Internet Revenue and Consumers’ Purchasing Decisions

Abstract

The dissertation is aimed at identifying the factors that affect the internet advertisement revenue and the consumer’s purchasing decision. The dissertation is intended to study two major issues that are the Companies’ Internet advertisement revenue and Consumers’ Purchasing Decisions. In this regard the research work is focused on studying the relationship between the four general economy factors (GDP, CPI, unemployment, industrial production index) and Internet Advertisement Revenue in U.S.A to find out the major elements that have greater impact on the commercial revenue generated from internet.

In addition to this the research also strives to test that how the Internet advertisement affect the company’s profits (ROE, ROI, and EPS) significantly. In the next phase the research study is aimed at studying the relationship between 6 factors (customize, brand, transaction model, information offer, price, purchase-service) and consumers’ purchasing decisions to determine that how these factors affect the intention of Internet purchasing significantly. The dissertation employs a mixed methodological approach to attain the above mentioned objectives and with the help of literature review and statistical survey among the online operating firms and internet users, the data and information about the factors influencing the internet commercial revenue is collected.

Introduction

In the technology driven world of today internet has emerges as a popular, convenient and beneficial means of doing business and shopping. The companies took internet as an opportunity to expand their businesses through the sales of their products and services online and for this they take help from marketing and advertisement techniques (Van Slyke et al, p32, 2004). Consumers on the other hand find it convenient, cost effective, time reducing and choice facilitating to shop for different products and services through internet. As a result more and more kinds of interactive advertisements on Internet have become popular and focus of global advertisement industry is mainly shifting towards internet advertisement along with the traditional means of advertisements (Bellman et al, p32, 1999).

In this situation where the potential applications of the Internet are expanding each and every single day, the growth of E-commerce and on-line marketing has become an inevitable trend because intern offers wide array of opportunities to the business and wide range of choices to the consumers for the selection of the products and services (Buskin and John, p6, 1998). As a result there is rise in the commercial revenue generated from internet because the emergence of internet as a shopping destination has given birth to many economic activities online and the businesses and the consumers are closely linked with each other through internet and they interact with each other through different means and strategies adopted by the retail companies or marketers.

The companies all over the world are emphasizing towards internet and designing their marketing strategies specifically for internet so that they can grab the attention of the online consumers and can influence their behaviors and decision making (Jervenpaa and Todd, p59, 1997). For this purpose a considerable portion of the advertisement and marketing budget of the company is generally allocated for the online advertisement and marketing.

In the developed country especially where there is greater affordability and usage of computers and internet, there is increased trend of internet shopping and the revenue generate form internet is also high in these countries because where there is high rate of computer literacy, people get aware of the potential benefits and facilities provided by internet and the affordability of computers and internet due to economic development further facilitated them to frequently use internet for variety of purposes (Henderson at al, p213, 1999).

In US and UK especially there is considerable rise observed in the numbers of the internet users and ultimately there is also increase in the numbers of the internet shoppers. Due to which there is gradual rise in the ecommerce generated in these countries and the share of the goods and services sold through internet is also rising in the total sales of the products and services (U.S. Census Bureau Report, 2004). These developments have further added to the importance of internet advertisement and marketing because to increase the internet commercial revenue the role of online advertisement and marketing is very crucial as the advertisement and marketing strategies play vital role in influencing the decision making power of the consumers (Liu et al, p335, 1997).

In this context where there is increasing importance of internet advertisement and marketing strategies the success of the business highly depends upon the marketing performance and strategies of a company because they have to prove that they are using internet positively as a means of gaining the attention of the consumers and increasing the sales of their products and services to take their commercial revenue up to a higher level.

In other words, to survive in the highly competitive market place of today’s, it is very crucial for the company that they must be very keen about the importance of internet marketing and must design effective and updates strategies so that they can not only make their online presence in effective manner but can also gain the capability to influence the behavior of the consumers online related with the purchase of certain goods and services (Zhu et al, p275, 2002).

For this the companies are required to give value based advertisement on internet because of the consumers are assure of the high value of the product for their money, then they are convinced to buy that product and this can increase the revenue of the company also. On the other hand if the consumers are not convinced about the product value then they don’t often take the decision to buy that product and in this way the commercial revenue of the company is also negatively affected.

There are variety of issues that hinders the consumers to make purchases online more frequently like the security concerns for their personal information and financial details, doubts about the on time delivery and the quality of the received product etc. All these issues must be clearly understood and resolved by the companies if they want to have increased participation of the consumers in the buying process at internet because this participation will bring more revenue to the company and at the same time the consumers will be more satisfied about the product value for their money. (Kiely, p14, 1997)

While responding to the importance of internet advertisement and marketing the researchers and social scientists are also focusing on this important issue and in recent years there are many research studies conducted by different social scientists to highlight the importance of the internet advertisement to rise the internet commercial revenue and there are also several research studies conducted by the experts and social scientists to identify the most influential factors that effect the commercial revenue generated from internet. In these studies there are several factors identified on the part of the companies as well as on the side of the consumers that have great impact of the consumer decision making and the internet advertisement revenue.

In different research studies conducted so far, the importance of internet advertisement and the factors influencing the internet advertisement has been explicitly explained (e.g. Resnick et al (2001); Torkzadeh and Dhillon (2004); Kotler (1997) and it is found that the emergence of internet has both negative and positive effects on the businesses because due to the advent of new technology now the businesses are facing more challenging situation where they have to fight on one more ground i.e. the web world.

The businesses have to concentrate towards internet advertisement along with the traditional means of advertisement and marketing otherwise there is a great possibility that they will loose the attention of the big portion of the consumers that use to search and shop online. Thus the companies need to allocate good amount of money in their advertisement budget for internet advertisement so that the online consumers can get the information about the company and product through internet and in the light of the information provided by the company they can make the decision about buying certain products.

The negative impacts of internet commerce are cited as the dominant effect that the companies spending more on internet advertisement succeed to create an impact that they dominate the market even if they don’t enjoy good market position in real and in this way due to network access problem or some other issues, other companies operating in better position in the market are less regarded because the consumers don’t find enough about their products and services on internet (Mannix, p76, 1999).

This dissertation is an attempt to continue the existing literature and research work conducted around the topic and while focusing mainly on US, the dissertation comprehensively explains different issues associated with the topic. The dissertation is mainly focused on identifying the factors affecting the Internet advertisement revenue so that the businesses can concentrate towards these factors to expect increase in their commercial revenue and gaining competitive advantages.

In order to achieve the two main objectives of the research that are to “identify the factors affective the internet advertisement revenue from the consumers and businesses aspect and to identify the factors influencing the consumer decision making while online shopping”; the dissertation uses a mixed methodological approach. In the first phase the review of the existing literature and research studies conducted in the recent decade is done to have deep understanding of the issue.

The review of the literature is aimed at providing comprehensive and in depth information about the topic so that all the background issues associated with the topic of the dissertation could be clearly understood and it become easy to come up with the solution of the main research question of the dissertation. Along with the review of the literature, the dissertation is also aimed at conducting a statistical survey using a questionnaire to investigate and understand that how the factors (customize, brand, transaction model, information offer, price, purchase-service) effect the consumers’ purchasing decisions.

On the business’s side the dissertation will be focused on exploring that how the GDP, CPI, unemployment, and industrial production index affect Internet advertisement revenue. In this regard the main source of data collection will be the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) that is the only association dedicated to helping online, Interactive broadcasting, email, wireless and Interactive television media companies increase their revenues.

The organization also offers some historical data or information about Internet advertisement revenue in United States that is helpful for the study and in the light of the data and information collected from the abovementioned sources that are the review of the existing research studies and literature, results of the statistical survey and the data provided by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB); the dissertation will search for the answer of the research question and the factors influencing the internet advertisement revenue and the consumer decision making will be identified. Thus in the light of the collected statistics of the primary and secondary data, this research can descript and explain the results to evaluate these factors whether effecting Internet advertisement revenue and companies’ competitive advantage or not.

Key Objectives of the Study

The research study is mainly concerned with exploring and identifying the key factors that affects the internet advertisement revenue of the companies and has influence on the consumer decision making. In this context the paper also looks at various background issues associated with the topic and strives to explain them with the help of the review of the literature. The objectives of the research are to be achieved by using a mixed methodological approach. Thus the key goals of the research study are as follow:

• To understand the importance of internet as a shopping place and the changed made in the traditional advertisement and shopping patterns due to the emergence of internet
• To understand the motives and concerns of the online consumers that convince or prevent them from shopping online
• To identify the main factors that affects the internet advertisement revenue
• To highlight the elements and strategies that can contribute towards the increment in the internet advertisement revenue of the companies
• To explore the impact of the internet advertisement on the revenues of the businesses
• To identify the factors that have influence on the consumer behavior of the online shoppers
• To understand the relationship between different variable and the internet commercial revenue and consumer behavior
• To identify the factors that can help the companies in influencing the consumer behavior and can work for the rise in the advertisement revenue of the companies through increased sales of the products online
• To collect qualitative and quantitative data and information related with the internet advertisement revenue and the consumer decision making to explain the relation ship between different variables and these factors

Research Motivation

The research is motivated by the emerging trend where the companies and the consumers are focusing more and more on internet for the sales and purchase of goods and services. This trend is offering many new opportunities to the businesses as they can expand and develop their business with the help of the internet that allows them to reach millions of the consumers (Chaudhri et al, p422 1999) and at the same time this trend is also beneficial for the consumers allowing them to access wide range of information about different products and services and to select among them according to own requirement and perceptions (Aaker and Norris p61, 2002).

Due to this trend there are more commercial activities taking place on internet but not all the consumers are benefiting from this trend and not all the businesses are making full use of these facilities to expand and grow their businesses. There are many of the businesses that recognize the importance of the internet advertisement but still they fail to catch the attention of the consumers and as a result there is no prominent increase in their revenues despite allocating good amount of money in their advertisement budgets.

The main reason behind their failure is that they fail to understand and identify the main factors that have great influence on the commercial revenue and the consumer behaviors (Lee et al, p75, 2001). Consumers on the other hand also have certain concerns and insecurities regarding the online shopping and due to these issues the internet commercial revenue is badly affected. Though there are several attempts made by the social scientist and the experts to identify the main factors that play the main role in this entire situation but there is non of the study conducted so far that at a same time explains the influential factors affecting the commercial revenue of the business and also the factors influencing the decision making of the consumers (Oz, p456, 2000).

These two issues are closely linked with each other because when the consumers are tend to buy certain products online only then there could be increase in the advertisement revenue of the companies. In other words, to increase the internet advertisement revenue it is very crucial to understand the role of consumer decision making (Ducoffe, p43, 1996).

Thus the study is motivated by the objective to understand the relationship between various variable and their impact on the advertisement revenue generated from internet so that this understanding can help in designing effective and successful strategies for online advertisement and in the end both the consumers and the businesses will be benefited because the businesses will get more commercial revenue from internet as a result of increased sales of the products and services and the consumers will be benefited in form of more choices and shopping options that will become more attractive to them when designed in the light of the factors affecting their decision making.

Significance of the Study

The possible outcomes of the study will provide comprehensive information and authentic data about the topic gathered from different reliable resources. Thus it will be valuable contribution to the existing literature and research studies conducted around the topic. The dissertation will come up with the solution of a very current and important problem. The businesses all over the world are now days highly concerned about increasing their internet advertisement revenues (Ducoffe, p43, 1996) and this research study will provide them detailed information and deep understanding of the factors that can affect and increase their revenue and will also propose them some new ways through which they can reorganize and restructure their marketing strategies to get maximum benefits from the emergence and popularity of internet.

Thus the outcome of the dissertation will be very significant and valuable from the business point of view as it will pave the ways for the companies through which they can improve their strategies and can earn more revenue from internet advertisement. On the other hand the consumers will be also benefited from the dissertation because they will also get deep understanding of the importance and significance of internet as a shopping place and they can be well aware of the facts that how they can go for best buy using internet and what are the facilities and benefits that internet offers them.

When the consumers will have deep understanding of the internet shopping there will be rise in the online shopping activities that will ultimately result in the improvement of the economic development and the overall trading transactions will be increased that will have good effect on the economic growth of the country.

The students of marketing and advertisement will also find valuable information about the marketing and advertisement strategies in the dissertation and they can also gain deep understanding of various marketing related issues from the research that can help them in their learning process and practical career. The data and the information provided in the dissertation is collected from the authentic and reliable resources so the students or the businesses can use this information for further reference or for understand and solving any particular issue related with the topic of the dissertation.

Need for the Study

Internet is getting more and more popular with each passing day and people use it for a variety of purposes (Berthon et al, p43, 2003). As internet is getting more and more popular its uses are also expanding and rather using internet for just communication and entertainment purpose, the people want to gain certain competitive advantages from this emerging technology and they are willing to use internet for a variety of purposes (Mayer et al, p709, 1999).

Among the main uses of internet, shopping has also appeared to be a popular and favorite activity of the online consumers and the people not only like to search information about different products and services online but they also want to make bargain and final purchases on internet. This willingness of the people has resulted in the increased volume of eCommerce sale in different countries and in the developed countries where the people have greater access to internet, the trend of using internet for shopping purpose in also increasing.

However the entire process of buying and selling is not a simple process and there is requirement of strategic planning at each and every step of the internet advertisement and marketing because due to lack of adequate planning and effective strategies, the businesses often fail to get maximum benefits from the internet and they record no improvement in their internet advertisement revenue.

