Digital literacy, perceived risk, and purchase intention in the South African online retail sector

dc.contributor.authorMokgoko, Keetse Hazel
dc.contributor.supervisorAnning, Thomas Dorson
dc.date.accessioned2025-03-13T13:01:19Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.descriptionA research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in the field of Digital Business to the Faculty of Commerce, Law, and Management, Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024
dc.description.abstractOnline purchase behavior, while steadily growing, is not as prevalent in South African as in other, developed countries. Although South Africa has a significant population of internet users and widespread internet access, it has not resulted in a corresponding rise in the adoption of online commerce. This study aimed to establish whether certain factors, namely digital literacy, perceived risk, ease of use and usefulness, influence consumers’ intention to adopt online retail purchasing in South Africa. Data was gathered from 215 participants in South Africa through an online questionnaire survey. Perceived risk and perceived ease of use were found to be positively and significantly correlated with digital literacy. In contrast to earlier studies, the results suggest that digital literacy does not have a significant influence on an individual’s perception of the usefulness of technology. The study also found no substantial correlation between perceived ease of use and an individual’s online purchasing intentions. Perceived usefulness was found to be a key determinant of consumer’s purchase intentions. The results of this study are highly significant to retailers, government bodies, and other industries, as they emphasise the significance of taking appropriate actions to improve the digital literacy skills of the general public to drive the adoption of e-commerce. The results also, demonstrate the importance of raising awareness regarding risk perception in the context of online shopping. This can be achieved by marketing campaigns that focus on promoting online security awareness.
dc.description.submitterMM2025
dc.facultyFaculty of Commerce, Law and Management
dc.identifierhttps://orcid.org/ 0009-0008-2935-2903
dc.identifier.citationMokgoko, Keetse Hazel . (2024). Digital literacy, perceived risk, and purchase intention in the South African online retail sector [Master’s dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg].WireDSpace.https://hdl.handle.net/10539/44295
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/44295
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
dc.rights© 2025 University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
dc.rights.holderUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
dc.schoolWITS Business School
dc.subjectDigital literacy
dc.subjectPerceived risk
dc.subjectOnline shopping
dc.subjectTechnology Acceptable Model (TAM)
dc.subjectUCTD
dc.subject.otherSDG-9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
dc.titleDigital literacy, perceived risk, and purchase intention in the South African online retail sector
dc.typeDissertation

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