The Impact of Age on Electronic Commerce Participation

Abstract

This exploratory study examined the impact of age on e-commerce participation and its antecedents: usefulness, ease of information access, and trust. The three age groups considered were the “young” who were 18 to 25, the “mature” who were 50 to 69, and the “elderly” who were 70 and older. Of the three age groups, mature consumers had the highest perception of the usefulness of e-commerce but the lowest perceptions of trust. The elderly perceived less ease of information access and were less likely to participate in electronic commerce than the other age groups. Greater perceptions of usefulness and trust were found to be positively related to participation. In addition, trust had positive impacts on ease of information access and usefulness. While ease of information access had a positive impact on usefulness, it had no direct impact on e-commerce participation.