research proposal the factors affecting the decisions to choose an e commerce platform for gen z consumers

NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITYNEU BUSINESS SCHOOLRESEARCH PROPOSALThe factors affecting the decisions to choose an e-commerce platform for GenZ consumersStudent’s name:Phạm Thị Huyền Tran

NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITYNEU BUSINESS SCHOOL

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

The factors affecting the decisions to choose an e-commerce platform for GenZ consumers

Student’s name:Phạm Thị Huyền TrangStudent ID: 11226486Võ Thị Huyền TrangStudent ID: 11226545Phạm Phương ChiStudent ID: 11221049

Vương Thu QuyênStudent ID: 11225494

With the development of the Internet nowadays, there are many revolutions insocial fields are happening in the whole world (Quyet, 2019), includingVietnam According to (Vnetwork,2021), the number of Internet users inVietnam was 68.72 million people accounting for 70.3% of the population.In Vietnam, Generation Z accounts for approximately 1/7 of the totalpopulation, which is equivalent to over 14.4 million people (VNETWORK,2020) Growing up in the age of information technology, mobile phones (45%)and the Internet (21%) are considered indispensable aspects of the lives ofGeneration Z As social media platforms have become an essential part of theirlives, they use these tools for various purposes, such as connecting with friendsand family (93%) and staying updated on current events (73%) Moreover, theyalso utilize social media channels to express their opinions and beliefs (55%)and document their daily activities (42%) (VECOM, 2021) Therefore Vietnamis a potential country to develop online fields, especially online shopping The e-commerce market in Vietnam is considered potential and growingstrongly In the period from 2016 to 2019, the average growth rate (CAGR) ofthis market reached about 30% This demonstrates that Vietnamese businesseshave been dynamic, adaptive, and increasingly interested in online business.Additionally, the online consumer community is growing rapidly So, it ispredicted that CAGR in the period 2020-2025 will reach 29%, with an expectedscale of 52 billion USD in 2025 (according to the e-commerce white paper ofthe Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy, 2020).

Based on the current situation and practical needs, within the capabilities of thegroup, we have chosen the topic "The factors affecting the decisions to choosean e-commerce platform for Gen Z consumers" with the aim of understandingand evaluating the factors that influence the decision-making process of Gen Zconsumers when choosing an e-commerce platform for their shopping needs.2.Research objectives

There are two main objectives for this research, which are to determine the factors affecting the decisions to choose e-commerce for Gen Z consumers and the influence of the factors affecting the decisions to choose e-commerce for Gen Z consumers.

Stated differently, this study seeks to address two major questions: What elements influence the buyer's intention to buy? What stands in the way of customers making purchases? The purpose of this study is to determine the variables influencing Generation Z's inclination to make an online purchase in Hanoi, Vietnam From there, companies can create customer research models based on hypotheses and findings from data analysis Assist companies and

websites that sell online in a timely way to comprehend and modify company policies in order to facilitate transactions for an increasing number of customers.A portion of the data collected for this study project will be added to worldwide scientific studies concerning the elements that influence consumers' decisions topurchase products through e-commerce platforms In this research, the author wants to find suitable solutions for online businesses so that businesses can apply them to achieve high efficiency Additionally, the goal of this research is to offer suggestions on how business owners can modify their operations to better suit e-commerce platforms and increase client satisfaction.

3.Research Question

This research is designed to answer the following questions:

1 What factors influence generation Z's decision to choose an e-commerceplatform?

2 How do these factors affect generation Z's decision to choose an commerce platform?

e-3 What do e-commerce platforms should do to attract customers (especiallygeneration Z) and increase competitiveness?

4.Scope of study

In view of this situation, the study aims to determine the factors affecting thedecision to choose an e-commerce platform for Gen Z consumers in Hanoi Thestudy will be focused on 4 main factors: the usefulness of e-commerce, ensuringthe safety and the rights of clients, convenience and ease of use, and othersubjective factors The study will involve both a qualitative and quantitativeresearch method The scope of the study is limited to recruiting 250- 300volunteers between the ages of under 18 and 26 who will be contacted usingtheir university email accounts This recruitment period will last for a maximumof 2 months and will end when either 250 - 300 volunteers have been recruitedor 2 months have passed Each volunteer in the study will be asked to completea short questionnaire in order to evaluate.

