Human Capital: A Key Driver of Consumer Decision-making in Online Promotion (An Application of Grounded Theory in Exploratory Research)

This study throws light on the diversity of online sales promotion and deal acquisition with respect to human capital (time cost and efforts cost). This is the non-monetary investment of consumer while making a purchase. The influence of non-monetary cost decides the action towards purchase choice among various product offerings in online space. Findings of the research reveal (a) the different types of consumer: value conscious, price conscious and encounters, (b) different strategies a consumer adopts: track on information, futuristic thinking and formulating deals and (c) source of deal gratification for different goal-oriented consumer behaviour. This study proposes an empirical model validated by data interpretation using grounded theory. It shows how human capital decides approach of consumer to evaluate online sales promotion.