A study of college undergraduate attitudes associated with online electronic commerce is studied in this paper.

The convenience sample of undergraduate college students used in the study was heavily biased with respect to age (79 percent were under 25), yet the researchers attempted to infer age-related behavioral differences. The participants were questioned about online stock transactions, banking, and purchases. No indication of participant experience with online financial transactions was requested or provided, raising significant issues with respect to participant knowledge, and the ability to relate to the types of questions being asked. Computer experience was investigated as an influence in online purchasing. There was no indication the authors addressed online experience, experience that might prove more influential with respect to online activity. Many of these factors constitute significant threats to internal and external validity. Security and use of personal data were mentioned as potential problems for electronic commerce, but were not investigated as part of the study.

A literature review was not evident in the paper, and there was little reference to prior similar studies. Many references were from popular press or secondary sources, instead of primary sources, with titles such as “Internet Trivia: Who’s Surfing at Home?” Some research findings were referenced but not cited, and some of the research cited was as much as five years old, which, in terms of the Internet and World Wide Web, is dated.

As noted above, there were problems with both the design and execution of this study, implying little substantive contribution to the study of electronic commerce.