Consumers in New Millennium: Attitudes towards Adoption of New Technologies in Purchasing Process

Abstract The use of new technologies has brought many changes into consumer behaviour, especially into purchasing process. The aim of the article is to uncover the attitudes of different generations towards usage of new technologies in purchasing process and determine if the diffusion of innovative purchasing process is significantly different among different generations. The article presents the results of authors´ research of usage of new technologies in purchasing process, as well as attitudes towards it, among different age groups - Generation X, Y, Z and seniors. Results of hybrid research carried out by semi-structured interviews with 551 respondents show, that there are significant generational differences in all three components of attitude towards online purchase, which can be - due to its characteristics- considered the most complex use of new technologies in purchasing process. Results prove that the diffusion of innovation in the purchasing process is significantly influenced by the age group. With age the number of Innovators significantly drops and the percentage of Laggards rises. The ratio of those adopting “early” and “late” significantly changes according to age group as well. Majority of younger respondents are accepting the new technologies into purchasing process early (Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority). Middle-aged consumers accept the innovations proportionally - copying the Roger´s curve. Among seniors, the majority is “late” (Late Majority and Laggards).