Commerc: Trust, Return policy, Cash on delivery , after sale service, cashback warranty, firm reputation This study has shown tha trust, Returnpolicy, Cash on delivery , after sale service, cash back warranty, firmreputation affecting Consumers’ purchasing decision through E-Commerc

● Model 2: Research model proposing factors that influence consumers'decisions to choose an e-commerce platform: The difference betweengenerations Y and Z (Nguyen H Quan, Ly T T Trang HCMCOUJS-Economics and Business Administration, 18(3), 64-80)

The authors have built a model with 7 factors that influence the decision tochoose an e-commerce platform including: Perceived usefulness, Perceived easeof use, Trust, Subjective norms, Website Design, Perceived Risk and Attitudewith the control variable being age In particular, the factors Perceivedusefulness, Perceived ease of use, Trust, Subjective norms, Website design andAttitude positively affect the decision to choose an e-commerce platform Whenthese variables increase, the decision to choose an e-commerce platform alsoincreases Opposite Perceived risk variable affects consumer behavior whenchoosing an e-commerce platform because online shopping often entails ahigher level of uncertainty than in-store shopping (Chiu et al., 2009) Dachyarand Banjarnahor.

(2017) and Teo and Liu (2007) also demonstrated this negative effect

After consulting previously conducted studies, we selected 4 factors to includein the preliminary research model including usefulness, ease of use, ensuringsafety and customer benefits and subjective standards.

6.Theoretical framework and research hypotheses

We hypothesize that the Decision to choose an e-commerce platform is affectedby its usefulness, ensuring safety, the rights of clients, ease of use, andsubjective factors These relationships are moderated by age The followingdiagram represents the theoretical framework:

H1: The usefulness is positively associated with the “Decision to choose ane-commerce platform”.

The usefulness is the degree to which people believe that using a system willlikely enhance their job performance (Davis, 1989) Once consumers realizethat using an e-commerce platform brings them many benefits and values, theywill tend to simply use it as a shopping tool.

H2: The ensuring safety and the rights of clients is positively associated with“Decision to choose an e-commerce platform”.

Ensuring safety and customer rights will bring a sense of certainty to what commerce trading floors have committed to them (Dachyar & Banjarnahor,2017) According to research by Kim, Ferrin, and Rao (2008), consumers willnot want to participate in e-commerce shopping activities when they lackconfidence in safety Online purchasing behavior will increase when customershave trust in an e-commerce site (Kim et al., 2008) Research by Ngah et al(2021); Pham (2021); Nguyen and colleagues (2021) also demonstrated thisrelationship.

e-H3: The convenience and ease of use are positively associated with “Decisionto choose an e-commerce platform”

The ease of use is the degree to which a person considers it easy to use aparticular device without effort (Davis, 1989) An easy-to-use online shoppingplatform will help users learn, control, and interact flexibly (Sin, Khalil, &Ameen, 2012) Ease of use is also assessed at the level of not being difficult tobecome proficient at (Hoang, 2010) Some studies support the positive impactof ease of use such as Tran (2019); and Nguyen and Nguyen (2020)

H4: Subjective factors are positively associated with “Decision to choose ane-commerce platform”.

According to Venkatesh and Davis (2000), the subjective norm is the degree towhich a person perceives that people important to them think they should orshould not perform a certain behavior Subjective norm is a factor that has apositive impact on customers' purchasing intentions (Hoang, 2010; Nguyen &Nguyen, 2020; Sin et al., 2012).

7.Research methodology7.1 Overview

We will conduct survey research on factors affecting the decision to choose ane-commerce platform by age in the HaNoi area The questionnaire for thesurvey will be developed based on the literature After adjustment, thequestionnaire will be sent to the target generation Z - people who mainly use e-commerce platforms The sample of the survey will be Gen Z, randomlyselected from different locations in Hanoi It is expected that I will receive atleast 250-300 answer sheet questions after the analysis process Collected datawill be analyzed using SPSS software We will use an online survey to collectdata from a random sample of Gen Z We will also conduct some personalinterviews with some Gen Z members to get more insight into the influencingfactors.

7.2 Survey design

We will divide into two research phases: Preliminary and formal.

