Akhlaq

International Journal of Emerging Markets
Digital commerce in emerging economies: Factors associated with online shopping

intentions in Pakistan
Ather Akhlaq, Ejaz Ahmed,
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IJOEM
10,4
Digital commerce in
emerging economies
Factors associated with online
634 shopping intentions in Pakistan
Received 26 March 2013 Ather Akhlaq
Revised 16 September 2013 Centre for Medical Informatics,
13 December 2013
23 January 2014 Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics,
Accepted 15 March 2014 University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK, and
Ejaz Ahmed
Computer Science Department, Institute of Business Management,

Karachi, Pakistan
Abstract
Purpose – More research is needed to understand the online shopping behaviors and intentions of
consumers in emerging economies. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which key
variables from the Technology Acceptance Model (perceived usefulness (PU) and ease of use (PEOU)),
and others theoretically associated with digital engagement (distrust, perceived risk (PR), perceived
enjoyment (PE) and legal framework (LF)), accounted for variation in online shopping intentions in
Pakistan, focussing on affiliates of a large metropolitan university.
Design/methodology/approach – Online survey using a convenience sample of university staff,
students and alumni recruited through the university’s online network. A questionnaire capturing the
above constructs was tested for content validity and reliability prior to dissemination. The survey
results were factor analyzed to determine the degree to which the constructs were independent,
and regression was used to examine their ability to predict online purchasing intentions. User
characteristics were analyzed descriptively.
Findings – All six independent factors, PU, PEOU, PR, PE, distrust and LF, in the model were
independently predictive of intention to shop online and supported the theoretical model by
demonstrating the predicted direction of the relationship.
Research limitations/implications – There are limitations in the generalizability of the findings.
Most of the data being collected were only from Karachi, the biggest metropolitan city and the business
hub of Pakistan.
Practical implications – This research may help retailers in becoming e-tailers. The model would also
help existing e-tailers to streamline their business according to the research findings. In addition,
government may work on policies to provide a better online business environment to the people of Pakistan.
Originality/value – A new online shopping model has been discovered for an emerging market, Pakistan.
Developing countries could take advantage of this model to get real insights of their e-tailing industry.
Keywords Pakistan, e-Commerce, Online shopping, Factor analysis, Technology Acceptance Model
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Online shopping is the process by which consumers search for, browse, compare and
purchase goods using the internet (Perea Y Monsuwé et al., 2004). The online retail
International Journal of Emerging sector has grown exponentially in recent years, with figures for 2013 indicating record
Markets
Vol. 10 No. 4, 2015
pp. 634-647 The authors would like to thank Dr Claudia Pagliari for her proofreading/editing assistance.
© Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1746-8809
Dr Claudia is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Population Health Sciences, University of
DOI 10.1108/IJoEM-01-2014-0051 Edinburgh, UK.
levels of expenditure by consumers in many countries. For example, according to Digital
British Retail Consortium survey, a record amount of online shopping was done in commerce in
December 2013 (Brc, 2014). As people devote more of their leisure time to online
activities such as social networking, gaming and web surfing, digital shopping is
emerging
becoming a normalized activity in many regions ( Jiang et al., 2013). Given the economies
potentially rich rewards, companies are striving to better understand their target
audience in order to increase their online business (Van der Heijden et al., 2003; Lin, 635
2008; Wu et al., 2013). Successful digital retailing involves a great deal more than
having a web site; as the inventor and entrepreneur Kamen writes:
Technology is easy to develop. Developing a new attitude, moving the culture from one
mental model to another, that’s the difficult part (Kamen, 2010).
Understanding why consumers choose to shop online, behave in the online retail
environment and make purchasing decisions, is vital to this sector and yet these
behavioral and psychological aspects have received surprisingly modest levels of

