Abstract
Background: Online shopping adoption has been rising in South Africa (SA). However, there is still a large majority of consumers who are not buying online because of certain risks associated with online shopping. This is despite the fact that internet adoption has increased and is widely accessible by the majority of South African consumers. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the risk factors that influence consumers’ attitude towards online shopping in SA. Furthermore, the study aimed to determine whether demographic factors influence the risk factors of consumers’ attitude towards online shopping in SA. Method: A survey was conducted at two shopping malls in Gauteng, SA, targeting online consumers. A convenience sampling method was used to reach the respondents. Results: The study found that privacy and security risks have more influence on consumers’ attitude towards online shopping. Furthermore, the study found no moderating effect of gender on the relationship between risks and attitude towards online shopping. Age was found to have a moderating effect on the relationship between product, security and privacy risks and attitude towards online shopping; however, not on the relationship between product risk and attitude towards online shopping. Conclusion: In conclusion, privacy and security risk factors have more influence on consumer attitude towards online shopping. Gender was found to have no moderating effect on the relationship between risk factors and attitude towards online shopping, whilst age had a moderating influence on relationship between privacy and security, as well as product factors and attitude towards online shopping. Marketers can address product concerns if they were to succeed online and to draw more customers to shopping online.
Highlights
The rapid development of the internet has drastically modified the lives of consumers around the world and played an essential role in globalising and changing the consumer buying process
The 22–25 years were represented by 19% of the respondents (n = 40), whilst the 31–35 years was represented by 13% of the respondents (n = 17)
Consumers are concerned about the safety of bank cards and providing personal information when shopping online
Summary
The rapid development of the internet has drastically modified the lives of consumers around the world and played an essential role in globalising and changing the consumer buying process. Online shopping is one of the technological innovations that has transformed the retail industry, by providing a platform for consumers and businesses to exchange products and services through the internet (Singh & Rana 2018:27). The inability to physically examine the product before the purchase and the uncertainty of the aftersale service (Farhana, Khan & Noor 2017:225; Tanadi et al 2015:227) have altered the consumer buying process. There is still a large majority of consumers who are not buying online because of certain risks associated with online shopping. This is despite the fact that internet adoption has increased and is widely accessible by the majority of South African consumers
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