each had a history of Internet usage for about five years (Janda, 2008). This is valuable research and asserts that these differences must be addressed in order for online distributors to appeal to men and women online shoppers in a meaningful way.