Online Information Review

Emerald Article: Age, gender and income: do they really moderate online shopping behaviour? Blanca Hernndez, Julio Jimnez, M. Jos Martn

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To cite this document: Blanca Hernndez, Julio Jimnez, M. Jos Martn, (2011),"Age, gender and income: do they really moderate online shopping behaviour?", Online Information Review, Vol. 35 Iss: 1 pp. 113 - 133 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14684521111113614 Downloaded on: 04-04-2012 References: This document contains references to 80 other documents To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com This document has been downloaded 3454 times.

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Age, gender and income: do they really moderate online shopping behaviour?
Blanca Hernandez, Julio Jimenez and M. Jose Martn
Department of Marketing and Business Studies, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
Abstract
Purpose The objective of this paper is to analyse whether individuals socioeconomic characteristics age, gender and income inuence their online shopping behaviour. The individuals analysed are experienced e-shoppers i.e. individuals who often make purchases on the internet. Design/methodology/approach The technology acceptance model was broadened to include previous use of the internet and perceived self-efcacy. The perceptions and behaviour of e-shoppers are based on their own experiences. The information obtained has been tested using causal and multi-sample analyses. Findings The results show that socioeconomic variables moderate neither the inuence of previous use of the internet nor the perceptions of e-commerce; in short, they do not condition the behaviour of the experienced e-shopper. Practical implications The results obtained help to determine that once individuals attain the status of experienced e-shoppers their behaviour is similar, independently of their socioeconomic characteristics. The internet has become a marketplace suitable for all ages and incomes and both genders, and thus the prejudices linked to the advisability of selling certain products should be revised. Originality/value Previous research related to the socioeconomic variables affecting e-commerce has been aimed at forecasting who is likely to make an initial online purchase. In contrast to the majority of existing studies, it is considered that the current development of the online environment should lead to analysis of a new kind of e-shopper (experienced purchaser), whose behaviour differs from that studied at the outset of this research eld. The experience acquired with online shopping nullies the importance of socioeconomic characteristics. Keywords Electronic commerce, Internet shopping, Age groups, Gender, Income, Spain Paper type Research paper

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Refereed article received 23 September 2009 Approved for publication 4 May 2010

Introduction In the last few decades extensive research has been conducted into information technology (IT) adoption, testing a series of factors considered to be essential for improved diffusion. Some studies analyse IT characteristics such as usefulness, ease of use and/or security (Davis, 1989; Yu et al., 2005), others focus on the emotions and experiences of users (Agarwal and Prasad, 2000; Fiore and Kim, 2007) and a third group attempts to determine the importance of socioeconomic user characteristics,
The authors wish to express their gratitude for the nancial support received from the Spanish Government CICYT (ECO 2008-04704), the Aragon Regional Government (Generes S-09; DGA 138/08) and Catedra Telefonica of the University of Zaragoza (267-184).
Online Information Review Vol. 35 No. 1, 2011 pp. 113-133 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1468-4527 DOI 10.1108/14684521111113614

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such as age, gender, educational level, place of residence and income. These latter characteristics have been commonly employed in the eld of marketing for purposes of market segmentation and may explain changes in the behaviour tested (Venkatesh et al., 2003; Bigne et al., 2005). Their importance in the IT adoption process has appeared to be unquestionable, and essential to understanding user behaviour. However, it should be remembered that the objective of many such studies has been to analyse the adoption of a new IT, in order to explain why this occurred or to improve the rate of penetration achieved. Furthermore, such research was usually performed at the outset of the diffusion process, when the number of users was low or those users had insufcient experience with the IT in question. The situation is similar regarding e-commerce, where the majority of studies have taken for granted the importance of including these variables when studying e-commerce adoption, as these were believed to explain or forecast who buys or who will buy on the internet. The rapid evolution of e-commerce in recent years has made available to us sufciently large samples of experienced e-shoppers i.e. individuals who often make purchases on the internet. Such shoppers, who are already familiar with the characteristics of the new channel, display different behaviour to potential e-shoppers (Gefen et al., 2003). Consequently, the effect of some variables thought earlier to be crucial may have varied. The objective of the present study is to test whether the socioeconomic characteristics of experienced e-shoppers such as gender, income and age really moderate the effect of their perceptions of online shopping behaviour. In contrast to the majority of existing research on IT, we consider that the current development of the online environment and the experience acquired by individuals from previous e-purchases can attenuate or even nullify the effect of these characteristics. To full the above-mentioned objective we shall develop a broadened Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by including variables such as previous use of the internet (acceptance, frequency of use and satisfaction) and the self-efcacy perceived by the online shopper. The causal model will be estimated using structural equation modelling techniques (SEM), followed by tests of the moderating effect of socioeconomic variables on perceptions and online shopping behaviour. Literature review Technology acceptance model The technology acceptance model proposed by Davis (1989) and Davis et al. (1989) is intended to explain the technological behaviour of users by examining the effect of perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU). The former refers to the perception that the employment of a technology does not require additional effort, while the latter reects the degree to which a user considers that such employment improves his or her results (Davis, 1989). The version formulated by Davis et al. (1989) includes attitude, as the intermediary between explanatory perceptions and behaviour. Attitude is dened as the inclination or feeling which produces a predisposition to react favourably or unfavourably to a stimulus. With regard to the nal variables representing individuals behaviour, some studies concentrate on future intentions to use an IT (Liao et al., 2007; Tsai and Su, 2007), while others analyse the use already made (see for example Klopping and McKinney, 2004). Both variables are closely interrelated, since the use made determines the intentions of