attention (Lin, 2008). Within this body of work online retailing in the developing world
has been relatively neglected, undoubtedly due to assumptions – many of them false –
about access to financial resources and internet facilities. However with the penetration
of wireless internet and smart phones in these regions, coupled with growing consumer
purchasing power, these markets are emerging rapidly and there is some evidence that
people with access to online technologies in developing countries tend to use them
in similar ways to people in higher income settings, and possibly a little more
(Pew Research, 2012).
This study aims to contribute to this literature by examining how beliefs and
attitudes influence the online retail behavior of consumers in lower-income countries;
with a focus on Pakistan, where the number of internet users rose from 133,900 to
29,128,970 between the years 2000 and 2012 (Stats, 2013).
It draws on the widely used Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989),
originally developed in the context of organizational psychology and recently applied
in studies of online behavior (Ha and Stoel, 2009; Al-maghrabi and Dennis, 2012;
Kim, 2012). At its heart is the theory that the perceived usefulness (PU) and ease of use
(PEOU) of a new technology predicts the extent to which people will form positive
intentions toward using it which, in turn, influences the likelihood that they will
actually do so (Figure 1). In this study the TAM (Davis, 1989) was modified to take
account of other variables identified in the recent literature as being predictive of online
shopping. These including the perceived risks (PR) of doing so, such as the fear of a
poor experience or of fraud (Li and Huang, 2009; Pires et al., 2004) the perceived
enjoyment (PE) of the shopping experience ( Jarvenpaa and Todd, 1996; Eighmey, 1997),
Perceived
Usefulness
Behavioral
Actual
Intention to
System Use
Use
Perceived Figure 1.
Ease of Use Traditional
Technology
Acceptance Model
Source: Davis et al. (1989)
IJOEM distrust and the extent to which it is perceived that legal frameworks (LF) exist to
10,4 protect the citizen (Cheung and Lee, 2006). These constructs were tested in a survey
to look at their relative and combined value in predicting online shopping intentions.
Although prior studies e.g. (Lu et al., 2005; Hwang and Kim, 2007; Ha and Stoel, 2009)
have used different combinations of these variables, hardly any have incorporated
all the seven variables together in an attempt to understand consumers’ intentions
636 toward online shopping.
The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 explains a theoretical background
describing TAM and discussing previous research on online shopping technology.
In Section 3, a new model is being proposed followed by hypothesis development
based on literature findings. Methodology is explained in Section 4 while data
analysis is discussed in Section 5. Results are investigated in Section 6. Discussion and
implication are given in Sections 7 and 8, respectively. Finally Section 9 concludes
the study.
2. Literature review
TAM (Davis et al., 1989) is used extensively in studying information system
(IS) acceptance (Davis et al., 1989; Mathieson, 1991; Venkatesh and Davis, 1996;
Gefen and Straub, 2000) in which usage of the system (actual behavior) is determined
by PU and PEOU which are the antecedents of attitude. Attitude, in turn, is connected
to behavior. TAM also includes a causal relationship between PEOU and PU. TAM 2
was proposed by Venkatesh and Davis (2000) in which attitude was dropped from
the model because it came out to be a weak mediator. Figure 1 shows the traditional
TAM model.
TAM is based on the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975)
which suggests that social behavior is motivated by attitude and intentions to perform
(Li and Huang, 2009). There are three constructs in TRA, namely, behavioral intentions
(BI), attitude (A) and subjective norm.
Initially TAM was focussed on IS in the workplace (Venkatesh and Davis, 2000).
TAM is also applicable and was successfully adopted to study online shopping
behavior (Chiu et al., 2009). Previous studies have extended TAM by incorporating new
and additional constructs and integrating other models with TAM. Klopping and
McKinney (2004) extended TAM by adding the task technology fit (TTF) model
and found it to be very valuable in the context of online shopping. Goodhue and
Thompson (1995) developed a TTF model that states that the information technology
(IT) has the ability to support a task. Individual performance is likely to have a positive
impact by using IT.
Wang et al. (2006) developed a conceptual model about how cognition and
personality would affect individual’s attitude toward online shopping using TRA
and TAM. Findings showed that individual’s cognitive abilities to think and feel
influence buying intentions. It also showed that individuals taking risks are frequent
online shoppers as they wanted new experiences and had higher level of self-efficacy
(Wang et al., 2006).
Internet shopping is still very slow due to lack of consumers’ trust (Hoffman et al.,
1999). A theoretical model discussed by Cheung and Lee (2000) states that consumers’
trust in online shopping is affected by two groups of antecedents, “trustworthiness of
internet vendors” and “external environment.” Their research added to the development
of the trust theory in e-commerce and resulted in validated instruments to measure
various trust related constructs. A multidisciplinary approach discussed by Cheung and Digital
Lee (2006) includes three diversified trust perspectives known as sociological view, social commerce in
psychological view and the personality. Their result showed strong evidence for the
validity of the model based on three trust perspectives.
emerging
Li and Huang (2009) developed a conceptual model by integrating Theory of economies
Perceived Risk (TPR) and TAM to apply in online shopping behavior. Many scholars
have discussed the issue of PR and have presented many classifications (Huang et al., 637
2004; Pires et al., 2004; Mitchell, 1999). If the purchasing goals of online customers differ
from actual purchasing experiences then they will perceive higher risk in purchasing
online (Pires et al., 2004). When customers do not get things of expected quality and
functionality as shown on store web sites, they will be reluctant to buy things from online
stores in future. Therefore, PR needs to be considered as an antecedent in the TAM.
The PEOU plays a mediating role between technological system and potential
e-shopper (Ramayah and Ignatius, 2009), and suggests that the impact on the intentions
of the customer shopping online largely depends upon the interface of the e-purchasing
system. Koufaris (2002) considered both computer user and shopper as an online
consumer. Constructs from TAM, marketing (consumer behavior) and psychology
(flow and environmental psychology) were integrated into theoretical framework
of online consumers. The study of Koufaris (2002) gave a better understanding of
consumer behavior on the web.
3. Proposed model and hypotheses development

