Develop a Model to Information Technology Use for Increasing Consumer Awareness in Electronic Commerce According to the Grounded Theory at the Customs Borders of Khuzestan

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Gachsaran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Gachsaran, Iran

2 Ph.D. candidate, Business Management, Islamic Azad University, Yasouj, Iran

Abstract

This study aims to develop a model to use information technology to increase consumer awareness in e-commerce at the customs borders of Khuzestan and Examining how the factors of the model influence each other and practical solutions in the direction of using information technology to increase consumer awareness of e-commerce. Therefore, due to the combined approach in the qualitative part using the grounded theory method and in-depth interviews with 18 experts (academic experts active in the field of information technology, managers of companies active in the field of e-commerce and Internet marketing officials), Developing a model for using information technology to increase consumer awareness of e-commerce at the customs borders of Khuzestan. This template consists of six main themes: 1) causal conditions (profit motive, social motivation and hedonistic motivation of cross-border e-commerce); 2) background conditions (application of information technology in cross-border e-commerce with the aim of profitability); 3) Interfering conditions (application of information technology in cross-border e-commerce with the aim of tourism); 4) central category (consumer awareness); 5) Strategies (purchase intention strategies); 6) Consequences (Consumer Consequences). Then, in the second step, using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling techniques, the resulting model was fitted, validated and tested among 110 people who have at least once experienced online shopping from abroad. In a quantitative stage, based on the research method, the correlation between the variables of the initial model and the coefficients of effectiveness of each in explaining the role of information technology in increasing consumer awareness of e-commerce was determined. Based on the statistical results of the study, causal conditions with a coefficient of 42%, intervening conditions with a coefficient of 40% and background conditions with a coefficient of 32% were effective on the central category, respectively. The least impact on the central category is related to the background conditions and the most impact is related to the causal conditions. Also, the impact of the central category on strategies is 58%, the impact of contextual conditions on strategies is 34% and the impact of intervening conditions on strategies is 29%, which has the greatest impact on the central category. The effect of strategies in the model on the outcomes was 62%.

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