the individual, in the same way that intentions explain the subsequent use that will be made; consequently, intentions may be employed to proxy behaviour. However, it is difcult to determine the advantages of analysing one concept or the other, since they each reect a nuance which must be taken into account when analysing online shopping behaviour. Thus, the model formulated in the present study includes both current online shopping behaviour and intentions to purchase in the future (see Goldsmith, 2002; Van den Poel and Buckinx, 2005). Self-efcacy and previous use of the internet The development undergone by the TAM demonstrates the need to broaden its initial structure by including other factors that permit the antecedents of perceived usefulness and ease of use to be understood (Childers et al., 2001; Shih, 2004). The present study has included previous use of the internet and the self-efcacy perceived by the user as prior external variables (a term proposed by Davis et al., 1989), which precede perceptions linked to e-commerce. Self-efcacy reects the beliefs of the individual with regard to his or her capacity to act in a specic way and to achieve the results desired (Bandura, 1977). Applied to e-commerce this concept means that the individual feels capable of searching for information and making purchases on the internet, and safe and comfortable during the interaction. The importance of this perception has been tested by distinct models of behaviour Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1977), the Theory of Planned Behaviour (Schifter and Ajzen, 1985) and the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour (Taylor and Todd, 1995) which have all demonstrated the effect of self-efcacy upon the remaining perceptions of the individual and, therefore, upon his or her nal behaviour (Yi et al., 2006; Wu et al., 2007). The previous use of the internet as an explanatory variable of behaviour has acquired great inuence. User perceptions of e-commerce are determined by the experiences the user has had with the internet (Im et al., 2008). Miyazaki and Fernandez (2001) state that previous employment of the internet reduces the risk perceived by users during online shopping, which in turn increases user satisfaction and encourages repeat behaviour i.e. future purchases. Thus, the evolution of e-commerce depends largely on the acceptance and understanding of related ITs such as the internet by consumers, and past adoption behaviour is a powerful and consistent predictor of subsequent behaviour (Bigne et al., 2008). The present study analyses the effect of individuals previous use of the internet, on the basis of the inclusion and measurement of three variables: acceptance of the internet, frequency of use and satisfaction. Satisfaction has been included on the basis of Expectation-Conrmation Theory (Oliver, 1980). This variable refers to the performance which the individual considers to have obtained, reects the success achieved during his or her past interactions and inuences his or her subsequent behaviour (Raymond, 1990; Soh et al., 1992). These three variables are closely interrelated, since the acceptance of the internet inuences the use made of it (Lohse et al., 2000; Shih, 2004) as well as the satisfaction provided by past experiences (Gelderman, 1998; Bhattacherjee, 2001). User satisfaction causes both the initial IT and other similar technologies to be accepted (Soh et al., 1992), thereby altering attitude, intention and the intensity of use (Woodroof and Burg, 2003). As a result user satisfaction with the internet affects the development of e-commerce, since individuals

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who search for information via the internet may experience satisfaction which conditions their subsequent behaviour with regard to IT and online shopping (Shih, 2004). On the basis of these relationships we propose the model in Figure 1. A similar model has already been successfully tested (Hernandez et al., 2009). Research hypotheses regarding the inuence of socioeconomic characteristics The literature has considered the socioeconomic characteristics of individuals to be key factors in the analysis of their technological behaviour (Venkatesh and Morris, 2000; Venkatesh et al., 2003). In early studies in which the TAM was applied, authors such as Adams et al. (1992) encouraged the analysis of additional variables in an attempt to thereby complete the effect of user perceptions. Other authors, such as Agarwal and Prasad (1998), considered that the lack of such variables was one of the principal shortcomings of the model proposed by Davis (1989), while Venkatesh et al. (2003, p. 445) believe it necessary to include characteristics such as gender and age to complete the explanatory capacity of the models analysed, since these modifying variables improve the predictive capacity of the model beyond its original specication. The majority of studies regarding such socioeconomic characteristics were undertaken in the initial phases of development of the IT in question, when individuals had performed very few interactions with the online tools or medium under analysis. Consequently it was logical to assume that factors such as age, gender or income inuenced their technological behaviour. However, in recent years the use of ITs such as the internet and e-commerce has become widespread, especially in more technologically developed contexts and cultures, and thus it is reasonable to assume that the importance of these accepted characteristics has also evolved. We do not bring the generally accepted prole of online shoppers into question. In fact, we consider that socioeconomic characteristics do indeed affect the initial decision whether to make use of an IT, as has been demonstrated in the case of the internet (Li and Kirkup, 2007), email (Gefen and Straub, 1997), or m-commerce (Bigne et al., 2005). Nevertheless, it must be remembered that the behaviour of experienced users is not identical to that of an individual during their initial employment of the IT in question (Gefen et al., 2003; Yu et al., 2005), since the experience acquired modies the effect of the variables considered. Thus, we believe that once an individual becomes familiar with the IT (in our case, e-commerce), the experience acquired may nullify the importance of their socioeconomic characteristics (Sun and Zhang, 2006). To this end