In this section we develop constructs for our proposed model. The model is modified
from the original TAM (Davis, 1989) and from other versions of modified TAM used
by many researchers (Wang et al., 2006; Pikkarainen et al., 2004; Li and Huang, 2009;
Svendsen et al., 2013).
The model consists of six independent variables that are speculated to have an
effect on intentions toward online shopping, a dependent variable. Figure 2 portrays
a flow diagram of the variables proposed in the model.
3.1 PR
Dowling and Staelin (1994) defined the concept of PR as “the consumer’s perceptions
of the uncertainty and adverse consequences of buying a product or service.”
Online shopping involves more uncertainties and risk than traditional offline shopping
(Li and Huang, 2009). The components of PR known through previous research
( Jacoby and Kaplan, 1972; Kaplan et al., 1974; Shimp and Bearden, 1982; Garner, 1986;
Kim and Lennon, 2000) are social, financial, physical, performance, time and
psychological.
Table I shows types of risks involved in online shopping that are addressed in
literature, with their definitions and authors’ references.
Based on the above we can hypothesize the following:
H1. PR has a negative effect on consumer intentions to shop online.
3.2 PU
In TAM, PU is defined as the extent to which a person finds his job performance to be
enhanced by using the particular system. PU is the individual evaluation of the utility
offered by using the new IS or technology in a specific perspective (Davis, 1989).
In TAM model, PU reflects task-related productivity, performance and effectiveness
IJOEM Perceived
10,4 Risk
Perceived
Usefulness
638
Perceived
Ease of Use
Intentions towards
online shopping
Perceived
Enjoyment
Legal
Framework
Figure 2.
Distrust
Proposed model
Risk types Definition Authors
Social risk The likelihood that the product purchased Dowling and Staelin (1994)
would be disapproved by friends and family
Financial risk The perception that there would be hidden Garner (1986)
costs or lack of warranty that would be required
to make a product work properly will result in
financial loss
Physical risk When the product does not work properly, it Roselius (1971)
may be hazardous to health and safety
Performance risk The opinion that the product purchased failed Kim and Lennon (2000)
to meet the expected performance requirements
Time risk Time, effort and convenience would be wasted Bauer (1960)
if the product is replaced, repaired or
customized
Psychological The inconsistency between the self-image of the Jacoby and Kaplan (1972)
risk buyer and the product causing a negative effect
Table I. on the consumers mind due to defective product
Types and Overall risk The probability that the purchase of the Jacoby and Kaplan (1972),
definitions of product will result in the displeasure of the Peter and Tarpey Sr (1975)
perceived risks of consumer
online shopping
Sources: Jacoby and Kaplan (1972); Peter and Tarpey Sr (1975)
(Davis, 1989). User believes that a positive use-performance relationship makes

