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ITP
35,7
2098
Received 25 May 2021
Revised 7 September 2021
Accepted 4 October 2021
Information Technology & People
Vol. 35 No. 7, 2022
pp. 2098-2114
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0959-3845
DOI 10.1108/ITP-05-2021-0397
Examining digital information
literacy as a determinant of
women’s online shopping behavior
Munazza Mahmood
Kinnaird College for Women, Lahore, Pakistan
Syeda Hina Batool
Institute of Information Management,
University of the Punjab Quaid-i-Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan
Muhammad Rafiq
Institute of Information Management, University of the Punjab,
Lahore, Pakistan, and
Muhammad Safdar
National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan
Abstract
Purpose – The present study aims to examine the current digital information literacy (DIL) skills of female
online shoppers in Lahore city of Pakistan. Data were gathered from a purposive sampling of women, aged
between 20–50 years who were buying products online, not from the traditional retail stores. Out of 309
received questionnaires, 269 responses were useable and were utilized for data analysis. Descriptive and
inferential statistics were used to deduce inferences.
Design/methodology/approach – Quantitative research approach was employed for this study, and a
survey was conducted to collect the data from the study’s respondents. For data analysis, descriptive and
inferential statistics were used.
Findings – Results revealed that the digital information literacy skills of women were good to a moderate level.
However, they were not confident in applying advanced searching options. In accordance with what was
hypothesized in a directional hypothesis, DIL was found to be a strong predictor of online shopping behavior of
women, consequently highlighting the importance of such competencies in modern life. Other findings
illustrate that participating women rarely engaged in online shopping and felt hesitation in using credit/debit
card for online transactions.
Research limitations/implications – These observations highlight the important role of information
professionals in creating digital literacy among different population groups, specifically women, by planning
digital information instruction through courses, workshops and trainings. This could eventually be possible
with the dynamic role of librarians or information professionals in the society.
Originality/value – The present study adopts the unique approach of measuring online shopping behavior of
female shoppers in connection with their digital information literacy skills.
Keywords Digital information literacy, Digital information literacy skills, Digital literacy, ICT literacy,
Online shopping, Online shoppers, Online shopping behavior, e-commerce, Consumer behavior
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Digital transformation and information and communication technologies (ICTs) play a vital
role in the advancement of individuals’ lives as these impact the way humans learn,
communicate and think. The level of ICT literacy or digital literacy has the potential to
transform not only the lives of individuals but also society as a whole (Panel, 2002). With the
Funding: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or
not-for-profit sectors.
Declaration of conflicting interests: There is no conflict of interest regarding this paper.
penetration of ICTs in our lives, individuals have to continuously update their skills to keep Digital
pace with rapid technological developments. Especially, in order to grasp the new information
opportunities that the digital technologies are providing in many areas for future success,
individuals have to develop the right set of skills to make a meaningful use of these
literacy
technological advancements.
In this connection, an emerging skill set, which may be called 21st century competencies, is
needed to get more technological advantages. Under the umbrella term of “information
literacy,” researchers stressed on the adoption of ICT literacy or digital literacy (Katz, 2007), 2099
specifically in this digital era. Therefore, an individual, regardless of his/her profession, could
not be considered as competent, empowered or engaged citizen unless he/she possesses the
required digital literacy skills (Meyers et al., 2003).
Enormous amount of information evolution in multiple formats is posing challenges in
finding, understanding, evaluating and using information for individuals. To cope with these
challenges, digital information literacy is fast becoming the “survival skill” in the present
information era (Krishnamurthy and Shettappanavar, 2019). One of the major advancements is
the transition from physical shopping towards online modes, that not only influence the lives of
ordinary citizens but also provide easy solution to their busy lives (Rahman et al., 2018).
Due to numerous benefits of using IT to purchase products and services, more and more
people prefer online buying over traditional shopping (Narwal and Sachdeva, 2013). Online
shopping offers convenience and accessibility to a consumer (Arora and Aggarwal, 2018;
Li and Zhang, 2002). Women are the group of society that go for shopping to purchase their
required items such as groceries as well as to relax, excite and enjoy this activity. Females
also manage most of the household related essentials (Ponnudurai et al., 2019; Ramprabha,
2017, 2018). Therefore, it is high time that women should possess digital competencies to
perform better (personal/official matters) in this technological age (Krishnamurthy and
Shettappanavar, 2019). Previous research also argued that social networking is very popular
among young females as they like social shopping sites (Dennis et al., 2010; Rao et al., 2018).
E-commerce industry and online shopping is flourishing due to technology penetration in
our society especially among women. E-businesses are exponentially growing in Pakistan
and more and more individuals, specifically women are involved in these activities.
According to a report, Pakistan’s e-commerce industry boomed from Rs 51.8 bn (in 2017) to
Rs 99.3 bn in just one year, i.e. in 2018 (Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 2019).
With all of its benefits, online shopping is a risky act as it involves many fears such as
financial risk as a net loss of money or possibility of credit card information stolen over web,
product performance/quality risk that includes the loss incurred if the product does not meet
the required criteria (Kuczmarski, 1996). In the 21st century, people are overloaded with their
busy routine. E-transactions provide ease to human beings by eliminating geographical
limits and providing 24/7 access. On account of daily routines, online shopping phenomenon
gained significance in the society due to ease and convenience of individuals (Singh and Sailo,
2013) The fast penetration of IT has resulted in an exponential increase in the number of
online buyers. Multiple studies found demographics, e-service quality, customer satisfaction,
sources of information, convenience, timesaving, easy payment modes, income, previous
shopping experience and frequency of online buying as the key determinants impacting
online shopping behavior of customers (Goyal et al., 2013; Hashim et al., 2009; Hernandez et al.,
2011; Nyarusanda and Mollel, 2020; Rastogi, 2010; Rita et al., 2019). However, the skills or
competencies with relevance to e-buying is less researched in literature. Similarly, numerous
studies have been conducted to measure digital competencies or skills of different population
groups including students, teachers, research scholars and library professionals (Bansal and
Singh, 2018; Emiri, 2017; Malanga and Chigona, 2018; Mallaiah, 2017).
Few researchers have focused on the issue of relationship or impact of ICT skills on
individual’s long engagement in the online environment such as e-shopping (Narwal and
ITP Sachdeva, 2013; Yasav, 2015). However, it is not yet known empirically whether the digital
35,7 information literacy skills influence the online shopping behavior of individuals or not. In this
context, the present study aims to highlight the phenomenon with reference to the female
online shoppers. The following research objectives have been set to address the literature and
research gap:
(1) To determine the online shopping behavior of women participants.
2100 (2) To identify the digital information literacy (DIL) skills of e-buyer women.
(3) To measure the impact of DIL skills on the online shopping behavior of women
participants
(4) To determine the impact of DIL skills on participant women’s frequency of buying
online products.
(5) To determine the impact of DIL skills on the number of products purchased online by
the study participants.

