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_papers/multi-category%20approach.pdf
The Unravelling of Apparel: Online Shopping
Behaviour
Marjolein Kramer[1], Department of Science and Social Science, University College
Utrecht, Netherlands

Abstract
The focus of this research is to obtain a better understanding in the determinants of
online shopping for apparel and the interaction between consumers' use of the internet
for information search and their choice of channel (i.e. brick-and-mortar stores or the
internet) for their final purchase. Questionnaires were distributed to over 212 students
and the data was analysed with SEM. Firstly, the model applied for both men and
women. No interaction was found between in-store shopping for apparel and eshopping or internet search. Results showed that the Fishbein's Theory of Reasoned
Action Model (1975) helped explaining e-shopping for apparel with a few alterations.
Attitudes towards e-shopping were mediated by internet search instead of having a
direct relation on e-shopping intention. Furthermore, subjective norm not only had an
effect on the intention to shop online, but also turned out to affect attitude towards eshopping. Above all, the internet search component is a critical concept in the
behaviour of online shopping for apparel. Opinions of friends and family turned out to

be twice as important for men than for women. Overall, the model explained 67.5% of
the variance in e-shopping for apparel for women and 71.5% for men.
Keywords: E-shopping, apparel, theory of reasoned action, structural equation
modelling, attitude, internet search, subjective norm

Introduction
The internet has spread quickly in the Netherlands: 90% of Dutch households and
individuals had access to the internet in 2009 compared to only 63% in 2002 (Statistics
Netherlands, 2009). The Netherlands is thus the leader in the European Union in terms
of internet access. Furthermore, three-quarters of internet users in 2009 were online
shoppers. In the Netherlands online shopping has become an established custom and it
is among Europe's leaders in terms of the share of companies that sell products
electronically (Statistics Netherlands, 2009). Research carried out by Ernst & Young
(2011) found that 52% of Dutch internet users expect to increase further their amount
of online shopping. Thuiswinkel.org and Blauw Research (2011) reported that the
average annual amount spent online per Dutch person increased from 318 euro in 2002
to 888 euro in 2010. Those numbers have been rising ever since the internet and home
computers were introduced.
In this article e-shopping refers to the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment of online
purchasing. This way person-to-person websites such as Marktplaats and Ebay will be
excluded. With around 8.8 million e-shoppers and an annual B2C turnover of 6 billion
euro in 2009, it is becoming more and more important for companies, marketers and
managers to obtain a better understanding in the reason behind this online purchasing
behaviour (Thuiswinkelmarktmonitor, 2009), particularly given that these numbers are
expected to rise even more in the future. The Forrester Research Online Retail Forecast
(2011) expects online sales in Western Europe to increase at a 10% compound annual
growth rate over the next 5 years.
Moreover, it is important for governments to understand the details and predictors of eshopping in order to anticipate to this new phenomenon and adapt regulations or laws
where necessary. The Distance Selling Act, for example, refers to the sale of goods or
services where there is no face-to-face contact between the consumer and seller, as in
the case for e-shopping (in effect since 1 February 2001). The most important clauses
state the required information that a seller must provide in a transaction and that a
consumer has seven days, from the delivery of goods, to return them without
consequences (The Economist, 2006). Besides trust, privacy is also an essential issue
around e-shopping. The Dutch government, therefore, adapted the Law for Protecting
Personal Information to take account of commercial electronic information gathering
(The Economist, 2006).
Several research studies acknowledge that consumers are forming different attitudes
toward shopping for diverse product categories sold online (Hyllegard et al., 2000). Not
only the attitudes, but also the purchase frequency, the choice of shopping mode (eshopping or in-store shopping) and the physical shopping place vary across product

categories (Lenz et al., 2003). This study will therefore focus on e-shopping for apparel,
as the number of internet consumers buying apparel online experienced the highest
increase between 2005 and 2007 (Nielsen, 2008). Furthermore, according to
Thuiswinkel Markt Monitor (2011) fashion and apparel purchases represent a significant
portion of e-shopping and thus represent one of the largest emerging e-shopping
categories.
Due to the increasing popularity of e-shopping and its long-term potential in the retail
industry, many marketers and managers are interested in the change that this will
bring about. Most previous research studies about e-shopping focused solely on online
buying (intention) (van der Heijden et al., 2003). However, for companies to make
optimal use of these outcomes and promote e-shopping, more information is needed. A
better understanding of the relationship between consumers' use of the internet for
information search and their choice of channel (i.e. brick-and-mortar stores or the
internet) for their final purchase is required (Jones and Kim, 2010; Shim et al., 2001:
5). When investigating the connections between e-shopping and traditional in-store
shopping it is ever more important to differentiate product types, since the
characteristics of products greatly determine the degree to which they are suitable for
marketing online and hence their potential for any substitution or complementation
effect (Peterson et al., 1997); an additional reason for investigating apparel exclusively.
A very important aspect of apparel as an online product category is the fact that
apparel purchasing decisions take place at the point of purchase. The dimensions of
apparel usually cause consumers to first want to try it on and to touch the fabric.
To obtain a better understanding of the e-shopping phenomenon, not only is its
interaction with online search for apparel and in-store shopping valuable, but also what
other variables might influence the decision to buy apparel online. The theory of
reasoned action (TORA) by Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) is widely used to explain the
consumer decision-making process. They postulated that behavioural intention is the
function of two components: attitude toward a behaviour and subjective norm. These
two components are immediate determinants of intention to perform a behaviour,
which is a precursor to behaviour. A later model by Fishbein and Ajzen, the theory of
planned behaviour (1985), adds perceived behavioural control as a third determinant of
intention to the TORA model. This is defined as an individual's confidence that he or she
is capable of performing the behaviour (Ajzen, 1991: 184). However, Kwong and Park
(2008: 1476) found in a student sample that the effect of perceived behavioural control
on intention was insignificant. They argued that computer literacy and knowledge of
internet services are now common skills. Therefore, the TORA model is preferred.
Mowen and Minor (1998) explicitly recommended the TORA model for the assessment
of purchase intention for high-involvement products such as apparel. The aim of this
study is to describe how attitude, subjective norm, online search activities and in-store
shopping influence online shopping for apparel. Furthermore, the interaction between
in-store shopping and e-shopping is examined.
This study differs considerably from previous research. First, this study investigates the
interactions between internet search, in-store shopping, e-shopping intention and
actual e-shopping simultaneously. Second, this study is one of the first to test such a
model that includes a multiple group analysis to be able to observe gender differences.
Third, most studies have been carried out in the United States. Therefore, policymakers
and marketers in Europe need further evidence from their own continent. The retail

formation in the Netherlands, for example, has almost no large-scale hypermarkets or

shopping malls (Farag et al., 2007: 129). Furthermore, 48% of the shopping trips in
the Netherlands are made on foot or by bicycle (Ministry of Transport, Public Works,
and Water Management, 2004). These specific Dutch retail characteristics might
influence the interactions between the variables in this model.

