Call for Support: What Women want to Buy Online

Women are classicly late adopters of internet technology and with that, online shopping. But it is women who are making most of the household purchasing decisions in 70% of cases. So researchers at East Anglia have focused on what women want out of e.shopping as a way of exploring both the success of individual sites and the slow take-up of online shopping more generally with female consumers.

E.shopping has its advantages (competitiveness, convenience, the availability of global and 'niche' markets), despite its luke warm reception. This raises a number of questions for (potential) female e.shoppers. In what ways might e.shopping be beneficial to female consumers?

* How do women respond to the shopping web sites? Are they drawn in or repelled by them? Does this impact on their own self-perceptions?

* Does the sexual division of labour, which influences the use of domestic technologies (including that of electronic leisure), impact on women's usage of the Internet for consumption purposes?

* If social time is gendered (effectively alienating women from their ‘own’ time which is then legitimised in the service of others) is e.shopping a work or leisure activity?

Research on women and Internet use has been dominated by a number of conventional wisdoms about women and their on-line behaviour which are derived from stereotypical perceptions about women in the off-line world. These conventional wisdoms include 'women are uncomfortable with technology', 'women love to shop', 'the key to women is relationships', 'women are attracted by cosmetics and clothing', 'the Internet attracts younger people'. In the light of the paucity of studies relating to the social construction of the e.shopper this research aims to illuminate these issues through a multi-strategy approach.

The ShoppingForum website and its questionnaire is an integral part of this research project. It can be found at www.shoppingforum.org and participation from all would be welcome.

Associated Link: The ShoppingForum

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