Literature review
Information literacy (IL) is an ability to recognize, locate, store and use information
(Beutelspacher, 2014). Researchers (Safdar and Haroon, 2020, 2021) concluded that IL is
important for individuals living in the 21st century and highlighted that having IL skills is the
need of the hour as well. Furthermore, research (Batool et al., 2021) conducted in Pakistan
found that digital literacy is an important element of IL.
Digital IL skills have been conceptualized by different researchers with diverse
perspectives. Digital literacy (DL) is synonymous with the terms DIL, digital information
fluency and ICT literacy (Bawden, 2008; Katz, 2007). DIL is the ability to identify, assess and
use the digital information (Felber and Roubides, 2020). It is also the capability to find,
understand, evaluate, create and use information by adopting ICT. In addition, it is an ability
that includes both cognitive and technical skills (American Library Association, 2013).
Researchers have used DL, DIL, ICT and information fluency interchangeably throughout
the library and information science (LIS) literature. DL comprises a number of other literacies
such as computer literacy, media literacy, Internet literacy and IL (Leaning, 2019). Research
(Bawden, 2008) stated that to deal with the complexities of information age, a broad form of
literacy is required no matter whether it is called literacy, DL or IL. The meaning and context
must be central to it. Researchers (Ata and Yıldırım, 2019) claimed that DIL skills signify the
abilities of adopting technologies to find, analyze and evaluate digital information. An
individual, regardless of his/her profession, cannot be considered as competent, empowered
or engaged citizen unless he/she possesses the required DL skills. Another study (More, 2021)
argued that DIL is of great importance for the individuals living in 21st century. Researcher
(Katz, 2007) also stressed on the adoption of ICT literacy or DL specifically in this digital and
technology rich environment.
Van Dijk and van Deursen (2014) stated that education and training help in acquiring the
digital skills and highlighted that some of the people did not get formal education to learn
such skills. However, numerous studies assessed DIL skills of different population groups
and argued that such skills empower individuals with independent learning and critical
thinking (Malanga and Chigona, 2018; Ukwoma et al., 2016).
A study (Weber et al., 2018) conducted a training workshop in a German university to
improve the DIL of third year students and afterward tested the effectiveness of the training.
Their search behavior was recorded which revealed that firstly, the participants were unable
to evaluate and distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information. Secondly, they were
rarely able to modify their search queries while using synonyms. The findings also
highlighted that students were unable to use advanced search options. However, the training Digital
outcome showed that students may revert their common habits of Google search to scholarly information
databases and advanced search engines if they are given training. These workshops and
trainings can ultimately influence their online information seeking behavior. A research
literacy
(Ukwoma et al., 2016) on students of Nigeria University reported that most of the students
(92%) were able to process and retrieve information using ICTs to some extent. However, the
users lacked the skills to evaluate the websites. Lack of development of DL programs was a
major hindrance in the effective use of modern technologies. Some other studies also led to 2101
similar inference and argued that lack of DL programs had proved a barrier in the process of
efficient information retrieval (Bansal and Singh, 2018; Weber et al., 2018). A research (Sparks
et al., 2016) “assessing digital information literacy in higher education” investigated DIL of
students and proposed that higher education institutions must plan assessment strategies to
evaluate the DIL skills of college graduates. In addition, the study suggested the need of
assessment and demonstrated practical implications for curriculum development. Another
research (Brar, 2015) used questionnaire and interviews as data collection instruments in this
study to highlight the DIL skills of health science professionals of Guru Gobind Singh
Medical College, Faridkot in the Indian state of Punjab. The study revealed that to find digital
information, commonly used searching tool was a search engine. Moreover, for evaluation
purpose, majority of the respondents consider “Authenticity” a big parameter. However,
respondents asserted that university library and informatics division should conduct
workshops and seminars in addition to a course by the administration. In the light of these
results, the importance of DIL skills cannot be denied in this information age.
Researchers (Krishnamurthy and Shettappanavar, 2019) while exploring the DL among
female postgraduate students, maintained that students lack the knowledge of information
retrieval and possessed little awareness about copyright issues. They suggested seminar/
workshop as preferred mode for such training programs. Another study carried out in India
to observe DL among Muslim women reported that women with higher education had high
DL rate as compared to less educated respondents (Jan, 2018). Another study (Waseem et al.,
2019) conducted in 145 countries through collecting data from different sources also found
that education level of the respondents influenced the ability to benefit e-commerce.
Furthermore, few other studies found young professionals more skilled and good in their ICT
and DIL skills than the senior ones (Khan, 2020; Khatun et al., 2015).
DIL has extensively been studied from different angles at international level. However,
fewer studies have been carried out in Pakistan. Efforts have been made to measure the IL
skills of students and faculty members and asserted the need to introduce planned IL training
programs at local level (Batool and Mahmood, 2012; Batool and Webber, 2019; Kousar and
Mahmood, 2013; Safdar and Idrees, 2020, 2021). Similarly, numerous studies focused on the
ICT competencies of students and found these skills unsatisfactory and proposed the
integration of ICT trainings into the curriculum (Ishaq et al., 2020; Siddiquah and Salim, 2017;
Wasif et al., 2012). Very few studies have been conducted on measuring DL skills of different
population groups (Ameen and Gorman, 2009; Anwar et al., 2013; Irfan and Salam, 2010;
Nawaz and Kundi, 2010) The findings of these studies demonstrated that these skills are
essential in the present day circumstances and suggested to postulate the development of IL/
DIL training and learning programs at all educational levels.