In this situation there is great need of a research work that can identify the main factors that play the leading role in influencing the consumer behavior of the online users because the consumer behavior has the direct impact on the internet advertisement revenue and if the business fail to identify the factors influencing the consumer decision and attitudes then they can never succeed to rise their advertisement revenue. So identifying the influential factors is very important for the businesses in the context of improving their advertisement revenue.

While responding to this, this dissertation is aimed at explaining in details all the issues associated with the matter of internet commercial revenue and the consumer decision so that after having a deep insight over the issue, the solution to the problem statement could be found and in the light of the research findings the dissertation could put forward some recommendations and suggestions for the businesses that can help them in getting better understanding of the consumer behavior and rising their advertisement revenues.

Rationale of the Study

The study is based on identifying the factors affecting the internet advertisement revenue and consumer behavior and in this context the research study is based on studying the following factors.

• At companies side the research will be focused on the relationship between the internet advertisement and the profit of the company (ROE, ROI, EPS)
• At consumer side the research study will be focused on the relationship between internet purchasing decision making and six factors including customize, brand, transaction model, information offer, price, purchase-service. These factors are explained as followed:

1. Customize
   1. Customer satisfaction
   2. Degree of quick response
   3. Degree of convenience
2. Brand
   1. Image
   2. Customer loyal
   3. Quality guarantee
3. Transaction model
   1. Delivery time
   2. The security problems of using the electronic wallets or credit card on-line
   3. The security during the transaction process
4. The information offer on the Internet
   1. Information quantity on the Internet
   2. Degree of convenience to get the information on the Internet
   3. The correctness of the information on the Internet
5. Price
   1. The cost pays for transaction process.
   2. the price always lowers much than real store
6. Purchase-service
   1. To guarantee delivery in good shape within time limit.
   2. To make contact with customer service.

Literature Review

Internet Functions and Commercial Revenue

The trend of internet marketing is continuously increasing the amount of revenues generated from internet and the share of the ecommerce revenue in the total sales of the products and services is also increasing steadily as the time passes.

According to the facts and figures provided by the US Census Bureau for the year 2003, it is found that by the end of 2004 there was rise in the online revenues in US for instance in the second quarter of 2004, there was approximately $15.7 billion earned though retail ecommerce and this amount of internet revenue was 23.1 percent higher then that of 2003.Likewise in the second quarter of 2004 the share of eCommerce sales in the total sales was 1.7 percent in the country and this was also greater then the previous year as in 2003 the ecommerce contributed 1.5 percent in the total sales of the country. This shows a constant rise in the internet sales of goods and services in the country (U.S. Census Bureau Report, 2004)

Gogan (1997) explains that as the trend of online shopping in increasing along with the popularity of internet, there are more and more companies striving to get maximum revenues through the sales of their product via internet. In this regard the concept of ecommerce is getting momentum all over the world and businesses are very much concerned about the marketing and sales of their products and services through internet (p89).

However not all the companies succeed to increase their revenue by gaining consumer attention and satisfaction on internet and there are some businesses that are unable to raise their revenues through the sales of their products online. In this scenario the businesses have o concentrate towards acquiring consumer satisfaction so that they can take the advantage of emergence of internet. Thus the businesses must have ability to gain the consumer satisfaction and they must develop a system through which they can measure the level of the consumer satisfaction and then take help from this level to amend their policies and marketing strategies.

He further explains that the companies operating online must be aware of the fact that their existing and potential consumers and customers are the valuable asset for them and they must acquire complete knowledge about the behavior of their consumers so that they can determine that the factors behind certain behavior, attitude, feeling and actions of the online costumers. In this regard it is very important to know that what attributes attract the customers towards a certain product while surfing online and what values are most important for the customers and they want to see these values in their desired product.

Van Slyke et al (2004) revealed that despite the popularity of internet as a shopping point, there are less revenues generated via internet as expected and estimated by the experts for example in 2002 it was expected in US that there will be more then $1 trillion sale of the products and services through internet but according the to figure of US census bureau there was less sales actually happened in the year as expected and the US e-commerce sales was $43.5 billion and $70 billion in 2003. Though there was over all increase in the spending on internet but even this rise is not matched with the expectation and estimates. (Van Slyke et al, p32, 2004)

Bellman et al (1999) explain that from the year 2000 the world is witnessing comprehensive increase in the online sales of the product and there is almost five times rise in the trend of internet shopping since 2002. Though the over all share of internet shopping in the total sales has not reached to any significant percentage but for some of the products and services, the trend of internet shopping is considerable high that shows the attention and willingness of the people to shop for different products and services online.

The people are attracted towards internet as a shopping place because they get lot of convenience while shopping online however at the same time the consumers also remain worried about the security issues concerned with the use of internet and sometimes the failure in on time delivery also give the consumers worst shopping experience and they become aware of many negative aspects of internet shopping. This factor has a strong impact of the commercial revenue generated from internet because the sale of the product is directly affected from the feelings and experiences of the people (Bellman et al, p32, 1999)

Buskin and John (1998) that internet popularity all over the world has modified the functions and activities of the businesses and the companies are now making use of internet for the sales of their services and goods and the development of their businesses as well. There is now increased interaction between the manufacturers, retailers and the consumers however there is a basic requirement to set up the online business that the companies must closely know about the people who use internet and make online purchases.

The study of the researchers highlighted that most of the time the online consumers are tend to be younger and these are the people who are better educated and financially stable as compares with other people around them. These people not only use internet to search for the products but also make purchases via internet very often. It is also revealed from the research that when there is better computer literacy in the society then there will be more revenues generated from the sales of the products online however the lower prices products are mostly sold on internet often and the people remain care full about spending heavy amounts on high prices products on internet. (Buskin and John, p6, 1998)

Jervenpaa and Todd (1997) explains that to understand the consumer behavior regarding the sales of different products via internet, the retailers must gather adequate information about their existing and potential customers, about their behaviors and preferences and it is a great advantage for the retailers that along with providing a shopping place, the internet also allows them to collect detailed and in depth information about the consumers and their preferences.

At the same time the retailers also enjoy a great benefit from doing business online that they can easily and instantly make changes in the prices of the products or the offers attached with the purchase of the products. The internet users can get hold of the changes occur in the prices or schemes at the same time via email or visiting the website of the company. In this way there is a continuous connection establish between the retailers and the consumers (Jervenpaa and Todd, p59, 1997)

Henderson et al (1999) explains that internet is a great opportunity for the retailers and the marketers because different functions of internet are so supportive for the retail business that by making effective strategies that can generate good revenue against the sales of their products and services. Internet also provides many new ways of doing business to the retailers and they can manage their manufacturing process in effective and cost saving manner as they can work on the manufacturing of the products according to the orders received through email or web site and in this way they can save the cost on the extra manufactured products (Henderson at al, p213, 1999)

Liu et al (1997) revealed that in many of the countries of the world especially in the developed countries, internet is becoming a common and popular means of shopping. The increased trend of shopping online is benefiting both the businesses and the consumers in so many ways. Businesses are getting more opportunities to sale their products and services and to reach the consumers very closely while paying low and on the other hand the consumers are getting access to the valuable information and different offers made online by the retailers.

The consumers get more information about the products and services online and in this way they have more choices in front of them and they can pick from variety of products according to their own requirements and suitability. The consumers are often offered low prices on internet shopping and this is also one of the most important advantage that convince the consumers to search and shop for their required products and services online. However at the same time there is also requirement that the entire process of buying and sales on internet must be monitored by some authority so that the companies might not influence the flow of information and have potential for the price discrimination. (Liu et al, p335, 1997)

Zhu et al (2002) pointed out that according to a survey it is found that most of the people use internet for shopping purpose because they find internet very convincing. There are some other important reasons due to which the consumers are attracted towards the use of internet as a shopping tool like they believe that they will get more product values for their money and man of the people also believe that they get low prices of the products when they search and shop for products online.

In addition to this the people are also attracted towards internet shopping because they got to know about all the available options and varieties of the products and they finally become able to shop around for best buy by using internet. Thus these reasons must be kept in consideration by the companies and the marketers so that they can provide the factors to the consumers for which they look towards internet for shopping of the products and services (Zhu et al, p275, 2002)

The US Department of Commerce (2005) also conducted a survey to find out the main reasons for which the consumers come to internet for shopping. The report of the survey declared that there are almost more then 78 percent of the internet users that have a firm believe that there are more choices offered on internet shopping and there are 73 percent of the consumers that believe that they got comparatively low prices for different products and services on internet.

The results of the survey clearly indicated that the people see many benefits and money saving in online shopping that’s why they now start preferring internet over the traditional means of shopping. In this way internet commerce has become one of the vital features of the world economy because people are very much interested in the offers about the products and services made on internet and they see and welcome internet as a shopping point because they get many choices, price flexibility and product values for their money by shopping online.

Mannix (1999) revealed that the popularity of internet is market with certain advantages and benefits for the consumers and the businesses however at the same time there is also a dark side of picture and there also exist some possibilities that can hard the benefits enjoyed by the businesses and the consumers while making transactions online. The researcher revealed that at foist there is a possibility that the there could be network effects that can stop the entry of some companies and play role in strengthening of the dominant players.

This is possible because the companies that allocate more amounts in their marketing online, they will have more grip on the consumers online and even if they don’t have a strong position in the market, they can take help from internet advertisements and marketing tactics to acquire that position. The consumers also might not have access to certain networks and in this case also the messages of some companies or businesses will not be researched to all of the consumers and there is no complete information accessed by the consumers online. In addition to this there is also an important issue that is attached with the online shopping and that is the security issue.

The people are very much concerned about the misuse of their personal and financial information that they provide online and after having any bad experience in internet shopping, they remain careful in buying products and services online and this factor effect a lot the commercial revenue generated from internet (Mannix, p76, 1999)

In another survey conducted by the US Department of commerce (2005) it is discovered that thought there is increase in the number of online shoppers and the amount of eCommerce revenue is also increasing but all the shopping done on internet is mainly related with just four sectors of products and services and these four sectors are “books, music, entertainment tickets and travel”. In these four sectors the consumers are not much concerned to see the product with their eyes after having the contact with the retailers so they easily make the decisions to buy these products online. Another reason for the increasing sales of these products online is the offers and price discounts that the people can enjoy with the purchase of these products and services on internet.

The survey also pointed out the major concerns of the people about the internet shopping. It is found from the survey that there are almost 58 percent of the people who use internet and often do internet shopping but they are very much concerned about the security of the payments that they made for the purchase of the products online through their credit cards. After the security concern the other issue about which the internet users and shoppers are worried about is the ability to make the claims of the warranty of the product or getting their money refund due to the lack of any claimed attribute in the product.

There are 37 percent of the internet users that are found worried and concerned about the above mentioned issue and along with that there are 34 percent that are concerned about aspects of delivery and they have certain questions and insecurities in mind that if they make payment online for purchasing any product or service, will it be delivered to them on time or not and in case of failure of in time delivery how will they make their claim against the company.

Calkins et al (2005) revealed that in different parts of the worlds there is increased use of internet because computer is now popularly used by the people belonging to different phases of life. The increased in the rate of computer literacy has further added to the popularity of internet and people who use internet also tend to buy different goods and services on internet as many of them find it a convenient way of shopping. Like other countries of the worlds in UK also there is greater use of internet and computers.

For example in the year 2005, there were 62 percent of the British household people having computer and internet access at their homes. This number was just 9 percent in 1999 and thus there is a significant increase observed in the computer and internet users in the country. The increase in the users of computers and internet has become the base for the increase in the numbers of internet shoppers and as the people are getting fast access to internet at their homes, they are also tend to buy different things via internet.

There was a considerable increase recorded in the internet sales of the products and services during last few years. In the year 2000 the revenue generated from the sales of products and services to the UK households was just around £3 billion and within four years there was increase of 68 percent in this figure and there were £18.1 billion earned by the non financial business sectors through the sales of their products and services on internet.

It is also expected that this number will go on rapid increase in the coming years and there will be more internet users as well as internet shoppers in the country. This shows the rising trend of internet shopping in one of the developed country of the world. Along with UK, there is also considerable increase in the number of internet users and shoppers in US also. For example in the year 2005 there were total $81.8 billion generated from the sales of the goods and service through internet and there was increment of 25 percent recorded in the internet sales.

Chaudhri et al (1999) pointed out that internet has offered many opportunities to the company to expand their businesses and increase the amount of their revenues with the help of internet however there are many companies that are not making full advantage of internet as a shopping and marketing place and their commercial potential is not anticipated with the emergence of internet. One of the main reasons behind the failure of some of the companies online is the mistake that they make in determining the core values to be promoted on internet.

It should be understood by the marketers and the retailers that if they wish to increase their commercial revenue with the help of internet then they have to concentrate towards providing value based advertisement to the consumers because the online users are very much concerned about the value attached with the products and service against the money they give to purchase the product. Along with this the companies also have to establish their brand name and reputation so that the consumers can have trust on the claims they made in their advertisements messages and they also can be assure that in case of making payments online they will receive their product within given delivery time and they will get the same quality and quantity of the product or service that is assures in the website of the company or in the email message (Chaudhri et al, p422 1999)

Aaker and Norris (2002) observed that since the year 1996 there is considerable increase noticed in the trend of online shopping and the people very soon accepted internet for making their purchases of different goods and services. The acceptance and good response of the people towards the trend of internet shopping gave momentum to various marketing and manufacturing related activities on internet.

