Investigating the influence of home language on online shopping behavior

N Cunningham and Cf De Meyer-Heydenrych
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N Cunningham: University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Cf De Meyer-Heydenrych: University of Johannesburg, South Africa

in ABEM Conference Proceedings from Academy of Business and Emerging Markets (ABEM), Canada, currently edited by Satyendra Singh

Abstract: This study investigates the influence of a consumer’s home language on their online shopping behaviour. The home languages investigated are English and African home languages (Zulu, Xhosa, Swati, Ndebele, Sotho and Venda/Tsonga). No significant differences existed between the online shopping behaviour of individual African home languages. Therefore, the African languages were categorised as one group. The data was collected through non-probability two-stage sampling techniques (quota and convenience sampling) from respondents who have shopped online in the past six months. The results indicated that the home language of respondents is linked to differences in their online shopping behaviour. Mostly, the respondents who spoke English as their home language had more favourable online shopping behaviour than those who spoke African languages. This study therefore provides retailers with strategies on how online shopping behaviour is influenced by the home language the consumer speaks. This will assist retailers in understanding how to adapt or add online offerings to suit the specific needs of different consumer groups and possibly attract consumers located in other countries to the their websites.

Keywords: Home language; online; shopping; behavior; South Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
ISBN: 9780993734205
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