Shopping for Home Furnishings and Furniture Online: An Examination of Rural Consumers' Use of the Internet.

The purpose of this study was to investigate rural consumers' interest in using the Internet for product information search and purchase of home furnishings and furniture. Of interest were the variables that might predict likelihood of a rural consumer to shop online for these products. A convenience sample of rural consumers was recruited through the assistance of local extension agents in six U.S. states: Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The sample included 258 consumers who had not previously used the Internet to make a product purchase. Data on rural consumers' shopping patterns and intended Internet use were obtained through consumers' responses to a questionnaire on the use of electronic media-the Internet, in particular-for product information search and future product purchase. The questionnaire included measures of the following: consumers' shopping experiences, general computer and Internet use, likelihood of using the Internet for shopping purposes-information search and product purchase specifically, attitudes toward Internet shopping, and demographics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]