As the number of internet users is rising the number of internet shoppers is increasing too and according to the survey of the US census bureau there were over 143 millions internet users in US in 2002 and there was expectation of massive rise in the internet users. People use internet for variety of purpose and among them some of the main reasons are sending and receiving emails, buying products and services, participation in auctions and different schemes, entertainments and finding and keeping in touch with the friends. (Aaker and Norris p61, 2002)

Kotler (1997) identified that there are some of the key functions of the online marketing channels that can be usually transferred to another intermediary, but cannot be completely eliminated and the entire process of marketing and purchase of good and services online is conducted by passing through these different steps or functions. These functions include “Information, Promotion, Negotiation, Ordering, Financing, Risk taking, Physical possession, Payment and Title”.

The researcher further explains that information is to collect and disseminate the information related with the market research about the potential and the existing consumers of the product or service, the competitors of the company and the other factors and actors that are present in the market surroundings and have some impact on the company business. Promotion is to develop and disseminate the persuasive communications in form of different messages and material that is developed with the objective to attract the consumers towards certain schemes or offer. Negotiation is basically an attempt where the company and the consumers try to reach to a final agreement on price and other terms and conditions so that transfer of ownership or possession can be affected and the consumer can get access to the selected product or service.

Ordering is the communication process conducted by the members of the marketing-channel with the intention to buy to the manufacturer. Financing is the acquisition and allocation of funds or amount of the money that will be required to finance the inventories at different levels of the marketing channel. Risk taking is the assumption of risks connected with carrying out the channel work. Physical possession means the successive storage and movement of physical products from raw materials to the final customers.

Payment refers to the payments made by the buyers of their bills to the sellers through banks and other financial institutions and finally the title refers to the actual transfer of ownership from one organization or person to another. In this way these functions are performed by the internet marketing channels and these all are very essential functions for the successful marketing and advertisement operations of the company.

Chen at al (2003) explains that it is very necessary that after implementing a particular marketing strategy the company must obtain feed back from the consumers to get their response about that strategy because different consumers react towards different offers and attraction in quite a different manner and only the monitoring of their behavior and the reactions could determines the success or failure of the strategies applied in the perspective of internet marketing and advertisement.

When an offer or interactivity facility if place by a company on internet mostly on their website, people respond towards it in different ways and there is generally disagreements in the perceptions and satisfaction level of the consumers regarding particular Web site, offer or advertising message however the experience of the consumer to surf online also play a vital role in determining the success of the website because the experienced and used to consumers generally enjoy interacting and participating in different activities on internet as compared with the new users.

In the same manner the experiences internet shoppers also remain ready and open towards different offers as well as advertising messages. Thus the usage level of the consumers also play a defining role in the success or failure of the advertisement strategies implemented online so that company has to keep in mind the computer literacy level of the consumers also (Chen et al, p14, 2003)

Factors Affecting Consumer Decision Making

Keeney and Ralph (1999) revealed that the emergence of internet as a popular means of conducting sales and marketing functions has given birth to massive sales potential and the experts now predict that the online sales of the product and services will keep on rising along with time and many companies will be succeed to earn major portion of their revenues through internet sales and purchases.

However sometimes there expectations are not met and the companies failed to generate expected amount of revenues through the sales of their product on internet. This is because there are some important factors associated with the consumer decision making power that are not adequately understood and followed by the marketers and as a result they did not take the full advantage of the advanced technology (Keeney, Ralph, p533, 1999). Thus there is great need that the companies must keep a keen eye on the issues and factors that can affect the decision making of the online consumers.

Lee et al (2001) revealed that as there is rapid increase in the sales of products and services online, it is also very necessary that there must be complete satisfaction among the consumers regarding the value of the products and services they shop online and in this regard the main responsibility lie on the companies offering their goods and services on internet that they must understand the consumer behavior while shopping online and design their strategies to assure a satisfactory experience of ecommerce shopping by the people so that the trend of online shopping will be promoted further and people will prefer to shop for variety of commodities and services via internet.

The rise in the consumer satisfaction will also bring an increase in the commercial revenues attained by the companies through internet. Thus in this context it is very important that the marketers must follow and act accordingly with the attitudes and behaviors of the online consumers to determine the factors responsible for making differences in the consumer decision making that ultimately contribute a difference in the amount of internet commercial revenue (Lee et al, p75, 2001)

Oz (2000) revealed that the role of search engines is also very important in influencing the behavior and decision of the consumers because when they find information about certain products on their regularly used search engines, they are attracted towards it and there is a kind of confidence of the consumers builds up on that product. It is found that Google is the most commonly used web based search engine and the consumers mostly search in Google to get information about their desired product.

Along with Google, MSN, Yahoo and Ask are also popular and commonly used internet search engines so the companies must list their information and the information about their products and services on these search engines so that the consumers can get access and came to know about their company and product by using their popular search engines (Oz, p456, 2000).

Fruhling and Digman (2000) explains that the contents of the website play important role in increasing the advertising revenue for the company through internet because when the website contains pleasant as well as valuable contents for the consumers they generally leave the website after visit it with a feeling of satisfaction and here this satisfaction also guarantees the purchases that will be arrive in the timely manner.

The image of the company also makes the consumer feel free to interact with the company and then the consumers also feel attracted to buy the product of that company. However the measurement of the consumer satisfaction is very necessary so that the company can make the changes in its web site and the advertisement messages keeping in view the response of the consumers regarding their different marketing strategies and advertising messages.

For the measurement of the level of the consumer satisfaction the company can conduct a survey or poll on their website or through email in which they can collect the opinion of the consumers regarding their website and the advertisements. These results will clarify that what the people think about the company and what message is conveyed by the website and the advertisement to the consumers. (Fruhling and Digman, p22, 2000)

Ducoffe (1996) pointed out that while surfing online the consumers use the price search engines and there they look for the product with lower prices however it does not means that the consumers want to purchase only the low price good and service through internet but they want to see that how much advantage they can get from internet in terms of reduction in the price.

The study pointed out that in the initial phase price is the most influential factor for most of the consumers but when they move forward and start getting more information about the product then the price does not remain the single criterion and then the consumers look for their other preferences in the product and decide to buy any product on the basis of many attributes and qualities possessed by the product so it can be said that price being the most influential factor in the initial phase of online buying but then the consumers look towards certain other attributes of the product rather then price and the final decision about buying the product is based on many factors including its features, quality and the company’e reputation etc. (Ducoffe, p43, 1996)

Cronin and MJ (1995) pointed out some important factors that can influence the decision making power of the consumers while shopping on internet. Their research revealed that an important influential factor is the price of the product and most of the times the online consumers are found interested in trading off convenience and price. However there are some other factors that play major role in the decision making process of the online consumers for example the “reputation, trustworthiness of the retailer and quality of information” are the important issues that are usually considered by the online users before making any purchase online.

It is also revealed by the researchers that people are very much attracted towards internet as a shopping destination because they see many advantages in the online shopping as compared with the traditional ways of making purchases and they see internet as an alternative and useful means of buying products however even on internet consumers are mainly concerned about getting maximum information about the product they are willing to buy and they always prefer the shopping on the place from where they can get hold of the maximum information about the desired product.

Thus the role of information is very crucial in influencing the consumer decision making online because the consumers tend to buy a certain product only when they are satisfy that they know enough about the product and if there are enough information about the product available online only then they make the final decision to buy that particular product (Cronin and MJ, p154, 1995).

Ducoffe (1996) also explains that the main factor due to which the consumer mostly prefer internet over the other means of shopping is the easy availability of detailed information about the product online. So the retailers and companies striving to generate more revenue through the sales of their product online must try to provide maximum information about the product online so that the consumers can get confidence that they know about the product very well and then in the light of the acquired information they can decide to purchase the product via internet (Ducoffe, p43, 1996)

Hoffman et al (1996) pointed out that the reputation and standard of the retailer companies matter a lot for the consumers and while shopping online as well there are many consumers that look towards the products of certain specific retailers because have trust on the standard and quality of the products and services provided by these retailers. In this way the reputation of the manufacturer or retailer appear to be the most influential factor that has great impact on the decision making of the consumers online and in many cases studies by the researchers, it is also found that the consumers online often compromise over the price of the product and pay more for the product of their selected retailer as they are assure of getting better quality of goods and services from these retailers or manufacturer (Hoffman et al, p20, 1995)

Kotler (1999) explains that to successfully operate on internet with the objective of generating revenue., the business must have deep understanding of internet as an effective medium of communication and marketing, only then they can enjoy the benefits of this advertisement otherwise there will only be loss of marketing budget faced by the company and there will be no improvement in the over all image and revenue of the company even after spending on internet marketing and advertisement.

A website could be effective and attractive of the online consumers only when they will get the impression that through the website the company is offering great value to them and the company can build this impression on the mind of the consumers by providing valuable data and information about their product and service online. Thus the value of the product is identified by Kotler (1999) as the main influential factor that has the strong impact on the decision making of the consumers.

Hosmer (1999) revealed that the companies have to design their own strategies and policies according to their own organizational objectives in order to generate revenue from internet because along with the emergence of internet as a shopping place, the marketers, social scientists and experts have designed certain business models and policies that can work for the better sales of the products via internet but none of these models and plans have proved to be perfect in general for all type of products and it is required that the businesses must design their unique plans and models according to their own products and consumer behavior.

In this context it is very crucial for the businesses to conduct adequate consumer research so that they have better understand their consumers and the factors affecting the decisions of these people. Moreover the consumer research will also enable the companies to identify the attributes for which the consumers look in the product because these are the most important issues that can affect the internet commercial revenues and better understanding of these issues will help the businesses in gaining more revenue through the sales of their products and services via internet. (Hosmer, p379, 1999)

Mardesich (1999) explains that the consumers now came across different type of information about the products and services online and this facility is not only an opportunity for the businesses but it is also a threat that the businesses have to concentrate more towards making their messages and products more attractive to the consumers so that among different messages the message of the company could be identified and the consumer can get what exactly the company want to convey to the people.

In this regard the companies also have to keep an eye on the search engines and information providing sites so that they can be well aware of the fact that what are the qualities and attributes of the product that the consumer search on internet and in the light of these findings they can manager their strategies so that the consumers can find their requirements in the product. The businesses must acquire the search key words that are frequently used by the online consumers for searching the products and services. If the consumers mostly look for low prices or discounted rates then they also have to make price attractions in their products and services.

On the other hand of the consumers mostly search for the products of particular brands then the businesses have to emphasis more on establishing their brand image and product reputation so that the consumers will search for the products and services offered by the company on internet (Mardesich, p188, 1999)

Rodgers and Thorson (2000) explain that there are certain motives behind the increasing use of internet by people belonging to different age groups and countries of the world. In this regard the interactive contents of the internet play the most vital role because when the consumers get the opportunity to participate in any of the activity online and they got chance to interact with the company, they feel very close with the company and there are good relationship establish between the company and the consumer. This motive must be keep in mind by the companies while designing their web sites that there must be room for public participation and interaction so that the consumers can find new ways of interacting and knowing the company deeply and they will also get a consumer friendly impression of the company.

Hoffman and Novak (1996) presented a model to explain the interactivity feature of the advertisement message and its importance as an antecedent of flow experience. The researchers revealed that higher level of interactivity allows the consumers to get closer with the company and the businesses will get the opportunity to build the consumer behavior in favor of the company that finally result in increased sales and revenue of the company using internet advertisement. Thus it is very important that the companies must keep the interactivity element at priority basis in their websites so that the consumers can be attracted toward the web site and the advertising message and can react in favorable manner for the company (Hoffman and Novak, p50, 1996).

There are several other researchers that have highlighted the positive impact and importance of the interactivity element however it is also an important point to be noted that the interactive nature of Internet advertising is useful to advertisers only when consumers are willing to interact with an advertising message or contents of the website and the company can not convince them to take time for this unless attracting through the words and advertisement art.

The willingness of the consumers is most of the times often manifested by their search behavior in terms of selection of certain icons, breadth and depth of search, and the amount of search time and it is all due to the advancements in the search engines options and facilities that the consumers get the multi-layer tree-like structure of Internet advertising and they can easily search for the product or service information easily and interactively on different search engines.

Berthon et al (2003) pointed out that the consumers now look towards the search engine before making their decision about the products they want to purchases and in this regard the availability of the information about the product online plays the vital role in influencing the consumer decision. Though the availability of the information about the product never assures the sales of the product however for the businesses it is crucial to make their online presence because to exist in the race of high competition they have to realize that people must know that they are present around them and this could be done only by presenting adequate information about their company and the product on internet.

Though some of the researchers and the social scientists also consider it as a negative effect of internet that the company making more advertisement on internet become dominant in the market and some other company might having better quality products are neglected due to lack of their presence online or low advertisements. However the emergence of internet as a shopping point is a reality of today’s technology driven world and the businesses also have to accept their reality to survive in the highly competitive market place. (Berthon et al, p43, 2003)

Mayer (1999) explains that it is very important the marketers must be informed about the manners and patterns of internet usage of their consumers because it can help them in developing effective policies for their business marketing. It is found that there are most of the consumers that log on to internet just to get maximum and detailed information about certain products and services and almost half of them are such people that also make purchases through internet.

