Online Shopping: Body Image, Personality, & Social Anxiety Influences

The usage of the Internet has experienced significant growth over the past several decades, providing a vehicle for the online shopping market to experience exponential gains as well. Research has shown various reasons for expansion of online shopping, such as convenience, ease, and the excitement of experiencing something new, but gives little insight into characteristics that lead consumers to choose to shop online. The consumer characteristics that lead to online shopping could be implications of body image dissatisfaction, social anxiety, and personality traits. This book examines the relationship between online shopping and these consumer attributes. Some interesting correlations between online shopping and these factors have been found. The possible implications of this study can be far reaching and provide valuable information to many different fields. Clinicians will be better able to understand how body image issues and social anxiety affect client's everyday life. The findings of the relationship between online shopping and consumer characteristics will help in understanding the underlying issues of those suffering from online shopping addiction or problems.