Literature Review
The theory of reasoned action is based on the assumption that human beings are
usually quite rational and make systematic use of the information available to them
(Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). The TORA will be used to explore the determinants of eshopping. As mentioned in the introduction, behavioural intention is a function of two
primary determinants: (a) attitude toward e-shopping for apparel, and (b) an
individual's perception of normative social pressure to purchase apparel online. Firstly,
attitude toward e-shopping is recognised as the positive or negative evaluation of eshopping for apparel. This is composed of both beliefs that e-shopping for apparel has
certain attributes, and a person's evaluation of those beliefs. This definition implies that
attitudes develop over time as people gain experience with the behaviour or receive
knowledge about the object from other sources (Hasan, 2010: 598). Secondly,
subjective norm consists of normative belief - an individual's perception of whether
people that are important to them believe they should purchase apparel online - and
social approval - an individual's perception of whether these significant people approve
or disapprove of e-shopping for apparel. Although apparel might be bought online by
customers alone rather than with family or friends, their opinions about e-shopping for
apparel will still influence individuals' intentions toward e-shopping (Jones and
Vijayasarathy, 1998). Behavioural intention in turn is obtained by the attitude and
social norm components and is considered as predictor of actual e-shopping (Kim et al.,
2003: 33). Behavioural intention measures how hard people are willing to try, and how
much of an effort they are planning to exert in order to shop online for apparel (Ajzen,
1991: 181). Wong et al. (2005) also reported a strong positive relationship between
intention and actual e-shopping. Previous studies have found convincing evidence for
the TORA model for e-shopping in general. Even the few studies that specifically tested
this model for apparel e-shopping have shown that the TORA model holds (Yoh et al.,
2003; Kim et al., 2003; Shim and Drake, 1990).
Shim et al. (2001) included an interaction model of consumer information search before
the actual purchase by Klein (1998). Klein's interaction model focuses on the essential
role of information search for e-shopping in the context of goods that differ based on
the type of information sought prior to purchase. In addition, the model expects a
person's attitude towards e-shopping to affect the degree of online search. Based on
the above review, the hypotheses are summarised as follows:

H1: Attitudes toward e-shopping for apparel positively influence online purchase
intentions for apparel.
H2: Subjective norm positively influences online purchase intentions for apparel.
H3: E-shopping intentions positively influence actual e-shopping for apparel.

H4: Attitudes toward e-shopping for apparel positively influence online search for
apparel.

It is remarkable that internet searching has received little attention, as this is seen as
an important phase in the shopping process (Farag et al., 2005). An online search is
defined as a focused information search via the internet during which a person actively
seeks information about apparel; browsing online to acquire initial ideas as well as
visiting specific websites in order to compare apparel and/or prices are included
(Farag et al., 2005). Since information and preferences are highly related,
understanding the consumer information search process is a key element in
understanding consumer decision behaviour (Watchravesringkan and Shim, 2003: 2).
Watchraversringkan and Shim (2003: 5) found that the stronger the consumers'
intentions to search for apparel information online, the more likely consumers were to
buy apparel online. Furthermore, Bellman et al. (1999) found that searching online
positively affects e-shopping intention. Although no previous research has
simultaneously taken internet search, e-shopping intention and actual e-shopping into
account, it seems reasonable to assume that internet search, just like attitude and
subjective norm, influences e-shopping intention, which in turn affects actual eshopping for apparel. Consequently, the hypothesis is stated as follows:

H5: internet search for apparel positively affects e-shopping intention.

E-shopping could substitute, modify or generate traditional in-store shopping (Farag et

al., 2007: 140). The substitution of in-store shopping occurs when e-shopping replaces
an in-store purchase. Modification refers to in-store shopping that is likely to be
altered; that is, the destination choice, mode choice, or timing of the purchase is
adjusted because of e-shopping. The generation of trip occurs when e-shopping leads to
purchases in-store that otherwise would not have been made. Theoretically, no
interaction between in-store and online shopping is also an option. Classifying might be
difficult as the interactions could also occur simultaneously (Mokhtarian, 2004). Lenz et
al. (2003) suggested that e-shopping will probably lead to a decline in the frequency of
in-store shopping trips. This result is supported by Weltevreden and van Rietbergen
(2006). A different conclusion was drawn by Mokhtarian (2004) who argues that eshopping complements in-store shopping. On the other hand, Douma et al. (2004),
found evidence for a modification effect; either by searching online before going instore shopping, or by using the internet to make their in-store trip more efficient.
Contradicting results have thus been found concerning the interaction between online
and in-store shopping. These mixed results are presumably caused by the different
research contexts and settings. The few studies that have been conducted either do not
separate online buying from online searching (for example, Ferrell, 2004; Casas et al.,
2001), or are only of a descriptive nature and mix product categories that tend to yield
vague or inconsistent results (Cao, 2005; Mokhtarian, 2005). Furthermore, previous
studies are not consistent with their dependent variable; both e-shopping intention and
actual e-shopping have been used. Based upon the previous literature, the hypotheses
are stated as follows:

H6: In-store shopping will have an effect on e-shopping intention for apparel.
H7: In-store shopping for apparel and actual e-shopping for apparel are
correlated.