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Figure 1. Model of e-commerce acceptance

authors such as Anandarajan et al. (2000) have already argued that variables such as gender and age are not correlated with the employment of the internet by experienced users in their workplace. For the case of e-commerce we shall test whether the fact of making frequent online purchases means that the socioeconomic characteristics of individuals do not produce signicant differences in their e-shopping behaviour. We shall now separately examine each of the variables considered: age, gender and income. The moderating effect of age A review of the traditional literature underlines the importance of users age in the analysis of their behaviour (Harrison and Rainer, 1992; Hubona and Kennick, 1996). In the IT eld some studies have considered that computer skills are more easily learned by younger individuals (Czara et al., 1989; Hubona and Kennick, 1996). Furthermore, younger individuals usually possess greater experience with the internet, and aspects such as usefulness and attitude acquire greater importance for them, whilst older people perceive greater risks, have more difculty in creating syntactically complex commands and place more importance upon the perception of self-efcacy (Morris and Venkatesh, 2000; Trocchia and Janda, 2000). Thus, some studies have included age as a relevant variable in the explanation of online shopping behaviour (see for example Zhang, 2009). Trocchia and Janda (2000) consider that the principal obstacles to the evolution of e-commerce, which make older consumers more reluctant to shop online, are: . lack of IT experience; . resistance to change; and . their insistence on trying out the product before purchase. Age is positively associated with difculty in processing stimuli (Morris and Venkatesh, 2000) and strongly correlated with the amount of time untrained users need to become familiar with computers (Gomez et al., 1986). Thus, Trocchia and Janda (2000) argue that older users lack of experience with the medium prevents them from evaluating the advantages that the internet offers as a shopping channel, thereby hindering their participation. Such research leads to questioning whether it is not age which impedes the nalisation of an internet transaction, but rather the lack of user experience, which is generally manifested in older individuals. Thus, older individuals display less willingness to adopt the new channel, due to the distrust they have of the internet, which derives more from their lack of experience than from their age. If an older individual overcomes the barrier of the initial purchase, it is probable that the perception of the benets obtained becomes more immediate and that his or her purchasing behaviour is similar to that of any other purchaser, independently of age. Furthermore, it must be remembered that the course of time alone means that the average age of e-shoppers is continuously rising, since individuals who at the end of the last century were 30 are 40 today. Consequently, life stages which would until recently have been considered to be far removed from more technologically-inclined generations currently comprise individuals who may have been interacting with the internet for several years and thus gained considerable familiarity. Moreover, users who have replaced them (i.e. those who are 20-30 years old) possess a broad digital culture.

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Some authors have found that age had no signicant relationship with IT use, stating that simply assuming that young people already knew about the internet and that older people were resistant was incorrect (Smith and Comstock, 1995; Zhang, 2005; Roussos, 2007). Al-Somali et al. (2009) analysed the use of e-banking for a sample of experienced clients, nding that age was not correlated with attitude and, consequently, did not signicantly inuence their behaviour. Finally, McCloskey (2006) concluded that age inuences the initial decision regarding whether to purchase on the internet, but not the subsequent behaviour of e-shoppers, such as the number of transactions or the amount spent. Based on these ndings we formulate the two following hypotheses: H1a. The effect of previous use of the internet upon the intention to make subsequent purchases is not moderated by the age of the experienced e-shopper. H1b. The effect of perceptions upon the intention to make subsequent purchases is not moderated by the age of the experienced e-shopper. The moderating effect of gender The inuence of gender upon decision-making and shopping behaviour has been a subject of special interest in the eld of marketing. It has also been analysed with regard to the process of acceptance of new ITs, concluding that IT characteristics and use are evaluated differently, depending on the gender of the individual (Gefen and Straub, 1997; Venkatesh and Morris, 2000). Sun and Zhang (2006) state that three traits determine these differences: (1) men are more pragmatic; (2) women experience greater anxiety when faced with new activities; and (3) women are more strongly inuenced by their immediate environment. These factors affect variables such as usefulness, ease of use, self-efcacy and subjective norms (Venkatesh and Morris, 2000). Despite these apparent differences derived from gender, recent surveys (Eurostat, 2009) suggest that an increasing number of women use the internet and that the gender gap in this medium is decreasing. Moreover, recent research has found no statistically signicant differences between males and females with regard to internet use (Zhang, 2005; Shin, 2009). One possible explanation of this similarity is to be found in classic studies, which state that gender-related differences are only signicant with regard to initial expectations of the activity and do not affect the actual use (Deaux, 1984; Chen, 1985; Venkatesh et al., 2000). Men and women display the same interest in computers, as long as they possess similar levels of experience (Chen, 1985). Thus differences arising from gender are narrowed following the acquisition of specic technological experience or the use of generally accepted ITs (Shashaani, 1997; Kirkpatrick and Cuban, 1998; Wong and Hana, 2007). A longitudinal analysis performed by Venkatesh et al. (2000) demonstrated that medium- and long-term decisions (i.e. decisions made following initial use) were not moderated by user gender. In this regard authors such as Wong and Hana (2007) and Al-Somali et al. (2009) have demonstrated that gender-derived differences are extremely slight in a sample of individuals with prior experience of the IT under

