E-commerce in Morocco in the era of COVID-19: Ephemeral or lasting trend

Résumé

Assessing the adoption intention of new markets and new technologies is key to their success. Thus, it is important to identify the reasons behind individuals’ acceptance and use of a particular technology. For this, the current study aims at investigating Moroccan consumers’ behavior toward using e-commerce during the COVID-19 pandemic. An empirical study has been conducted to understand the factors that influence the intention to adopt online shopping in Morocco, all while highlighting the change in behavior caused by the coronavirus. These factors include perceived risk, trust, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norm. An online questionnaire was distributed to gather data. A total of 296 answers were collected and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results revealed a positive and significant impact of subjective norms, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness on Moroccan’s intention to purchase online during the health crisis. The findings can help marketers and online business owners to grasp the motives behind Moroccan consumers’ online purchase intention in the new context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The main limitation is that most of the survey respondents have a higher education, which is not representative of the Moroccan population.

Keywords: COVID-19, E-commerce, TPB, Purchase intention, Morocco

JEL Classification: 033, 055

Paper type: Empirical research