the system high in PU (Davis, 1989). Accordingly the following hypothesis is
proposed:
H2. PU has positive effect on consumer intentions to shop online.
3.3 PEOU Digital
Similarly TAM defines PEOU as the extent to which a person finds that job free of commerce in
effort. Effort is a finite resource that is allocated to various activities by a person
responsible for those activities (Radner and Rothschild, 1975). Hence, an application
emerging
or the system perceived to be easier to use is more likely to be adopted by user than the economies
application or the system giving high difficulty level. On the basis of the above
definition we hypothesize: 639
H3. PEOU has positive effect on consumer intentions to shop online.
In TAM, PU and PEOU are believed to determine BI toward using IT (Davis, 1989;
Gefen et al., 2003; Yu et al., 2005).
3.4 PE
PE is defined as the intrinsic motivation to use new technology (Igbaria et al., 1996).
Enjoyment refers to an extent to which the activity of using the computer is perceived to
be enjoyable (Davis, 1989). This is in contrast with PU, an extrinsic motivation, whereas
PE is an intrinsic motivation to use application or IS (Pikkarainen et al., 2004). Just
as offline shopping is very enjoyable (Morris, 1987; Forman, 1991; Blakney and Sekely,
1994), online shopping can be equally enjoyable to have significant impact on intentions
toward online shopping ( Jarvenpaa and Todd, 1996; Eighmey, 1997). Also perceived fun
and perceived playfulness are used in some of the studies (Igbaria et al., 1994; Moon and
Kim, 2001) though they are quite similar to the idea of PE.
Past studies have confirmed that shopping enjoyment can be an important
determinant of online customer loyalty ( Jarvenpaa and Todd, 1996; Eighmey and McCord,
1998; Pikkarainen et al., 2004) that may, as a result, influence intentions to shop online. On
this basis we hypothesize the following:
H4. PE has positive effect on consumer intentions to shop online.
3.5 LF
LF refers to the “perceived effectiveness of the law and code of practice established
to protect internet shoppers during electronic transactions” (Cheung and Lee, 2006).
LF is for the protection of online users performing electronic transactions. LF refers to
the law and code of practice established to protect internet shoppers during their
electronic purchase (Cheung and Lee, 2000). It would be necessary for this research to
use this construct because internet users are becoming aware of legal and ethical issues
of shopping online. This construct would determine the purchasers’ choice to shop
online in near future. Thus the hypothesis is:
H5. The perceived effectiveness of LF has a positive effect on consumer intentions
to shop online.
3.6 Trust
Trust in the context of buyer-seller relationship can be defined as “a consumer’s
willingness to rely on the seller and take action in circumstances where such action
makes the consumer vulnerable to the seller” ( Jarvenpaa et al., 1999). Buyer’s lack of
trust is an obstacle for a seller to do business online. Previous studies (Friedman et al.,
2000; Hoffman et al., 1999) showed that lack of trust is the main hindrance in online
transaction environment that inhibits the adoption of online shopping. Consumers
often are uncertain about online seller’s information given on their web sites.
IJOEM They avoid indulging in online purchasing when they are required to give their private
10,4 information such as credit card numbers and also when they have a fear of being fooled
by unfair pricing, breach of privacy and passing on inaccurate information (Gefen et al.,
2003). Increasing trust of the buyer can play a positive role in adopting online shopping.
We postulate the following hypothesis by reversing trust into distrust:
H6. Distrust has a negative effect on consumer intention to shop online.
640
4. Methodology
The data are collected via online questionnaire survey using convenience sampling.
The survey was sent electronically to more than 100 faculty members, thousands of
alumni graduates and fresh students by broadcasting the survey link through a
domain network of a local higher education institute.
The questionnaire contains three demographic variables, gender, age and
qualification; four general variables to assess how much time an individual spends
on internet daily and what percentage of income is spent on offline/online shopping
activities; and 27 items of seven unobserved variables. The latent variables are
PR, PU, PEOU, PE, LF, distrust and intentions to shop online as given in Figure 2. All the
unobserved variables required five-point Likert-scale responses ranging from 1 ¼ “strongly
agree,” through 3 ¼ “neutral,” to 5 ¼ “strongly disagree.” The population in the study is a
mix of consumers who have or have not transacted online.
5. Data analysis
Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted on the selected items for the
construct validity and to measure the indicators of the latent variables. EFA was used
because it helps the researcher to reduce the number of variables used in the survey
and helps the researcher to converge the variables into few required factors. EFA was
the first step to test the measurement model, followed by checking of the internal
consistency and reliability of the indicators using Cronbach α values. Finally the
regression analysis was conducted to examine the ability of constructs to predict online
purchasing intentions. Commercially available statistical software SPSS 17 was used
for the analysis.
6. Results
Initially the profile of respondents is discussed followed by EFA, reliability analysis
and regression analysis.
6.1 Profile of respondents
There were 286 respondents altogether (n ¼ 286):
• of the respondents 68 percent were male and 32 percent were female;
• in total, 61 percent of the total respondents are of age 18-24 years while
30 percent are of age 25-34 years;
• in total, 41 percent of the total respondents are qualified as Bachelor while
36 percent as Masters;
• in total, 57 percent of the respondents are internet shoppers; and
• in total, 97 percent of the respondents spend less than 25 percent of their income
on online shopping activities.
6.2 Factor analysis Digital
An EFA was conducted on the items of PU, PEOU, PR, PE, LF, distrust and intentions commerce in
(see Table II). The factor analysis was accomplished using principal component
factoring with varimax rotation as an extraction method (Anderson et al., 1998).
emerging
The seven factors identified were chosen in terms of eigenvalue greater than 1.0. The economies
Kiaser-Meyer-Olkin measure of 0.866 is a meritorious value and indicates that variables
are measuring a common factor. The Bartlette’s test of sphericity ( p-value o 0.05) 641
confirmed that the variables in the sample correlation matrix are correlated and the
factor analysis can be conducted.
6.3 Reliability analysis

