A new computer buying study will use a simulated e-commerce site to measure how various Web site attributes affect consumer purchasing behavior.
The Internet Consumer Purchase Behavior Study was developed by San Francisco-based SysIQ, a provider of e-business services for retailers and catalogers, and Miguel Villas-Boas, professor of business administration at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
SysIQ built and is managing the technology infrastructure and operations for the Web site, where consumers can simulate the purchase of office supplies and electronics goods. A group of Ph.D and MBA students led by Villas-Boas will study how site design, product presentation, price promotion and other features affect purchasing behavior.
“The possibility of collecting data from a new Internet store that is created solely for research purposes is a unique opportunity to understand the purchasing behavior of actual consumers,” Villas-Boas said.
The online research store is structured to run multiple versions of the site concurrently to test relationships between Web store attributes and the resulting consumer behavior.
The study begins this month, and SysIQ will publish results on a regular basis. Direct marketers who wish to learn more about the testing or want to suggest areas for the study can visit www.sysiq.com/xper_xper.htm.