The majority of internet users (88%) search the internet for product information (BCG,
2001). However, 75% of this group eventually decides to purchase the product in-store
(BCG, 2001). Similarly, Ward and Morganosky (2002) indicate that internet search has
a positive effect on in-store shopping. However, the contrary of searching for product
information in-store before purchasing the product online is not found (Farag et al.,
2006a). Consequently, the last hypothesis becomes:

H8: internet search for apparel positively affects in-store shopping for apparel.

All hypothesised relationship can be seen below in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Structural model including hypotheses

Note that the correlation between in-store shopping and actual e-shopping is obtained
by estimating the correlation between the disturbance (d1 and d2) of those endogenous
factors. Otherwise this model would not be identified enough for the software to run
this model. However, this is equivalent to correlating the two behaviours and will not
affect the outcome.
Since it is generally acknowledged that gender has a profound influence upon responses
to marketing strategies, specifying the impacts of gender can guide marketers in
designing different strategies for different consumers. Various empirical studies have
reported that females are generally more interested in and shop more often for apparel
than males (Beaudry, 1999; Chiger, 2001; Flynn et al., 2000). However, very few
academic studies have focused on gender differences in online shopping. One of the few
studies about internet searching show that women are more likely than men to search
online for information regarding apparel products (Watchravesringkan and Shim, 2003:
4). On the other hand, men search more often than women when it comes to
commercial products and services online (Statistics Netherlands, 2005). Farag et

al. (2006a) also examined the duration of shopping and found that for non-daily goods,
such as apparel, women shop longer than men. Dittmar et al. (2004: 441) found a
more positive attitude towards e-shopping for male than for female. Moreover, Cyr and
Bonanni (2005) report that more time and money is spend on online buying by men
than by women. Although not all relations between the variables are expected to vary
across gender, a multiple group analysis is conducted to examine the gender
differences in the model.

Research Methodology
The study had a descriptive, cross-sectional research design. The purpose of this study
was to obtain a better understanding in the determinants for apparel e-shopping
behaviour. A self-administrative questionnaire was adopted for data collection and a
non-probability convenience sample was used consisting of students at the University of
Utrecht in the Netherlands. The questionnaires were collected immediately after the
students had completed them.
Although the use of students is often criticised due to its higher-than-average
proportion of younger adults, the use of a student sample also has some advantages for
a study concerning e-shopping, i.e. they will tend to be harbingers of future adoption
patterns in the population (Cao and Mokhtarian, 2005). In addition, the OECD (1999)
reported that online consumers tend to be young and well-educated compared to
traditional consumers. Further, the familiarity of current students with the internet
combined with their emerging market power and the likelihood of building customer
loyalty provide strong motivations to explore specifically this consumer group (Xu and
Paulins, 2005). Ahuja et al. (2003) found similar patterns of findings in online shopping
behaviour among students and non-students.
Participation in the study was voluntary and no credit was given in exchange for
participation. Students were assured that the survey was anonymous and individual
responses could not be identified. It was also made clear to participants that the
aggregates of their responses would be used for data analysis purposes only. Finally,
participants were assured that neither their participation in the study nor their
responses would influence their performance in the course (Hassan, 2010).
Measures

Each student was given a self-administrative questionnaire containing basic

demographic information, including age, gender, field of study, nationality and whether
they had access to the internet. In addition, three general questions were asked about
the relationship between in-store and online shopping or searching. The rest of the
questionnaire focused on items that could be used to construct the latent variables.
These were generated from previous research papers and were modified to fit the
context of e-shopping for apparel where necessary. The questionnaire was originally
written in English and then translated into Dutch. See appendix 1 for the entire English
version of the questionnaire.

To measure attitude towards e-shopping for apparel thirteen apparel purchasing

attributes were identified based on the related literature review (Xu and Paulins, 2005;
Watchravesringkan and Shim, 2003; Kim et al., 2003; Crawford, 2000): more
merchandise options, higher payment security, more fashionable clothing, more
convenience, more time saving, lower prices, better quality of apparel, better customer
service, better return policy, better personal advice, more social interaction, more
possibilities to compare apparel and sufficient product information. Applied to the
present study, attitude towards online purchasing is considered to be a function of the
consumer's beliefs about the attributes and the degree of subjective importance a
consumer attaches to those attributes (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975); the expectancyvalue model. The beliefs were measured by asking students to indicate how likely it was
that e-shopping compared to shopping in-store for apparel would lead to certain
attributes. This was measured on a 7-point Likert scale with answers ranging from 'very
unlikely' to 'very likely'. The evaluation of their beliefs was measured by asking
students to indicate the importance of each attribute when shopping for apparel,
irrespective of purchasing online or in-store. Again a 7-point Likert scale was used from
'totally unimportant' to 'very important'. Subsequently, the total score for each attribute
was computed by multiplying the two responses to obtain thirteen scores for attitude.
These in turn were used in the measurement model in terms of observed indicators to
obtain the latent variable attitude.
Subjective norm was constructed of four items asking the student if their friends and
family thought they should shop online for apparel; if they would approve e-shopping
for apparel; if they would recommend them to buy apparel online; and if their friends
and family themselves bought apparel online. All four questions were measured on a 7point Likert scale from 'not true' to 'true'.
Two questions were asked to measure the amount of online search for each participant.
First, as used by Watchravesringkan and Shim (2003), students were asked how likely
it was that they would seek information about apparel via the internet rather than from
stores, regardless of where they eventually buy the apparel. Answers ranged from
'search entirely by store' to 'search entirely by the internet' on a 7-point Likert scale.
The second question was adapted from Farag et al. (2005), asking students how often
they searched for information about apparel via the internet. Possible responses were:
never, once a year, less than once a month, once a month, several times a month,
once a week or several times a week.
The four items that are used to obtain e-shopping intentions are modified from Taylor
and Todd (1995a, b). Again a 7-point Likert scale from 'not true' to 'true' was used for
the following statements: I intend to use the internet to buy apparel; I plan to use the
internet to purchase apparel within the next few months; overall, I would use the
internet to buy apparel I need; and, buying apparel via the internet is something I
would do.
In assessing the actual e-shopping and in-store purchasing behaviour for apparel two
questions per construct were used. Participants were asked how often they purchased
apparel online and how often they purchased apparel in-store. Then they were asked
how many times they have bought apparel online and how many times in-store since
January 2011.