Online shopping
According to a study (Jusoh and Ling, 2012), online shopping is the process by which a
customer purchases any product and service though Internet. According to a research (Cole,
2001), online shopping is the most popular activity through e-mail usage, web browsing and
instant messaging. A research (Solomon et al., 2012) highlighted that when an individual
ITP selects, purchases, uses or disposes products services, ideas or experiences to satisfy needs,
35,7 he exhibits a consumer behavior.
Several studies about assessment of consumer behavior observed that time saving,
convenience, availability of variety of products and product comparisons are the key reasons
and motivators of virtual buying (Arora and Aggarwal, 2018; Bashir et al., 2015; Nyarusanda
and Mollel, 2020; Rastogi, 2010; Singh and Sailo, 2013). Another research (Pardeshi and
Khanna, 2021) concluded that women shop online with an intention to save their time and
2102 money. However, the poor return policies were one of the pitfall in this new mode of shopping.
Moreover, respondents with negative online shopping experience in the past were less likely
to have future buying intentions (Hernandez, 2011). Another study (Goyal et al., 2013) also
demonstrated that past or prior satisfactory online purchase experience is the reason of
future shopping. Researchers (Ramprabha, 2017) conducted an online survey of 355
Indonesian online consumers and found that customer satisfaction positively influences
customer behavioral intentions such as repurchase intention, word of mouth and site revisit.
A research (Nagra and Gopal, 2013) on online shopping behaviors of consumers in India
found that female shoppers were more impulsive in buying online products as compared to
men. The study recommended revamping of online websites to attract more women as they
have more penchant for online shopping than men.
A number of studies have established that DL and self -efficacy empowers more Internet
usage and online interaction. For example, a research (Van Deursen and Van Dijk, 2016)
found a strong relationship between higher levels of strategic Internet skills and Internet use
for getting more information. In addition, DL enhances online learning behaviors (Prior et al.,
2016). A study (Belanger and Carter, 2009) revealed that with intensive Internet usage for
communication purposes, American adults utilized more e-government services. With these
established facts, one can assume that DL may also boost the use of e-shopping services,
ultimately increasing the number of purchases.
Moreover, researchers (Nagra and Gopal, 2013) carried out a research on online shopping
behaviors of consumers in India. Study concluded that the frequency of buying over Internet
was positively correlated with their gender and age. Young women were found to be more
frequent in buying than men. Ramprabha (2017) conducted a literature review on shopping
behavior of consumers and shopping related role of women and argued that thinking of
women is different as compared to men due to difference in their behavior, biology and
neurology. Author further highlighted that males collect information through surfing
Internet and reading reviews and about information related to product but on the other side,
female gender looks for information through the experience of human around them. Huang
(2019) concluded that shopping is perceived as an activity belonged to female gender at some
points. Similarly, another study (Wahyuddin et al., 2017) conducted in Indonesia found that
females did more shopping than their male counterparts.
Dodel and Mesch (2018) conducted a study on Israeli population to investigate inequality
in digital skills and found that proficiency of male population was higher than their female
counterparts. Another study (van Laar et al., 2019) conducted on the Netherland population to
investigate the respondents digital skills in the 21st century, concluded that it is partly
supported that male gender possessed rich digital skills than the female gender. Similarly, a
research (Kamberidou and Pascall, 2020) maintained that females are less represented in the
digital skills area despite various efforts and advocated the need to overcome this problem.
In addition, researcher (Malin et al., 2009) studied women online purchasing behavior and
confirmed that higher frequency of buying online was strongly correlated with high frequency
of computer and Internet use. Women in above 50 age group category were found to have very
little frequency of buying due to insufficient computer skills and difficulties in adopting
technology. The findings illustrated that frequency of online purchases was strongly
influenced by individual’s technology experience and level of computer and Internet skills.
Hypotheses Digital
On the basis of above cited literature, it can be hypothesized that: information
Ha1. There is a positive impact of DIL skills on online shopping behavior of women. literacy
Ha2. There is positive impact of DIL skills on frequency of online buying.
Ha3. There is a positive impact of DIL skills on number of products purchased online.
The above review of literature indicates that a considerable number of studies have been 2103
conducted on DIL skills of various groups including women (Bansal and Singh, 2018; Emiri,
2017; Krishnamurthy and Shettappanavar, 2019; Malanga and Chigona, 2018; Mallaiah, 2017).
Research has also been carried out to assess the online buying behavior of various societal
consumer groups including women and find out the factors that encouraged the consumers to
buy on Internet (Goyal et al., 2013; Hashim et al., 2009; Hernandez et al., 2011; Rastogi, 2010; Rita
et al., 2019). However, it is quite evident from the literature review that there has been little
research in Pakistan on the online buying behavior of women with specific relation to their DIL
skills. Therefore, the present study is an attempt to fill this literature gap.

