Wishlisting Habits, Indecisiveness and Future Planning Among Online Shoppers

Ishita Mazumdar

Ishita Mazumdar MIT WPU

Keywords: wishlist, indecisiveness, planning, online shopping

Abstract

In the world of online shopping, nowadays many people choose to make abundant use of the ‘wishlist’ feature. However, what differs is the timespan of this wishlist. While some people choose to shop only when they need to, add whatever they think they might buy and make a decision by the end of their shopping session, others choose to simply keep browsing. They may spend hours wishlisting products without ever buying anything. The current published researches focus extensively on the personality factors associated with online shoppers and why certain individuals prefer online shopping over conventional offline shopping. The ‘wishlist’ feature of online shopping has not been studied in detail as of yet. This research focuses on wishlisting habits and their correlation with indecisiveness and future planning. Indecisiveness, as measured by the Frost and Shows Indecisiveness Scale (IS), was not found to have any significant correlation with wishlisting. It was found that high wishlisters showed a moderate correlation with non planning, as measured by the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS 11). This research could have future implications for further advancements in business and consumer psychology. The study could also be furthered to study the browsing habits of people who compulsively search for web shows to watch for hours on end without being able to make a decision on the same.

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