Data Analysis

The data analysis was conducted in a structural equation modelling (SEM) framework
with AMOS 18 software, whereby a Maximum Likelihood (ML) method was used. By
using SEM an explanation can be given rather than a description of consumers'
behaviour and the relationship between online searching, online buying and in-store
buying. SEM allows for multiple simultaneous directions of causality, and distinguishes
the direct effect and the indirect effect as well as the total effect of an explanatory
variable on each dependent variable (Cao and Mokhtarian, 2005).
The measurement model assessed how the latent variables (i.e. attitude, subjective
norm, internet search, e-shopping intention, in-store shopping and actual e-shopping)
are measured in terms of observed indicators, obtained from the questionnaire. A
confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted for both genders in AMOS 18. This
framework provides a means to test the construct validity of item sets to see if they are
indirect measures of the hypothesised latent variables (Bollen, 1989). Furthermore,
CFA can test whether evidence of construct validity is invariant across males and
females and whether characteristics specific to gender that are not related to the
construct of interest will influence gender differences (Gregorich, 2006). In order to
obtain a scale that can be interpreted for a latent variable, one of the observed
indicators is fixed to one.
The structural model applied the causal relationship among these latent variables to
test the hypotheses (Kim et al., 2003). Data screening was performed using SPSS
16.0.1 for Windows. Data was checked for normality, linearity, absence of outliers and
absence of multi-collinearity. Furthermore, a missing value analysis was conducted in
SPSS.
Model Fit

How well the model eventually matches the data is illustrated by the goodness of fit
index. There are three different categories of model fit indices, i.e. absolute fit indices,
incremental fit indices and parsimony fit indices. At least one fit index of each category
will be used.
Absolute fit indices determine how well an a priori model fits the sample data
(McDonald and Ho, 2002) and show which of the models have the best fit. They
demonstrate how well the model fits in comparison to no model at all (Jreskog and
Srbom, 1993). A chi-square test is the most common fit measure, but it is only
recommended with moderate samples of 100 to 200 (Kriinen et al. 2011,
Tabachnick and Fidell, 1996). A statistical significant 2 indicates that a significant
amount of observed covariance between items remains unexplained by the model
(Cole, 1987). With over 200 cases and many correlations, alternative measures of fit
should be taken into account (Hu and Bentler, 1999; Byrne, 2004; Kline, 2005; and
Meyers et al., 2006). Therefore, as recommended by Thompson (2004), Kline (2005)
and Byrne (2001), the RMSEA was also taken into account, which is the second most
reported fit statistic. AMOS calculates confidence intervals of 90% for the RMSEA.

Hereby, should the lower bound of a well-fitting model be around zero and the upper
limit should be below .07 (Hooper et al., 2008).
Secondly, incremental fit indices are based on the comparison of the fit of a substantive
model to that of a null model, which yields unconstrained estimates of the variance of
the observed variables (McDonald and Ho, 2002). The fit index mostly used in this
category is the Comparative fit index (CFI). It is commonly accepted that a CFI greater
than .90 suggests an adequate fit of the model (Gefen et al., 2000; Hair et al., 1998).
Besides the CFI, the Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) will also be used. This index will adjust
for complexity of the model. Typically, a TLI value of at least .90 is required to accept
the model.
Lastly, the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) was used from the parsimony fit indices.
This index adjusts for sample sizes and takes the model fit as well as the complexity of
the model into account. The AIC is not normed to a 0-1 scale and has no cut-off value.
Instead the model that generates the lowest value is the most superior. In conclusion,
the relative chi-square, RMSEA with its confidence interval, CFI, TLI and AIC will be
used to assess the model fit.

Results
Sample Description

Two-thirds of the data was collected in a classroom setting from a sample of college
students who were enrolled in several courses at the University of Utrecht in the
Netherlands. Furthermore, several students from University College Utrecht in different
disciplines were asked to fill out the questionnaire. The remaining one-third of the
questionnaires was collected in the library of the University of Utrecht. The sample
consisted of 85 (40.1%) men and 127 (59.9%) women. Their ages ranged from 17 to
29, with a mean of 22 years and a standard deviation of 2.0 years. All participants had
internet access and used this at least one hour per week. The majority of the
participants (44.5%) used the internet between 10 and 20 hours a week and another
36.0% spent more than 20 hours online. Approximately two-thirds of the participants
has purchased apparel online in the past. As expected, due to the focus on apparel,
more female students than male students have done this before; 56.1% of the males
had purchased apparel online before, compared to 70.9% of the female students. The
largest number of students, almost one-third, were studying law (31.9%), followed by
economic students (22.9%) and students from University College Utrecht, a Liberal Arts
and Science college (19.5%). The remaining 25.7% studied in a variety of fields
including medicine, theatre, computer science and history. The total sample consisted
of 17 different nationalities. Nevertheless, the vast majority were of Dutch nationality
(86.8%), far more than the second largest group, Germans (2.8%). Little's chi-square
statistic, obtained from the missing value analysis in SPSS, was insignificant (p=0.53),
implying that the missing values are missing completely at random. None of the
variables had more than 1.5% missing values. Skewness and kurtosis results showed
that none of the items were above the recommended cut-off points of |3.0|, implying
that there was no univariate non-normality (Kline, 2005).

