Technology Acceptance and Online Purchase Intention among Pakistani Consumers: The Roles of Attitude and Internet Literacy

Abstract

Connectivity in Pakistan has expanded rapidly, yet it remains unclear which technology perceptions and consumer competencies turn favourable evaluations of online shopping into purchase intention. Drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this study tests an integrated model in which perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) influence online purchase intention (OPI) directly and indirectly through attitude toward online shopping (AT), and in which internet literacy (IL) conditions the attitude–intention link. Survey data from 240 Pakistani online shoppers were analysed with partial least squares structural equation modelling (SmartPLS 4; 5,000 bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrap resamples). The measurement model showed high reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity (HTMT ≤ .78), and neither Harman’s test (40.3% of variance) nor full-collinearity diagnostics (VIF ≤ 3.27) indicated serious common method bias. PU (β = .706) and PEOU (β = .412) predicted AT. AT (β = .354), PU (β = .326), and PEOU (β = .198) predicted OPI, and AT partially mediated the effects of PU (indirect β = .250) and PEOU (indirect β = .146). IL had a strong direct effect on OPI (β = .441) and positively moderated the AT–OPI relationship (β = .106, p < .001): the effect of attitude was .460 at high and .248 at low literacy. The model explained 69.1% of the variance in AT and 74.1% in OPI. The findings extend TAM by showing that attitude converts into intention more strongly among digitally skilled consumers, and they imply that usability improvements should be paired with digital-skills support.