The growth of social commerce:How it is affected by users’ privacy concerns

Over recent years, social commerce has evolved into a powerful segment of e-commerce, creating new opportunities for brands of all types and sizes. However, if social commerce is to continue to grow and deliver the many benefits it promises, it must address a number of key challenges, including privacy, trust, and ethical concerns. This paper explores the extent to which privacy issues affect the attitudes and behaviours of social media platform (SMP) users towards social commerce, and investigates whether these attitudes and behaviours are a function of cultural context. The approach adopted for the research is a two-stage method, which initially uses semi-structured interviews of social-commerce users to identify their key privacy concerns. These concerns are then used to develop, using the theory of reasoned action (TRA), a structural model that facilitates the formation of hypotheses which relate users’ attitudes to privacy to subsequent behaviour. This model is assessed by analysing the responses to a questionnaire from a large sample of participants. This allows us to evaluate the general accuracy of the model and to compare culturally distinct subgroups (Saudi vs. Chinese) using partial least-squares analysis. Results show good support for all of our hypotheses and indicate that there are clear cultural effects. One of these effects is the inadequacy of privacy policies implemented by SMP providers, regarding culturally specific ethical concerns

Usability of the G7 open government data portals and lessons learned

Recent advances in technology have made truly open and accessible government significantly more realisable. One of the ways in which governments are using this technology is in the implementation of online portals that allow open (i.e., public and unrestricted) access to data and use of data. Such portals can be used by citizens and professionals to facilitate improved decision-making across a wide range of areas, from car-parking to promoting entrepreneurialism. However, the existence of portals per se is not enough. To maximise their potential, users must also feel that they are both accessible and usable. To gain insights into the current state of usability of OGD portals for professionals working in data-related areas, a comparative study of the portals of the G7 group was carried out, using a mixed methodology. This is the first specific comparison of these portals for such users, as well as the first study to add a user-centred qualitative dimension to the research. The study’s findings showed that the G7 countries are not maximising the potential of their portals or collaborating effectively. Addressing these issues, and building better cross-national consistency, would help to improve the value delivered by investment in OGD portals. The study also further supported an existing user-centred, heuristic evaluation framework for application to a more specific user group, as well as more generally

Open Government Data in Gulf Cooperation Council Countries: An Analysis of Progress

Open government data (OGD) has been introduced relatively recently in Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCC Countries). However, progress has been significantly less than either hoped for or expected. The purpose of this research is to explore the reasons for this lack of progress. To do so, the attitudes and views of a range of senior government department (OGD-related) personnel were sought, using semi-structured interviews, and the results examined using thematic analysis. Unlike existing studies, which focus on external barriers to progress, this study focuses on internal factors which can result in a lack of progress to implementation, such as leadership attitudes, organisational culture and fear of failure. The findings show that considerable changes are required at both an ideological and practical level, if the gap between expectation and reality is to be closed. The paper concludes with recommendations of specific actions that can be taken to close this gap and the identification of areas where further study would be useful

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE PREVALENCE OF ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION DISORDERS AMONG PATIENTS WITH INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE

Background: Mental health is an important but often disregarded part of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patient care, with difficulties defining effective medications and psychological health services. Anxiety and sadness are the most frequent psychosocial problems among IBD patients. The rising frequency of these mental problems calls for mental screening of all IBD patients at the initial appointment. Objective: A growing number of research on anxiety and depression in IBD have been undertaken nevertheless, there is no clear consensus on the prevalence of anxiety and depression in this group. The goal of this systematic review was to consolidate current data on the prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders in individuals with IBD. Methods: Authors began with recognizing the important examination proof that spots light on the prevalence of anxiety and depression among IBD patients. We led electronic writing look in the accompanying data sets: Ovid Medline (2010 to present), Ovid Medline Daily Update, Ovid Medline in process and other non-filed references, Ovid Embase (2010 to present), The Cochrane Library (latest issue) and Web of Science. Just examinations in English language will be incorporated. The precise selection was acted in close collaboration with a clinical examination curator. Results: There were 10 articles found, with a total of 26097 participants. The pooled prevalence estimate for anxiety disorders was 20.3%, and 13.3% for depression. When compared to those in remission, IBD patients in active illness showed a 75.6% greater prevalence of anxiety. Depressive symptoms were more common in Crohns disease than in UC (P0.001), and more common in active illness than in IBD patients in remission (P= 0.004). Conclusion: Results from this systematic review indicate that patients with IBD have about a 20.3% prevalence rate of anxiety and a 13.3% prevalence rate of depression