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SIGeBIZ track of the Americas Conference on Information Systems

AMCIS 2010: Sustainable e-Business Management pp 115–126Cite as

Using Ontologies in an E-Commerce Environment: Help or Hype?

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing ((LNBIP,volume 58))

Abstract

Even though online shopping is becoming increasingly popular, many consumers are still reluctant to buy online, especially when it comes to apparel. One approach to improve adaption is to base e-commerce search engines on ontologies to allow a more intuitive search process. This paper presents the results of an analysis how a sample of online shoppers perceived various ontology-based features in an online shop. The data was gathered in two focus groups with panelists coming from different socio-demographic backgrounds (middle-aged women, students in their twenties). Most of the middle-aged women panelists actively shopped for apparel by means of catalogues. However, across the focus groups, most panelists are very reluctant buying apparel online. Our study suggests that age has a higher influence on the information search behaviour of consumers in online shops than gender. The study concludes with suggestions for adapting ontology-based systems to these findings.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin,  

    Franziska Brecht & Kerstin Schäfer

Authors
  1. Franziska Brecht
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  2. Kerstin Schäfer
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Business, Illinois State University, 61790, Normal, IL, USA

    Matthew L. Nelson

  2. College of Business, University of Illinois, 61820, Champaign, IL, USA

    Michael J. Shaw

  3. College of Business and Public Administration, Drake University, 50311, Des Moines, IA, USA

    Troy J. Strader

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Brecht, F., Schäfer, K. (2010). Using Ontologies in an E-Commerce Environment: Help or Hype?. In: Nelson, M.L., Shaw, M.J., Strader, T.J. (eds) Sustainable e-Business Management. AMCIS 2010. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 58. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-15141-5_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-15141-5_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-15140-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-15141-5

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