Typologie nákupního chování spotřebitelů na knižním trhu v České republice

Abstract

The Master’s thesis focuses on the analysis of consumer purchasing behaviour on the book market in the Czech Republic in the context of the growing influence of the online environment, social networks and book communities. The main objective of the thesis is to analyse the influence of behavioural mechanisms, with a narrower focus on the social proof heuristic, on readers' purchase intention, and based on the evaluated data, to create a typology of reader segments in relation to social proof. The theoretical part anchors the principles of behavioural economics with an emphasis on heuristics and cognitive biases. These concepts, together with the definition of current purchasing tendencies in the online environment, are subsequently placed in the context of the current state of the Czech book market and online communities. In the practical part, quantitative research was carried out in the form of an online questionnaire survey using the CAWI method, in which 357 relevant respondents successfully participated. Exploratory factor analysis was applied for variable reduction, followed by multiple and moderation regression analyses. Lastly, cluster analysis was performed to obtain reader segments, and the ANOVA test was applied to examine differences in overall purchase intention among the identified segments. The results of the regression models did not demonstrate a statistically significant impact of social proof elements on purchase intention, nor a moderating effect of purchase barriers. However, the tendency towards impulsive buying and perceived price sensitivity were proven to act as strong independent factors. The main outcome of the research is the identification of four segments (Demanding Mainstream Readers, Instinctive Trend Consumers, Lone Wolves, and Advocates of Book Experts), which do not differ in the overall level of purchase intention, but rather in the stimuli that activate it. The Master’s thesis concludes with a discussion of the research results, and proposals and recommendations are presented at the market level and at the level of the newly identified segments.