analysis. From a social constructionist perspective, both gender and technology processes . . . are shaped, or acted out, in interaction (Silva, 2000, p. 613). In other words, both gender differences and IT change together with the societies they form part of and together with users experience (Li and Kirkup, 2007). We believe it is interesting to test whether gender-derived differences exist in the case of experienced online shoppers, employing the following hypotheses: H2a. The effect of previous use of the internet upon the intention to make subsequent purchases is not moderated by the gender of the experienced e-shopper. H2b. The effect of perceptions upon the intention to make subsequent purchases is not moderated by the gender of the experienced e-shopper. The moderating effect of income As a variable that may encourage or prevent the use of e-commerce, income is another characteristic that has attracted considerable research attention in the eld of technology acceptance (Serenko et al., 2006; Allard et al., 2009; Shin, 2009). Several studies have included it as an explanatory variable of shopping behaviour, yet the results concerning its signicance are contradictory (Miyazaki and Fernandez, 2001; Raijas and Tuunainem, 2001; Lu et al., 2003; Al-Somali et al., 2009). Higher income causes internet users to perceive lower implicit risks in undertaking online purchases and thereby affects their demand for internet products and services. Low income discourages online transactions, and perceptions of self-efcacy, ease of use and usefulness should improve with rising incomes, due to the ability to withstand possible nancial losses. Usually, income is reected in the professional status or social class of the individual different professional categories are accompanied by different incomes and by different levels of IT knowledge and experience. Thus, such categories may produce different user attitudes and behaviour regarding information systems (Hubona and Kennick, 1996; Chau and Hu, 2002). The internet is a channel open to all, independently of their social class or purchasing, and although in its initial stages there was a clear bias in the prole of its users, produced by income, falling prices of computers and internet connections mean that access is currently affordable for the majority of the population. Furthermore, many users declare that one of the advantages of the internet is that it allows them to purchase the same products as ofine, but more cheaply. Consequently, in recent years the internet has become more appealing to the general public, offering attractive alternatives for more price-conscious consumers. We consider that user income has an effect on the rst contact with the internet and e-commerce since, as previous research has demonstrated, people with high incomes perceive less risk in the adoption of new ITs (Hubona and Kennick, 1996; Lu et al., 2003). However, once users have acquired experience their technological behaviour is no longer inuenced by their income. Therefore income does not have a signicant effect upon the perceptions, attitude and behaviour of experienced users of an IT (see Al-Somali et al., 2009 for e-banking). The present study shares this notion, and thus it has established that all experienced e-shoppers display similar online purchasing behaviour, independently of their incomes. Consequently we formulate the following hypotheses:

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H3a. The effect of previous use of the internet upon the intention to make subsequent purchases is not moderated by the income of the experienced e-shopper. H3b. The effect of perceptions upon the intention to make subsequent purchases is not moderated by the income of the experienced e-shopper.

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Research design Data collection The data were obtained in Spain through a survey performed using the computer-assisted telephone interviewing technique. A pre-test was carried out to correct possible defects and to anticipate interviewees doubts and problems during the data collection process. In order to guarantee the representativeness of the population, the random quota sampling method was employed, according to criteria of age, gender and geographical location. To this end the principal national Spanish telephone directory was used to select numbers at random. This telephone directory contains national users names and landline telephone numbers, ordered by geographical area. It is compiled periodically by the leading operator, and former monopoly of landline telephones in Spain, Telefonica, SA, which, at the time of the study, owned and rented out (both to nal clients and to wholesalers) over 95 per cent of existing lines. Furthermore, in order to take into account the 5 per cent of users who have cable telephones, and are not therefore included in Telefonicas directory, the online QDQ directory (www.qdq.com) was also searched at random. A total of 2,615 telephone calls were made and 225 interviewees were considered to be experienced e-shoppers, i.e. individuals who often make purchases on the internet. The prole obtained of experienced e-shoppers (see Table I) is similar to that obtained by the most prestigious studies of e-commerce undertaken at a national level (AECE, 2009). The questionnaire began with a lter question, in order to select those individuals who make frequent online purchases and who full the necessary condition to participate in the survey. Subsequently, a series of indicators was included to measure the factors contained in the model. The majority of these were measured by seven-point Likert-type scales and adapted on the basis of past research in the TAM eld; the sole exception was the current online shopping behaviour factor. The items included in the survey are listed in Table II. Data analysis The next step was to undertake the analyses required to lter the measurement scales and guarantee their suitability. First exploratory studies were performed to ensure their reliability. We eliminated those indicators which displayed an item-total correlation of below 0.3 (Nurosis, 1993) and those whose Cronbachs alpha did not exceed the reference value of 0.7. On the basis of these premises we ascertained that the item ACCE2 did not fall within the recommended limits, and it was therefore eliminated. Following this initial ltering, satisfactory results were obtained. The second phase of scale validation consisted of performing a conrmatory factor analysis (Hair et al., 1999) (Table III). To this end the structural equation

