Does family life cycle stage influence e-shopping acceptance by Indian women? An examination using the technology acceptance model

This study contributes to the literature that advocates the use of consumer segmentation by family life cycle (FLC) stages, which are found to have a greater influence on changes occurring in an individual’s life than age. It addresses the youth bias of most research on e-shopping adoption and the emergence of older e-shoppers as an attractive market segment by covering women of all age groups. It evaluated the effect of perceptions and attitudes towards e-shopping acceptance, as well as their variations across FLC stages, by using the technology acceptance model. The 10 FLC stages were selected by modifying the Duvall FLC classification system to reflect the Indian context. The results show that the different FLC stages have a significant impact on the e-shopping behaviour of women. While deals and discounts were found to influence all groups, time-saving and better decision-making through online shopping sites also significantly influenced e-shopping behaviour. Furthermore, the perceived usefulness and/or attitude were important factors that directly affected e-shopping technology adoption and usage patterns across a majority of the FLC stages. The study proved that FLC stages had greater power than age in explaining e-shopping adoption and e-retailers should not ignore them in designing e-marketing applications.