Cronbach’s α reliability coefficient normally varies between 0 and 1. Acceptable
value of Cronbach’s value can vary between 0.5 and 0.95 as pointed by Peterson (1994).
Table III shows the α values of all the latent variables.
6.4 Regression analysis

The regression analysis was conducted to explore the effect of different factors on
intentions toward shopping online. The results of the regression analysis are presented
Factorsa
PR PEOU PE Distrust PU Intentions LF
PR6 0.774
PR5 0.767
PR3 0.761
PR1 0.742
PR4 0.629
PR2 0.602
PEOU3 0.804
PEOU1 0.797
PEOU2 0.765
PEOU4 0.746
PE3 0.846
PE4 0.839
PE2 0.830
PE1 0.654
DT3 0.856
DT4 0.817
DT1 0.790
DT2 0.787
PU3 0.798
PU2 0.739
PU4 0.668
PU1 0.526
IN3 0.817
IN2 0.705
IN1 0.695
LF2 0.906
LF1 0.876 Table II.
Notes: Extraction method: principal component analysis; rotation method: varimax with Kaiser Exploratory factor
normalization. aRotation converged in eight iterations analysis
IJOEM in Table IV. It shows the overall model is statistically significant (R2 ¼ 0.387, p ¼ 0.00).
10,4 All the independent variables are also statistically significant. PR and distrust have
negative effect whereas all the other variables have positive effect on online shopping
intentions. The result validates the theory underneath the model.
7. Discussion
642 More research is needed to understand the online shopping behaviors and intentions
of consumers in emerging economies. This study examined the extent to which key
variables from the TAM (PU and PEOU), and others theoretically associated with
digital engagement (distrust, PR, PE and perceived legal safeguards), accounted for
variation in online shopping intentions in Pakistan.
It is of worth to note that young and vibrant users are always ready to learn new
things. Since marketers can take advantage of this fact, a major part of the research
sample (almost 60 percent) comprises of respondents falling in age bracket 18-34 years.
Factor α value Comments
PR (6 variables) 0.848 Good

Distrust (5 variables) 0.862 Good
PEOU (4 variables) 0.866 Good
PE (4 variables) 0.922 Excellent
PU (4 variables) 0.823 Good
LF (2 variables) 0.816 Good
Table III. Intentions (3 variables) 0.768 Acceptable
Cronbach α values Note: The overall reliability of the items is 0.831
Model summarya
Model R R2 Adjusted R2 SE of the estimate
1 0.622a 0.387 0.374 0.68162
ANOVAab
Model Sum of squares df Mean square F Sig
1 Regression 81.850 6 13.642 29.362 0.000a
Residual 129.623 279 0.465
Total 211.473 285
Coefficientsa
Unstandardized Standardized
Model coefficients coefficients
B β t Sig
1 (Constant) 2.942 72.987 0.000
Perceived risk −0.156 −0.181 −3.854 0.000
Distrust −0.132 −0.154 −3.281 0.001
Perceived enjoyment 0.376 0.436 9.301 0.000
Perceived ease of use 0.187 0.218 4.641 0.000
Perceived usefulness 0.249 0.289 6.173 0.000
Table IV. Legal framework 0.085 0.098 2.098 0.037
a
Regression output of Notes: Predictors: (constant), legal framework, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived
b
the proposed model enjoyment, distrust, perceived risk; dependent variable: online shopping intentions
We noticed that 43 percent of respondents used online shopping facility but spend only Digital
0-25 percent of their income in online purchasing. This further suggests that online commerce in
sellers still have a lot of room to generate more revenues by attracting these and other
consumers to their virtual stores.
emerging
From the regression analysis, it is clear that all the factors affecting intentions economies
proved to be statistically significant. PR and distrust showed negative relationships
with intentions. This merely suggests that intentions to use or adopt online shopping 643
facility are surely suppressed when user finds transaction risky and untrustworthy.
PE, PEOU, PU and LF showed positive relationships with intentions. These positive
relations strongly infer that online businesses should pay more attention on these
factors to expand their customer base in order to increase returns on investment.
