Digital exclusion as a barrier to online shopping by older people in Poland
Digital exclusion as a barrier to online shopping by older people in Poland

Author(s): Agnieszka Anna Huterska, Justyna Łapińska, Robert Huterski, Grażyna Voss
Subject(s): Business Economy / Management, Gerontology, ICT Information and Communications Technologies, Socio-Economic Research
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: digital exclusion; older people; online shopping;
Summary/Abstract: Technological development, including the popularization of the Internet, has resulted in the transfer of many activities to the digital space. Currently, access to the Internet is not only a facilitation, but also a necessary condition for full participation in social, cultural and professional life. Older people, i.e., those after the age of 65, use new technologies to a lesser extent than young people do. Digital exclusion of older people in the face of an increasing number of seniors in the population may in the future be a serious social problem, and, in addition, a loss of a large market for suppliers of goods and services. The purpose of the article is to indicate the reasons for both the lack of interest and the lack of use of an online sales channel by people over 65 years of age. Focus studies showed the growing role of soft factors in the e-purchase exclusion of older people. At present, in Poland, lack of access to a computer or the Internet is not a basic barrier to making purchases over the Internet by seniors. The most frequently indicated reasons for not choosing to make purchases through this sales channel were the lack of the ability to make a transaction, being used to the traditional form of shopping, security concerns, and distrust shown to sellers.

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