Sunday, May 10, 2009

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.

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