19th International Conference on Computer and Information Technology, December 18-20, 2016, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Understanding Customers’ Intention to Use e-

commerce in Bangladesh: An Application of the
Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)

Md. Tariqul Islam Md. Rakibul Hoque Golam Sorwar

Department of Business Administration Dept. of Management Information School of Business and Tourism
BGMEA University of Fashion and Systems, University of Dhaka Southern Cross University
Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh Gold Coast, Australia
e-mail: tareq.islam.du@gmail.com e-mail: rakibul@du.ac.bd e-mail: Golam.Sorwar@scu.edu.au

Abstract— Application of e-commerce has become an integral
part of marketing due to an increasing diffusion of information
and communication technology (ICT) throughout the world
including Bangladesh. Due to its growing significance to the
economy, it is critical to identify factors affecting customers’
intention to use e-commerce in Bangladesh. This study used
Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to determine key factors
influencing customers’ intention to use e-commerce system. A
structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 110
participants in Bangladesh. The collected data were analyzed
using Partial Least Squares (PLS) methods, a statistical analysis
technique based on the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).
The study found a significant positive effect of perceived
usefulness and perceived ease of use on the behavioral intention
of using e-commerce. However, the study found a negative effect
of computer attitudes towards the customers’ intention to use e-
commerce system. The findings of this study have significant
implications towards the intention of the users to use e-commerce
in Bangladesh.
Keywords— behavioral intention; e-commerce; Bangladesh
I. INTRODUCTION
Electronic commerce (e-commerce) deals with online
buying and selling of products and services including online
marketing, online ordering, e-payment for digital goods,
online distribution and after sales services through online
tools[1]. In developed countries, e-commerce has already been
in common practice, but in developing countries like
Bangladesh, it is still on a progressive stage. Competitive
advantage can be obtained from using e-commerce especially
in small and medium sized enterprises in Bangladesh [2].
The notion of e-commerce was confined to the buying and
selling of goods and services through using the Iinternet.
However, the perception towards e-commerce has been
changed. Now, the area of e-commerce is thought as all types
of electronically mediated transactions between organizations
and any third party they deal with. Therefore, even non-
financial transactions like customer requests for queries are
now under the arena of e-commerce [3]. It can be defined
from different perspectives like communications perspective,
business process perspective, service perspective and online
perspective [4].
Adoption of e-commerce is very crucial for the developing
economy like Bangladesh. Through the permission of
Bangladesh bank for online payment, e-commerce sector has
observed rapid revolution. Recent initiatives of Bangladesh
government towards information and communication
technology (ICT) indicate a better future of e-commerce in
Bangladesh. In the economy of Bangladesh, e-commerce has
become imperative in the light of the recent spate of the
globalization. Bangladesh, as one of the most liberalized trade
regimes in South Asia, has successfully tackled the challenges
posed by globalization [5]. It has signed on the code of good
practices of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement
on technical barriers to trade. In addition, it has accepted
various standards and technical regulations. To ensure the
standards, users should be initiated to timely delivery,
controlling quality and reliable payment mechanisms [6].
However, all initiatives may prove ineffective due to a
poor governance and weak infrastructure. Users are facing
obstructionism by government authority and experiencing
excessive delays in day to day transactions. Moreover, trade
related regulations are vague, contradictory and not properly
implemented in Bangladesh [7]. However, e-commerce
systems have become popular throughout the world due to the
use of Internet in this sector [8].
The largest share (79%) of the global e-commerce revenue
is under the domination of the USA, followed by Europe [9].
In contrast, African and Middle East regions cover very small
portion (3%) of the global e-commerce [10]. The lower rate of
the adoption of computers, lack of availability of online
services and security systems are the key factors that hinder

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 19th International Conference on Computer and Information Technology, December 18-20, 2016, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

