PERCEIVED EASE OF USE, PERCEIVED USEFULNESS AND SOCIAL INFLUENCE AS DETERMINANTS OF CUSTOMERS INTENTION TO USE E-COMMERCE PLATFORM DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

This study investigates the underlying factors towards individual intention to purchase through electronic commerce (e-commerce) platforms during COVID-19 pandemic. The use of e-commerce platform is on the rise, especially during a COVID-19 because customers have a limitation for in-store purchase due to Movement Order Control (MCO) enforced by the government, which causing them to rely more in making purchases online. Drawing on the theory of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this study hypothesized that, perceived ease of use (PEOU), perceived usefulness (PU) and social influence (SI) are positively related customer intention to purchase through e-commerce platform. The study adopted cross-sectional research design and a structured questionnaire were used as a means of data collection. The responses of 393 e-commerce users collected via online survey were analyzed using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings of this study showed that two out of three hypothesized relationships were supported. Specifically, PEOU and PU are important predictors of customer intention to purchase via e-commerce platform during a COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, SI has no significant relationship with intention to purchase through e-commerce platforms during COVID-19 pandemic. The result of this study offers an important basis to the theoretical and practical implications related to online purchase via e-commerce platform.