This ration shows that providing adequate information about the products is very crucial on internet because every second consumers tend to buy the product on the basis of the information that he gets from internet. Thus the role of information and the advertisements messages is very important factor that only affects the consumer decision making but ultimately also has an effect on the sales and revenues of the company. However for high involvement products people only gather information from internet and for making the final purchase they mostly prefer to have direct contact with the retailer and they see the product from their own eyes before making the final purchase.

So in this case the company has to provide maximum information about the attributed and appearance of the product online so that even if the consumer did not place any order on internet he is convinced to buy that particular product through retail sales point. In this way the company can get benefit from internet and the overall revenue of the company is increased (Mayer et al, p709, 1999)

Resnick et al (2001) pointed out that the process of the decision making of the consumers is influenced by a wide range of factors and elements. The researchers pointed out that the process of the consumer decision making comprises of various steps that include “problem recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, purchase decision and post-purchase behavior”. In the first phase of the consumer decision making the consumer identifies his personal or collective need for a certain product and then he moves to the next phase where he seeks information about the value of certain products. In order to search the information about the desired product or service, the consumer conducts two types of searches.

The first one is the internal search when the consumer scans his memory so that he can recall any brand that he has experienced before or have purchased ever. The second type of search is the external search when the consumer don’t have any information in his mind about the product based on his past experience and he has doubt in mind that he can make the wrong decision due to lack of information. He then strives to collect information about the product and service through different sources like his personal contacts including friends and family, advertisement and marketing messages delivered through different mass medium.

In the light of the information gathered from these sources, the consumer finally develops the criteria for the selection of the product and service and sometimes he also specifically decided the brand name to buy the product. This criterion is decided on the basis of the attributed and qualities of the product and the perception of the consumers regarding the value of certain products and service. After going through these phases, the consumer enters the next phase where he has to make the final decision about the purchase of the product and in this phase he has to basically make the decision about three main issues. At first he has to decide weather he is going to buy the product or not, if he decided to buy the product then what will be the suitable and good time for the purchase of the product and from whom will he buy that particular product.

After deciding all these matters the consumer finally completed his purchase and enters in to the last and fifth phase of the consumer decision making process where he uses the purchased product or service and then he has to feel the value for the product. The consumer often compares the purchased product with all of this expectations and requirements and then develops a satisfactory or unsatisfactory opinion about the product or service. In case of nay dissatisfaction the consumer can enter the last phase where he become concerned about the solution of his problem and will contact the manufacturer or retailers to get his problem fixed.

The researchers also revealed that in this entire process of consumer decision making there are certain psychological factors that have deep impact and influence on the final decision of the consumer. These factors include motivation led by the needs of the person that may be Physiological, Safety, Self-actualization and Social needs. Along with this the perception of the consumer towards certain company matter a lot.

There are some important factors that have great influence on the consumer decision making and these factors include “brand loyalty, Values, Lifestyle, Beliefs, Psychographics and Attitudes, Personal influence like Reference groups, family, Social class, Culture and Subculture”. The consumers make their decision to purchase any particular product on the basis of these mentioned factors and the businesses also have to keep in mind these factors so that they can influence the consumer behavior and can have effect on the commercial revenue.

Hair et al (1995) explains that the nature of the business of the company determines that what should be the internet advertisement strategies of the company because the type of products and service and the sector of these products must be reflected in the advertisement messages as well as in the website of the company. For the low price and daily use products the people want to see more entertaining website and advertisements with little information however for expensive and luxury products and service, people need more information blended with entertainment.

Thus the company must develop the perfect blend of information and entertainment to present in the website and the advertisement messages so that while surfing online when the consumer came across the website or advertisement he got the first impression from the contents about the nature of the product and service being advertised. This is necessary to prevent the consumer from any confusion and preparing background for a favorable response in term of purchase decision.

Product Factors in Online Shopping

Torkzadeh and Dhillon (2004) conducted an empirical study to perform the analysis of the consumer preferences with the help of the opinions collected from 188 young consumers. These consumers used to shop on internet very frequently and the analysis of their behavior shows that while shopping online the consumers gave most importance to the privacy that is a technology factor, merchandising that is a product factor and convenience that is a shopping factor. These three were identified as the main priorities for which the consumers look while shopping online. The study also pointed out some other factors that play important role in determining the consumer behavior and these factors include “trust, delivery, usability, product customization, product quality, and security”.

Gilbert (2001) revealed after conducted a research study on internet users that most of the time the online consumers are attracted towards particular type of products for making purchases for example the books, CDs and PCs are the most commonly sold products online. There products are often purchased online as the people can easily identify all the attributes of the products while watching their details online as compared with other type of products. CDs are mostly sold online because these can be easily selected online and their details can be viewed in easy manner. For other type of products where the customers need direct contact with the retailers are less commonly sold on internet because the features of the products often categorized as high touch products are not understood by the customers online (Gilbert, p60, 2001)

Jervenpaa and Todd (1997) revealed that in order to provide the consumer maximum value for the product they want to purchase online, it is very necessary that the marketers or retailers must provide the consumers with maximum possible and easy understandable information about the product or service that they offer to sale via internet. Responding to the need of providing information to the consumers, now the businesses are adopting it an a common commercial activity and now the retailers provide wide range of information about different products and services online to the consumers free of cost.

In this way they make a difference in their revenue generated from internet sales of the products when the consumers got to know more about the product they are also convince to buy it and in this way there are more purchases made on internet and there is also increase in the revenue of the companies that succeed to understand the importance of providing product value to the consumers. (Jervenpaa and Todd, p59, 1997)

Kiely (1997) identified that there are certain important issues that matter a lot in creating the product value for certain products and services online and the companies and the retailers have to keeping mind the importance of these factors to maintain the product value of their goods and services. The researcher explains that the product value can be gained through building the brand recognition and the consumer trust as these are the most influential and leading factors that play the vital role in catching the attention of the consumers towards a products or service while they surf online.

However any company can not achieve these two important factors in just few days or months and there is requirement of adequate planning as well as investment in different perspectives so that the company can build a good image of the brand name in the mind of the consumers and when they came across any product or service offered by the company, they got good first impression and have trust in mind that there will surely be a value attached with the product that they can enjoy by purchasing it. Thus it is revealed from the research of Keily that for adding value to the product or service online, the company must acquire good brand reputation that can bring consumer trust and ultimately the sales of the product and commercial revenue of the company will be increased. (Kiely, p14, 1997)

Kotler (1997) explains that while shopping online the attributes and qualities of the product matter most for the consumers and they look towards certain specific qualities in their desired product. However there are some things for which the company has to establish an image of the product in the mind of the consumers so that they can be assured of the quality and standard that they will get from the product. While managing this job online may cause the company higher cost as compared with trading offline or through traditional means however when a business enter in the web world then it has to take all the necessary steps that can assist the business in building its identity on web.

The mergence of internet and its popularity is spreading with such a rapid pace that none of the business can overlook the importance of the internet trading and they have to emphasis towards it at present or later so it should be better for the company to built its brand identity on internet as early as it can so that when there is rise in the competition on internet also, then they can find them in a better position to compete with other companies and businesses.

Lamb at al (2002) revealed that the company can influence the behavior and decision making of the consumers online by providing them valuable information that could be in form of information, entertainment and purchase facilitation. These three ways could help the business in best way to grab the attention and likeness of the online consumers. Moreover the involvement of the consumers in the website of the company is also an important factor that can influence the decision making of the consumers regarding the purchase of goods and services offered by the company.

When the company adopts and implements any marketing strategy from the point of view of providing value based service of the online consumers, they should also select such strategies and plans that can involve the consumers with the information and entertainment elements present in the website. In this way the consumers will feel an emotional belong ness with the company and they will feel very closer with the services and products offered by the company. All of this will result in the decision of the consumer to buy the product and service of that particular company and in this way the company can increase its revenue by influencing the attitude and decisions of the consumers by using different strategies and tactics.

Sawy at al (1999) explains that there are many factors that must be present in the website of the company to attract the consumers and give them an impression about good reputation and image of the company however none of the research has come up with any definite solution to the problem that what should be included in the website of a company and what not. So keeping in view the demographics and the psychographics of consumers, the company has to make the decisions about selecting the content of the website because the website content are important factors that can influence the consumer decisions and the can earn revenue for the company. Thus for internet advertisement there must be appropriate and careful selection of the contents of the website and the advertisement messages (Sawy at al, p305, 1999)

Marquez (1997) revealed that internet has become an important medium for the businesses through which they can reach and convey their messages to millions of the potential consumers. Thus to have an influence on the minds and attitudes of their consumers the businesses have to recognize that the value based advertisement can lead towards the generation of more revenue through internet because the product value in the most important thing that consumers want to get with the product and the value based advertisement also assist the consumers in their decision making process weather they should buy a particular product or not and what are the benefits and competitive advantages that they will get from the purchase of that particular purchase.

This will benefit both the consumers and the retailers because on one hand the consumers will be facilitated to make a quick decision on the basis of value based information and on the other hand the companies will record considerable increase in their sales and revenues. (Marquez, p482, 1997)

Research Design

The research study is conducted by employing a mixed methodological approach in which the data and information are collected both from secondary and primary sources and then put together for the analysis to find the answer of the research question and to test the research hypothesis. The follow flow chard explains well the procedure followed to conduct the study

Research Question/Problem Statement

The research study is aimed mainly at identifying the factors that influence the internet advertising revenue and the consumer decision and the impact of internet advertising revenue of the company profitability. In this regard the dissertation selected four factors (GDP, CPI, unemployment, and industrial production index) to find out that at company level which factor among these four mostly affects the internet commercial revenue and then the impact of internet commercial revenue are studied on the profitability of the company in term of ROE, ROI, and EPS.

In addition to this the dissertation is also intended to find out the main factors influencing the online consumer decision making and for this study there are six factors selected (customize, brand, transaction model, information offer, price, purchase-service) to find with the help of the consumer opinion that which of these factors influence their decision most.

Thus the research question is as followed “To identify the factors influencing the internet advertising revenue of the company and the factors influencing the online consumer behaviors and to find the effects of internet commercial revenue on the profitability of the business”.

Research Hypothesis

The dissertation is aimed at testing the following three hypotheses with the help of the data and information collected from primary and secondary sources

• Hypotheses I: GDP, CPI, unemployment, and industrial production index affect the Internet advertisement revenue.
• Hypotheses II: Internet Commercial affects the companies’ profits (ROE, ROI, and EPS).
• Hypotheses III: The six factors (information offer, trade mode, delivery function, after purchase-service) will affect the intention of Internet purchasing significantly

Hypothesized model

To formulate the “research hypothesis” and “research variables,” and to program the “questionnaire design,” then to explain the method of “data collection” and the method of “data analysis”

For the research study the quantitative data is collected through a statistical survey and then this data is put in to SPSS for the analysis. This study uses regression to find the relationship between the Internet advertisement revenue and the 4 general economical factors (GDP, CPI, unemployment, and industrial production index affect). Also, to analysis how the Internet Commercial affects the companies’ profits (ROE, ROI, EPS).

Secondly, to analysis the dependent variable “consumers’ intention of Internet purchasing) and the 6 independent variables (customize, brand, transaction model, information offer, price, purchase-service) and lists the regression equation. Finally, this study also analyses the results of the statistical survey on gender basis to find out if the factors considerable change for each of the sex.

Research Methodology

The research study is conducted by employing a mixed methodological research approach. “Mixed-method kind of research draws upon the strengths of both quantitative and qualitative analysis, which enables the researcher to draw upon several methodologies in measuring the variables of the study.” (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, p14, 2004) Thus to have deep analysis of the issue there are both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies applied in the dissertation.

In order to have deep understanding of the issues related with the topic and to collect qualitative information and data for the dissertation, the “secondary analysis of data” is selected to conduct literature review of the available secondary material related with the topic and in the light of this literature review the dissertation explains the background issues of the topic. Along with the qualitative research method, a statistical survey is also conducted as a quantitative research method to collect quantitative data and information about the research topic.

Sources of Data Collection

There are both secondary as well as primary sources used for collected the data and information to conduct the research study

Secondary Sources

The secondary sources are utilized to gather qualitative information for the research study include different journals, research reports, magazines, books, electronic journals and web portals are accessed and information is gathered from these sources to conduct the analysis of the available secondary data.

Primary Sources

The primary source utilized for the research study is a statistical survey; a quantitative method, requiring standardized information from the subjects being studied. There are 100 firms selected from the US business directory having web presence and along with that 100 online users were selected from the subscription list of different company’s websites. These online consumers and the representatives of the companies were sent the survey questionnaires via email along with the cover letter of the university to make a request for taking part in the survey and they were also assured that their names and company information will be kept secret according to the agreement of anatomy.

The questionnaires were sent to 110 companies and after deleting the companies responded unfavorable there were total 100 companies left in the survey. The names of the companies as well as the online consumers are not mentioned in the dissertation as per agreement. The respondents were asked to full the questionnaire and send back via email within 2 to 3 days of receiving the questionnaire.

Statistical Survey – Significance and Relevance to the Research Objective

The statistical survey is a common research method and many of the social scientists believe that it is an effective research tool. Abramson J.J., Abramson Z.H. (1999) highlighted the significance of statistical survey and revealed that “statistical survey is an efficient way of collecting information from a large number of respondents, the information can be used to study attitudes, concepts, values, beliefs, and behaviors”. The statistical surveys also provides lot of flexibility as it is an effective and efficient method of collecting data from large number of respondents that allows the data collection through very large samples.