Methods
The main objective of the present study is to examine the impact of DIL skills on respondents’
online shopping behavior. This study is aligned with post-positivism paradigm. People
belonging to this paradigm believe in scientific approach of data collection to test theory,
predict and to identify relationship among variables (Chilisa and Kawulich, 2012). For the
present study, survey method was used to collect the data as survey research is often
designed to describe the current conditions and to assess the attitudes, preferences, concerns,
practices or interests of a group of people (Gay et al., 2012).
Sample and sampling procedure
The female residents of Lahore city, fond of online shopping, were the respondents of this
study. To achieve this, purposive and convenience sampling techniques at multiple stages
were utilized to collect data. For the convenience of the respondents and due to COVID-19
pandemic situation in the country, the researchers created the questionnaire on GoogleDocs
and women aged between 20–50 years who were assumed to be carrying out online shopping
were approached through different means such as telephonic calls, text messages through
WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger for the data collection purpose. The researchers also
shared the questionnaire on online platforms such as Facebook and in professional as well as
personal WhatsApp groups of the researchers with a request to their personal and
professional friends for maximum responses. However, authors received 269 responses, due
to COVID-19 circumstances, and considered them for further data analysis.
Data collection instrument
The questionnaire consisted of total 41 statements/items. Data collection instrument
comprised three main sections such as (1) demographic information, (2) DIL (Digital
Information Literacy) skills and (3) online shopping behavior. To measure DIL skills of
respondents, second part of the questionnaire was developed on the basis of DIL fluency
model shared by Heine et al. (2006). Research (Covello and Lei, 2010) explored some tools to
measure the digital or ICT competencies of learners such as ETS iCritical Thinking (2001) or
iSkills, iDCA (Digital Competence Assessment (2006), and Project SAILS (2002). A study
(Ainley et al., 2016) talked about four assessment instruments to measure digital and ICT
literacy skills such as International Computer and Literacy Study (ICILIS); Assessment and
Teaching of 21st Century skills (AT21CS); Programme For International Students
Assessment(PISA) and Digital Reading and Programme for International Assessment of
ITP Adult Competencies (PIAAC). Most of these assessment tools are task- oriented and
35,7 knowledge-based instruments, not for measuring skills and practices. To measure DIL skills
of respondents, second part of the questionnaire was developed on the basis of DIL fluency
model shared by Heine et al. (2006).
The IMSA model consists of five dispositions (What information I am looking for? Where
will I find the information? How will I get there? How good is the information? How will I
ethically use the information?) which are required for assessing digital fluency and individual
2104 skills. On account of this, 15 statements were developed to measure DIL skills on a 5-point
Likert-type scale. To measure “online shopping behavior” of respondents, various studies were
reviewed (Raman, 2019; Rao et al., 2018). Among those, one of the researchers provided us with
the permission of employing an already developed instrument (Raman, 2019). The adopted
scale for online shopping behavior consisted of 17 items on a 5-point Likert-type scale.
To ensure the internal consistency, the study instrument was reviewed by well-known
experts of the field and the researchers revised it in the light of experts’ feedback such as
revision of items for clarity and to avoid length as well as duplication in the statements. Also,
the authors checked the reliability of the instrument and ensured that the Cronbach’s alpha
value was above the acceptable value 0.70. Resultantly, coefficient alpha values for DIL skills
section was 0.923 (for 15 items) and for the online shopping behavior was 0.836 (for 17 items),
which indicates good reliability levels of the instrument’s constructs.

