Adoption of online retail banking practices as a precautionary protective behavior during the Covid-19 Pandemic

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Increase in online banking activities has been observed in the new normal of the Covid-19 pandemic. Previous studies argued that fraudsters tend to prey on unexpected events. This threat is also frightening online consumers of retail banking. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate how online retail banking users can be motivated enough to avoid online banking fraud threats while no compromise on health. METHODS: The population of the study is online banking customers in Pakistan. This study obtained data from 470 respondents who used online banking services by using questionnaires through an online survey. The structure Equation Modeling approach is used to investigate the relationship among study research variables. FINDINGS: Findings from a nationwide online survey confirmed the impact of the pandemic on consumer responses for online retail banking intention. Structure Equation Model results found that Perceived Vulnerability β = 0.24, Perceived Severity β = 0.31, and Response Efficacy β = 0.32 has significant impact on precautionary behavior. Surprisingly, Self-Efficacy was not significant to consumer precautionary behavior during the new normal of COVID-19. CONCLUSION: This study contributes to the literature on online banking and protection motivation theory. Results imply that bankers must invest in online banking and provide a secure environment that prioritizes the safety of the online transaction and create awareness to decrease the threat of fraud during the uncertain situation. The findings of this study particularly call for bankers, retailers' attention to online management of security systems. © 2021 IJHCUM. All rights reserved.

The impact of Covid-19 on E-business practices and consumer buying behavior in a developing country

Online trade has shown a sharp increase since the outbreak of pandemic Coronavirus. The COVID-19 has affected almost all financial and business activities around the world, even in Pakistan. It has changed the way consumers used to shop before the pandemic outbreak. Many companies until recently have developed and created their online stores and making up the most of their sales using internet channel. Consumer have no other choice but shop from home. In this research study, we discuss the impact of COVID-19 on e-business practices and consumer behavior in Pakistan. The theory of acceptance model has been applied where consumer behavior, e-business, and COVID-19, and posted as a key construct of the proposed research model. Structural Equation Modelling approach has been used to examine the interrelationship of variables of research. We applied two-step recommended Structural Equation Modelling approach, first, validate the constructs by using Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and then conducted Structural Equation Modelling path analysis and report the results, which indicated that in the present scenario COVID-19 has significantly impacted both e-businesses and consumer buying behavior in the context of Pakistan. This research briefly highlights the e-commerce trends and discusses the rapidly growing scope for online businesses and makes several future research suggestions, especially in the context of cultural and other barriers such as digital payment adoption in developing economies. This study limitation is the study sample and context-specific to Pakistan.