Redefining online shopping clusters: a cross-cultural analysis of western demographics, attitudes and behaviour

Contemporary research on cross-cultural segmentation dominantly focuses on Western vs. Eastern marketing comparisons. Moreover, established research on off-line shopping behaviour is largely assumed to hold in an on-line context as well. This paper analyses to what extent Western countries differ in crucial demographic, attitudinal and behavioural on-line shopping patterns. Findings on the three chosen cultures (Germany, the UK and the US) indicate that common international marketing clusters will need reconsideration as consumer attitudes (e.g. Convenience, Value, Trust, Choice), behaviour (e.g. Frequency, Spending volume) and demographics (e.g. Gender, Literacy) significantly differ in supposedly known markets when shopping on-line.