Infrastructural Drivers of Online Shopping: An International Perspective

2. Theoretical Frameworks

Existing research has delineated the linkages between infrastructural conditions and online transactions. Travica (2002), for example, conducted a field investigation to determine how infrastructural factors affect the diffusion of e-commerce. Interview and observation data showed that economic, telecommunications, and cultural factors favorably affect the potential for e-commerce. Simon (2004) also identified communication infrastructure and legal and societal factors such as privacy protection as critical success factors for facilitating electronic commerce in developing countries. Das et al. (2014) explored the effects of economic, legal/regulatory, and technological factors on music piracy and found that the primary factors that affect online piracy in a country are its economic status and regulatory status.

Sheth and Sharma (2005) classified countries based on their infrastructural development and proposed that the level of development in telecommunications and legislative bodies would affect e-marketing activities as well as consumer behavior. And Lawrence and Tar (2010) noted that underdeveloped states of telecommunications infrastructure, credit systems, and income would act as barriers to e-commerce activities in developing countries. In a recent report, the Euromonitor also emphasized the importance of developing adequate telecommunications and financial infrastructures to promote online shopping (Euromonitor International, 2012).