The data can be use to determine validity, reliability, and statistical significance (Massey, O’Connor and Krotki, 1997). Hence it is observed that statistical survey is an important and significant research tool and to find out the most influential factors affecting the internet advertisement revenue and the consumer online decision making, the survey is conducted among 100 companies and 100 online users with the help of a structured questionnaire.

Survey Method and Sampling

The sampling for the survey is done by using the random sampling method and all the companies as well as the online users are selected to be included in the survey after picking their names and email addresses randomly from the business directory and the subscription list of different companies. The survey is conducted though email. There are 5o males and 50 females selected for the survey among the company and in the same way there are 50 males and 50 female internet users are selected to identify the most influential factors. This is done so that the data can be analyzed gender wise also and it could be found if any of the variables varies on the basis of the sexual differences.

Questionnaire Construction

The questionnaires are construction according to the variable under study. There are two questionnaires constructed for the survey. The first questionnaire is for the companies and the questions are made for the survey according to the four general economic factors (GDP, CPI, unemployment, and industrial production index affect). The second questionnaire for the survey is constructed for the online consumers and the questions are included according to the six factors under study (customize, brand, transaction model, information offer, price, purchase-service).

There are more questions in the second questionnaire as compared with the first one because there are more (six) factors are studied for the consumer decision making as compared with four factors investigated for internet advertisement revenue of the companies. Following are the two questionnaires sent via email to total 200 respondents. Among them 100 were the representatives of the companies and woo were the online users.

Questionnaire for the Companies

• Name ……………………………………
• Gender ……………………………………
• Company Name ……………………………………
• Designation ……………………………………
• Company Postal Address ……………………………………
• Email address ……………………………………
• Company website ……………………………………

• Do you think that internet allows to quick and better access to the more consumers in lesser time?
  • Yes
  • No
• Do you use to advertise your products and services frequently on internet?
  • Yes
  • No
• Do you receive favorable response of the consumers against your advertisement messages?
  • Yes
  • No
• Do you receive heavy public response from the consumers when offer any interactivity feature?
  • Yes
  • No
• Do you observe increase in the overall sales of the products and services when you started internet marketing and advertisement?
  • Yes
  • No
• Have you recorded increase in the profit of the company after concentrating more on online advertisement?
  • Yes
  • No
• Do you think that the rise in GDP of the country has a positive impact on the internet advertisement revenue?
  • Yes
  • No
• Do you think that the rise in unemployment of the country has a negative impact on the internet advertisement revenue?
  • Yes
  • No
• Do you think that the industrial production index effects the internet advertisement revenue?
  • Yes
  • No
• Do you think that internet advertisement revenue is highly affected by changes in CPI?
  • Yes
  • No

Questionnaire for the online consumers

• Name ……………………………………
• Gender ……………………………………
• Company Name ……………………………………
• Designation ……………………………………
• Company Postal Address ……………………………………
• Email address ……………………………………
• Company website ……………………………………

• Do you use to shop online very frequently?
  • Yes
  • No
• Do you feel satisfied with your past experiences of online shopping?
  • Yes
  • No
• Are you willing to make more purchased of different products and services via internet?
  • Yes
  • No

Customize

• Do you think that internet shopping brings you higher level of consumer satisfaction?
  • Yes
  • No
• Do you think that internet allows you to give quick response over the advertisement messages?
  • Yes
  • No
• Do you feel improved degree of satisfaction in online shopping?
  • Yes
  • No

Brand

• Do you give importance to the brand name while shopping online?
  • Yes
  • No
• Are you a brand loyal or look towards different other attributes and might change the brand loyalty?
  • Yes
  • No

Transaction model

• Do you believe that online shopping provides you guaranteed quality of the products?
  • Yes
  • No
• Do you face any problems in not receiving the ordered product within the delivery time?
  • Yes
  • No
• Do you feel free in using credit cards and electronic wallets online?
  • Yes
  • No
• Do you remain satisfied about the security issues while making transactions online?
  • Yes
  • No

The information offered on the Internet

• Does the information quantity about any product provided on internet matters for you most for making any decision?
  • Yes
  • No
• Do you feel greater degree of convenience to get the information on the Internet?
  • Yes
  • No
• Are you satisfied about the correctness of the information on the Internet?
  • Yes
  • No

Price

• Do you think that after paying the cost for transaction process you get benefit from internet shopping?
  • Yes
  • No
• Do you believe that the prices of the products and services are always low on internet as compared with the real stores?
  • Yes
  • No

Purchase-service

• Are you assure about having the delivery on the online ordered product in good shape within time limit?
  • Yes
  • No
• Do you think internet shopping provides you an opportunity to make contacts with the consumer service easily?
  • Yes
  • No
• Are you agreed with the claimed benefits of internet shopping and wish to increase your number of online purchases?
  • Yes
  • No

Basis for Data Analysis

The data is collected through the statistical a survey and then SPSS is used for the result calculation and on the basis of the results of the survey, the answer of the research question is searched and the research hypotheses are also tested. The quantitative is put along with the qualitative information to support the primary findings from the secondary findings. The questions are also classified according to the variable to find the results separately for each of the variable. It is important to compare the different intention of Internet purchasing for each demographic group. This study uses gender-group and the Internet purchasing experience-group data to make a further analysis. Charts and graphs are used to present the obtained data and provide the clear understanding of the survey results.

Discussion and Analysis

Key Findings of Primary Research – Results of Statistical Survey

The survey was conducted in two parts. In the first part the questionnaires were sent to 100 companies operating online and their opinions were collected by getting the questionnaire filled through email. In the second part the questionnaire was sent to 100 online consumers and their responses were also collected through email. There were different questions in both of the questionnaires and followed are the results gathered from the survey questionnaire answers.

Answers received from the Companies

The questionnaire constructed to investigate the companies comprised of 10 questions and these were simple Yes/No questions to save the time of the respondent and to get clear quantitative data for the research issue analysis. The survey among the representatives of 100 online operating companies comes up with following results.

• The first question was asked from the respondents that if they think that internet allows to quick and better access to the more consumers in lesser time. In reply to this question, there were 79 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 21 said no. Among the 79 respondents replying in Yes there were 41 (82%) males and 38 (76%) females whereas among the 21 respondent replied in No, there were 9 (18%) males and 12 (24%) females.
• The second question was asked from the respondents that if they use to advertise your products and services frequently on internet. In reply to this question, there were 72 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 28 said no. Among the 72 respondents replying in Yes there were 39 (78%) males and 33(66%) females whereas among the 28 respondent replied in No, there were 11 (22%) males and 17 (34%) females.
• The third question was asked from the respondents that if they receive favorable response of the consumers against their advertisement messages. In reply to this question, there were 64 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 36 said no. Among the 64 respondents replying in Yes there were 32 (64%) males and 32 (64%) females whereas among the 18 respondent replied in No, there were 18 (36%) males and 18 (36%) females.
• The fourth question was asked from the respondents that if they receive heavy public response from the consumers when offer any interactivity feature. In reply to this question, there were 69 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 31 said no. Among the 69 respondents replying in Yes there were 36 (72%) males and 33 (66%) females whereas among the 31 respondent replied in No, there were 14 (28%) males and 17 (34%) females.
• The fifth question was asked from the respondents that if they have observed increase in the overall sales of the products and services when you started internet marketing and advertisement. In reply to this question, there were 72 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 28 said no. Among the 72 respondents replying in Yes there were 37 (74%) males and 35 (70%) females whereas among the 28 respondent replied in No, there were 13 (26%) males and 15 (30%) females.
• The sixth question was asked from the respondents that if they have recorded increase in the profit of the company after concentrating more on online advertisement. In reply to this question, there were 69 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 31 said no. Among the 69 respondents replying in Yes there were 33 (66%) males and 36 (72%) females whereas among the 31 respondent replied in No, there were 17 (34%) males and 14 (28%) females.
• The seventh question was asked from the respondents that if they think that the rise in GDP of the country has a positive impact on the internet advertisement revenue. In reply to this question, there were 61 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 39 said no. Among the 61 respondents replying in Yes there were 26 (52%) males and 35 (70%) females whereas among the 39 respondent replied in No, there were 24 (48%) males and 15 (30%) females.
• The eighth question was asked from the respondents that if they think that the rise in unemployment of the country has a negative impact on the internet advertisement revenue. In reply to this question, there were 66 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 34 said no. Among the 66 respondents replying in Yes there were 31(62%) males and 35(70%) females whereas among the 34 respondent replied in No, there were 19(38%) males and 15(30%) females.
• The ninth question was asked from the respondents that if they think that the industrial production index affects the internet advertisement revenue. In reply to this question, there were 79 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 21 said no. Among the 79 respondents replying in Yes there were 41 (82%) males and 38 (76%) females whereas among the 21 respondent replied in No, there were 9 (18%) males and 12 (24%) females.
• The tenth question was asked from the respondents that if they think that the internet advertisement revenue is highly affected by changes in CPI. In reply to this question, there were 76 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 24 said no. Among the 76 respondents replying in Yes there were 32(64%) males and 44 (88%) females whereas among the 24 respondent replied in No, there were 18 (36%) males and 6(12%) females.

Answers received from the Online Consumers

There was a separate questionnaire constructed for the online consumers and there were more questions in this because there are more variables under study. The survey came up with the following results:

• The first question was asked from the respondents that if they use to shop online very frequently. In reply to this question, there were 76 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 24 said no. Among the 76 respondents replying in Yes there were 32(64%) males and 44 (88%) females whereas among the 24 respondent replied in No, there were 18 (36%) males and 6(12%) females.
• The second question was asked from the respondents that if they feel satisfied with your past experiences of online shopping. In reply to this question, there were 65 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 35 said no. Among the 65 respondents replying in Yes there were 32 (64%) males and 33(66%) females whereas among the 35 respondent replied in No, there were 18 (36%) males and 17 (34%) females.
• The third question was asked from the respondents that if they are willing to make more purchased of different products and services via internet. In reply to this question, there were 69 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 31 said no. Among the 69 respondents replying in Yes there were 36 (72%) males and 33 (66%) females whereas among the 31 respondent replied in No, there were 14 (28%) males and 17 (34%) females.
• The fourth question was asked from the respondents that if think that internet shopping brings them higher level of consumer satisfaction. In reply to this question, there were 66 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 34 said no. Among the 66 respondents replying in Yes there were 31(62%) males and 35(70%) females whereas among the 34 respondent replied in No, there were 19(38%) males and 15(30%) females.
• The fifth question was asked from the respondents that if think that internet allows them to give quick response over the advertisement messages. In reply to this question, there were 71 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 29 said no. Among the 71 respondents replying in Yes there were 32(64%) males and 39 (78%) females whereas among the 29 respondent replied in No, there were 18(36%) males and 11 (22%) females.
• The sixth question was asked from the respondents that if they feel improved degree of satisfaction in online shopping. In reply to this question, there were 69 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 31 said no. Among the 69 respondents replying in Yes there were 33 (66%) males and 36 (72%) females whereas among the 31 respondent replied in No, there were 17 (34%) males and 14 (28%) females.
• The seventh question was asked from the respondents that if they give importance to the brand name while shopping online. In reply to this question, there were 72 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 28 said no. Among the 72 respondents replying in Yes there were 37 (74%) males and 35 (70%) females whereas among the 28 respondent replied in No, there were 13 (26%) males and 15 (30%) females.
• The eighth question was asked from the respondents that if they are brand loyal or look towards different other attributes and might change the brand loyalty. In reply to this question, there were 61 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 39 said no. Among the 61 respondents replying in Yes there were 26 (52%) males and 35 (70%) females whereas among the 39 respondent replied in No, there were 24 (48%) males and 15 (30%) females.
• The ninth question was asked from the respondents that if they believe that online shopping provides them guaranteed quality of the products. In reply to this question, there were 56 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 44 said no. Among the 56 respondents replying in Yes there were 26(52%) males and 30(60%) females whereas among the 44 respondent replied in No, there were 14(28%) males and 20(40 %) females.
• The tenth question was asked from the respondents that if they face any problems in not receiving the ordered product within the delivery time. In reply to this question, there were 34 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 66 said no. Among the 34 respondents replying in Yes there were 19(38%) males and 15(30%) females whereas among the 66 respondent replied in No, there were 31(62%) males and 35(70%) females.
• The eleventh question was asked from the respondents that if they feel free in using credit cards and electronic wallets online. In reply to this question, there were 45 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 55 said no. Among the 45 respondents replying in Yes there were 22 males (44%) and 23 (46%) females whereas among the 55 respondent replied in No, there were 28 (56%) males and 27(54%) females.
• The twelfth question was asked from the respondents that if they remain satisfied about the security issues while making transactions online. In reply to this question, there were 34 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 66 said no. Among the 34 respondents replying in Yes there were 19(38%) males and 15(30%) females whereas among the 66 respondent replied in No, there were 31(62%) males and 35(70%) females.
• The thirteenth question was asked from the respondents that if they think that the information quantity about any product provided on internet matters for them most for making any decision. In reply to this question, there were 71 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 29 said no. Among the 71 respondents replying in Yes there were 32(64%) males and 39 (78%) females whereas among the 29 respondent replied in No, there were 18(36%) males and 11 (22%) females.
• The fourteenth question was asked from the respondents that if they feel greater degree of convenience to get the information on the Internet. In reply to this question, there were 79 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 21 said no. Among the 79 respondents replying in Yes there were 41 (82%) males and 38 (76%) females whereas among the 21 respondent replied in No, there were 9 (18%) males and 12 (24%) females.
• The fifteenth question was asked from the respondents that if they are satisfied about the correctness of the information on the Internet. In reply to this question, there were 64 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 36 said no. Among the 64 respondents replying in Yes there were 32 (64%) males and 32 (64%) females whereas among the 18 respondent replied in No, there were 18 (36%) males and 18 (36%) females..
• The sixteenth question was asked from the respondents that if they think that after paying the cost for transaction process they get benefit from internet shopping. In reply to this question, there were 76 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 24 said no. Among the 76 respondents replying in Yes there were 32(64%) males and 44 (88%) females whereas among the 24 respondent replied in No, there were 18 (36%) males and 6(12%) females.
• The seventeenth question was asked from the respondents that if they believe that the prices of the products and services are always low on internet as compared with the real stores. In reply to this question, there were 72 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 28 said no. Among the 72 respondents replying in Yes there were 37 (74%) males and 35 (70%) females whereas among the 28 respondent replied in No, there were 13 (26%) males and 15 (30%) females.
• The eighteenth question was asked from the respondents that if they are assure about having the delivery on the online ordered product in good shape within time limit. In reply to this question, there were 52 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 48 said no. Among the 52 respondents replying in Yes there were 25(50%) males and 27(54%) females whereas among the 48 respondent replied in No, there were 25 (50%) males and 23 (46%) females.
• The nineteenth question was asked from the respondents that if they think internet shopping provides them an opportunity to make contacts with the consumer service easily. In reply to this question, there were 76 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 24 said no. Among the 76 respondents replying in Yes there were 32(64%) males and 44 (88%) females whereas among the 24 respondent replied in No, there were 18 (36%) males and 6(12%) females.
• The twentieth question was asked from the respondents that if they are agreed with the claimed benefits of internet shopping and wish to increase their number of online purchases. In reply to this question, there were 66 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 34 said no. Among the 66 respondents replying in Yes there were 31(62%) males and 35(70%) females whereas among the 34 respondent replied in No, there were 19(38%) males and 15(30%) females.