More than half of the students (58.8%) said they had never searched in-store for
apparel and eventually bought this online; 21.7% rarely did this; and only 14.6% of the
students answered this question with 'sometimes'. The other way around though, where
consumers search for apparel online and eventually purchase this in-store, was used
more often. Over one-third (38.7%) stated they sometimes do this and 12.8% of the
students do this often or even very often. One interesting difference between male and
female worth mentioning is the amount they search online. To the question how often
they search for information about apparel online the average answer for men is less
than once a month, whereas women do this on average once a month. No significant
differences in answers were found when examining the descriptives for different
nationalities or fields of study.
Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation was conducted to determine
the underlying dimensions of the group of attitude items. Only the factors with an
eigenvalue of higher than 1.0 were retained and were used as items to construct the
latent variable 'attitude towards e-shopping for apparel'. Since all items loaded above
0.5 on one of the factors, all items were retained (Kim et al., 2003). Factor analysis
produced two factors of attitudes toward e-shopping for apparel that accounted for
53.7% of the cumulative variation in attitude, with factor loadings ranging from 0.56 to
0.88 as can be seen in Table 1. The use of two factors is also supported by the scree
plot check. Factor 1 was named 'product and convenience' and was composed of seven
items. Factor 2 was named 'service' and was composed of the remaining six items. A
score for each participant for each attitude factor was obtained by summing raw scores
of all items in that factor divided by the number of items in that factor. Cronbach's
alpha scores assessing internal consistency of measures were above 0.80, indicating
good reliabilities of measures (Yoh et al., 2003). In addition, the KMO statistic of 0.86
showed that the factor analysis yields distinct and reliable factors.

Factor label and items

Factor
loading

Eigenvalue
5.21

Product and Convenience

Merchandise options

0.67

Fashionable clothing

0.60

Convenience

0.70

Time saving

0.75

Lower Prices

0.61

Possibilities to compare
apparel

0.68

Variance
28.01

Cronbach's
Alpha
0.82

Sufficient product
information

0.67
1.77

Service
Higher payment security

0.52

Quality of apparel

0.61

Customer service

0.81

Return policy

0.56

Personal advice

0.88

Social interaction

0.82

25.66

0.82

Table 1: Factor analysis: Attitude toward e-shopping for apparel

The mean of belief scores for the factor 'product and convenience' (M=4.5) was
considerably higher than that for the factor 'service' (M=2.5). Within the 'product and
convenience' attitude factor, participants believed that e-shopping for apparel
compared to in-store shopping mostly lead to 'time saving' (M=5.4), followed by 'more
merchandise options' (M=4.9). The most important attribute was 'lower prices'
(M=5.3), followed by 'more possibilities to compare apparel' (M=5.0). In terms of the
'service' attitude factor, the attribute believed most strongly by respondents was 'a
better return policy' (M=3.2), followed by 'higher payment security' (M=3.0). The most
important attribute was 'better quality of apparel' (M=5.6), followed by 'better return
policy' (M=4.6). Although social interaction has the lowest belief score (M=1.6), this
item is also seen as the least important attribute when shopping for apparel (M=3.6).
Overall, the scores for attitudes toward products and convenience (M=22.0) were twice
as high as attitudes toward service (M=11.5). The attitude towards 'more merchandise
options' was the highest (M=24.0), followed by 'more time saving' (M=23.7). Not
surprisingly, both of these items fall under the products and convenience factor. Within
the service factor 'better quality' received the highest attitude (M=15.8).
Measurement Model

Before turning to the structural model that examines the proposed hypotheses, a more
detailed assessment of the measurement model is necessary. All factor loadings were
highly significant, p<.001, except for the item 'How often have you purchased apparel
in-store since January 2011', as seen in Table 2. Therefore, this item was removed and
the remaining item 'How often do you purchase apparel in-store?' was used to replace
the latent variable 'In-store shopping'. The latent variable 'actual e-shopping' was
initially built up in the same structure. To keep this structure for e-shopping the same

as for in-store shopping, the latent variable was replaced by the observed variable how
often they bought apparel online.

Path

S.E.

p-value

Beta

Male

39.74

147.03

0.79

2.83

Female

15.48

34.73

0.66

1.85

Table 2: Insignificant indicator for the latent variable in-store shopping.

Subsequently, equality constraints on the measurement model were added to ensure

that the same construct was measured in both groups. First, the factor loadings are
constrained to be equal across groups. This way metric invariance is tested, which is
necessary to ensure that different groups respond to the items in the same way so that
the obtained ratings from different groups can be obtained in a meaningful way (Hair et
al., 2006; Steenkamp and Baumgartner, 1998); observed item differences then indicate
group differences in the underlying latent construct. Second, scalar invariance is
examined, which is necessary to make mean comparisons in latent constructs across
gender (Meredith, 1993; Teo et al., 2009). To test for scalar invariance the intercepts
are equalised across gender. The third and fourth step is to equalise measurement error
variances and factor means, respectively, although these are not strictly necessary to
conclude invariance across gender.
Because the metric invariance model (Nr 2.) is nested within the unconstrained model
(Nr 1.), a 2 difference test was performed. The model comparison showed that
equalising the path coefficients did not make the model significantly worse. The
2 difference was statistically insignificant at p=0.83, with 2=4.31 and eight degrees
of freedom difference. Although the 2difference test is widely used to compare the fit
of nested models, it is recommended that several other model fit indices are used.
Thus, CFI, TLI, RMSEA and AIC were also considered. They all slightly improved and the
AIC decreased, meaning that the model fit improved and the complexity decreased
(Table 3).

Nr

Model

df

CFI

TLI

RMSEAa

AIC

Unconstrained

96

.95

.92

.06 [.04.07]

327.18

Constrained path coefficients

104

.95

.93

.05 [.04.07]

315.49

Constrained path coefficients; and intercepts

116

.93

.90

.06 [.05.07]

332.51

Constrained path coefficients; and intercepts

except for one search item

115

.95

.93

.05 [.04.07]

309.46

Constrained path coefficients; all intercept but

one; and error variances

127

.92

.90

.05 [.05.07]

332.82

Table 3: Measurement (Factor) Model (The terms between brackets represent the 90%
confidence interval for the RMSEA)

With the support of the metric invariance model (nr2.), scalar invariance was tested by
constraining the intercepts to be the same across gender. The 2 difference test was
statistically significant, p=.00, with 2(12)=41.02. Thus, the model got significantly
worse when equalising the intercepts (see Table 3). The intercept for online search
'How often do you search online' turned out to be responsible for this. Equalising all
intercepts except for this search item led to an insignificant 2 difference test, p=.14
with 2(11)=15.97; also the model fit indices improved. Bryne et al. (1989) and
Steenkamp and Baumgartner (1998) have stated that full metric and scalar invariance
is not necessary for further test of invariance and substantive analysis, such as
comparisons of factor means, to be meaningful. Then the error variances were
equalised (except for the search item with an unconstrained intercept). However, this
did not improve the model and made it significantly worse, i.e. a 2 difference test of
p=.00 with 2(12)=47.36. Model number 4 in Table 3, with full metric and partial
scalar invariance, was thus chosen as final measurement model.
Structural Model

