Abstract
This study explores the factors of e-commerce adoption among Sarawakians. One of the factors is the level of cybersecurity awareness. We aim to assess the readiness for e-commerce among Sarawakians due to the lack of study conducted on the subject. A research model based on the perceived risk (PR), perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived quality of products (PQ), and the intention (I) of adoption of e-commerce services in Sarawak is proposed. The validity of the proposed model is then tested using various validity tests such as item reliability, construct validity, convergent validity and discriminant validity via the SmartPLS software. Once the validity of the model has been determined, a structural equation model is used to study the strength of the model before the test of the hypothesis can be done. The effect size, f2, is calculated by using SmartPLS. The index value of each variable is also plotted in the importance-performance matrix analysis (IPMA). Based on the survey data from 128 end users in Sarawak, the study finds that PU is the most crucial factor in adopting e-commerce services, followed by PQ. Surprisingly, PR does not play any role in the intention of Sarawakians to adopt e-commerce services. The results suggest several important key points as follows: (i) the Sarawak Government and its e-commerce partners should focus on educating the people of Sarawak on the importance of cybersecurity to prevent cyber-related crimes from occurring and causing massive damage in Sarawak’s attempt to digitise its economy; (ii)Sarawakians prefer functional e-commerce services; (iii) the quality of e-commerce products should also be maintained; and (iv) the developers should focus on the usefulness of their products to ensure that their service can be adopted by the people of Sarawak.
Highlights
According to the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (2020), from 2018 and 2019, Malaysia had the biggest increase in total e-commerce activities (46.5 percent) in ASEAN and Malaysia is forecast to have the highest growth rate (35 percent) for total e-commerce activities in ASEAN for the period 2018‒ 2023
The analyses conducted are explained in the following subsections: descriptive analysis, convergent and discriminant validity analyses, model regression, structural equation model and importance-performance matrix analysis (IPMA)
The study focuses on measuring the importance of perceived usefulness, perceived quality of products and perceived risk in Sarawakians’ decision whether to adopt a new e-commerce service
Summary
According to the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (2020), from 2018 and 2019, Malaysia had the biggest increase in total e-commerce activities (46.5 percent) in ASEAN and Malaysia is forecast to have the highest growth rate (35 percent) for total e-commerce activities in ASEAN for the period 2018‒ 2023. One of the thirteen states in Malaysia, is aiming to improve its economic growth, reduce the socio-economic divide and increase youth employment by the introduction of a digital economy in Sarawak (State Service Modernisation Unit, 2017). E-commerce has numerous advantages such as time saving, price and product comparison, absence of boundaries, lower transaction costs, more effortless transactions than physical stores, faster buying procedures and low operating costs. It has provided many opportunities for new technologies to emerge in improving the sector. Lack of adoption occurs they are aware of the significant advantages and the positive influence of ecommerce on their businesses
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