Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.18045/zbefri.2023.1.157
Decision trees do not lie: Curiosities in preferences of Croatian online consumers
Ana Marija Filipas
orcid.org/0000-0003-3539-0275
Nenad Vretenar
orcid.org/0000-0003-4689-0865
Ivan Prudky
orcid.org/0000-0001-9732-3276
Abstract
Understanding consumers’ preferences has always been important for economic
theory and for business practitioners in operations management, supply chain
management, marketing, etc. While preferences are often considered stable in
simplified theoretical modelling, this is not the case in real-world decision-making.
Therefore, it is crucial to understand consumers’ preferences when a market
disruption occurs. This research aims to recognise consumers’ preferences with
respect to online shopping after the COVID-19 outbreak hit markets. To this
purpose, we conducted an empirical study among Croatian consumers with prior
experience in online shopping using an online questionnaire. The questionnaire
was completed by 350 respondents who met the criteria. We selected decision-tree
models using the J48 algorithm to determine the influences of the found shopping
factors and demographic characteristics on a consumer’s preference indicator.
The main components of our indicators that influence consumer behaviour are the
stimulators and destimulators of online shopping and the importance of social
incidence. Our results show significant differences between men and women, with
men tending to use fewer variables to make decisions. In addition, the analysis
revealed that four product groups and a range of shopping mode-specific
influencing factors are required to evaluate consumers’ purchase points when
constructing the consumers’ preference indicator.
Keywords
decision-making; consumers’ preferences; data mining; decision trees, shopping behaviour indicators
Hrčak ID:
305135
URI
Publication date:
30.6.2023.
Visits: 1.030 *