Differences in the perceived financial risk factors between digital natives in the e-commerce

Abstract

Financial risk in the e-commerce environment includes the fear of the misusing of payment and personal data, which is based on the previous reputation of the e-shop,regarding the choice of payment method and the height of the amount willing to pay during a single online purchase. Systematization of literary sources and approaches for solving the problem of financial risk perception by online consumers indicates that the investigation of this issue is important for building the trustworthiness and loyalty of the e-commerce subjects. That activates the online consumers to spend more finances by shopping online. Based on intergenerational comparative analysis between the Digital Natives generations, the main purpose of this research is to examine differences in their perception of the financial risk factors in the e-commerce environment. The data were obtained by questionnaire survey and processed by selected nonparametric mathematical-statistical quantitative methods as Pearson X2 test and Wilcoxon unpaired signed-rank test. The research sample consisted of 758 respondents of both examined generations. Five financial factors were selected to examine differences in their perception by generations belonging to the Digital Natives in the research. The paper presents the results of an empirical intergenerational comparative analysis between Generation Y and Generation Z in the field of selected problematics, which showed that the Generation Y representatives are statistically significantly more willing to provide their personal and payment data compared to the Digital natives belonging to the Generation Z. It means that the older generation is much more identified with the e-commerce environment and its special attributes. The research also confirmed the presence of the statistically significant differences between the examined generations on the level of perception of fear from the misusing personal and payment data, where the Generation Y representatives stated significantly more worries about the misusing of their personal and payment data when shopping online. The study revealed that Generation Y representatives are more willing to pay a statistically significant higher price than Generation Z members during one online purchase. Their female representatives stated the statistically significantly higher amount of the disposable monthly budget for purchases (excluding food expenditures) than the Generation Z females. The obtained results showed no differences in the level of perception in the importance of the previous reputation of the e-shop in the shopping decisions and the preferred payment method of the representatives of both examined generations, based on the same degree of consent with these factors. The research empirically confirms and theoretically proves significant differences in the perception of factors determining financial risk by Digital Natives in the e-commerce environment. The research results also have practical managerial and marketing implications, which could be useful for online sellers, e-merchants, and digital advertising agencies to evolve and adapt marketing strategies based on understanding the different needs and desires of examined generations.