Furthermore, it suggests that new online retailers need to focus on these factors.
Table IV reveals 38.7 percent variation (R2) in online shopping intentions explained by
the fitted model.
Li and Huang (2009) indicated that online shopping channel is emerging, providers
have to realize purchase behaviors and potential needs of the consumers. Previous
researches (Gefen et al., 2003; Gefen and Straub, 2000) showed that PU and PEOU lead
to amplification of online shopping intentions. User will easily adopt online shopping if
the web site or the related technology is useful and easy to use. Moreover, if the
user finds online shopping difficult, there are chances for the innovation to fail. Li and
Huang (2009) suggested that online vendors need to adjust the contexts of web sites
to match preferences of their different groups of customers. Again, the level of
difficulty has to be considered for each of their major customer group. PE retains the
customer with the online seller. The consumer enjoys and amuses while shopping
online. Online retailers have to give great importance to PE when developing web sites
and virtual stores to minimize the boredom of customers.
Intentions are negatively affected by distrust and PR. Buyer perceives the risk
of being fooled by online retailers through many aspects as discussed in Table I.
Online sellers need to find ways and work upon methodologies to lessen risks perceived
by online buyers. Securing the web site and making the payment systems robust would
be the first step to lower the PR of the consumers (Melewar et al., 2013). Distrust of
consumers can be curtailed if the legal system of the country is established and well
defined for the cybercrimes. In many developing countries where LF is not even trusted
for common daily mishaps, it will be very challenging for any consumer to even think
of online shopping. Overall, these findings highlight the reasons behind the success
and failures of online shopping systems.
8. Implications
This research identifies factors that increase or decrease users’ intentions to continue or
adopt online shopping. This study is very much beneficial for online businesses new
to the online market of Pakistan. The model would help existing e-tailers to streamline
their business according to the research findings. In addition, government should take
advantage of this research model to provide a robust infrastructure for online retailers
and encourage them to start online businesses. Government may formulate policies to
provide a better online business environment to the people of Pakistan.
This research supports businesses and government to work together in minimizing
PR, distrust and making a stronger LF for both online merchants and shoppers. An
effective LF would involuntarily induce trust in online shopping behavior which would
IJOEM help to diminish distrust and PR. In addition, this research is constructive for interface
10,4 and technology developers to emphasize more on PE, PEOU and PU in order to attract
more online shoppers.
9. Conclusion
The factors predicting intentions to shop online in Pakistan are similar to those
644 reported in studies of higher income countries, supporting the applicability of existing
approaches to improving vendor trustworthiness and the customer experience.
The study also shows the value of incorporating measures of risk, enjoyment and
distrust, in addition to usefulness and usability, in online shopping research. Further
studies, encompassing a wider demographic spread, are needed to inform predictions
and guidelines on the future digital economy of these regions.
In future, more studies can enhance this research model by adding more relevant
variables that may affect intentions to shop online in Pakistan. Other developing
countries could also use this model, in addition with other variables, to validate the
factors affecting online shopping intentions.
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About the authors