Study’s findings
Demographic information
Majority of the study respondents (Table 1) were young and belonged to the age group 20–
30 years (87%) followed by the respondents of 31–40 years that formed 8% of the total
sample. Only few (5%) respondents were from 41–50 years age group. The results prominently

Frequency Percentage

Age
20–30 years 234 87
31–40 years 21 8
41–50 years 14 5
Education
Bachelors 142 53
Masters 121 45
M.Phil/PHD 6 2
Income
Below 10,000 6 2
10,000–30,000 24 9
31,000–50,000 58 22
Rs. 50,000 and above 181 67
Frequency to shop online
Rarely (once in a month) 164 61
Not often (1–3 times in a month) 62 23
Often (once very week) 31 12
Very often (more than once in a week) 12 5
Number of products
Table 1. 1-5 items 165 61
Demographics 6-10 items 52 19
information of the 11–15 items 15 6
respondents More than 15 items 36 13
showed that young females were more inclined towards online shopping. Out of the 269 Digital
respondents, 142 (53%) held bachelor’s degree followed by 121(45%) with master’s degree. Only information
six respondents were with postgraduate education. This indicates that a good number of the
surveyed Pakistani female online shoppers were well-educated. In terms of family income,
literacy
almost two-third (67%) of the respondents were earning Rs. 50,000 or more per month, followed
by 22% participants earning between Rs. 31,000–50,000 which may be considered economically
as lower middle-class residents in Pakistan. Only few respondents (9%) earned between Rs.
10,000–30,000 and very few (2%) were earning below Rs. 10,000/- a month. The data clearly 2105
identified that mostly upper middle and middle income class women were involved in online
shopping. Moreover, female respondents were also inquired about the frequency of the online
shopping, Majority of the participant women rarely shop online (61%), some respondents
mentioned their buying frequency as not often (23%), often (11%) and very often (4%),
respectively. Respondents were also asked to mark the number of products purchased over the
past six months in order to examine their overall online shopping behavior. Majority of the
participants (61%) bought only “1–5 items” during this period and 19% purchased“6–10” items.
Similarly, participants who bought “11–15 items were only few 6%. However, the participants
who bought “more than 15 items” were also limited in terms of numbers, i.e. 13%. The overall
results indicate that participants do not buy a big number of products online.