Decriptor Educational level No studies Primary education Secondary education Technical diploma University degree Doctorate Job Student Employee Freelance worker Unemployed/retired Housewife Habitat Rural Urban Gender Male Female Age 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 Over 55 Income (e/year) None Less than 8,400 8,400 to 16,800 16,800 to 25,200 More than 25,200 0 4.3 49.3 18.8 24.6 2.9 13.1 50.7 30.4 4.4 1.4 15.9 84.1 76.8 23.2 14.5 39.1 29 13.1 4.4 15 5 35 23.33 21.67

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Table I. Description of the sample (experienced e-shoppers)

method (SEM) was applied, using EQS 6.1 statistical software and employing the robust maximum likelihood estimation method, since our data did not full the hypothesis of normality (Bentler, 1995). Reliability, initially measured by Cronbachs alpha, was veried by the Composite Reliability Coefcient (CRC) (Joreskog, 1971). All the factors attained the recommended limit of 0.6 (Bagozzi and Yi, 1988). With regard to validity, a distinction was made between convergent and discriminant validity. The former tests the convergence between the items and their corresponding construct; values for the standardised loadings must be higher than 0.5, with a signicance level of 0.01 (Steenkamp and Van Trijp, 1991) and present R 2 higher than 0.5 (Joreskog and Sorbom, 1993). To test discriminant validity the condence interval among different factors was calculated and it was veried that the value of 1 was not included in any of them (Table III). On the basis of these criteria we conclude that our measures exhibit sufcient evidence of reliability and convergent and discriminant validity.

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Factor Acceptance of the internet Davis (1989) Davis et al. (1989)

Indicators My general opinion of the internet is positive Using the internet is easy for me Using the internet seems useful to me How often do you access the internet? ACCE1 ACCE2 ACCE3 FREQ

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Frequency of use Satisfaction with the internet Spreng et al. (1996), Bhattacherjee (2001) Perceived self-efcacy Koufaris (2002), Vijayasarathy (2004)

The experience I have had with the internet SATIS1 has been satisfactory In general, I am satised with the service SATIS2 provided by the internet I feel capable of buying a product on the internet I feel capable of nding shopping sites on the internet I feel comfortable looking for information about a product on the internet PSE1 PSE2 PSE3

Perceived ease of use Learning to use the internet to buy a product PEOU1 would be easy for me, even for the rst time Davies (1989), Davis et al. (1989), Taylor and Todd (1995), Yu et al. (2005) Using the internet to buy a product would PEOU2 be easy to do for me The internet would be easy to be use to do PEOU3 my shopping Perceived usefulness Using the internet to acquire a product Davis (1989), Davis et al. (1989), Taylor would allow me to shop more efciently and Todd (1995), Yu et al. (2005) Using the internet to acquire a product would allow me to do my shopping more quickly Using the internet to acquire a product would be useful to do my shopping Online shopping attitude Davis et al. (1989), Taylor and Todd (1995), Yu et al. (2005) PU1 PU2 PU3

Using the internet to do my shopping is a ATT1 good idea My general opinion of electronic commerce ATT2 is positive Using the internet to purchase a product ATT3 seems an intelligent idea to me CURR

Current online shopping behaviour Number of purchases made by e-shopper Hubona and Kennick (1996), Klopping and McKinney (2004) Future online shopping behaviour Taylor and Todd (1995), Moon and Kim (2001) Table II. Measurement scales for questionnaire variables

I will probably buy a product on the internet FUT1 (soon) The internet will probably be the medium I FUT2 use to do my shopping in the future I intend to use the internet to buy a product FUT3 soon

CRC ACCE SATIS PSE PEOU PU ATT FUT 0.692 0.787 0.765 0.889 0.854 0.906 0.860

Factors ACCE SATIS ACCE PSE ACCE PEOU ACCE PU ACCE ATT ACCE FUT ACCE FREQ SATIS PSE SATIS PEOU SATIS PU SATIS ATT SATIS FUT SATIS FREQ PSE PEOU

Interval (0.62 0.93) (0.68 0.98) (0.27 0.62) (0.48 0.83) (0.45 0.79) (0.13 0.51) (0.01 0.38) (0.36 0.68 (0.17 0.54) (0.13 0.56 (0.18 0.59) (0.17 0.49 (20.17 0.14) (0.58 0.82)

Factors PSE PU PSE ATT PSE FUT PSE FREQ PEOU PU PEOU ATT PEOU FUT PEOU FREQ PU ATT PU FUT PU FREQ ATT FUT ATT FREQ FUT FREQ

Interval (0.61 0.84) (0.59 0.81) (0.33 0.62) (0.11 0.45) (0.33 0.60) (0.39 0.64 (0.22 0.50) (0.14 0.46) (0.88 0.98) (0.52 0.74) (0.00 0.31) (0.52 0.75 (20.09 0.20) (0.08 0.38)

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Notes: Absolute t indices GFI 0.89; RMSR 0.06; RMSEA 0.067. Incremental t indices NNFI 0.91; IFI 0.93; CFI robust 0.96. Parsimony t indices x 2 /g.l. 2.00

Table III. Conrmatory factor analysis

Results The next step was to analyse the causal relationships proposed in the model, using structural equation modelling. The goodness of t indices was calculated and it was veried that they attained the limits recommended by Hair et al. (1999) (Figure 2). The majority of the relationships proposed are signicant, while R1, R5 and R11 are rejected. It is evident that future online shopping behaviour is determined by current behaviour and by the attitude of e-shoppers towards the online channel. Consequently, R10 and R13 are fullled. PU explains the attitude of the purchaser and current online shopping behaviour (R9 and R12), while PEOU does not have a signicant effect upon current online shopping (R11), although it does upon the attitude of the purchaser (R8).

