A review of common approaches to understanding online consumer behaviour

One of the main changes in modern consumer behaviour has been the transition from a passive to an active and informed consumer, and one of the key tools of this so-called “postmodern” online consumer has been the Internet. An examination of previous research into online consumer behaviour shows that there may be significant differences from their terrestrial counterparts, however problems of demographic bias, lack of observational data and the Internet’s rapid pace of change may have made it difficult to accurately model this behaviour. This paper reviews research into the various issues that may differentiate online consumer behaviour, and concludes that a more comprehensive approach to modelling online consumer behaviour is needed in order to coherently describe the online consumer experience.