Women DIL skills

To measure DIL skills of respondents, second part of the questionnaire was developed on the
basis of DIL fluency model shared by Heine et al. (2006). The model consists of five
dispositions (What information I am looking for? Where will I find the information? How will I
get there? How good is the information? How will I ethically use the information?). To measure
DIL skills, 15 statements were developed comprising 3 from each disposition on a 5-point
Likert-type scale. On account of this, the mean and standard deviation of overall scale and for
its five dispositions were calculated. As shown in Table 2, the computed mean value
(mean 5 3.9) revealed that participants of the study perceived that they were not good in their
DIL skills “to a great extent”. However, the mean value of each disposition showed that the
participants considered themselves digitally literate as they can look and find for the
information to a moderate level. Similarly they perceived that they are able to get information
“to a great extent”. Participants further claimed that they have good abilities to evaluate and
use information ethically. Overall results indicate that the surveyed women doing online
shopping in Pakistan had DIL skills up to a moderate level as mean value close to four or
above. That was against the each statement of the construct and overall mean value is
also 3.94.
Shopping behavior of women
As shown in Table 3, the computed mean score of total 17 statements related to online
shopping behavior is 2.9. This value shows that the participant women are moderate in their

Statements Mean SD

Look: What information I am looking for? 3.7 0.991

Find: Where will I find the information? 3.9 0.897
Get: How will I get there? 4.2 0.867
Evaluate: How good is the information? 3.8 0.880
Use: How will I ethically use the information? 3.9 0.866
Over all DIL skills scale 3.94 0.736
Note(s): Scale: Not at all 5 1, To a little extent 5 2, To some extent 5 3, To a moderate extent 5 4, To a great Table 2.
extent 5 5 Women DIL skills
ITP Sr. Std.
35,7 No. Statements Mean Deviation

1 I get better service when shopping on Internet than the traditional retail store 2.6 0.959
2 I would be more likely to shop on the Internet if the website is easy to use 3.2 1.106
3 I trust the online retailers privacy policies mentioned on their web sites 3.0 1.059
4 I am willing to give my personal information when shopping on the Internet 2.7 1.199
5 Shopping through the Internet makes ordering items convenient 3.2 1.051
2106 6 Online shopping helps me in saving money 2.4 1.138
7 I like to shop on the Internet because it is easy to compare many products 2.9 1.096
8 The opinions and experiences of my family affect my purchasing decision 3.3 1.107
9 The opinions and experiences of my friends affect my purchasing decision 2.9 1.185
10 The opinions and experiences discussed in online forums (Facebook, Twitter, 3.1 1.040
Instagram etc.) affect my purchasing decision
11 I would be more likely to shop online because my previous online shopping 3.3 1.105
experience was good
12 When shopping on the Internet, I am satisfied with the delivery system 3.3 1.012
13 I am satisfied with the return policy of Internet shopping 2.5 1.241
14 I would be more likely to shop online if the product returns were easier 3.5 1.188
15 I choose cash on delivery as a mode of payment 4.1 1.161
Table 3. 16 I use debit/credit card as a mode of payment while doing online shopping 1.8 1.107
Respondents behavior 17 I choose mobile banking for online payment 1.9 1.25
regarding online Overall online shopping behavior 2.9 0.583
shopping Note(s): Scale: Never 5 1, Rarely 5 2, Sometimes 5 3, Often 5 4, Always 5 5

online shopping behavior. The results presented in Table 3 demonstrate that most of the
participants “sometimes” agreed that they get better services on the Internet while doing
online shopping as compared to the traditional retail stores (mean 5 2.6). It shows less
interest of participants towards online shopping. Respondents reported that online shopping
rarely helps them in saving money (mean 5 2.4) which proved that they do not consider
money saving as a reason for their online shopping. In context of participants’ satisfaction
with online shopping, they were less satisfied with return policy (mean 5 2.5). This
shortcoming of the online shopping can be overcome by better return policies by the retailers
as per aspirations of online consumers. However, only one statement got mean score 4.0
which portrays that participant women use cash on delivery (COD) as a mode of payment.
Women chose this option perhaps to ensure that they receive the same item they ordered or to
avoid non-delivery of product (Singhal et al., 2017) or any misuse of their credit or debit cards
related information. Also, two other statements “I use debit/credit card as a mode of payment
while doing online shopping” and “I choose mobile banking for online Payment” got mean
score less than 2.0, that indicates that participant women rarely use debit cards/credit cards
and mobile banking for online transactions. This also shows that the participant women were
not confident enough in using sensitive information online. This scenario spotlights that
people involved in e-commerce need to work in this area to enhance confidence of women
interested in online shopping to create maximum business opportunities for themselves.