Figure 2. Results obtained for the proposed model

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The greater the perceived usefulness, the greater the number of exchanges completed, and the more positive is the attitude towards online shopping. We should underline the important role of self-efcacy as an antecedent of the perceptions linked to online shopping (ease of use and usefulness); R6 and R7 are veried. Self-efcacy is explained by the previous use of the internet, measured by acceptance 3 0:87 and frequency of use 4 0:18: R3 and R4 are conrmed. However, satisfaction with the internet does not inuence perceived self-efcacy, and consequently R5 is rejected. Acceptance of the internet does not affect frequency of use, but it does inuence satisfaction with the internet 2 0:74: R1 is rejected and R2 is conrmed. Thus, shoppers who more readily accept the internet and who use it frequently perceive greater self-efcacy during online shopping. Having tested the causal model, the next stage was to estimate it by dividing the total sample according to the values that the socioeconomic variables may take (male and female, young, adult and senior and low and high income users). We subsequently performed multi-sample analyses, in order to discover whether the relationships formulated for these variables were statistically the same. With regard to the moderating effect of age (H1), this variable was divided into three intervals, to analyse its effect upon online shopping behaviour. Three population sub-samples were considered: 15-25 years old, or those who have grown up with the internet (called junior); 26-45, or those adopting the internet at an early age (adult); and over 46, who adopted the internet when already mature (senior). The division into age groups was established on the basis of similar national (e.g. AECE, 2009) and international studies (Ofce for National Statistics, 2009, in the UK), aggregating the categories of older purchasers (45 ). This aggregation is due to the low number of purchasers aged over 55 in the overall population in Spain (5 per cent) and in our sample in particular (4.4 per cent). The results demonstrate that the multi-sample model obtains a good t and that all the relationships behave similarly, independently of the age of e-shoppers (Table IV). There are no differences between the effects of previous use of the internet and those of the perceptions of e-commerce upon purchasing behaviour. Consequently, H1a and H1b are supported. It is probable that once the initial barriers to e-commerce have been surmounted, the age of e-shoppers does not have a signicant effect upon their behaviour. With regard to the moderating effect of gender (H2) the statistics of the model exceed the recommended levels, and thus the t of the multi-sample model is correct (Table V). Those factors related to the internet (acceptance, frequency and satisfaction) are stable for men and women (R1 to R5). Consequently, the moderating effect of gender upon the relationships between previous use of the internet and online shopping behaviour disappears when a sample of experienced e-shoppers is analysed. H2a is supported. The only signicant difference obtained is apparent in the relationship attitude-future intention (R10). Womens attitudes inuence their future intentions less than in the case of men i.e. the fact of having purchased via the internet leads male shoppers to display greater intentions to shop again in the future. In the case of ease of use-current online shopping behaviour (R11), despite differences existing between men and women, the relationship in the two sub-samples is not signicant. Therefore,

J-A Junior 0.316 * * 0.308 * 0.414 * * 0.305 0.225 0.539 * * 0.761 * * * 0.094 0.952 * * * 0.676 * * * 0.449 0.081 0.599 * * * 0.057 0.704 * * * 1.017 * * 0.173 * 20.272 0.518 * * * 0.861 * * * 0.214 * * 0.805 * * * 0.833 * * * 20.091 0.418 * * * 0.331 * * * 0.173 0.790 * * * 0.036 0.128 0.574 1.189 0.801 * * 0.080 0.782 * * * 0.972 * * * 2 0.341 0.403 * * 0.373 0.781 0.286 1.291 0.060 0.576 0.247 0.776 0.553 0.021 0.027 0.169 0.179 1.157 NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO 0.068 2.985 * 1.324 0.213 1.298 0.954 1.111 0.117 0.238 0.142 1.264 0.006 0.062 NO YES NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO Adult Senior LM Dif.a LM Dif.a

J-S LM 0.242 1.274 1.337 0.079 1.331 0.966 1.172 0.225 0.090 0.082 0.811 0.136 0.017

A-S Dif.a NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

R1: ACCE-FREQ R2: ACCE-SATIS R3: ACCE-PSE R4: FREQ-PSE R5: SATIS-PSE R6: PSE-PEOU R7: PSE-PU R8: PEOU-ATT R9: PU-ATT R10: ATT-FUTURE R11: PEOU-CURRENT R12: PU-CURRENT R13: CURRENT-FUTURE