In this way the opinion collected from the statistical survey are calculated and the results also show the opinions of the respondents belonging to different sex groups. These results are further calculated variable wise to find out that the questions related to which variable get the highest response from the people and which one is the most influential factor of all.

Calculation for different Variables

There were different questions in the questionnaire that were meant to find out the answers related with the influence of different variables on the internet advertisement revenue and the consumer behavior. These questions are also calculated separately to provide the figures about the effects of these variables.

Factors Effecting Internet Commercial Revenue of the Companies

There were four factors under study and the results of the survey inform that when asked about the high influence of GDP on the internet commercial revenue of the companies, there are 61 respondents of the companies that replied in Yes whereas 39 said no. Among the 61 respondents replying in Yes there were 26 (52%) males and 35 (70%) females whereas among the 39 respondent replied in No, there were 24 (48%) males and 15 (30%) females.

In the same way when the representative of the companies were asked about the influence of unemployment rise on the internet commercial revenue then there were 66 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 34 said no. Among the 66 respondents replying in Yes there were 31(62%) males and 35(70%) females whereas among the 34 respondent replied in No, there were 19(38%) males and 15(30%) females.

To get the opinion about the effects of industrial production index on the internet advertisement, the question was asked from the respondent and 79 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 21 said no. Among the 79 respondents replying in Yes there were 41 (82%) males and 38 (76%) females whereas among the 21 respondent replied in No, there were 9 (18%) males and 12 (24%) females.

To investigate about the level of influence of CPI on the internet commercial revenue, the representatives of the companies were asked the question and the answers of the questions revealed that 76 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 24 said no. Among the 76 respondents replying in Yes there were 32(64%) males and 44 (88%) females whereas among the 24 respondent replied in No, there were 18 (36%) males and 6(12%) females.

The results of the statistical survey conducted among the companies for the identification of the most influential factor for the internet commercial revenue revealed that there are highest 79% people who believe that industrial product has the strong influence on the internet commercial revenue as compared with 61%, 6% and 76% opinions in favor of GDP, unemployment and CPI respectively. The following chart shows the influence of the four factors on the internet advertisement revenue of the companies

Factors	Yes	No
GDP	61	39
Unemployment	66	34
Industrial Production	79	21
CPI	76	24

It is clearly identified in the above table that the industrial production (79%) appears to be the most influential factor that has strong effects on the internet advertisement revenue and after the industrial production CPI (76%), Unemployment (66%) and GDP (61%) are the important factors that have effects on the internet commercial revenue. The relationship between these factors and the internet advertisement revenue is clearly shown in the figure 1 and the figure 2 further shows that there are very close results calculated for four of these factors. (See Appendix I)

Effects of Internet Commercial Revenue on the Company Profitability

With the objective to find out the impact of the internet commercial revenue on the overall profitability of the business, there was a questions asked from the representatives of the companies and In reply to this question, there were 69 respondents that replied in Yes whereas 31 said no. Among the 69 respondents replying in Yes there were 33 (66%) males and 36 (72%) females whereas among the 31 respondent replied in No, there were 17 (34%) males and 14 (28%) females. In this way there were 69 percent of the respondents that confirmed the positive impact of the internet commercial revenue on the profit of the company.

Factors Influencing the Consumer Behavior

There were six factors under study and to gather the opinion about these six factors there were different questions asked from the online consumers. There were two questions asked from the online consumers to ask the effects of the customize factor on their decision making and in reply there were 68 percent of the respondents that confirmed the influence of this factor on their decision making while shopping online and there were 32 percent online consumers that denied the influence of this factor on their decision making power.

In order to find out the opinion about the influence of the brand on the consumer decision making there were two questions asked from the online users and the answers of these two questions show that there are 66 percent of the online users that witnessed the impact of the brand factor on their final decision making process while shopping online and at the same time there were 34 percent of the internet users that denied this statement that there is great influence of brand factor on their final decision making process while they shop for the products and services online.

In the nest step, there were four questions asked from the inter users with the objective to find their opinion about the influence of the transaction model on the decision making process in online shopping. When the results of these four questions were calculated it is found that there are 58 percent of the consumers that have concerns about the transaction model and the security issue in online shopping that’s why they always remain careful in online shopping and this thing effects their decision making as well. On the other hand there were 42 percent of the online consumers that are little worried about the matter and their decisions are not affected due to the factor of the transaction model

The next factor understudy was the influence of the information about the product or service provided on internet. There were three questions asked from the respondent to know about their views regarding the influence of the information provided on internet on their decision making process. The calculation of the result of these three questions clearly indicated that there are 71 percent of the employees that agreed that their decision making while internet shopping is much influenced by the information provided on internet and on the other hand it is also found that there are 29 percent of the people who believe that the role of information is not very influential in determining their decision making while shopping on internet

The fifth factor under study was price factor and there were two questions asked from the online consumers to investigate their opinion about the influence of the price factor on their decision making process. When the results of these two questions were calculated, it is found that there are 76 percent of the respondents that are totally agreed that when shopping online they remain very much concerned about having good prices and it is one of the most influential factor that design their decisions while shopping online. At the same time there were 26 percent of the online consumers that believe that the influence of the price is not that much strong on their decision making power while shopping online.

The sixth and the last factor under study was the purchase service and there were three questions asked from the online consumers to get their views about the influence of the purchase service factor on their decision making when they shop online. The result of these questions were put together and calculated and finally it is discovered that there are 65 percent of the respondents that are agreed with the influence of the purchase service on their decision making however there are 35 percent of the online users that totally denied the view that their online decision making is affected by the factor of purchase service.

In this way the six factors influencing the consumer decision in online shopping are studied and the following chart shows the response of the people towards the influence of these factors on their decisions while making purchases through internet.

Factor	Yes	No
Customize	68%	30%
brand	66%	34%
Transaction Model	58%	42%
Information	71%	29%
price	74%	26%
purchase service	65%	35%

Thus the above chart clearly indicates that the online users give most preference to the price factor while shopping online and among the six factors under study price (76%) is identified as the most influence factor that have great impact on the decisions of the online consumers and the information (71%) about the product provided on internet is the next important factor that has strong influences on the decision making of the online consumers and after that customize (68%), brand (66%), purchase service (65%) and transaction model (58%) influences the decision making of the online consumers.

It is also observed that all the factors have great influence on the decision making power and the figure 3 and figure 4 further explains the close relationship of all of these six factors with the consumer decision making while shopping through internet (See Appendix II)

Key Findings of Secondary Research

The secondary research was conducted by reviewing the related available literature around the topic. There are many issues and aspects of the topic of the dissertation that are explicitly explained in the review of the literature and a deep understanding of the issue is provided that helped in finding out the answer of the research question and testing the research hypotheses. The key findings of the secondary research that also support the findings of the primary research also are as follow:

• The emergence of internet has provided the companies new ways of expanding and supporting the business and increasing the revenue. Consumers on the other hand are benefited in form of more available choices and information on internet about the products and services.
• The number of online users and online hoppers are increasing along with the passage of time and in the developed countries this trend is higher then that of the under developing countries
• The computer literacy rate, economic stability, industrial production and GDP of the country effects the online shopping trend and also have effects on the internet commercial revenues of the companies
• In UK and US there is increasing trend of online shopping and the share of ecommerce sales is also increasing in the total sales of these countries
• The consumers tend to buy some particular type of products on internet very frequently like CDs Books and travel services because in these products they don’t need to have direct contact with the retailers and also they can decide to purchase these products with seeing them own eyes
• The consumers see many benefits in online shopping like convenience, best price and access to maximum information but at the same time the online consumers also remain concerned and worried about certain issues that often stop them to buy certain products and services online
• The online consumers are most of the time insecure about their financial and personal information that they need to provide at the purchase of the product as they are afraid of misuse of their credit card number and electronic wallet.
• The businesses are required to design unique strategies to attract the consumers towards their company and product online to increase the sales and revenue of their company
• Some businesses fail to attract the consumers and increase their sales of the product because they don’t use the effective and suitable strategies for marketing
• The value based information plays a vital role in grabbing the attention of the consumers towards a certain brand and product
• The interactivity feature of the website play a leading role in designing the decision of the consumer as the consumers feel close with the company and the product when they got chances to interact with the company
• Most of the time consumers search for the low price products and services however in the next step they give importance to the other attributed of the product like the quality, brand reputation and other features
• The consumers give very much importance to the on time delivery of the products that they order online and they also remain concerned about receiving the product in same shape and quality as shown on internet
• Internet shopping also allows the consumers to immediately contact the company in case of any complain about the quality of the product
• Consumers avoid buying such products online that are more expensive and required to be seen in real before the final purchase.
• The behavior and decision making of the online consumers is very much influenced by the website contents, advertising messages, brand name, purchase process and transaction model
• The internet commercial revenue of the companies is badly affected when the consumers feel insecure about shopping online due to the security concerns of their financial information.

Data Analysis

The data and information for the research study is conducted from the secondary and primary sources and in this part of the4 dissertation the data is analyzed to get the key results and interpretations from the collected data and information. In the last two sections the key findings obtained from the secondary and primary sources were described and the analysis of these findings will allow the interpretation of the research results

The primary research was conducted in two parts and in the first part there were 100 companies investigated on the matter of the internet advertisement revenue with the help of a structured questionnaire.

The survey came up with the figures cited in the last section and in the light of these figures it is observed that there is overall openness in the business sector of US towards the use of internet as a marketing and advertisement tool because there are 79% of the companies that are aware of the internet benefits in term of reaching millions of consumer and while responding to this significance there are 72% of the companies that frequently use to advertise their products and services on internet and 64% of these companies also receive favorable response from the people through their websites whereas the interactivity activities introduced by the 69% of the companies are welcomed by the online users.

These figures show a considerable shift of the marketing activities in to the web world and it shows that the companies are now focusing on internet advertisement because they are getting more and more aware about the importance of internet as a marketing and advertisement tool. On the other hand the response received by the companies through their website shows that the consumers are also willing to respond towards the offers and the interactivity options on internet because it allows them to know more about the companies and the products.

The survey result also shows that 72% of the companies observed increase in the sales whereas 69% companies observe increase in their profit as they start focusing more on the internet marketing and advertisement. These figures indicate very clearly that the internet commercial revenue is very much linked with the over all performance and the profitability of the businesses and when the companies use internet for marketing and advertisement they receive benefits in form of increased sales and revenue. This is one of the main reasons behind the increases focus of the companies all over the world towards internet marketing and advertisement.

It is also discovered from the survey that 61% of the companies witnessed the effects of GDP, 66% witnessed the effects of unemployment, 79% observed the effects of industrial production and 76% of the companies observe the effects of CPI on the internet advertisement revenue of their companies. These figure highlighted an important objective of the dissertation that is to study the impact of these factors on the internet commercial revenue. The data shows that the above mentioned factors have great influence on the internet advertisement revenue and the representatives of the companies have expressed their opinions about the influential factors for the internet commercial revenue of the companies.

In the second phase the survey was conducted among the 100 online consumers and their views about the effects of certain factors on their decision making is collected with the help of a structured questionnaire. The results of the survey are mentioned in the last section. It is found from the survey results that the internet users are concentrating more towards internet shopping because they feel satisfaction and convenience in shopping online.

