A Comparative Study of Online Forums in eCommerce as a Customer Service Tool

We investigate the communication occurring in the online forums that provide support to consumers of mobile phones and MP3 music players, products that garner a very large number of consumers worldwide. Unlike previous research, our study includes online forums that are publicly available to general consumers and include web sites owned and operated by retailers, manufacturers of the two consumer products, mobile telephone service carriers, and nonaffiliated third parties. In addition, participants of the online forums in our study are from diverse geographical locations, including the U.S., European, and other countries. We developed a twophase data collection procedure to thoroughly capture communication activities on these forums. Our comparative analysis allows us to extend the results from past studies to the realm of electronic commerce and gain additional insights into the nature and effectiveness of using online forums as a customer service tool

Corporate social responsibility in online retail – Perceptions from online discussions on Amazon

Online retail has experienced substantial growth due to the increased utilization of digital technologies. The growth in the industry has created numerous multinational corporations, which serve customers all around the world. As a result, the online retailers’ efforts in sustainability have been more often in publicity. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the efforts going beyond the company’s interest in order to bring social good, have been discussed in the academic community for decades. While the various effects of CSR in retail and business generally have been realized, the research aims to make a contribution by examining the concept from the viewpoint of online retail by focusing on interaction at online discussion forums. The main research question asks: What is the role of online retailer CSR in the online discussion forum context? In order to answer this question, additional three sub-research questions are suggested: 1) What elements of CSR are relevant in the online retailer context? 2) How are discussion forums used in communication regarding CSR and online retail by different discusser types? 3) What kind of company perceptions and consumer behavior appear in online discussions of Amazon’s CSR? The study is qualitative of nature, using the content analysis research method to examine posts found from four different public online discussion forums. A qualitative, interpretative analysis was used, although quantitative measures regarding discussion posts were also presented. The analysis contains a coding process, where attributes are attached to discussion posts. As a result of the process, specific patterns can be indicated in order to categorize the posts. As the research uses Amazon as the case company, the case study method is also adopted. In the online retail context, ethics regarding the online retailer’s tax and labor policies are found as most relevant elements. Customers, using discussion forums to share their experiences and opinions regarding online retailer CSR efforts, are realized as the most prominent stakeholder. The research also highlights the role of online retailer employees providing details on internal business practices. However, the not realize the possibility to participate in discussions. Most discussion posts refer either to a positive, negative or mixed reaction towards CSR efforts, it is suggested that the concept is relevant also in online retail. Although online retailer CSR efforts are somewhat linked to company perceptions, the concept has a minimal role in consumer behavior. In online retail, CSR efforts can reduce the risk of being involved in discussions related to controversies. In addition, online retailer CSR efforts should communicate how the retailer contributes locally.siirretty Doriast

Globalization of E-Commerce: Growth and Impacts in the United States of America

The paper outlines a case study of US Ecommerce over the past 5 years. The case describes key factors that position the US for leadership in the realm of global Ecommerce, while pointing out inherent risk areas that could threaten this position. It does so utilizing a list of drivers and inhibitors as the basis for analysis in the context of an overview of the US National Environment; its inherent characteristics and their propensity to promote Ecommerce; the Governmental Policies that serve to enable the diffusion of Ecommerce; the level of Ecommerce Readiness that the US has attained through its infrastructure and societal characteristics; the resulting level of Ecommerce Diffusion and finally the Social and Economic Impacts that Ecommerce has had to date and is expected have in the future

WEBSITE QUALITY ASSESSMENT. A CASE STUDY OF GSM HOSTING FORUM

The ever-growing amount of data on mobile phones, tablets, and smart electronic devices on the Internet and the need to use this data to address problems highlight the importance of the evaluation and validation of data-sharing websites. The GSMHOSTING website plays a key role in communicating and providing services to its users in terms of repairing mobile phones and smart electronic devices. The purpose of this study was to determine its quality from the perspective of mobile phone repair technicians. These technicians were 100 people from Birjand in South Khorasan province (Iran) who used GSMHOSTING website as a reference. The website quality assessment study was conducted in the summer of 2020. The study applied a descriptive survey and cross-sectional method based on a questionnaire. The questionnaire included 11 website dimensions: Routing, Information, Delivery, Apparent Features, Security, Reputation, Society, Entertainment, Provided goods and services, Reliability, Trust. Scores were given on a Likert scale. The validity of the questionnaire was determined using the opinions of web experts. The SPSS software and descriptive and inferential statistics methods were used to analyze data. The results indicated that the average quality of this website was acceptable in terms of technicians’ goals.  Addressing problems highlighted some of the website dimensions that will increase the overall quality of the website to support technicians in their activities

Mining social network data for personalisation and privacy concerns: A case study of Facebook’s Beacon

This is the post-print version of the final published paper that is available from the link below.The popular success of online social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook is a hugely tempting resource of data mining for businesses engaged in personalised marketing. The use of personal information, willingly shared between online friends' networks intuitively appears to be a natural extension of current advertising strategies such as word-of-mouth and viral marketing. However, the use of SNS data for personalised marketing has provoked outrage amongst SNS users and radically highlighted the issue of privacy concern. This paper inverts the traditional approach to personalisation by conceptualising the limits of data mining in social networks using privacy concern as the guide. A qualitative investigation of 95 blogs containing 568 comments was collected during the failed launch of Beacon, a third party marketing initiative by Facebook. Thematic analysis resulted in the development of taxonomy of privacy concerns which offers a concrete means for online businesses to better understand SNS business landscape - especially with regard to the limits of the use and acceptance of personalised marketing in social networks

An evaluation of the economic impact of broadband in Lincolnshire: updated final report

The Lincolnshire Broadband Initiative, ‘onlincolnshire’, was launched in 2003 to bring a range of broadband supply and demand stimulation activities to businesses across the county. The initiative has used £15 million of European funding, together with matched funding from Lincolnshire County Council, to support a series of significant Information and Communication Technology (ICT) interventions to provide support and financial assistance to eligible Lincolnshire businesses. The ‘onlincolnshire’ initiative has four long term strategic objectives. By 2010: • Lincolnshire will be the foremost rural County in the UK, with regards to ICT usage and skills and will have a commercial environment that embraces ICT; • The main employment sites and premises will have attracted increased and more diverse investment; • ICT will have made a major contribution to business competitiveness, expansion and diversification of the economy – measured through an increase in ICT related employment and a range of ICT based activities; • To have engaged individuals and employers in improving ICT skills to increase local competitiveness, raise the standards, participation and achievement in ICT throughout the County