A Qualitative Approach to Understand Consumer Groups and Decision-Making Process in Online Group Buying: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

This exploratory study used a qualitative approach to segment consumers in an online group buying context based on benefits pursued. 58 participants who have online group buying experience were interviewed. A cluster analysis was conducted on the interview data. The authors found three sub-groups of consumers: economic shoppers, balanced shoppers, and destination shoppers. A hierarchical decision-making process model was developed for different sub-groups of consumers. The results showed that these three sub-groups of consumers are different in terms of their decision-making process. This study overcomes the shortcomings of traditional segmentation studies by proposing a new segmentation method.