Ather Akhlaq is a PhD Scholar at the University of Edinburgh, UK. He has been associated with
the Institute of Business Management as a Senior Lecturer, Computer Sciences. His research
primarily focusses on MIS and technology. He has publications in Journal of Internet Banking and
Commerce, UKAIS Conference Proceedings, International Journal of Bank Marketing and
Pakistan Textile Journal. Ather Akhlaq is the corresponding author and can be contacted at:
ather.akhlaq@ed.ac.uk
Dr Ejaz Ahmed is a Professor at the Institute of Business Management, where he, currently is
Head of the Computer Science Department. Professor Ahmed also worked at the Institute of
Business Administration and at the Department of Statistics, University of Karachi for more than
34 years. Dr Ahmed received his PhD, in Statistics, from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
in 1987. He has published in The Statistician, American Journal of Mathematical & Management
Sciences, Journal of Textile Institute, Quality Engineering, International Journal of Bank Marketing
and Pakistan Journal of Statistics. His field of research includes quality control, design of
experiments, operations research and econometrics. Professor Ahmed has conducted short
courses on current topics of interest both for academicians and industrialists.
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Journal of Emerging Markets 11:3, 374-394. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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International Journal of Emerging Markets

Digital commerce in emerging economies: Factors associated with online shopping

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Computer Science Department, Institute of Business Management,

behavioral and psychological aspects have received surprisingly modest levels of

3. Proposed model and hypotheses development

Risk types Definition Authors

(Davis, 1989). User believes that a positive use-performance relationship makes

6.3 Reliability analysis

6.4 Regression analysis

Factor α value Comments

PR (6 variables) 0.848 Good

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