Notes: a Signicant difference; *p , 0.1; * *p , 0.05; * * *p , 0.01. Goodness of t indices (multi-sample) GFI 0.773; RMSEA 0.070; IFI 0.857; NNFI 0.834; CFI 0.854; x 2 / g.l. 1.80

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Table IV. Analysis of the moderating effect of age

OIR 35,1
R1: ACCE-FREQ R2: ACCE-SATIS R3: ACCE-PSE R4: FREQ-PSE R5: SATIS-PSE R6: PSE-PEOU R7: PSE-PU R8: PEOU-ATT R9: PU-ATT R10: ATT-FUTURE R11: PEOU-CURRENT R12: PU-CURRENT R13: CURRENT-FUTURE

Females 0.095 0.693 * * * 1.205 * * * 0.079 20.266 0.388 * * * 0.743 * * * 0.253 * * 0.802 * * * 0.617 * * * 20.171 0.291 * * 0.636 * * *

Males 0.177 * * 0.642 * * * 0.589 * * 0.199 0.072 0.600 * * * 0.901 * * * 20.026 0.924 * * * 1.165 * * * 0.102 0.440 * * * 0.246 * * *

LM test 0.627 0.078 1.135 0.538 0.686 0.365 0.273 2.140 0.731 7.35 * * * 2.935 * 1.068 1.698

Dif.a NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO YES NO NO NO

126

Table V. Analysis of the moderating effect of gender

Notes: a Signicant difference; *p , 0.1; * *p , 0.05; * * *p , 0.01; Goodness of t indices (multisample) GFI 0.800; RMSEA 0.060; IFI 0.887; NNFI 0.869; CFI 0.885; x 2 / g.l. 1.8

PEOU does not signicantly affect their behaviour and it cannot be afrmed that a real difference between men and women exists. The remaining perceptions inuence men and women in the same way, and the conclusion reached is that the existence of a sole difference between the two genders means that H2b cannot be rejected. Last, the majority of the differences derived from the moderating effect of income (H3) do not display signicant values (Table VI). The inuence of previous use of the internet upon self-efcacy (and thus upon PEOU, PU and online shopping behaviour) is statistically identical for all experienced e-shoppers, regardless of their income. The sole relationship which varies according to individual income is ease of use-attitude (R8). Lower-income consumers base their attitude upon the ease of use they have perceived while performing online transactions. Consequently, PEOU acts as a signicant inuence in moulding their attitude
Higher R1: ACCE-FREQ R2: ACCE-SATIS R3: ACCE-PSE R4: FREQ-PSE R5: SATIS-PSE R6: PSE-PEOU R7: PSE-PU R8: PEOU-ATT R9: PU-ATT R10: ATT-FUTURE R11: PEOU-CURRENT R12: PU-CURRENT R13: CURRENT-FUTURE 20.004 0.697 * * * 0.763 0.215 * 20.147 0.665 * * * 0.940 * * * 20.027 0.832 * * * 1.107 * * * 0.003 0.423 * * * 0.440 * * * Lower 0.150 0.629 * * * 0.900 * 0.187 2 0.290 0.602 * * * 0.792 * * * 0.347 * * 0.697 * * * 0.828 * * * 2 0.069 0.384 * * 0.532 * * * LM Test 0.749 0.275 0.001 0.002 0.019 0.117 0.371 4.43 * * 0.226 0.631 0.266 0.164 0.114 Dif.a NO NO NO NO NO NO NO YES NO NO NO NO NO

Table VI. Analysis of the moderating effect of income

Notes: a Signicant difference; *p , 0.1; * *p , 0.05; * * *p , 0.01; Goodness of t indices (multisample) GFI 0.879; RMSEA 0.059; IFI 0.889; NNFI 0.871; CFI 0.887; x 2 / g.l. 1.66

regarding the new channel and in making future transactions. In contrast higher-income shoppers do not appear to be inuenced by ease of use when evaluating e-commerce. The existence of only one difference in the 13 relationships tested signies that H3a and H3b are supported. Discussion The objective of this study has been to demonstrate that, in contrast to the majority of research into e-commerce acceptance, the socioeconomic characteristics of the individual (age, gender and income) have scarcely any signicance in the explanation of the behaviour of e-shoppers, once these have acquired experience with the channel. We have formulated an extension of the TAM to include previous use of the internet and the self-efcacy perceived by the individual with regard to the online shopping process. The results obtained have permitted us to verify the hypotheses posed and afrm that the socioeconomic variables moderate neither the inuence of previous use of the internet nor the perceptions of e-commerce; in short they do not condition the behaviour of the experienced shopper. Subsequently, socioeconomic characteristics as moderating variables, which until now have been considered indisputable, become questionable once the user has acquired experience with the IT analysed. We must clarify that these results do not signify that the number of experienced e-shoppers is identical between the junior and senior population segments, between different income levels, or between men and women, whether in absolute terms (total number of shoppers) or relative terms (the number of people in this population segment). In fact, these characteristics continue to inuence the capacity of the individual to overcome the initial barriers inherent in e-commerce, as shown by the statistics for adoption. Consequently,young well-off males are most likely to become experienced e-shoppers; this explains the existence of percentage differences for these characteristics in the sample analysed (see Table I). Nevertheless, once individuals attain the status of experienced e-shoppers, their behaviour is similar, independently of their age, gender or income level. This is probably due to the experience acquired during purchases modifying the effect exercised by these variables. We do not question the validity of the generally accepted purchaser prole. We establish that, for experienced e-shoppers, socioeconomic variables do not give rise to differences in the effect of their perceptions upon their online purchasing behaviour. This behaviour may depend upon other more complex variables, such as personality, lifestyle and perceptions of IT. Conclusions and implications The current diffusion of the internet in western countries is far removed from the context which shaped studies in the 1990s; consequently, academic research must constantly be adapted to its existing level of development and acceptance. In contrast to the majority of research on this subject, we consider that the current development of the online environment and the experience acquired by individuals with the electronic shopping channel attenuate or nullify the importance of their socioeconomic characteristics as explanatory variables of their behaviour. Therefore, the principal conclusion of our study is that socioeconomic variables, traditionally considered to be important, have ceased to be discriminant.

