1. Introductory Section

The Internet was made available to public in 1983 and since then its popularity has grown rapidly (Koyuncu & Lien, 2003).The internet and the World Wide Web have changed many aspects of everyday life and this has seen a rapid increase in the use of the Internet for different purposes including the way we buy consumer goods thus reshaping customer and supplier relationships. The rapid growth of Internet use can be attributed to its strength and convenience as a medium of communication, education and entertainment and as a tool for electronic trade (Dittmar et al., 2004; Koyuncu & Lien, 2003). With the convenience of internet technologies, customers are more comfortable doing things themselves with the ease, speed and convenience that it provides (Burt and Sparks, 2003).

Online shopping is categorised as Business to Business (B2B), Business to Consumer (B2C), and Consumer to Consumer (C2C).The purpose of this research is to conceptualize and validate the factors that help or hinder women and men’s participation in on-line buying with the focus on B2C. According to Horrigan & Raini (2002) as sited by Devaraj et al (2002)., Business to Consumer (B2C) electronic commerce has demonstrated promise as the choice of channel for consumers as the internet has gone from novelty to utility for many as there has been an increase in the number of people that shop online.

Past research that has been carried out shows that men and women have shown differences in attitudes in both the internet and shopping (in convection environments) (Dittmar et al., 2004). For example, Gilbert et al. (2003) studied the influence of technology on gender and another related study was by Jackson et al. (2001) who examined gender differences in internet use and the factors responsible for these differences. Both these studies found that females used emails more than mails, and that males used the web more than females. However, there have been relatively few studies that explicitly address gender issues relating to online shopping adoption and in particular, New Zealand. Therefore, this research will provide significant data on the factors that impact on culture and gender have on e-commerce adoption.

The recent announcement by the Prime Minister of New Zealand, John Key, that the country is to invest in its telecommunications that will result in an increase in the speed of internet; New Zealand citizens will be able to experience convenience in the use of internet technology because of the speed and this could see an increase in internet shoppers. As such, this could be an opportunity for companies who want to be a part of the growing market in estimating their customer base, developing customer profiles, or determining what people are buying and how much they are spending (Hui & Wan, 2006). Companies will also be able to address the issues that face customers with regards to purchasing online. Kwak et al. (2002) noted that the more that a customer accepts the internet as a legitimate medium for communication, the more likely that consumer is to purchase goods and services over the internet. The other reason that this topic is of importance is because there are relatively few studies that address the issue of the factors that help or hinder women and men’s participation in online buying and with particular interest to New Zealand.

1.1. Literature Review

Prior research on gender and Internet has been carried out to understand the factors that affect gender when buying online so as to address the issue of gender differences in the use of the internet. Gender is often used as part of the social and cultural meanings associated with developing marketing strategy and this is the reason why this research will be of interest in particular to marketers. 

1.1.1. Demographic variables

Most of the research that has been done has with regards to gender and the internet has been in the USA and prior research in the USA indicates that gender is one of the key attributes and predictors of online purchase intention (Okazaki, 2007). It would be interesting to find out if the factors that hinder or help women and men’s participation in online buying in New Zealand; and hence find out if culture plays a part in the buying patterns as very little is known about the internet and gender in New Zealand. Early research that was done (e.g Jackson et.al, 2001; Simon, 2001) found that males were more accepting to using technology and had a higher perception of the internet compared to women. Recent studies have found that there has been a decrease in the gap in terms of perception and use of the internet between women and men (Dittmar et al., 2004) and this has been as a result of the internet becoming more mainstream, affordable, and easy to use (Weiser, 2000). Teo (2001, pg 134) in his research found that males use the internet for downloading and purchasing more than females confirming the findings of previous researches which found that perceived usefulness plays a significant role in the perceived use of the internet.

The research methods used in the studies are mostly surveys (e.g Hui & Wan, 2007), and the limitation of this method is that their sample size might not adequately represented the population of Internet shoppers and the surveys might have been done on different days in different locations which could have resulted in biasness. 

