E-commerce Use by Chinese Consumers

The number of Internet users around the world has steadily grown, and this growth has provided the impetus and the opportunities for global and regional e-commerce. However with the Internet, different characteristics of the local environment, both infrastructural and socioeconomic, have created a significant level of variation in the acceptance and growth of e-commerce in different regions of the world. Over time, various studies have been conducted and models have been developed to identify diffusion of e-commerce in different environments (Hasan & Ditsa, 1999; Travica, 2002; Wolcott, Press, McHenry, Goodman, & Foster, 2001; Zwass, 1999). These models have looked at “infrastructure” (e.g., connectivity hardware and software, telecommunications, product delivery and transportation systems) and “services” (e.g., e-payment systems, secure messaging, electronic markets) as the primary diffusion factors. Furthermore, Travica’s (2002) study focused on Costa Rica and its culture, and Hasan and Ditsa (1999) tried to identify and present possible cultural factors that may impact broad-based adoption of information technology. Industry-based organizations have also been interested in diffusion of e-commerce in different countries and have also identified similar factors, and have rated these countries on their readiness for e-commerce using those factors. Most widely cited of these ratings are presented by IBM and the intelligence unit of The Economist, which define e-readiness by measurement in six distinct categories: (a) connectivity and technology infrastructure, (b) business environment, (c) consumer and business adoption, (d) social and cultural environment, (e) legal and policy environment, and (f) supporting eservices. Based on these characteristics, The Economist rated China (the country that is the focus of our research) as number 51 for year 2000, number 52 (a tie with Sri Lanka) for year 2004, and number 12 out of 16 nations included in the Asia-Pacific Region. (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2004).