Generation Y Online Buying Patterns

The advantages of electronic retailing can, among other things, result in uncontrolled buying by online consumers, i.e. in extreme buying behavior. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze and determine the buying patterns of Generation Y online consumers in order to explore the existence of different types of behavior based on the characteristics of online buying. The paper also aims at exploring the relationship between extracted factors and Generation Y consumers’ buying intentions. Empirical research was conducted on a sample of 515 consumers in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County. Based on the factor analysis, research results indicate that Generation Y online consumers are influenced by three factors: compulsivity, impulsivity, and functionality. The analysis of variance reveals that significant differences exist between the extracted factors and Generation Y’s online buying characteristics. In addition, correlation analysis shows a statistically significant correlation between the extracted factors and Generation Y’s buying intentions