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Optimum online shopping and surfing experiences: a look at Internet consumer behaviour through the flow concept

Inma Rodríguez (irodriguez@uoc.edu)

Professor of Economics and Business Studies at the UOC

abstract

Interest in understanding the phenomena of online shopping and surfing has grown in recent years in light of the business opportunities offered by the Internet. And although consumer behaviour in the medium retains certain features in common with behaviour in conventional commercial environments, it also incorporates new elements which, like the experiences of flow, deserve special attention from companies and academics.

This article identifies some of the specificities of online shopping experiences, it analyses consumer motivation and behaviour in virtual shopping environments and the contribution of the flow concept in understanding online consumption experiences. On the basis of the work conducted, note is made of the relationships between the phenomena of flow and the different surfing and shopping behaviour: those geared towards achieving a specific shopping aim and those of a predominantly exploratory or hedonistic nature.

keywords

consumer behaviour, e-commerce, flow, Internet



Published in:  October 2006
















 
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