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?