ONLINE SHOPPING EXPERIENCES: A QUALITATIVE SURVEY

Résumé En

This research tackles the issue of shopping experience in an online environment. Previous studies have already focused on consumption experiences (Holt, 1995; Arnould and Thompson, 2005) and consumer experiences on the web focusing on 'browsing' and 'flow' online (Hoffman, Novak, 1996, 2009). This paper intends to examine online shopping experience from three aspects: the physical, ideological and pragmatic dimensions. As an exploratory research study, a qualitative research method was used (in France) with four focus groups –thirty-one consumers who differ in terms of age, gender and consumer experience. The results highlighted the three proposed dimensions and underline as core issue the pragmatic dimension of online shopping experience. Indeed, if the ideological aspect of shopping experience has already been discussed, as well as some of the concrete elements of the shopping experience online, some key aspects of online shopping experience have been pointed out, for instance the social interactions with friends. Above all, the appropriation process of commercial websites is here underlined; beyond purchase intentions, shoppers have different uses and rituals with Internet tools, that characterize different online shopping experiences.