ABSTRACT

At the present time, Internet is gradually becoming the fastest developing

shopping network. In developing country like Malaysia, online shopping had been slowly
being accepted as an alternative shopping method instead of visiting physical stores in
market. More and more people are purchasing online. On the other hand, the number of
older population estimated increase promptly in ASEAN countries ( Chen and Jones,
1989). Malaysia had been ranked as the country which has the most number of older
populations. (The Brunei Times, 2007). However, even with rapidly increasing numbers
in older population in Malaysia, the growth of older population in online shopping is still
relatively slow compare to the younger generation. The fewer use of online shopping
practice by the older population in Malaysia was gaining attention from various parties.
In particular, few studies have been conducted on older population online shopping
behavior. Therefore, this study aims to explore and understand the online purchase
behavior of older female population among in Malaysia. This research will be
concentrating on older population purchasing behavior towards online shopping. This
research also creates an important understanding about the online shopping. The purpose
of the research is to establish a preliminary assessment, evaluation and understanding of
the perception, characteristics and culture of older female population online purchase
behavior in Malaysia. Quantitative research methodology has been adapted in this
research. The population selected for the research is Kampar area, and narrowed down to
Kampar New town older female population. The sample size selected for this research is
12 and we have used purposive sampling method. Respondents who were selected are
aged between 40-50 years female elderly in Kampar, Malaysia. The qualitative study was
designed to explore the female elderly online shopping behavior. In-depth interviews and
observations were conducted with 12 female elderly who were aged 40 to 50 which had
online purchase experience. The research revealed that older female had different
shopping patterns from young female in online shopping in Malaysia. Therefore,
provided that the extensive increasing older population in Malaysia, the findings of this
study will provide a better understanding of female elderlys online shopping and also
help online marketers in Malaysia to develop effective strategies for older online
shoppers.