An Analysis of Influencing Factors for the Purchase Decision on E-commerce of Khon Kaen University Undergraduate Students

Abstract

In the digital age, Electronic commerce (E-commerce) has unarguably become an important channel for exchanging goods and services. This phenomenal along with Thailand 4.0 has transformed how Thai people live especially for adolescents. This research looked at a population of 31,328 Khon Kaen University undergraduate students to analyze factors which influence the population to make a purchase on E-commerce platforms. This population was drawn from 3 groups: the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Faculty of Health Science, and the Faculty of Pure Science and Technology. The quantitative research was conducted on a sample size of 395 students by having them answer a questionnaire. The data analysis is based on descriptive statistics. First, factor analysis is used to incorporate related variable into the same factor. Secondly, the factor score is used to analyze variance and compare the significance level of each factor across 3 groups. Lastly, ordered logistic regression analysis is applied to study important factors which affected purchase decisions. The study found that the 42 variables used in the study could be grouped into eight factors. The most important factor for purchase decision is online purchasing behavior of friends and family in the digital age. The second important factor is the quality of products or services as well as clarity of the product or service information, including after-sales service under reliable data security. Therefore, to develop and customize an E-commerce website to target student customers, entrepreneurs should take into account not only the quality of products and services but also shop reputation and customer feedbacks. Lastly, customer data privacy and reliability of the payment are other important aspects about which the entrepreneurs need to consider.