The overall fit indices for the hypothesised model revealed a 2(77)=279.14 (p<.001).
As already mentioned due to its sensitivity other model fit indices must be considered.
The 2/df was 1.73, TLI=0.90, CFI=0.92 and the RMSEA=0.06 with a confidence
interval between 0.05 and 0.07. In addition, several regression coefficients were
insignificant. The most insignificant path was set to zero, after which the model fit
indices were examined. This procedure was continued until no insignificant paths were
left. The correlation between the disturbance of in-store shopping and e-shopping for
men was deleted first, followed by the path from online search to in-store shopping for
men and the path from attitude to e-shopping intention for women. Then the
correlation between the disturbances of in-store shopping and e-shopping was also
deleted for women, followed by the path from in-store shopping to e-shopping intention
for women as well as for men. Subsequently, the remaining insignificant paths - from
attitude to e-shopping intention for men and from search to in-store shopping for
women - were removed. The model fit indices improved after each deletion and the
model did not get significantly worse, except after the last removal of the path from
internet search to in-store shopping for women. The corresponding model fit indices can
be found in Table 4. Although all the numbers in this paper will generally be rounded off
to two decimals, Tables 4 and 5 will be an exception. This is done to obtain a more
accurate picture of the change in model fit indices. From Table 4 it can be concluded
that the last model, nr. 9, has the best model fit. It must be noted that the chi-square

remained significant during all model modifications. Although this was already expected
due to the sample size, this must be taken into account.
Subsequently, the remaining paths that were not set to zero for both men and women
were equalised. However, since equalising the path between subjective norm and eshopping intention deteriorated the model fit this path remained free to vary across
genders. The model did not get significantly worse with a 2 difference test of p=0.93
and 2(3)=0.44, and the model fit indices improved (Table 5). The last step was to
check the Lagrangian multiplier test with the modification indices to see if the model
could be improved by adding a path. The modification indices showed that an
improvement in the model was possible by adding a path between subjective norm and
attitude. Lastly, this new included path was equalised across genders, which again
increased the model fit. All steps are written down in Table 5 where the improvements
in model fit indices can be found. For the AIC to be interpreted the model comparisons
must be nested. Therefore, the whole procedure was repeated, where the path between
subjective norm and attitude was already added and set to zero. Now the AIC could
also be used as model fit index.

Nr

Model

Df

2/df

CFI

TLI

RMSEAa

AIC

Measurement model constrained

161

1.734

.920

.895

.059 [.047.071]

443.144

M; Correlation disturbances: Instore E-shopping

162

1.723

.920

.897

.059 [.047.070]

431.144

M; Search In-store shopping

163

1.714

.921

.898

.058 [.046.070]

429.302

F; Attitude E-shopping intention

164

1.704

.922

.900

.058 [.046.069]

427.441

F; Correlation disturbances: Instore shopping E-shopping

165

1.696

.922

.901

.058 [.046.069]

425.795

F; In-store shopping Intention

166

1.688

.922

.902

.057 [.045.069]

424.289

M; In-store shopping Intention

167

1.678

.923

.903

.057 [.045.068]

422.290

M; Attitude Intention

168

1.672

.923

.904

.057 [.045.068]

420.957

F; Search In-store shopping

169

1.673

.923

.904

.057 [.045.068]

420.748

Table 4: Results of structural equation model I (the terms between brackets represent
the 90% confidence interval for the RMSEA)

Nr

Model

df

2/df

CFI

TLI

RMSEAa

AIC

10

Equalise structural factor

loadings

172

1.646

.924

.908

.055 [.044.067]

415.184

11

Add: Subjective norm

Attitude

170

1.556

.936

.921

.051 [.039.063]

400.547

12

Equalise last added path

171

1.548

.936

.922

.051 [.039.063]

398.672

Table 5: Results of structural equation model II (the terms between brackets represent
the 90% confidence interval for the RMSEA)

Tables 4 and 5 show that the last model, nr. 12, has the best model fit indices that all
point at a reasonable good model fit. The relative chi-square is below the cut-off value
of two (2/df=1.55). Further, the CFI=0.94 and TLI=0.92 are above the recommended
.90 and the 90% confidence level of the RMSEA, from 0.04 to 0.06, remained entirely
below 0.07. Lastly, the AIC value for model nr. 12 is the lowest of all values obtained,
implying that this model is the best model when taking the model fit as well as the
complexity into account.
Tables 6 and 7 include the unstandardised estimates, the standard error, p-value and
standardised estimates for the final measurement en structural model, respectively.
Since the path coefficients are equalised across gender these unstandardised values are
the same for male and female (except for the path between subjective norm and eshopping intention).

Path

pvalue

S.E.

Beta,
men

Beta,
women

Intention Something I would do

1.00

.92

.82

Intention Plan to

.98

.06

***

.90

.86

Intention Overall, I would

.88

.05

***

.89

.83

Intention Intend to

.97

.05

***

.91

.88

Search I would seek entirely by

1.00

.79

.76

Search I search for information

.99

.11

***

.82

.70

Subjective norm Family buys online

1.00

.58

.49

Subjective norm Family approves

.69

.16

***

.38

.38

Subjective norm Family recommends

1.54

.23

***

.88

.85

Subjective norm Family thinks I

should

1.17

.18

***

.72

.60

Attitude Product and convenience

1.00

.79

.81

Attitude Service

.60

.09

***

.59

.67

Table 6: Final Measurement Model, *** < .001

Path

S.E.