Impact of DIL skills on online shopping behavior

A simple linear regression was calculated to predict impact of DIL skills on respondents’
online shopping behavior. Results as shown in (Table 4) depict that predictor “DIL Skills”
significantly impacts “dependent variable” “online shopping behavior” of women. Table 4
(B 5 0.164, p 5 0.001) prominently reveals that DIL skills predicts online shopping behavior
positively. It indicates that women with good level of DIL skills were better in their online
shopping behavior. These results also indicate that increased DIL skills will result in the
shape of enhanced online shopping behavior among women in Pakistan. Hence, hypotheses Digital
one (Ha1) is accepted. information
literacy
Impact of DIL skills on frequency of buying online
Table 5 shows the result of linear regression test that was applied to see the impact of DIL
skills on frequency of shopping online. The findings indicate (Beta value 5 0.194 and
p-value 5 0.006) that DIL skills of respondents are positive and significant predictors of their 2107
frequency regarding online shopping. It also indicates that if women’s DIL skills are
enhanced, their frequency of shopping online will also be increased. Therefore, the second
hypothesis (Ha2) of present study is also accepted.

Impact of DIL skills on number of products purchased online

To see the impact of DIL skills on number of products purchased online by respondents, a
simple linear regression test was applied. Table 6 shows the beta value (0.194) and the p-value
(0.006). It can be concluded that DIL skills of the respondents are positive predictors of their
frequency of online shopping behavior. Results also indicated that the predictor is
significantly impacting criterion variable. These results highlight that an increase in the
women’ DIL skills will enhance number of online purchases. However, if DIL skills of women
decreased, it will result in the decline in the number of purchases online. Therefore, it can be
stated that women with higher DIL skills buy greater number of products while doing online
shopping, proving the third hypothesis (Ha3) of the study.

Summary results of study’s hypotheses

The values in Table 7 show that women’s DIL skills has a positive and significant impact on
their online shopping behavior (Beta 5 164, p 5 0.001), on frequency of shopping online
(Beta 5 0.194, p 5 0.006) and on number of products purchased online (Beta 5 0.190,
p 5 0.034). Hence, it can be stated that DIL skills among women in Pakistan are important in
terms of their online shopping. Therefore, an increase in the women” DIL skills will result in
the form of their improved online shopping behavior, enhance frequency of online purchase

Factor Beta Sig Table 4.

Impact of DIL skills
DIL skills 0.164 0.001 on online shopping
Note(s): R2 5 0.043; Dependent variable: online shopping behavior behavior

Factor Beta Sig Table 5.

Impact of DIL skills on
DIL skills 0.194 0.006 frequency of shopping
Note(s): R2 5 0.028; Dependent variable: frequency of shopping online online (N 5 269)

Table 6.
Factor Beta Sig Impact of DIL skills on
number of products
DIL skills 0.190 0.034 purchased
Note(s): R2 5 0.017; Dependent variable: number of products purchased online online (N 5 269)
ITP as well as increase the chances of buying more products online. These results accepted all the
35,7 three directional hypotheses of the present study.

Discussions and limitations

The participants of the study perceived that they were good in their DIL skills to a moderate
level, not “to a great extent.” This scenario facilitates in arguing that there is a further need to
2108 equip women in Pakistan with more DIL skills to strengthen their existing competencies at
“great extent level.” This might help growth of e-business in Pakistan and families can save
money and time due to online shopping instead of visiting markets. Moreover, results indicate
basic skills level of participant women, as they were not able to apply advanced search
options while looking for digital information. These findings also endorse that woman in
Pakistan need advance DIL skills to better explore the world of digital information. Moreover,
these results are similar to that found in prior literature. Suwana (2017) conducted a study on
Indonesian women and men and another study (Mukherjee et al., 2019) investigated Indian
women. Both studies reported poor scores of DIL skills about this population group. Lack of
such abilities, education and ICT trainings were found to be the major obstacles in this regard.
The development of such skills can bring desired changes in women’s daily and professional
life. Other studies, which reported the same gaps, stressed on the role of information
providers and professionals in improving DL skills (Abima et al., 2021; Krishnamurthy and
Shettappanavar, 2019) through trainings and workshops. Skill development courses,
programs and workshops might play an integral role in enhancing the DIL skills of
individuals lacking in this literacy.
Another objective of the study was to determine the online shopping behavior of
participant women. The findings highlight (computed mean 2.9) that participant women
scored low in their online buying behavior. The results also indicate that only 5% shop more
than once in a week (Table 1) and only 13% were buying a good number of products online
over the last six months. These results shed light on the limited online buying behavior
among women in Pakistan. This situation spotlights that e-commerce-related businessmen as
well as women need to work in their areas. Business community should eliminate
technological barriers and women need to learn DIL skills to boost online shopping in
Pakistan. DIL skills can be improved by attending short courses and training sessions. These
efforts might result in the form of enhanced online shopping. This endeavor may also help
increase convenience by saving money and energy as well as time of families. Past research
(Arora and Aggarwal, 2018; Nyarusanda and Mollel, 2020) also found that convenience,
finance as well as security-related factors affected online shopping behavior significantly and
positively. Furthermore, prior studies highlight that advanced skills (computer, Internet,
online searching) and access are the significant predicting factors, impacting use of
e-transactions (Belanger and Carter, 2009). The results of present study suggest directions for
individuals growing their e-commerce business, advising to make the e-shops platforms more
user friendly in terms of ordering and booking. Results also reveal that convenience, previous
shopping experience, and risk of sharing private information (credit card info) prove to be the

