THE DRIVERS AND BARRIERS OF ONLINE SHOPPING BEHAVIOURS FOR OLDER ADULTS: A REVIEW

Abstract

To date, digitalization is a necessity for all consumers regardless of the age groups to adapt to the online world. However, not all consumers have benefitted from the advantages of online shopping despite its increases importance over the years. One neglected group is the older adults; who is often overlooked by the online shopping industry due to preferences and focus on the youth market. There are also limited studies found in the literature on the topic of older adults’ behaviour as online shoppers. A gap in the literature is in lack of understanding on the role played by technology-enabled platforms on aging societies; this raises the needs for researchers and practitioners alike to study the challenges and concerns related to meeting older adults’ needs on technology as the group increases in numbers worldwide. In Malaysia, older adults are not active and engaged consumers in online shopping despite the group’s high market potential value. Taking note of the online shopping scenario in Malaysia as well as the gap identified in the literature, this study reviews the literature (secondary data) to identify the drivers and barriers of online shopping behaviours among older adults. It is expected that apart from enriching existing literature related to online shopping behaviour for older adults, this review would also benefit future scholars when deciding on possible drivers and/or barriers’ selection in the investigation of older adults’ online shopping behaviour. As for marketers, the identification of drivers and/or barriers would be useful to consider in planning for their future marketing strategies.