p-value

Beta, men

Beta, women

Subjective Norm Attitude

3.04

.75

***

.45

.38

Subjective Norm Intention

.83/ .43

.20/ .19

***/.02

.42

.21

Attitude Search

.12

.02

***

.55

.69

Search Intention

.92

.12

***

.65

.60

Intention E-shopping

.46

.03

***

.85

.82

Table 7: Final Structural Model, ***<.001, male/female

Table 7 shows that the relation between e-shopping intention and actual e-shopping is
strongest for both men and women with a standardised coefficient of 0.85 and 0.82,
respectively. Before returning to the hypotheses it can be concluded that the model
applies to both men and women. Only between social influences of family and friends
and the intention to buy apparel online there is a noticeable difference between
genders. Apparently, opinions of family and friends weigh twice as strong for men
(beta=0.42) than for women (beta=0.21). Of the eight hypotheses, four obtained a
significant result. Attitude toward e-shopping turned out to have no significant effect on
online purchase intentions for apparel as hypothesised in H1. Therefore, H1 was
rejected. However, attitude towards e-shopping for apparel has an indirect effect on eshopping intentions, through online search (beta=0.36 for male and beta=0.42 for

female). The other hypotheses that were based on the TORA model, H2 and H3, were
both accepted. Subjective norm had a significant positive effect on e-shopping
intentions, which in turn had a significant positive effect on the actual e-shopping
behaviour. Subjective norm has an indirect effect on e-shopping for apparel of
beta=0.49 for male and beta=0.30 for female. Although attitude does not have a direct
significant effect on e-shopping intention it significantly affects online search behaviour,
as expected by hypothesis 4. Therefore, H4 was accepted. Hypothesis 5 was also
accepted, since online search significantly affects purchasing intention online for
apparel. In addition, online search has a significant indirect effect on e-shopping for
apparel, i.e. beta=0.55 for male and beta=0.49 for female.
Previous studies have often raised questions about the relation between e-shopping and
in-store shopping in their discussion. The few studies that did somehow included instore shopping in the model often obtained contradicting results. Nevertheless, with
some improvements and a different model an attempt was made to obtain a better
understanding in the role of in-store shopping. However, no significant results were
found for the relation between in-store shopping and e-shopping intentions or actual eshopping, H6 and H7, respectively. Therefore, H6 and H7 were both rejected.
Furthermore, internet search did not have a significant effect in predicting the amount
of in-store shopping for apparel, leading to the rejection of H8.
Even though several hypotheses proved to be insignificant the model explains 67.5% of
the variance in e-shopping for apparel for women and 71.5% for men. For both men
and women e-shopping intention has the largest total standardised effect on actual eshopping (which in this case is the same as the direct standardised effect), i.e.
beta=0.85 for male and beta=0.82 for female. internet search has the second largest
effect on actual e-shopping, i.e. beta=0.55 for male and beta=0.49 for female. For
women the total standardised effect of attitude on e-shopping exceeds that of
subjective norm, i.e. beta=0.34 and 0.30, respectively. On the other hand, for men the
opposite is true; subjective norm has a larger effect on e-shopping than attitude
towards e-shopping for apparel, i.e. beta=0.49 and 0.31, respectively. The final model
including standardised regression coefficients can be found on the next page in Figures
2 and 3 for men and women, respectively. Appendix 2 contains the final model with
unstandardised regression coefficients. Note that the model for men and women is
almost the same since the unstandardised paths are equalised across gender. The only
difference is the path between subjective norm and e-shopping intention.

Figure 2: Final model with standardised regression coefficients - Male

[Click on image for full-size version]

Figure 3: Final model with standardised regression coefficients - Female

[Click on image for full-size version]

Discussion
Females are in general more interested in shopping for apparel and like to spend more
money on apparel and accessories than men; for example, 71% of all dollars spent in
that category in the U.S. for February 2010 was spent by women (comScore eCommerce Report, 2010). It was therefore no surprise that significantly more female
than male students have purchased apparel online before. The fact that females search
more often for information about apparel online confirms the findings of
Watchraversringkan and Shim (2003: 4). The results obtained from examining attitude
support previous findings of Reibstein (2002) who found that customers state and
behave as if price is the most important factor in drawing them to a website.
Results showed that this study supported most of Fishbein and Ajzen's Theory of
Reasoned Action (1975) by indicating that subjective norm influences e-shopping
intention (hypothesis 2), which in turn affects actual e-shopping behaviour (hypothesis
3). The stronger the perceived support by family and friends for e-shopping of apparel
is, the more likely the intention to actually purchase apparel online. A deviation from
the TORA model though, was the predicted direct relation between students' attitude
and intentions toward e-shopping. Attitude toward e-shopping had no significant direct
effect on online purchase intentions for apparel as hypothesised in hypothesis 1. This
contradicts earlier findings that made use of the TORA model (Yoh et al., 2003; Kim et
al., 2003). Instead this relationship was mediated by online search as hypothesised by
hypotheses 4 and 5. Online retailers could thus still benefit from informing consumers
about these attributes and improve them where necessary to increase the amount of
time they will search online for apparel, which in turn will then increase their intentions
toward e-shopping for apparel and eventually their actual e-shopping behaviour. The
second deviation from the TORA model is the relation between subjective norm and
attitude towards e-shopping for apparel. This added path is not an entirely new
phenomenon. Although the two variables are separate constructs in the TORA model by
Fishbein and Azjen (1975), recent studies proposed they might be positively related
(Pan et al., 2003; Venkatesh et al., 2003). Even before those studies Chang (1998)
already found an improvement in model fit when adding a path from subjective norm to
attitude to the TORA model during his research on unethical behaviour.
An important purpose of this study was to examine the interaction between in-store
shopping for apparel and e-shopping for apparel. However, all hypothesised
relationships with in-store shopping were rejected as they turned out to be insignificant
for both genders (hypotheses 6 and 7). It must be noted that the variables in-store
shopping for apparel and e-shopping for apparel were both measured by one question
only: 'How often do you purchase apparel online (in-store)'. Besides the fact that it is
only one question, this question is also based on personal knowledge and judgment.
Future research might be able to use actual numbers registered by (web) shops
themselves to construct these variables to obtain a more accurate picture.