1.1.2. Factors affecting internet shopping

E-commerce enables individuals to buy from anywhere, and to do so in 24hrs a day, 7 days a week and this has several benefits because there is reduction in time spent shopping as it cuts the time taken to make a purchase, becoming a convenient means of doing shopping (Turban, 2008; Thomson and Laing, 2003). Childer et al. (2001) in their research found that the motivations to shop online include utilitarian and hedonic dimensions like ease of use, usefulness and or enjoyment. There are also other exogenous features that affect online shopping, these include previous online shopping experiences and trust in online shopping (Shim et al., 2001; Lee and Turban, 2001; as sited by Monsuwe et al., 2004). According to Hui (2001) the factors that can hinder the use of the internet for shopping are related to privacy issues and the need to physically examine a product

Monsuwe et al., (2004) developed a framework that explains variables that improve the viability and predictive nature of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which enables its application in the environment of online shopping

According to Monsuwe et al., (2004) “usefulness” refers to consumers’ perceptions of that using the Internet as a shopping medium. The researchers believe that this factor enhances the outcome of customers shopping experience and influences their attitude and intention toward online shopping. Perceived ease of use refers to the degree to which the user expects the use of the system to be user friendly. That is, if a system is easy to use, it requires less effort on the part of users, thereby increasing the likelihood of adoption and usage (Teo, 2001).

 Rodger and Harris (2003) in their research found that emotion, trust, and convenience predicted women's negative and men's positive attitudes toward the internet, and emotion and trust predicted the frequency with which males and females made online purchases. The reason is that in their findings they found that males and females differ in their online perceptions because they shop for different types of products or product categories; and in terms of trust issues female shoppers are more sceptical of online shopping than males. Individuals have different reasons as to why they shop online, Citrin et al. (2000) as cited by Park and Jun (2003) found that higher levels of prior internet usage, for purposes other than shopping, result in increased levels of the use of the internet for shopping .The question that comes to the researcher mind is: Are the factors that help or hinder women or men’s participation in online buying the same in New Zealand? 

1.1.3. Cultural differences

According to Zhou et al. (2002) culture represents a shared set of values that influence societal perceptions, attitudes, preferences, and responses and that people are deeply influenced by the cultural values and norms they hold and these influence consumers buying patterns (Park and Jun, 2003). According to Hofstede’s culture model, cultural differences are categorized into five dimensions; power distance, individualism-collectivism, masculinity-femininity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation (Hofstede, 1984; Hofstede, 1991) which lead to different shopping behaviours. Kim et al. (1998) classified culture as the western culture which is individualistic and low context and comprises of such countries as USA, UK and New Zealand; and an oriental culture which is collective and high context and comprises of such countries as China and Hong Kong. The difference in the individualism-collectivism dimension can lead to different shopping orientations for example those customers from an individualistic culture are likely to use the internet for e-commerce (Park & Jun, 2003). However, not much research has been done in New Zealand to compare the buying patterns of its citizens with those buying patterns from New Zealand immigrants.

1.2 Research questions

From what has been discussed above, the study presumes hypotheses and research questions in terms of the following dependent variables of gender effects on e-commerce adoption in New Zealand:

RQ1. Is there a cultural difference in reasons why individuals (men or females) shop online?

RQ2. Are the factors that influence males and females to buy online the same?

RQ3. Are the factors that hinder males and females to buy online the same?

1.2.1 Research Hypothesis

Users of information technology are different, they have differing attitudes about aspects and issues related to information technology and electronic commerce but do countries that are individualist in nature or that share the same culture have the same notion about e-shopping? This leads to our first hypothesis:

           H1: Different cultural groups will have differ in attitudes about e-shopping

The primary purpose of this research is to uncover the factors that help or hinder women or men’s participation in online. One of the principal fears that consumers face when they buy online concerns security and privacy (Bush et al., 1998, as sited by Hui and Wan, 2007). The following hypotheses represent comparison of attributes

  H2:  Because computer technology is associated more with males than females and new technology is risky, the adoption of e-shopping is more likely to be associated with male than female buyers in New Zealand.

There is convenience in online shopping because one can shop from anywhere and at anytime. Therefore the next hypothesis is:

  H3.  Time pressure and preference for convenience affect the male and female online shoppers in the same way in New Zealand.

 Ease of use is the consumer’s perception that shopping on the Internet will involve a minimum of effort. Venkatesh (2000, p. 343) as cited by Monsuwe et al., (2004), stated: “. . . With increasing direct experience with the target system, individuals adjust their system-specific ease of use to reflect their interaction with the system”.  This implies that if consumers get more experienced with using the internet, they will adjust their perceptions regarding the “ease of use” of the Internet as a shopping medium in a positive direction.

 H4: Ease of use is a factor that both women and men consider when shopping online in New Zealand.