The Importance of Ease of Use, Usefulness, and Trust to Online Consumers - End User Computing Challenges and Technologies: Emerging Tools and Applications - page 272

address the multidimensional nature of trust and
the ways in which it contributes to electronic
commerce participation by this very important
demographic.
There are many variants of electronic com-
merce. This research focused on buying products
on the Internet. A number of services, including
banking, investments and insurance are other
forms of electronic commerce participation. A
similar model could be tested looking at engaging
in services online. Additionally, consumers can
use the Internet to browse and then engage in a
transaction offline. For example, reading descrip-
tions and reviews and comparing pricing online is
common when shopping for a new car, however the
purchase is rarely made online. Although browsing
was a key component to the decision to purchase,
the actual purchase was made offline. Gefen
and Straub (2000) propose that the importance
of perceived ease of use will vary with the type
of task being addressed. They hypothesize that
ease of use will not have a significant impact on
usage for something that is task oriented, such as
making a purchase online, but will be significant
in a task that is more intrinsic, such as gathering
information. Additional research could address the
concepts of browsing, including its importance,
use and the impact on purchases.
It has been suggested that technology adop-
tion differs between men and women. One study
found that men perceived usefulness to be more
influential in making a decision to use a new
technology whereas women perceived ease of
use to be more important (Venkatesh & Morris,
2000). Exploratory studies have found men to be
more satisfied with online shopping than women
(Rodgers & Harris, 2003). Given that there may be
differences in the motivation, duration and enjoy-
ment of shopping between genders, it may have
an impact on the proposed model. In an attempt
to better understand the adoption of electronic
commerce by older consumers; future research
should also examine gender differences.
Given the number of questions that still re-

main concerning the acceptance of electronic
commerce and the growth of the older segment
of our population, it is expected that research in
this area will continue. Expanding the modified
TAM to include purchasing services, a more
comprehensive definition and operationalization
of ease of use and trust, browsing for products and
services and gender differences would presumably
provide more understanding as to why electronic
commerce is used and what factors contribute
to usage. These are issues that e-tailers will find
critical for future growth.

reFerenCes

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