Several implications for online retailers of apparel can be drawn. Above all, the internet
search component is a critical concept in the behaviour of online shopping for apparel.
This suggests that the retail strategy should emphasise the information that can be
found on their website. In addition to internet search, subjective norm and attitudes
revealed to be a significant indirect predictor of e-shopping for apparel. Therefore,
online retailers should pay close attention to social influences from family, friends and
other acquaintances. Online retailers should use their knowledge about the importance
of social reinforcement by using the word-of-mouth advertising strategy. To improve
the attitude towards e-shopping for apparel retailers should emphasise the benefits of
this e-shopping behaviour in contrast to purchasing apparel in-store. The three most
important attributes of e-shopping according to the student sample were better quality
of apparel, lower prices and more possibilities to compare apparel. Online retailers
should thus start assure customers that shopping at their website for apparel will lead
to this.
Some limitations of the present study need to be acknowledged. First, the type of
apparel might influence attitude and subjective norm. These constructs could differ
when measured for functional (e.g. rain coat or sport clothes) or expressive apparel
(e.g. social clothes or new fashion), but also whether they are used for themselves or
for others. It could thus be useful to observe whether the validity of measures and
results hold across distinct apparel categories. Secondly, lack of randomness in the
sample limits the ability to generalise the point and interval estimates to a larger
population. However, the results are still useful since students belong to a large part of
the online consumers, which makes them interesting to online retailers. Nevertheless,
other populations should also be examined to confirm and expand the obtained results.
Future research should take several points into account. The expansion of Fishbein and
Azjen's TORA model (1975) should be taken seriously since the relation between
subjective norm and attitude has shown up in earlier studies. Future research should
examine this path for different samples and settings to examine whether this
relationship is specific for a student sample or can be generalised to the entire Dutch or
European population. Since searching online turned out to have a positive effect on eshopping intentions, future studies should focus on how to convert people that seek
information online for apparel to online buyers. This could help online retailers to
increase their understanding in the buying process of the customers, which eventually
could be used to boost profits.
The current study only provides a snapshot picture. E-shopping for apparel still remains
a fairly new phenomenon and the conclusions drawn in this study might not hold for
long due to the rapid developments. Although Fogel and Schneider (2010) already
conducted a longitudinal study of three months, a study of at least a year would be
more helpful in determining long-term patterns and to assess the changes in consumer
perceptions towards e-shopping. Although already a large amount of variation is
explained by the current model, further studies could also pay attention to the
remaining 30% unexplained variance in e-shopping for apparel. Possibilities are
perceived risk, previous e-shopping experience and perceived behavioural control.
Lastly, at this time more and more online retailers provide physical service points where
customers can pick up, pay for, and return items they ordered online (Weltevreden et
al., 2005). Future research should therefore be more precise in specifying the terms e-

shopping and in-store shopping. There is an important difference in buying apparel

online at a website that does not have a physical store in contrast with websites that
also possess a building or store for operations.

List Of Illustrations
Figure 1: Structural model including hypotheses
Figure 2: Final model with standardised regression coefficients - Male
Figure 3: Final model with standardised regression coefficients - Female

List of Tables
Table 1: Factor analysis: Attitude toward e-shopping for apparel
Table 2: Insignificant indicator for the latent variable in-store shopping
Table 3: Measurement (Factor) Model
Table 4: Results of structural equation model I
Table 5: Results of structural equation model II
Table 6: Final Measurement Model, *** < .001
Table 7: Final Structural Model, ***<.001, male/female

Appendix
Questions used in the Questionnaire

1. Gender Male / Female

2. Age

3. What is your field of study?

4. What is your nationality?
5. Do you have access to the internet? Yes / No

Never

Less than 1 hour

1 to 5 hours

5 to 10 hours

10 to 20 hours

More than 20 hours

6. On average, about how many hours a week do you spend using the internet?
7. In the past I have purchased apparel online? Yes / No
8. I search for apparel information online and then buy it in a store.

Never

Rarely

Sometimes

Often

Very often

9. I search for apparel in-store and then buy it online.

Never

Rarely

Sometimes

Often

Very often

10. I have made a shopping trip due to searching apparel information online that I
would not have made otherwise.

Never

Rarely

Sometimes

Often

Very often

Circle your answer

Not true

True

11. Friends and family think I should shop

online for apparel.

12. Friends and family approve e-shopping

for apparel.

13. Friends and family recommend me to

buy apparel online.

14. My friends and family buy apparel

online.

15. I intend to use the internet to buy apparel.

16. I plan to use the internet to purchase

apparel within the next few months.

17. Overall, I would use the internet to buy
apparel I need.

18. Buying apparel via the internet is

something I would do.

19. How often do you purchase apparel

online?

Never

Rarely

Sometimes

Often

Very
often

20. How often do you purchase apparel instore?

Never

Rarely

Sometimes

Often

Very
often

21. Since January 2011 I have bought apparel online.

Never

1-2

3-4

5-6

7-8

9-10

More than 10 times

22. Since January 2011 I have bought apparel in-store.

Never

1-2

3-4

5-6

7-8

9-10

More than 10 times

23. Compared to shopping for apparel in a store, how likely is it that e-shopping for
apparel will lead to

Circle your answer

Very Unlikely

Very Likely

More merchandise options

Higher payment security

More fashionable clothing

More convenience

More time saving

Lower prices

A better quality of apparel

A better customer service

A better return policy

Better personal advice

More social interaction

More possibilities to compare apparel

Sufficient product information

24. Irrespective of buying online or in-store, when I decide where to shop for apparel
the following attributes are important

Circle your answer

Totally Unimportant

Very Important

More merchandise options

Higher payment security

More fashionable clothing

More convenience

More time saving

Lower prices

A better quality of apparel

A better customer service

A better return policy

Better personal advice

More social interaction

More possibilities to compare apparel

Sufficient product information

25. I would seek information about apparel via the internet rather than from stores,
regardless of where I eventually buy the apparel.

Search entirely by store

1

Search entirely by internet

4

26. I search for information about apparel via the internet.

Never

Once a
year

Less than once

a month

Once a
month

Several times a
month

Once a
week

Several times
a week

Notes
[1] Marjolein Kramer graduated from University College Utrecht in July 2011 with a
degree in Economics and Mathematics and she is currently reading for an MSc in
Econometrics at Erasmus University Rotterdam.

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To cite this paper please use the following details: Kramer, M. (2012), 'The unravelling
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