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128

The experience acquired by individuals during the online purchasing process causes their behaviour to evolve and initially signicant variables cease to be so when it comes to making repurchasing decisions. Thus, when dening target markets, e-businesses must turn their attention away from socioeconomic variables and focus on other behavioural factors. It is possible that in moments prior to the use of a technology, or even in the initial stages of its evolution, population segments or minorities apparently disadvantaged in the use of IT (women, senior citizens and lower-income individuals), may state that we can but I cannot use IT (Durndell et al., 1995). However, as they acquire experience with the technology and understand its functioning, this belief disappears and the statement then becomes I can use IT because I know how to do it (Durndell et al., 1995). We would like to underline that variables such as trialability included by Rogers in his Diffusion of Innovations Theory (Rogers, 1995) would permit the reluctance of non-shopping users to be eliminated, thereby facilitating the performance of online purchases. Trialability would provide the necessary experience to continue shopping via the internet, homogenise shopper behaviour and nullify the effect of characteristics such as gender, age or income. Another interesting nding of the present study is that older adults are active participants in e-commerce. Although in the phases prior to the rst purchase difculties are encountered with regard to the employment of ITs, once older individuals become familiar with e-shopping and have performed one or more online transactions, their perceptions, attitudes and behaviour may not diverge from other users. This population segment represents a lucrative market; older people have low debt, high disposable income and additional leisure time (McCloskey, 2006). It should be emphasised that although today this segment may still be a niche market, the presence of such consumers on the internet will progressively increase, as the already digitalised generations grow older. Thus, the internet has become a market suitable for all ages, and assumptions regarding the advisability of selling certain products should be revised. New e-businesses directed at consumers hitherto practically ignored in e-commerce may emulate the success of those aimed principally at population segments with a higher percentage of e-shoppers in recent years (purchasers of music, software, etc.). Some limitations of this study should be noted, as these suggest possible directions for future research. First, we should underline the need to perform a longitudinal analysis which would permit us to understand the evolution over time of the variables tested. Second, it must be remembered that this study was undertaken in a developed country possessing technological experience and knowledge. However, in developing countries where average education levels are lower, socioeconomic variables can be expected to have a moderating effect upon IT behaviour. This is due to the continued existence of barriers which prevent older and poorer people from using IT (Maldifassi and Canessa, 2009). Third, the study of age could vary if a greater number of groups were to be established. However, the low number of purchasers aged over 55 in the population analysed prevented the creation of a fourth group. Finally, in forthcoming studies we would like to contrast the effect of other moderating characteristics related to the type of IT analysed (individual or group, complexity, etc.).

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Yu, J., Ha, I., Choi, M. and Rho, J. (2005), Extending the TAM for a t-commerce, Information & Management, Vol. 42 No. 77, pp. 965-76. Zhang, Y. (2005), Age, gender and internet attitudes among employees in the business world, Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 1-10. Zhang, J. (2009), Exploring drivers in the adoption of mobile commerce in China, The Journal of the American Academy of Business, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 64-9. About the authors Blanca Hernandez has a PhD in Business Administration and is a Lecturer in the Department of Marketing and Business Studies at the University of Zaragoza (Spain). Her research interests include the acceptance of new technologies, and e-commerce. Her work has been published in journals such as Online Information Review, Industrial Marketing Management, Technovation, Internet Research, International Journal of Information & Management, Interacting with Computers, Journal of Business Research, and the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, among others. Blanca Hernandez is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: bhernand@unizar.es Julio Jimenez has a PhD in Business Administration and is a Professor in the Department of Marketing and Business Studies at the University of Zaragoza (Spain). His research in adoption and diffusion of innovations has been published in several journals, such as Research Policy, Industrial Marketing Management, International Journal of Information & Management, Internet Research, Online Information Review, Interacting with Computers and Technovation (ve papers). M. Jose Martn De Hoyos has a PhD in Business Administration and is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Marketing and Business Studies at the University of Zaragoza (Spain). Her main research interests are online consumer behaviour and e-commerce. Her work has been published in several journals, such as Industrial Marketing Management, Technovation, Journal of Business Research, International Journal of Information & Management, Internet Research, Interacting with Computers and Online Information Review.

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