Measurement of the dependent variable

While previous studies have measured, e-commerce adoption based on either adoption (yes) or non-adoption (no), the rapid development of e-commerce over the recent years means that almost everyone in developed countries such as the UK has now adopted e-commerce. For example, all benefits and pensions for older people are now paid in their bank accounts and to access the funds they will need to use a debit card through cash dispensers. This means that it is now not a question of whether an individual has adopted e-commerce but to what extent have they adopted e-commerce. The extent of e-commerce adoption, therefore, refers to the extent to which an individual uses e-commerce in their daily lives. This means the more e-commerce applications an individual uses the greater the extent to which they have adopted e-commerce.

To measure the extent of e-commerce adoption this study uses an Index of E-commerce Adoption (IEA). The Index of E-commerce Adoption was developed through a rigorous strategy which drew all the possible activities and uses involved in e-commerce from the previous studies who have investigated these e-commerce activities before (Iyer & Eastman, 2006; Martinez-Pecino et al., 2013; McCloskey & Lepper, 2010; McCloskey, 2006; Ryu et al., 2008; Sorce et al., 2005; Smith, 2008). This means the more e-commerce activities or uses an individual uses the greater the extent to which they have adopted e-commerce. The formation of IEA is illustrated in Figure 4.7. The list consists of (1) devices individuals use (2) activities individuals usually perform (3) products and services which individuals usually buy (4) household bills individuals usually bought on the internet (5) activities or transactions individuals usually perform online (6) Goods or items individuals usually sold on the internet? In total these six categories of activities amounted to 45 activities. These activities were asked as part of the questionnaire administered to the older people and the formation of this index is illustrated in Figure 4.7.

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Y

Yes or No

Total/45*100

Figure 4.7 Index of adoption of e-commerce formation

The IEA was developed by adapting the UK Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the prices in these areas for example, food and beverages (breakfast, cereal, milk, chicken, wine, full service meals, snacks), Housing or rent of primary residence, fuel/oil, bedroom furniture and clothes). The CPI focusses on products that are bought and used by consumers on daily basis. It is the measure of the average change overtime in the prices

1.Debit, Credit, Visa 2. ATM

3.Barcode reader 4.Fax Machine 5.Mobile phone

6.Computer, Laptop, Tablet 7.Other, Specify

Review abstract with inclusion criteria removed 1735 papers 8.Pay bills

9.Holidays, flights, tickets 10.Financial Investment 11.Comparison Shopping 12.Other, Specify 13.Food, groceries 14.Books, magazines 15.Videos, music, games 16.Buy goods/ items 17.Buy general household 18.Clothes,shoes, jewellery 19.Electronic appliances 20.Toys, flowers 21.Other, specify 31.Mortgage/rent 32.Insurance 33.Electricity, Gas 34.Council Tax 35.Broadband, Telephone 36.TV Licence 37.Sky, Cable 29.Water 21.Other, specify 38.Food, groceries 39.Books, magazines 40.Electronic appliances 41.Clothes, shoes, jewellery 42.Broadband, Telephone 43.Toys, flowers 44.Videos,music, games 45.Other, Specify No of Services No of Products/items bought No of Devices No of Houses bills 22.Mortgage/rent 23.Insurance 24.Electricity, Gas 25.Council Tax 26.Broadband, Telephone 27.TV Licence 28.Sky, Cable 29.Water 30.Other, specify No of Banking Activities No of Goods/items Sold Index of adoption of e-commerce (IEA)

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paid by consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services. In other words it is the official measure of inflation of consumer prices of the UK. The novelty about the index of e-commerce adoption is since everybody have adopted e-commerce, it is no longer a case of whether someone has adopted or not. Its now a case of, to what extend have they adopted e-commerce? It is a more comprehensive way of combining all the possible e- commerce activities and uses and this has never been done before. For example, if you ask about food shopping or online banking, you are limited to only 1 or 2 aspects of e-commerce compared to the holistic approach used in this study. The assessment of whether some of the activities or uses were applicable or not applicable was not relevant because the UK Consumer Price Index computes on the things that people commonly use rather than things that everybody uses. For example, there is bread or wine but not everybody eat bread or drink wine etc. Thus, the assessment is done on the possible things that the general consumers buys or uses.

To quantify the extent of e-commerce adoption an individual was awarded one mark depending on whether they used the devices, perform certain activities online, buy products or services etc. The mark or extent of e-commerce adoption for an individual was arrived at by summing up all the marks awarded expressing the total out of 45. For example, if the total for an individual was 27 out of 45, then the extent of adoption for that individual would be 27/45 = 60% or 0.6.

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Table 4.3: Extent of e-commerce adoption

Item No. Items Yes(=1

mark); No (=0 mark)

Which of the devices do you use?

1 Debit, Credit, Visa Cards

2 Automated Teller Machine(ATM)

3 Barcode reader

4 Fax machine

5 Mobile phone

6 Computer, Laptop, Tablet

7 Other (please specify)

What services do you usually perform on the internet?

8 Pay bills

9 Book holidays, flights, tickets

10 Financial investments

11 Comparison shopping

12 Other (please specify)

Which of these goods/items do you usually buy on the internet?

13 Food, groceries

14 Books, magazines

15 Videos, music, games

16 Buy goods/items

17 Buy general household goods

18 Clothes, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics

19 Electronic appliances

20 Toys, flowers

21 Other (please specify)

Which household bills do you pay on the internet 22 Mortgage/rent 23 Insurance 24 Electricity/Gas 25 Council Tax 26 Broadband, Telephone/Mobile 27 TV licence 28 Sky/Cable 29 Water

30 Other (please specify)

Which of the following bank transactions do you perform online?

31 Transfer money between different accounts within a bank.

32 Transfer money between different bank accounts

33 Pay individuals

34 Mobile banking

35 Telephone banking

36 None of the above

37 Other (please specify)

Do you sell goods or items on the internet? 38 Food groceries

39 Books, magazines

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41 Clothes, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics,

42 Toys, flowers

43 Videos, Music, games

44 Computer programmes, games

45 Other (please specify)