I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge, it contains no material previously published or written by another person, nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at any educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. This dissertation of intellectual property belongs to Wuhan University.
First and foremost, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to my supervisor Professor Limin Gong for her insightful suggestions and patient guidance. I also want to express my profound gratitude to my parents. Mom and Dad, thank you very much for your continued encouragement and for cultivating in me a spirit of diligence and determination, and the attitude of being open to learning new things. Without your support, I would not be where I am right now. I am blessed to have you both and for being present during the most challenging times.
This study examined to what extent e-commerce impacts adults with purchasing power living in Peru under a long period of lockdown, due in this case to the COVID-19 pandemic, including how feasible it is for these adults to access such platforms. The methodology used was quantitative, with data collected from a survey conducted among people living in Lima, Peru. Emerging economies are urged to build well-developed e-commerce systems that benefit consumers in the long term and allow businesses to pursue their projects. Laws that establish and develop well-structured e-commerce systems and that increase the possibility of successful online selling are crucial. The results revealed that customer service affects consumers’ trust and satisfaction level with the delivery of the products bought online. Furthermore, a significant relationship was found between how safe people feel sharing their credit card online and whether they intend to continue shopping online. The study also found a strong relationship between e-commerce reactivation of economy and reduction of infections if people bought mainly online, which falls within the reasonable range of significance (p < 0.05 or p = .035).
Keywords: e-commerce, emerging markets, COVID-19, consumer trust, online shopping, Peru
The virus SARS-CoV-2, which official name is COVID-19, appeared as a minor outbreak in Wuhan, China, that has since escalated into a global pandemic. From that moment, people have been looking for ways to adapt to a new lifestyle with strict lockdowns and quarantines. To contain the virus, world leaders have imposed border bans, blocking entire countries and restricting travel and outdoor activities (Turabian, 2020). With this disruption to normal life, social distancing (i.e., physically separating from those outside of one's immediate family) and home quarantine have become the new way of life (Diamond & Willan, 2020; Hoy-Gerlach et al., 2020; Mathew et al., 2020).
As a developing country, Peru has been highly affected by the virus since it has little experience with pandemics, and its health system lacks a well-organized structure. Though Peru is currently suffering political instability that makes it challenging to shift the focus to e-commerce, it seems necessary for an emerging economy to build a robust e-commerce system when going through a pandemic like COVID-19. Online shopping can save lives since it decreases human contact. The government’s role is to ensure customers trust these kinds of platforms so demand can increase.
This study explored how e-commerce impacts adults with buying power living in an emerging market like Peru during a long period of quarantine, due in this case to the COVID-19 pandemic. This topic includes the extent to which such platforms are accessible and what influences the studied adults in their online repurchase intentions.
Further, the specific research objectives are the following:
1) To assess the importance of customer service in online platforms for adults with purchasing power living in Lima.
2) To find out the satisfaction level that this studied population has with their deliveries since the start of the pandemic.
3) To assess what factors make the studied population avoid buying online.
4) To find out the perception of this population regarding e-commerce as a measure to reactivate the economy in a developing country.
5) To find out to what extent the government is helpful in promoting e-commerce during the pandemic in a developing country.
6) To assess if consumer trust influences people’s repurchase intention.
1) What is the importance of customer service in online platforms for adults with purchasing power living in Lima?
2) How satisfied are adults in Lima with the deliveries of their online purchases since the start of the pandemic?
3) What factors make people reluctant to buy online in Lima?
4) Can e-commerce reactivate the economy of a developing country that is currently going through a severe situation like the pandemic?
5) To what extent can the government of a developing country influence the use of online shopping during the pandemic?
6) What aspects influence the repurchase intention of the studied population?
This research aims to provide information that does not exist yet in the literature, regarding the use of e-commerce during a pandemic situation like COVID-19 in Peru and what factors are influencing Peruvians to buy or not online. In addressing this gap, the alternative hypotheses herein are the following:
H1: Positive relationship between the satisfaction level of online purchases with customer service exists
H0: No significant relationship between the satisfaction level of online purchases with customer service
H2: There is a significant relationship between consumer trust and repurchase intention post-COVID-19
H0: No significant relationship between consumer trust and repurchase intention post-COVID-19
H3: There is a positive relationship between e-commerce as a factor of economic reactivation and promotion of e-commerce by the government
H0: No significant relationship between e-commerce as a factor of economic reactivation and promotion of e-commerce by the government
H4: A significant relationship between e-commerce reactivation of economy and reduction of infections if people bought mainly online can be identified
H0: There is no significant association between e-commerce reactivation of economy and reduction of infections if people bought mainly online
CS 340 Milestone One Guidelines and Rubric Overview: For this assignment, you will implement the fundamental operations of create, read, update,
Retail Transaction Programming Project Project Requirements: Develop a program to emulate a purchase transaction at a retail store. This
7COM1028 Secure Systems Programming Referral Coursework: Secure
Create a GUI program that:Accepts the following from a user:Item NameItem QuantityItem PriceAllows the user to create a file to store the sales receip
CS 340 Final Project Guidelines and Rubric Overview The final project will encompass developing a web service using a software stack and impleme