the development of e-commerce throughout the world. information technology [28]. A recent study revealed that PU
However, environmental and policy factors are also identified influences the behavioral intention (BI) to use e-commerce
as keys to e-commerce diffusion in USA, Brazil, Mexico, [29]. Therefore, we hypothesized as:
German, France, Denmark, Taiwan, China, Singapore and
Japan [11]. H1: Perceived usefulness (PU) has positive influence on the
Some studies have been conducted to address e-commerce behavioral intention (BI) to use e-commerce.
issues in the context of Bangladesh. For example, Hossain
[12] revealed the legal, regulatory, and institutional constraints
in the application of e-commerce in Bangladesh focusing
mainly on the e-government services. Chowdhury [13]
identified some basic characteristics of e-commerce website
such as security, appearance, adequate information, speed in
downloading the page, and friendliness of navigating the page.
Debnath [14] found factors such as culture, attitude and
infrastructure largely influence the e-commerce sector. Islam
[15] showed the demographic and behavioral traits influencing
e-commerce adoption. Ahamed [16] studied on the perception
of customers towards the business-to-business (b2b) e-
commerce site in Bangladesh. Hoque [17] identified the status
of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use towards the
adoption of e-commerce applications in Bangladesh.
Siddiquee [18] examined the ways in which various initiatives
have transformed traditional administrative systems and
practices in Bangladesh. Shahriar [19] showed that the firms Fig. 1. Proposed research model
of Bangladesh apply a blend of e-marketing and traditional
system. The above literature review shows that little or no
studies have been conducted to analyze factors influencing B. Perceived Ease of Use and Behavioral Intention
customer intention to use e-commerce in Bangladesh. Perceived ease of use (PEU) is the interaction of the users with
Therefore, the objective of this study attempt to address the the technology which is free from mental efforts. Furthermore,
above identified gap. PEU has mediating effects towards the PU [30]. Behavior can
be positive or negative towards the intention of accepting the
II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND HYPOTHESES new device. There is a significant effect of PEU on individual
DEVELOPMENT intention to use technology [31]. So, the following hypothesis
There are some models suggested for the study of adoption was formulated:
of technology. The most popular models are the Theory of
Planned Behavior (TPB) [20], Theory of Reasoned Action H2: Perceived ease of use (PEU) has positive influence on the
(TRA) [21], Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) [22], behavioral intention (BI) to use e-commerce.
Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT)[23], Social Cognitive
Theory (SCT) [24], and most recently the Unified Theory of C. Computer Attitudes and Behavioral Intention
Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) [25]. All these Computer attitudes (CA) refer to the way a user behaved
theories indicating factors that influence the intention to use towards the acceptance of a new technology. It is the measure
technology. However, depending on the objectives of a of computer usage prediction of the users [32]. Thus, it can be
particular research, constructs of the model may vary. After hypothesized as:
reviewing some theories appropriate for the adoption of
technology, it was found that the TAM is the most widely H3: Computer attitude (CA) has positive influence on the
supported model for the adoption of information technology, behavioral intention (BI) to use e-commerce.
and thus this model (TAM) has been used in this study as the
theoretical underpinning of the research to understand the
factors that influence customers’ intention to use e-commerce III. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
in Bangladesh. The proposed theoretical framework shown in
Fig. 1 is discussed next. A. Research Setting
A convenience sampling method was used to select
A. Perceived Usefulness and Behavioral Intention potential participants in this study due to its cost effectiveness.
In terms of survey interaction, in-home and location intercept
Perceived usefulness (PU) is “the degree to which a user techniques provide maximum response rates in comparison
seems that using a technology enhances the job performance” with postal mail, telephone and online surveys in the context
[26]. It is one of the most influential constructs of the TAM of a developing country [33]. All participants in the research
model which measures the intention of the users to use new were given information sheet which clearly explained the
technology [27]. PU has significant effects on intention to use purpose of the study. Individuals willing to participate were

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 19th International Conference on Computer and Information Technology, December 18-20, 2016, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