The survey results also revealed that 68 percent of the consumers believe that their decision making during online shopping is very much affected by customize factor. This figure show that the consumers feel increased level of satisfaction in online shopping when they get the opportunities to quickly respond towards the messages online. In the survey there were 66% of the online consumers that expressed their views that they give preference to the brand name because it is an influential factor for them while shopping online.

It shows the importance of the brand name and the reputation of the company that the consumers online not only look for convenience and low price but there are certain other things that matters for them and among them the company name and reputation is an important factor. This figure clearly highlights the importance of building good brand of the company online.

58 percent of the consumers informed that the transaction model effects their decision while shopping online because they often feel insecure about using their electronic wallets and credit cards and at the same time they also have questions in mind regarding receiving the product in same quality and shape. It shows that the insecurities in the mind of the online consumers often compel them not to make purchase online and in this way their decision making and the online sales of the product is affected badly.

71% of the respondents reported that they give importance to the information about the products on internet and this figure shows that information is one of the vital factor in determining the consumer decisions and the companies should provide value based and detailed information to the consumers so that they become satisfied and feel free to make the decision about their purchases.

There were 74% of the online consumers that informed that the price is most important factor for them when they shop online and they use to shop frequently online because they think that they get good prices of the product via internet. In this way the price of the products online appears to be the most influential factors in determining the consumer decision making because most of the times the consumers are attracted to shop online due to the thought that intern offers them lower prices as compare with the real retail store.

Finally there were 65% online consumers that reported that the purchase service influences their decision to shop for certain products online and they give importance to the on time delivery of the product and the contact with the customer care service. In this way the importance of the purchase service is also highlighted that the consumers give due importance to this factor and their decision is often changes when they have any concern related to this factor.

The survey results also revealed an important point that in most of the questions there is no major changes observed in the opinions of the males and females respondents and for the first survey conducted among the 100 companies there were 707 answers received in Yes and among them 348 (49%) were males and 359 (51%) were females. This shows that on the basis of gender there are no major differences found in the opinion of the male and females respondents and they generally held a common belief regarding the influential factors effective the internet advertisement revenue of the companies.

In the second survey conducted among 100 online consumers there were total 1274 replies received in Yes from the respondents and among them 607 (48%) were male and 667 (52%) were females. In this case also there is difference of 4 percent recorded in the opinions of the male and females and for every single question there was just slight differences recorded as shown in the survey results. It shows that the gender is not a effecting the opinion of the people regarding the consumer decision making and all the females and males participated in the survey share common trend of beliefs having no discriminations on gender basis.

Thus the results of the survey revealed many important issues that must be focused by the companies operating online because the consumers expressed their concerns about different issues and the most influencing factor in the consumer decision making in online shopping is also highlighted in the survey and the companies can give prominence to these factors in their advertisement messages to catch the attention of the online consumers. It is also revealed from the analysis of data that the people do not have any differences in their opinion on the gender basis over this issue.

Discussion of Arising Issues

The result of the statistical survey not only pointed out the most influential factor that effects the internet commercial revenue but also the most important factors that have great influence over the consumer decision making. From the survey result it become very clear that there are little differences in the opinions of the male and female respondents both at company level and at online consumer level because there were little differences found in the answers of male and female respondents. The survey clarified that all the factors studied the view of finding the relationship are close linked with the internet commercial revenue and the consumer decision making there was little difference found in the answers for each of the factors and for all of four factors there was very close figures calculated from the results of the survey.

The primary research findings are found well supported to the secondary analysis of data and it is found that the issues highlighted by most of the social scientists in different research studies are practically proven with the help of the results of the statistical survey. The review of the literature shows the increasing trend of the use of internet for shopping purpose and the results of the survey also disclosed that the companies and the consumers are concentrating more on internet for the selling and buying of products and services. The main motives behind the use of internet as a shopping point describes in the literature are also confirmed from the results of the survey.

In many of the research studies the researchers argues that the people use internet for shopping because there is lot of convenience and opportunities to get lower prices on internet. In the survey the online consumers also expressed that they sue internet for shopping because they get satisfaction and ease of doing shopping. The researchers have also revealed that the motive behind the rising use of internet advertisement is to make increase in the profit of the company and the representatives of the companies also expressed in the survey that they focus more on internet advertisement because they have recorded improvement in their profitability. In this way the findings of the primary research are supported by the secondary research.

The review of the literature pointed out that the commercial revenue of the companies generated from internet depends upon different factors and the survey results and analysis also pointed out that there are some influential factors that affect the internet advertisement revenue of the companies. In the same way the social scientists have also highlighted the importance of certain influential factors in determining the decisions of the online consumers and the survey conducted among the online consumers make it clear that the factors like price, brand name and information play vital role in the decision making process of the consumers online. In this way these findings of the secondary research are well supported by the primary research and there is a general uniformity observed in the research findings and data gathered though different sources.

Among the researches and literature review there was no any important study found that claims the differences in the opinion of the people regarding the internet commercial revenue and the factors influencing it, on the basis of gender and the online consumers are often found having different opinions on the basis of class, literacy rate and social environment. The survey results and analysis indicates that in both of the surveys there was no major differences found in the opinions of the online consumers and the representatives of the companies on the basis of their sex and thus this is also an important issue confirmed through both the type of researches.

Answering the Research Question

The research was aimed at finding out the answer to the following research question:

“To identify the factors influencing the internet advertising revenue of the company and the factors influencing the online consumer behaviors and to find the effects of internet commercial revenue on the profitability of the business”

In order to find out the solution of this problem statement and the answer to the research questions, the dissertation employed both the secondary as well as primary sources and after collecting data and information from these sources, all the issues associated with the topic are clearly understood and explained in the dissertation and the topic of the dissertation is also very well addressed in the discussion of the topic.

It is found from the secondary analysis of data and the statistical survey results that the internet advertisement revenue of a company is very much influenced by a number of factors and among them the four factors studied in the dissertation possess great importance because when the GDP growth of the country is high then there are more choices available to people to shop and they can make these purchases through internet in more convenient manner.

The rate of computer literacy also affects the internet commercial revenue of the companies because when there are more people have access and capabilities to use computers and internet there are more possibilities that these people will make decisions to make purchases using internet. In the same manner there are other economic variables like industrial production and CPI that have effects on the internet commercial revenue and the dissertation discusses in detailed the effects of different factors on the internet advertisement revenue.

In the same way the consumer behavior is also influenced by a number of factors identified in the dissertation and it is found that price being the most dominating factor to influence the consumer decision making while shopping online because most of the time the consumers come to shop on internet because they are attracted that they will get low prices of the product on internet and at the same time they will also get best product value against their money.

However along with pike there are certain other factors that are discussed in the dissertation also, have great impact on the consumer decision making like the information, transaction model, brand name and reputation of the company etc. In this way the factors influencing the online consumers’ decision making are identified and studied in details to have deep understanding of the issue.

In addition to this the effects of the internet advertisement revenue on the overall profitability of the businesses are also studied and witnessed in literature review and statistical survey and it is found that the increase in the profitability is an important motive due to which the companies are concentrating more and more towards the internet advertisement. The businesses are aware of the fact that in the technology driven and highly competitive market place of today they can survive with the help of modern tactics and strategies and internet provide the companies an effective mean of managing their marketing strategies and making increase in their profits. Hence the research question is very well answered and explained in the dissertation in the light of the secondary and primary research findings.

Hypothesis Testing

The research study was aimed at testing the following three hypotheses and in the light of the material studied and data gathered and calculated, now it become possible to text the hypotheses.

Hypotheses I: GDP, CPI, unemployment, and industrial production index affect the Internet advertisement revenue

It was the first hypothesis of the study and in the light of the data gathered from the survey it can be established that this hypothesis and tested and proved to be correct and the study founds the evidences about the effects of the GDP, CPI, unemployment, and industrial production index on the internet advertisement revenue. These evidences are collected not only from secondary but also from the primary research study. As discussed in the literature review there are many social scientists that have pointed out that the economic conditions of the country also play important role in determining the internet commercial revenue and when there will be more economic activities there will be more commercial activities took place on internet also.

Moreover the facts and figures provided in the literature review shows that in the developed countries of the world specially where there is high GDP, employment, CPI and industrial development rate, the ratio ecommerce sales is also high and it contribute good portion of overall sales of the country like in US the ecommerce sales is rising its share in the total share of the sales that shows the positive relationship between GDP, industrial development, employment and CPI.

In addition to this the hypothesis is also tested on the basis of the data collected for the statistical survey and the representatives of the 100 companies were also asked four questions to give their opinion about the effects of these four factors on the internet advertising revenue of the companies and the results of the survey indicated that more then half of the respondents are sure about the influence of all these factors on the internet commercial revenue of the business because they were also witnessing these effects in their business. As shown in the survey results there are 79% respondents agreed with the influence of the industrial production on the internet advertisement revenue, 76% agreed with the influence of CPI, 66% witnessed the effect of unemployment whereas 61% said that they see GDP as an influential factor that can make differences in the internet commercial revenues of the companies.

Thus in the light of the secondary analysis of data and the results of the statistical survey it is finally concluded that the first hypothesis of the research study is tested and found to be correct and the dissertation argue that the following statement is proved to be right and “GDP, CPI, unemployment, and industrial production index affect the Internet advertisement revenue”.

Hypotheses II: Internet Commercial affects the companies’ profits (ROE, ROI, and EPS)

The second hypothesis of the research study was to test the effects of internet commercial revenue on the profits of the company and in the light of the secondary and primary research done, it can be said that this research hypothesis is tested and proved correct as well because there are positive relationship found between the internet commercial revenue and the profitability of the companies.

As discussed in the literature review along with the emergence of internet the businesses are concentrating more towards internet advertisement because intern offer many benefits to them in term of increases access to million of consumers that ultimately results in more sales and profit generation of the company. The internet commercial revenue plays the role in increasing the profit of the company that’s why the businesses all over the world are given this much importance to internet advertisement because they have observed that when they get more revenue through internet their overall sales and the profit is also increased and this is the main reasons why social scientists and experts are working out to develop different workable and efficient models for the companies that can word for better revenue generation from internet because they want to support the growth of the businesses.

It is also observed in the literature review that there are many companies that become more stable and popular among the consumers when they take help from internet and reach their potential and existing consumers with the help of internet advertisement messages, web sites and email.

Moreover the results of the survey also pointed out that the many of the representative of the companies have witnessed that when their company concentrates more towards internet advertisement they also record increase in their overall profit. As per results of the statistical survey there are 69 percent of the respondents belonging to different companies that informed that concentrating more towards the internet advertisement resulted in the high profit secured by their companies and in this way the positive relationship between the internet advertising revenue and the companies’ profit is found.

Thus in the light of the secondary analysis of data and the results of the statistical survey it is proved that the internet commercial revenue affects the profit of the company and that is one of the main reason why the businesses are concentrating towards internet advertisement and the practical evidence about this relationship are also found from the business sector where 69 percent companies get high profit due to internet advertisement revenue and finally the dissertation concludes that the second hypothesis of the research study is also correct and it supports the following statement that “ Internet Commercial affects the companies’ profits (ROE, ROI, and EPS)”

Hypotheses III: The six factors (information offer, trade mode, delivery function, after purchase-service) will affect the intention of Internet purchasing significantly.

One of the main objective of the research study was to identify the main factors that influence the consumer decision making process while shopping on internet and in this regard there were six factors selected and put in front of the online consumers so that they can express their view about the influence of each of the factor on their decision making. The review of the literature also discussed in details that how different factors can effect the decision making of the consumers while they tent to purchase products and services online. In the light of the findings of the secondary and the primary research, the third hypothesis of the research study is also found to be correct.

As discussed in the literature review there are varieties of factors that can effect the decision of the consumers shopping online. In this regard there are different factors listed out by different researchers and it is observed that the consumers believe that they get best price and product value on internet that’s why they use to search and shop for the products and services through internet. Many of the researches also pointed out the importance of the information provided on internet and argue that if the companies provide value based information to the consumers then they are attracted towards the company and the product.

Along with this the beseechers also emphasis towards developing good reputation and brand name of the company because they believe that the brand name is an important influential factor for the online consumers. The social scientists also highlighted the importance of the transaction process, on time delivery of the product and the customer care service in determining the consumer behavior and after the review of the literature it became quite clear that different factors like price, brand name, information and the transaction model has strong influence on the decision making of the consumers and the businesses have to emphasis towards these points if they want to attract the consumers.

Moreover the primary research also confirmed the findings of the secondary study and when the online users were investigated about the influence of different factors like price, brand name and information etc on their decision making then they clearly make the point that all of these factors play the vital role in determining the decision of the consumers to buy certain products and services online. The results of the survey disclosed that there are 74% of the online consumers give importance to price while they shop online and this is followed by information provided on internet (71%), customize (68%), brand name (66%), purchase service (65%) and transaction model (58%).

Thus more then half of the respondents reported that each of these factors influence their behavior and decision when they tent to buy some product or service online. Thus in the light of the secondary analysis of the data and results of the statistical survey it is concluded that the third hypothesis of the research is correct as well and “the six factors (information offer, trade mode, delivery function, after purchase-service) have great influence and affect on the intention of Internet purchasing.

In this way all the three hypotheses of the research study are tented with the help of the information and data gathered through primary and secondary research and it is found that all of the three hypotheses are tested to be correct and the secondary findings of the study are well supported by the primary findings.

