Global Journal of Management and Business Research, B: Economics and Commerce, Volume 21 Issue 5

matter. Also, all of 5 SCO countries in this study are relatively long term oriented, all have more than 50 as a long term oriented index in Hofstede study, therefore the results did not show any significance, and in future we would like to see more difference between those countries that are more short term oriented comparing to these 5 SCO countries. At last, control variables, GDP per capita, and account ownership in financial institutions are significantly and positively related to online shopping adoption. Table13: Summary of results Hypothesis Remarks H1 Online purchase is prevalent among young consumers of SCO member states. Supported H2 Online purchase is prevalent among male consumers of SCO member states. Not supported H3 Online purchase is prevalent among higher educated consumers of SCO Member states. Supported H4 Online purchase is prevalent among employed consumers of SCO member states. Supported H5 Online purchase is associated with higher income in SCO member states. Supported H6 Online purchase is prevalent among SCO member states with a lower PDI. Not supported H7 Online purchase is prevalent among SCO member states with higher IDV. Supported H8 Online purchase is prevalent among SCO member states with lower MAS. Not supported H9 Online purchase is prevalent among SCO member states with lower UAI. Supported H10 Online purchase is prevalent among long-term-oriented SCO member states. Not supported H11 Online purchase is prevalent among restraint SCO member states. Supported VI. C onclusion As one of the most important economic region in Eurasia, Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is devoted to developing e-commerce in the region. But SCO member states vary in terms of e-commerce experience due to dissimilar economic situations and cultural differences. Do individual and cultural factors affect e-commerce in these countries and who are the main customers of online purchasing platforms in SCO countries? In this study, we attempted to answer this question by examining the factors that are affecting B2C e-commerce adoption in the SCO region. The main objective of this study is to integrate the demographic characteristics with Hofstede’s cultural dimensions to determine the factors of e-commerce adoption among consumers in SCO member states. This study derived data from multiple different sources, for individual demographic characteristics including age, gender, education, employment, and income we used The World Bank Global FINDEX as a source and in total this study analyzed 11227 face-to- face interviews with SCO populations from China, India, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Russian Federation. For demographic characteristics including power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long- term orientation, and indulgence we used data from Hofstede’s site (www.hofstede-insights.com) . Therefore, the results of this study show the importance of not just academic but also practical purposes. First, the definition of e-commerce costumers in SCO is the complex combination in terms of demographics. E-commerce platforms are mostly used by those who are younger females with higher education and also in the workforce, who have more income than the others. This study shows that although SCO member states have signed the "Statement by the SCO Heads of State Council on Cooperation in the Digital Economy” assured to increase further adoption in the e- commerce field, the main part of the current e- commerce users are young individuals with higher education and incomes. E-commerce is widely used only among those who have the possibility and accessibility to the technology, and more importantly, who have paying abilities. Also, this study makes a remark that links the 2 different aspects and shows that not only individual characteristics are important to study e-commerce but also national culture factors. Therefore, we suggest the governments to design and make more policies to encourage online shoppers not just from individuals’ perspectives but also from the national level by developing more favorable socio-values such as trust. Overall, government officials in SCO countries need to extend the e-commerce customers varieties including especially those who have less income with low education in the population. There is a significant difference between e-commerce users and non-users that the officials should pay more attention to. Also on the country level, e-commerce development in SCO country is definitely connected to cultural values. National culture can’t be changed in a short time; the government should seek to increase more favorable values in the whole society. Although this study has certain contributions, there are some limitations. First, this study only collected data from 5 SCO countries; therefore there is a gap for future research including the other 3 SCO countries’ data. Also, there is a room for more country-level controls. Moreover this research did not cover the physiological factors of the purchasing behaviors of the customers; therefore it can be extended to more behavioral studies. Demographic and Cultural Factors Influencing the Adoption of B2C E-Commerce in SCO Region © 2021 Global Journals 38 Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XXI Issue V Version I Year 2021 ( ) B