==Introduction==
“The world is in motion, markets are dynamic and people are changing� (Molenaar, 2002: XXXVii). The internet represents the newest and one of the most significant manifests of new media representing the fastest growing medium ever recorded. The internet has revolutionised the way people today are finding, communicating, and interpreting information. Internet is no longer a novelty but a part of everyday reality of media and communication usage (Flew, 2002:15).
The internet is the epitome of new media allowing people to find information, make reservations, buy houses, listen to music, and communicate with anyone anywhere at any time from your living room. The internet has decentralised the word allowing for interaction over borders and cultures. “People are not just aware of what is happening in their own environment, they also know what is going on in the rest of the world� (Molenaar, 2002: XXV).
==New Market==
This media has fuelled the globalisation process allowing for companies’ small and big to get their information out to anyone anywhere in the world. This virtual world of endless information and opportunities is particularly visual in the field of marketing. Consumers have a choice in what and where to by, and as the possibility to compare prices and products and take factors such as service and support into consideration (molenaar, 2002: 25). These factors have created an independent consumer that can choose from a multitude of suppliers, and is no longer bound to a supplier in relation to regional or social restrictions.
This new form of consumption and B-2-C communication has changed the market place causing marketer and advertisers to apply new strategies to reach the consumer. Where marketers and advertisers previously have been in control and guiding the consumer the balance of power in advertising is shifting from marketers to consumers (Leader, New Media Age, 2003).
Consumers are no longer dependent on cultural, social, gender, or race limitations allowing for new independent online identities. The internet has created �virtual reality�, virtual communities, and virtual identities in which consumers will posses the power to create a world of experiences which is free from limitations of ordinary contingency (Graham in Flew, 2002:25).
‘Computing is not about computing any more, It is about living.’ (Negroponte 1995:6)
Internet use is no longer a novelty but a part of their every day reality of media and communication usage, like turning on the television or making a telephone call (Flew, 2004:15). This sentence does in many ways reflect the development of the internet and the impact it has on our every day life. The internet has become a source of information where everything is interconnected and we can source al our information weather it concerns entertainment or business. Pre internet we sourced different information from different media outlets while with the internet we have all our information compiled in to one medium.
To further define consumers online behaviour we’ll have to look at the way marketers today are analysing the online market and refine their targeting methods. Traditional marketers have been segmenting their markets based on classical targeting method where geographic, demographic, psychographic elements have decided when, where, and how to reach their target market. In a virtual environment consumer have access to extensive information and products in the matter of a simple click and therefore demands more individualised products and service. “The seller then has lost control to the consumer in terms of how they wish their needs to be understood and how they want to receive marketing messages� (New Media Age, 2004:17). This virtual environment has forced marketers to focus on behavioural targeting combined with demographic data collected through online registrations analysis. This new era marketing and consumer behaviour has positioned the consumer in control. According to extensive research by Panalogic, survey of 17-24-year-olds, there are three user modes: funseeking, enthusiast and focused. What's important is that users slip easily between these modes, even within a single online session, depending on their intention and external influences. To communicate successfully with an individual user, an advertiser's approach must be appropriate to that user's mode of behaviour (New Media Age, Service industry shows importance of user, 2004:18).
The act of purchasing air tickets over the Internet may not be under one's complete control. For example, an Internet user may attempt to purchase an air ticket but may be blocked from doing so because he/she could not log on to or establish contact with the host computer.
A conceptual framework that could be used to predict and explain behaviour in such circumstances is the "theory of planned behaviour" (Ajzen, 1988). An extension to the theory of reasoned action (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975), the theory of planned behaviour posits that one's intention to engage in a behaviour is a function of three determinants: attitude toward the behaviour, social influences to engage in the behaviour, and perceived behavioural control.
As mentioned earlier, attitude refers to one's evaluation about the consequences of performing the behaviour. Social influence refers to one's perception of social pressure to perform or not to perform the behaviour under consideration, and perceived behavioural control refers to one's perceptions about the ease or difficulty in performing the behaviour. (Athiyaman, 2002:20)
As related to the problem at hand, an Internet user will intend to purchase an air ticket over the Internet if he/she:
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