Moderating effect of socioeconomic factors and educational level on electronic purchasing in Colombia

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to determine whether the adoption of e-commerce in Colombia presents problems of social massification; specifically, we wanted to verify whether the socioeconomic variables and level of education have a moderating effect on the adoption of electronic commerce. An empirical study was conducted, 936 surveys were collected through a form on the Web, the data were analyzed and a prediction was made of the model using the PLS technique. The results confirm in an exploratory way this moderating effect of the socioeconomic and educational level on the relationship between the variable conditions that facilitate electronic purchasing. The main contribution to the theory of these findings empirically validates that, in countries with high levels of social inequality, the use of e-commerce is conditioned by the socioeconomic and educational characteristics of those who can access it.