Digital Immigrants Versus Digital Natives: Decoding Their E-commerce Adoption Behavior

It is easier to assume that educated older adults will find digital gadgets or the Internet as simple to use as the young generation does. However, it is not as simple as that. The generation that was not born into the digital world but has had to make an effort to learn to use digital technologies during their middle or late middle age is referred to as Digital Immigrants (DIs). Most of these individuals were forced to adapt to information technologies due to environmental pressure to survive and thrive at their workplace. The objective of this study is to investigate if the proposed "digital divide" that differentiates digital immigrants from digital natives (DNs) exists among e-commerce users in India, and if so, are digital immigrants less likely to adopt and use e-commerce services? Data was collected through a self-administered survey questionnaire from 432 Indian Internet users aged 19 to 65. Multigroup structural equation modeling analysis (M-SEM) of data revealed that DIs and DNs perceive e-commerce services differently. Though digital immigrants find e-commerce services challenging to use, their higher perception of its usefulness propels them to adopt and use e-commerce. This study contributes to the existing body of literature by extending our understanding of the technology adoption behavior of digital immigrants. The study's implications and the scope for future research are discussed at the end of the article. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate if the proposed "digital divide" that differentiates digital immigrants from digital natives (DNs) exists among e-commerce users in India, and if so, are digital immigrants less likely to adopt and use e-commerce services? Method: Data was collected through a self-administered survey questionnaire from 432 Indian Internet users aged 19 to 65. Multigroup structural equation modeling analysis was used to investigate the proposed hypotheses. Conclusion: Digital immigrants and digital natives differ in their approaches toward e-commerce adoption and use. Implication: Though digital immigrants find e-commerce services challenging to use, their higher perception of its usefulness propels them to adopt and use e-commerce. Limitation: Studies in the past pointed out that the digital divide and generational cohorts cannot be defined merely based on the year of birth. It should be based on a complex mix of shared experiences, life events, and socioeconomic developments during individuals' growing-up years . Hence, rather than seeing the difference between "digital natives and digital immigrants" as a rigid dichotomy based on age, we should have used the "Technology Readiness Index (TRI)" scale developed by Parasuraman or Digital Natives Assessment Scale (DNAS) to distinguish digital immigrants from digital natives.