given a consent form. Respondents were also made aware of the diagonal values were greater than the values of
their rights to withdraw participation at any time during the corresponding columns and rows.
study. The respondents were students (50), businessmen (35),
Table 2: Correlation matrix and square root of the AVE
and service holders (25) of various ages ranging from 20-50.
Out of 110 respondents, 78 were male and the rest of them Behavioral Computer Perceived Perceived
Intention Attitudes Ease of Use Usefulness
were female. Behavioral 0.761
Intention
B. Questionnaire Design and Data Collection Computer 0.154
0.932
Attitudes
A structured questionnaire survey method was used to Perceived -0.047
obtain data from the respondents in this research. The Ease of Use
-0.014 0.730
questionnaire consisted of two parts. The first part included Perceived 0.214
0.200 -0.020 0.805
questionnaire for demographic information. The second part Usefulness
contained questions on a 5 Likert scale regarding the different
constructs of this study [34] (Appendix A). We distributed 150
B. Hypotheses Testing
questionnaires among which 118 were returned through face
to face interview with the structured questionnaire. Eight We developed a structural model to identify relationships
incomplete questionnaires were excluded from the survey. among the constructs in this study. The results showed that the
Therefore, the total of 110 were used for further analysis. relationship between PU and BI (t= 1.865, β= 0.192, p> 0.05),
SmartPLS software was used to analyze the data in this PEU and BI (t= 3.123, β= 0.261, p< 0.05) were significant.
research. However, the relationship between CA and BI (t= 3.012, β= -
0.276, p< 0.05) was insignificant. Thus, H2 and H3 were
found accepted in this research whereas H1 rejected. The
IV. RESULTS structural model is shown in Table 3.
A. Measurement Model Table 3: Structural model
We examined the internal reliability and convergent Hypothesis Path (β) t- statistics Comments
validity for assessing the measurement model. The internal H1 PU-> BI 0.192 1.865 Rejected
reliability was assessed through examining the Cronbach’s H2 PEU -> BI 0.261 3.123 Accepted
alpha and composite reliability (CR), and both of which had
values larger than the threshold value of 0.70. Thus, all the H3 CA -> BI -0.276 3.012 Accepted
constructs used in this study were found reliable. However, the
convergent validity was tested through average variance
extracted (AVE) and item loading. It was found that the items
used in this study had convergent validity with the value of V. DISCUSSION
greater than the recommended value of 0.50. The We applied TAM model to assess the user behavioral
measurement model is shown in Table 1. intention to use e-commerce in Bangladesh. Our findings
Table 1: Measurement model provide significant insights into the TAM constructs. It is seen
Constructs Items Loadings C.R Cronbach’s AVE
that PU and PEU had positive influence on the behavioral
Alpha intention to use e-commerce whereas CA had negative
Behavioral
BI1 0.803
0.788 0.863 0.651
influence towards the behavioral intention to use e-commerce
BI2 0.811 in Bangladesh.
Intention
CA1 0.856 Our results are consistent with the previous studies on User
Computer CA2 0.561 0.760 0.773 0.567 intention to use e-commerce through using the TAM. PU and
Attitudes CA3 0.643
CA4 0.740
PEU positively influence the behavioral intention to use e-
PEU1 0.576 commerce [35]. Behavioral intention to use e-commerce
Perceived PEU2 0.837 0.887 0.763 0.793 largely depends on PEU [36]. The Perceived usefulness of the
Ease of Use PEU3 0.685 users towards BI are especially significant for e-commerce
PEU4 0.710
[37].
PU1 0.837
Perceived PU2 0.573 0.711 0.806 0.895 However, we found negative influence of CA towards the
Usefulness PU3 0.621
PU4 0.609 BI to use e-commerce in Bangladesh. CA is vital to use new
AVE= Average Variance Extracted, CR= Composite Reliability technology for many country especially in Bangladesh [38].
This can be a major cause for lagging behind in applying e-
We assessed discriminant validity through the square root of commerce in Bangladesh. If we look at the e-commerce
the AVE and cross loading matrix. The diagonal elements scenario of India, they are far ahead of us due to the full
must be greater than the values in corresponding columns and blessings of CA [39] . Therefore we must carefully consider
rows for proving the discriminant validity of the model. The the computer attitudes to fully equip with e-commerce
results of discriminant validity shown in Table 2 indicate that services. However, the most significant factor to the

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 19th International Conference on Computer and Information Technology, December 18-20, 2016, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
behavioral intention to use e-commerce is the perceived ease
of use with the highest coefficient.
VI. CONCLUSION, LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH
DIRECTIONS
Our findings provide significant insight on the user
intention towards the application of e-commerce in
Bangladesh. This study found that perceived usefulness and
perceived ease of use had significant positive influence
towards the behavioral intention to use e-commerce, whereas
computer attitudes had negative effect on the behavioral
intention to use e-commerce in Bangladesh. The respondents
in our study were limited in number and covered small
geographical areas of Bangladesh. Therefore, a future research
can include a large number of e-commerce users covering
large geographical areas to find a more general view of the
customers intention to use e-commerce in Bangladesh.
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Appendix A (Items) [34]

Perceived Usefulness
PU1. Using e-commerce will improve my work.
PU2. Using e-commerce will enhance my effectiveness.
PU3. Using e-commerce will increase my productivity.
PU4. I find e-commerce useful.
Perceived Ease of Use
PEU1 My interaction with e-commerce is clear and
understandable.
PEU2 I find it easy to get e-commerce to do what I want it to do.
PEU3 Interacting with e-commerce does not require a lot of
mental effort.
PEU4 I find e-commerce easy to use.
Computer Attitudes
CA1 E-commerce makes my shopping interesting.
CA2 Transaction with e-commerce is fun.
CA3 I like using e-commerce.
CA4 I look forward to those aspects of shopping that require me
to use e-commerce.
Behavioral Intention
BI1. I will use e-commerce in future.
BI2. I plan to use e-commerce often.

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