Preliminary research: using qualitative methods to find models and hypothesesbased on theoretical models that have been tested in practice at home andabroad, adjusted accordingly.

Formal research through quantitative research method with questionnaire surveytechnique with a 5-level Likert scale: 1- Completely disagree; 2- Disagree; 3-Neutral; 4- Agree; 5- Completely agree Collected data was analyzed through

SPSS Stats 25 with steps such as descriptive statistics, reliability assessment,exploratory factor analysis, process recovery correlation analysis, anddiscrepant analysis.

7.3 Measurement

In the theoretical model of this study, the decision to choose an e-commerceplatform is influenced by usefulness, safety features, ease of use, and keyfactors such as age Most measurements of these variables were adapted fromprevious studies Below is a description of how these variables work.

- The usefulness

In this section, we will delve into what consumers consider to be the mostuseful aspect of an e-commerce platform We shall concentrate on six causes,according to Davis (1989), Sin, and coworkers (2012)[8] [9] : Handy (can buyanywhere and at any time), Competitive pricing, time savings, and the ability topurchase any goods It is simple to compare various products and obtain severaldiscounts The response format was a multiple choice question.

- Ensure the safety and the rights of clients

For ensuring the safety and the rights of clients, we shall inquire as to why mostconsumers choose to believe in e-commerce platforms As Ngah and colleagues(2021) investigated,[10] these questions will address the following topics: Trustthat these platforms are reliable Trust that these providers will keep their

commitments Trust the information and judgment of the prior consumer, andtrust that these products will resolve the product issue 4 questions, using a 5-point scale format will be used to measure this variable

- Convenience and ease of use

According to Nguyen and co-workers (2021)[11] , we will inquire about thewebsite's design and how it affects the consumer's choice the most They will beasked to select three factors from the following: A clean and user-friendlyinterface; a logical and accessible method of organizing information; a fast-paced browser; easy control of product information; and transaction speed.

- Subjective factors

For other subjective factors, the respondent will be asked how much they listento or are convinced by which reason Based on Ajzen (1991)[12] , this will be a5-point scale question; they will rate the following options: Social mediamarketing, The usage of celebrities or famous people, and the recommendationof people around them (friends, family, colleagues, etc.)

- Age

Following Nguyen and Ly (2023)[13] , we will collect data on the respondent'sgender, education, age, current job and salary, as well as the amount of timethey spend on the Internet every day.

7.4 Control Variables

We will control for some variables: age (gen Z), geographical location ( HN ),gender, education level and income which seem to influence the decision tochoose an e-commerce platform.

In the factors affecting the decision to an e-commerce platform for Gen Zconsumer guides, we will focus on 4 parts: the usefulness, the safety, the ease ofuse of e-commerce platforms, and other subjective factors We will enquireabout the interviewee's actual experiences to determine what influences Gen Z'sdecision to select a particular e-commerce platform.

The Demographic Questionnaire is designed to see the correlation betweendemographics and the decisions of customers Individual-levelsocioenvironmental contextual factors include the following variables: gender,age, employment, education, salary, and the amount of time spend on theInternet

Finally, The Post-Interview Summary form used successfully during the pilotstudy and by one of the coinvestigators (Kavanaugh), includes informationabout the characteristics of the interview setting, behaviors of the respondents,notes about the interview (e.g., length of the interview, interruptions, ordistractions), the investigator’s reaction to the interview, main themes or issuessuggested by the interviews, the questions that provoked the strongestresponses, and thoughts about new or remaining questions stimulated by theinterviews Community-level contextual factors will be rated by the interviewer.

Experiment results

We propose to use mailing questionnaires From our experience, mailingquestionnaires will be more workable in Vietnam in comparison with othermethods such as structured interviews or telephone interviews It encouragesbetter and more considerate responses.

We plan to create a questionnaire and send it to a survey of about 250 to 300people of Generation Z Usually, there will be 3 main subjects: people under 18years old, from 18 to 22, and from 22 to 26 This also leads to our classificationcriteria of income level or occupation, gender, education level, etc to be able toclassify and survey the factors that influence the decision to choose an e-commerce of Gen Z consumers.

Then we searched from various sources:

● Data is compiled from company revenue and business revenue from user consumption