Determinants of retail electronic purchasing: A multi-period investigation

Academic research as well as business literature recognizes the importance of electronic commerce and retail electronic purchasing (REP), i.e., the use of the Internet by individuals to purchase goods and services. This paper draws upon established theoretical areas of marketing and innovation adoption to identify the factors expected to influence REP. It empirically examines the effects of these factors, as well as the changes in these factors and in their effects over time, using publicly available multi-period data. The results indicate that REP is facilitated by the individual's household income, educational level, Internet use and Internet search, as well as by perceptions of Internet security and the perceived quality of web vendors' sales processes. Results indicated there was no association between REP and the perceived quality of web vendors' post-sales activities. Moreover, there was no significant change over time in the perceived quality of web vendors' sales and post-sales activities. However, Internet use, Internet search, and perceptions of Internet security, show an increasing trend.