Hypotheses Beta R2 P Result

Ha1: There is a positive impact of DIL skills on online shopping behavior 0.164 0.043 0.001 Accepted
of women
Table 7. Ha2: There is positive impact of DIL skills on frequency of online buying 0.194 0.028 0.006 Accepted
Summary results of Ha3: There is a positive impact of DIL skills on number of products 0.190 0.017 0.034 Accepted
study’s hypotheses purchased online
strong determinants of their shopping behavior. The inferences of the study are also Digital
completely in line with the prior literature (Chaudary et al., 2014; Raman, 2019; Rao et al., 2018) information
that concluded with the similar findings. Regarding the modes of payment, majority of the
participants preferred COD and felt hesitation in doing online transactions by credit/debit
literacy
cards. The reasons behind such findings might be that online shopping systems are new and
not very advanced and up-to the required standards of online buyers in Pakistan. There are
practical implications for the relevant stakeholders such as businessmen involved in e-
commerce and IT professionals to provide relevant technological solutions. These results also 2109
supported the findings of research (Nazir et al., 2012) that reported that Pakistani buyers were
reluctant to buy online due to insecure financial transaction systems. These facts pointed out
several implications for information providers to conduct advance digital training programs
and initiate integration of such components in curriculum at all the educational levels. These
steps could eventually lead to conduct life-long learning sessions in different public libraries.
The present study is limited by the Dunning–Kruger study effect (a cognitive bias).
Research (Dunning, 2011) reveals that people with low abilities at a task overestimate their
competencies. Suffering from the illusionary superiority bias, they evaluate their
competencies at subjective level. Present study participants also perceived high about
their DIL skills, despite the fact that they were not good in online shopping. This fact may be
supported by the Dunning–Kruger effect.
The results also approved all the three hypotheses of the study and highlighted that DIL
skills impacted significantly and positively the surveyed women’ online shopping behavior,
their frequency of online shopping as well as number of products they purchased online.
Therefore, it can be argued that enhanced DIL skills might result in the form of improved online
shopping behavior and enhanced frequency of online shopping among women as well as
increase in number of products purchased online in Pakistan. Further, these results are in
connection with the results of past research (Waseem et al., 2019) conducted by collecting data
from 145 countries from different sources which found education-related factors influencing e-
commerce. Therefore, these findings demand the relevant stakeholders to invest in
strengthening of women’ DIL skills which will lead to a more successful e-business in Pakistan.

Limitations and future research

The findings may not be generalized to other contexts and population groups, due to non-
random selection of study sample. Due to COVID-19, it was not easy to approach women
physically. Therefore, a limited number of respondents were approached only through online
platforms such as Facebook, Facebook Messenger, community webpages, WhatsApp
groups, messages, telephonic calls and through the personal and professional friends.
Considering this a baseline study, further research may be conducted on different population
groups or by approaching this phenomenon through different research lens such as mixed
methods and qualitative research.

Conclusion
On the basis of the study’s results, it may be concluded that DIL skills of women impact their
online shopping activities significantly. Therefore, enhancing female gender’s DIL skills
might play a vital role in making online shopping most successful in this part of the world.
This, successful online buying by females, will not only be helpful for families (especially
working) but also for businessmen of the countries like Pakistan. Increased online shopping
may also play an integral role in saving time, energy and money of families as well as bring
more profits to business community. Results also proved all the three hypotheses proposed in
this study which endorses the positive relationship between DIL skills and online shopping.
ITP Theoretical and practical implications
35,7 This study is a unique contribution in the literature on the topic as it highlighted the scenario
of online shopping behavior as well as DIL skills of women in Pakistan. These results will
help to create understanding about the existing DIL skills and online shopping behavior of
women in Pakistan. The present study has practical implications for information
management educators and practitioners who need to focus on promotion of DIL skills at
different educational levels. It was evident from the results that respondents can perform
2110 simple tasks online. Therefore, advanced level DL programs should be arranged and
incorporated into curriculum.
Another important outcome of the study suggests that people related to e-commerce or other
aligned fields should make their web pages or online shopping platforms user friendly and
more secure in terms of financial transactions. This will definitely help in strengthening the
trust of users which may ultimately lead towards the success of the e-commerce in Pakistan.

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Corresponding author
Muhammad Safdar can be contacted at: safdargr8@gmail.com

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