Chapter Summary

In this chapter the entire work done to complete the dissertation is explained. The summary of both the secondary and primary researches is provided to have a quick look at the study findings and in the light of the research results the dissertation also put forward some recommendations and suggestions. Recommendations are meant for the researchers and students that are willing to work in the same direction so that they can make their work perfect and can come up with more refined and acceptable solution to the problem statement. On the other hand the suggestions are meant for the businesses that are trying to generate revenues through the internet marketing.

These suggestions will help them in having better understanding of the consumer behavior and in designing more effective and efficient strategies for the marketing and advertisement of their products and services online. The limitations encountered during conducting the research study are also described in this chapter so that the other students and researchers can make prior arrangements to over come all such problems and can conduct their work without any problem or interruption.

Research Summary

The research is done through a mixed method where both qualitative and quantitative methodologies are employed. The qualitative research i.e. the secondary analysis of data is conducted by reviewing the existing material and research works conducted around the topic. The secondary research allows having deep insight over the entire issue and many aspects of the topic of the dissertation are explored, understood and explained very well with the help of the review of the literature.

The literature review first of all explains the reasons behind the increasing importance of internet shopping and advertisement and it is revealed from the review that technology is giving many choices to the consumers and opportunities to the businesses.

In order to avail these opportunities the businesses must develop effective policies that can earn them more revenue. It is also revealed from the review of the literature that the consumers welcome the emergence of internet as a shopping point because they get many benefits in terms of convenience, better prices and increased choices however the security issues regarding the misuse of the information often stops the consumers to shop online and there is also effect on the internet commercial revenue due to these insecurities rising among the online users.

The secondary research also pointed out that internet is performing wide range of functions for the consumers and the internet users now log on to the web world not only to receive information, entrainment, and communication but also to shop several products and to participate in different interactive activities. As the internet functions are widely accepted and adopted by the people all over the worlds, the share of commercial activities performed on internet is also rising and now the businesses and the consumers want to perform many of their transaction online.

This is allowing the consumers to save their money and time that will be spend in going to a retail outlet and the companies are allowed to convey their messages to millions of the consumers by spending less amount of money. However this situation is not only beneficial for the businesses and the consumers but internet advertisement trend is also given birth to the dominant effect and some of the companies spending more for online advertisement dominate the others despite having weaker market condition or quality.

Consumers are also receiving threats in form of loss of privacy and data and they are facing a risky situation in case of using their credit card numbers online. However despite all these problems the trend of online shopping is accelerating and the consumers and the companies are continuously busy in searching and sending the information about different products and services online.

The secondary research also pointed out the leading factors that have strong influence on the decision making of the consumers and it is revealed that the lower prices of the product offered on internet convince the people to shop through internet. Moreover the brand name and the product qualities also matter for the online consumers due to which the people mostly use to purchase low price products online so that in case of failure in on time delivery and low quality of the receive product will not cause them any big money loss and they can recover it on early basis.

It is also understood from the review of the literature that the product value is an important issue for the online consumers because they are tend to buy the product via internet as they are confident about getting maximum value for their money. So the businesses have to provide maximum value based messages and advertisements to the online consumers so that they can be assure about the product value and on the basis of their belief they can continue with their experiences of online shopping.

In order to provide maximum value based information to the consumers, the website contents of the companies possess great importance because of the online users find valuable information on the website of a company then he has good image of the company and its products built in his mind and this image will play a constructive role in decision making of the consumer to buy the product of that company. The interactivity offers and opportunities also play role in taking both the consumers and the company closer with each other. All of these factors must be kept in mind by the companies if they want to generate good amount of internet commercial revenue.

This was the summary of the secondary research that highlighted several important aspects of internet commercial marketing and consumer decision making. The primary research also came up with valuable information and results. It is revealed from the results and analysis of the primary research that there are no contradictions found in the findings of both the type of researchers and both of the research findings support well each other.

The primary research confirmed that internet is getting very popular as a shopping destination and the consumers are motivated by the benefits of convenience, more choices and better prices to shop on internet. The companies took internet as a tool of expanding their activities and accelerating the rate of their revenue generation. Both of the sides are confident about getting benefits from internet shopping and this thought has led to the rise in the trend of online shopping.

Primary research i.e. the statistical survey results revealed that companies are turning towards internet marketing because they want to avail the opportunity to reach many consumers. As a result of using internet for marketing and advertising the companies are also observing improvement in the sales of their company and ultimately the profits of these firms are also increasing. Moreover the survey results also show that in the business community there is great awareness about the factors affective the internet commercial revenue and the businesses know very well that their internet revenues are influenced by the GDP, CPI, unemployment and industrial production.

Along with investigating the companies, the survey also examined the opinions of the online consumers and it is revealed that people sue internet for shopping because they get more satisfaction with this experience and there is also lot of convenience in term of time saving offered by internet shopping that compels the consumers to use internet for purchasing certain products and services. The online consumers are also concerned with the matter that when they use their credit card and electronic wallets online then they stand at a high risk position where they can also loss some amount of money and their financial and personal information can also be taken and misuse by someone.

Along with this issue some of the consumers also fear that they might not receive the products and services they order at the right time and in the right condition so there could be loss of their money and time that’s why they prefer the real time shopping experience for high price products especially.

The survey results revealed that price is an important factor that affects the decision of the consumers to buy some product or service online because many of the consumers are attracted towards internet for shopping only because they want to get the product against best price and they also want the maximum value of the product on the spending of their money. Along with price the brand name and reputation of the company also assists the online consumers to make the decision about selecting a particular product or service.

People feel a trust worthy relationship with the company having good will and reputation and when the consumers came across the advertisement message of a company for which he has good image and opinion in mind then he must proceed to know more about the product and if the company has provided value based information about the product or service then there is great possibility that the consumer will finally decide to buy that product online.

It is also explained by the results and analysis of the statistical survey that the purchase process is also an important factor and there are some online consumers who like to shop online because they feel comfortable due to the thought that in case of any problem with the purchased product or service they will contact the company easily and their problem will be fixed very soon. This ease appears to be an important reason in decision making of the consumers online. Thus these are the important issues that are explored and explained by the primary research and these issues help in getting understanding of the topic and coming towards the final point where the answer of the research question is found and the research hypotheses are tested.

Research Limitation

The key objectives of the dissertation are well achieved and with the help of the findings and analysis of the primary and secondary research all the issues related with the topic are very well explained in the dissertation however there are also some limitations that are faced in conducting the research studies and completing the dissertation on time.

The first limitation was faced in form of time shortage. Though there was enough time available for the dissertation but after the review of the literature when the work of the primary research i.e. the statistical surveys was started then there was lot of time spent in sending questionnaires and gathering the filled questionnaire from the respondents. The first survey was conducted among 100 companies operating in US and having presence on internet was a must for their selection.

The sample of 100 companies was a big one and take long time in searching and selecting the names of the firms. After the selection these firms were contacted through email but unfortunately there were email addresses of some of the companies that were either not active or due to any other problem there was no reply receive from these companies. There were also some companies that might receive the request for the survey in the email box but they show lack of interest in taking part in the survey due to any of their reason.

This problem resulted in a situation where there are just 70 companies on the list that replied favorably and then the search process began again to find 30 more companies. After some more days this work was finally done and 100 companies were on the list that were in contact and ready to respond to the questionnaire of the survey. The questionnaires were sent to these companies with the cover letter of the company and they were also assured of secrecy of their information.

Along with sending the questionnaire a request was made to the representatives of the companies to send the filled questionnaires within 3-4 days after receiving it or maximum in one week. Unfortunately the rate of getting back the filled questionnaire was very slow and some of the companies take too much time to respond and send the filled questionnaire. There was lot of time wasted in waiting for the replies of the companies due to which the time to complete the dissertation seem very short.

The second survey was conducted among the 100 online users and there were almost the same problems faced in contacting these people. The names and email addresses of the consumers were picked up from the mailing or subscriber list of different companies and when these people were contacted it was found that some of the people have given their fake addresses in the subscribing list and these email IDs became useless for the research. In the same way some of the email addresses were not active or not in regular use by the consumers that’s why there was no reply received from these people and again there was shortage of names and email addresses in the sample.

The search was conducted again and new names and email addresses of the online consumers were picked and these people were contacted to make the request for participating in the survey. After long time finally 100 online consumers were contacted through email and the survey questionnaires were sent to them with a request to complete it within a week maximum. But these people also take long time in replying and there was lot of time more wasted in waiting for the replies of the online consumers.

In this way the most important limitation encountered during the conduction of the dissertation is the time limit that because of unfavorable attitudes of companies and the consumers the entire process of sending and receiving the survey questionnaire took longer time as compared with the expected time and the work of the next step i.e. the result calculation, data analysis etc was also delayed.

Another problem was faced when some of the online consumers ask for shorter questionnaire as they think it time consuming to give answers of 20 questions. These people were convinced and requested that there are only close ended questions in the survey form and it will not take long time at all to answer them so they can complete in lesser time. After facing all of these limitations and problems finally the dissertation is completed and the research work is successfully accomplished. All the decided goals for the dissertation are achieved and all the issues and topic related with the dissertation are explained in details.

Suggestions and Recommendations

The dissertation also put forward some recommendations for the further research and suggestions for the businesses to make at attempt of helping them in improving their future strategies and work.

The students willing to work in the same direction are recommended that if they decide to conduct a statistical survey for the research, then select the sample keeping in view the time available for the research because big sample requires cooperation of the people that is not necessarily be achieved by every one. After deciding the survey sample, there must be work done for the questionnaire construction so that the questionnaires will be sent to the selected people immediately and even if they take long time in replying then the work of the dissertation is not stop and in the mean time the students will do the writing work of the other chapters including introduction, literature review and research methodology.

It is very necessary because of the students write the first three chapters and then construct and send the questionnaires to the respondents then their lot of time will be waster in waiting for the reply of the people and they will fall short of the time in completing the entire work of the dissertation.

Moreover the students must also construct a comparatively small questionnaire for the survey so that the people will not get the impression that it is a time consuming work and then they will not make any excuse on the basis of time shortage. There must be more compact and useful questions included in the questionnaire so that the results can come up with the valuable information that can help in finding the answer of the research question easily.

Along with these recommendations for the further work, there are some suggestions also put forwards in the dissertation in the light of the research work done, with the intention to help the companies in designing better strategies and planning for the improvement in their internet advertisement revenues. Following are some of the recommendations means for the businesses that are operating online or planning to do so in coming future.

• There must be complete awareness about the significance of internet advertisement among all the people of the companies especially those working in the marketing department
• The companies must identify the psychographics and demographics of their potential and existing consumers so that they can make their policies keeping in view all of these factors
• The generally accepted influential factors also play vital role in determining the attention of the consumers so along with concentrating on the psychographics and demographics of the consumers, the company should also follow the common trends prevailing in the market place.
• The company must understand the importance of value based advertisement and they must assure that all the advertisement messages and the contents of their website will give some value based information to the online consumers so that they can attracted by offering more value of the product
• The price of the product or service must be demonstrated in a way that the consumers gets an impression of having some monitory benefit in the purchase of the product or service through internet. To give this impression the company can take help of different schemes and discount offers etc
• The company must assure the confidentiality of the personal and financial information of the consumers so that they have no worries in mind that in case of purchasing the product on internet they will face any problem due to misuse of the information
• The companies must also assure that the ordered products and services will reach the consumers right within the given delivery time and the consumers will get the same quality and quality of the product for which they have placed the order on internet
• The companies also have to assure the consumers that in case of any complaints and dissatisfaction regarding the product or service, the company will be easy accessible and the consumer can make and get fixed their complains in very short period of time
• The interactivity features of the websites also take the consumers close to the company so the companies should include interactive features in website so that the people will get more chances to interact and their mind is make up to make purchases online
• The consumers must be assured about the higher level of satisfaction on the purchase of the products through internet.
• The companies must list their information and products details on the commonly uses search engines so that the online consumers can access their information easily
• The information about the product and service must be provided by the company in detailed but in attractive and easily understandable manner

Conclusion

The dissertation is based on the objective of the evaluating and identifying the main factors that influence the internet commercial revenue of the companies and the factors that play role in influencing the decisions of the online consumers. Moreover the dissertation also strives to find out the relationship between the profit of the company and the internet advertising revenue. In order to achieve all of these objectives, the dissertation conducts a mixed methodological research. First of all qualitative data and information about the research topic are gathered through the review of the available literature and in this way the secondary analysis of data is chosen as the qualitative research method.

In addition to this, statistical surveys among 100 companies of US having online presence and 100 online consumers is also conducted to quantitative data and figures for the research. In this way statistical survey is selected as the quantitative research methodology for the dissertation. The findings of both of these researches are put together and analyzed to find the support of primary data for the secondary findings and then the interpretations and analysis made on the behalf of the secondary and primary researches is used to test the research hypothesis and to find the solution to the problem statement upon which the dissertation was focused.

There were basically two major objectives of the research. The first one was to identify the economic factors that affect the internet advertisement revenue and the variables that influence the consumer decision making in online shopping. The second objective of the research is to find weather or not there is some effect of internet advertisement revenue of the companies on their profits. Both of these objectives are achieved and well explained in the dissertation with the help of the data and information collected through different secondary and primary sources. Finally the solution to the statement of the problem is found and the research hypotheses are also tented.

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