An Empirical Investigation on the Adoption of E-Commerce in Bangladesh

Electronic Commerce or e-commerce implies such an industry where goods and services are bought and sold over electronic systems. This is rapidly growing sectors in Bangladesh which influence local and international trade. Government of Bangladesh has also initiated quite a good number of measures for the expansion of e-commerce. However, low adoption of e-commerce is not uncommon in Bangladesh. The objective of this study is to determine the factors that influence the adoption of e-commerce services in Bangladesh. Extended version of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is envisaged as the theoretical backbone of the study. Reliability analysis using Cronbach’s Alpha test indicates that the research model is internally consistent. The study reveals that 35 percent of respondents became interested in e-commerce services from advertisement on Internet or other electronic media. The findings of the study shows that all the four constructs, namely-Computer Self Efficacy, Perceived Credibility, Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use have significant effect on the adoption of e-commerce. The study has also demonstrated that Perceived Usefulness appeared as the most important factor in describing user’s adoption of e-commerce.