1,631 research outputs found

    Systematic Measurement of Centralized Online Reputation Systems

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    Background: Centralized online reputation systems, which collect users' opinions on products, transactions and events as reputation information then aggregate and publish it, have been widely adopted by Internet companies. These systems can help users build trust, reduce information asymmetry and lter information. Aim: Much research in the area has focused on analyzing single type systems and the cross-type evaluation usually concentrates on one aspect of the system. This research proposes a systematic evaluation model (SERS) that can measure different types of reputation system. Method: From system perspective, all reputation systems can be divided into five underlying components. Input refers to the collection of ratings and reviews; Processing is the aggregation of ratings. Output publishes the information. Feedback Loop is the collection of the feedback of the review, which can be seen as the `review of the review'; Finally, Storage stores all the information. Therefore, based on each component's characteristics, a series of benchmark criteria can be dened and incorporated into the model. Results: The SERS has dened 29 criteria, which can compare and measure different aspects of reputation systems. The model was theoretically assessed on its coverage of the successful factors of reputation systems and the technical dimensions of information systems. The model has also been empirically assessed by applying it to 15 commercial sites. Conclusion: The results obtained indicated that the SERS model has identified most important characteristics that have been proposed by reputation systems literature. In addition the SERS has covered most dimensions of the two basic technical information system measurements: information quality and system quality. The empirical assessment has shown that the SERS can evaluate dierent types of reputation systems and is capable of identifying the weakness of current systems

    An investigation into financial fraud in online banking and card payment systems in the UK and China

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    This doctoral thesis represents an investigation into financial fraud in online banking and card payment systems in the UK and China, involving network security, online financial transactions, internet fraud, card payment systems and individuals’ perception of and behaviours towards electronic environments. In contrast to previous studies, the research questions were tackled by survey questionnaires both in the UK and China, with a particular interest in fraud and attempted fraud. The main findings from the UK respondents were that those with higher IT skill and younger respondents are more likely to be defrauded on the internet. Certain types of online activities are associated with higher risks of fraud, these being internet banking; online shopping and media downloading. Furthermore, four predictors (internet banking, online education services, downloading media and length of debit card usage) provided significant effects in the logistic regression model to explain fraud occurrence in the UK. Based on the data collected in China, younger respondents were more likely to have higher general IT skill and higher educational qualifications. However, online shopping was the only online activity which was significantly correlated to fraud occurrence. Finally, two predictors (frequency of usage of online shopping and number of debit cards) were selected in the logistic regression model to explain fraud occurrence in China

    An Expectancy-Value Analysis of Web Gratifications

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    The present study explored the mechanisms directing Web usage decisions to determine more reliable estimates of the importance of various influences involved. A Web-based survey was administered to respondents who voluntarily participated by responding to a message posted to selected Internet discussion groups. Exploratory factor analysis and covariance structure model were employed to examine the relationships between attitude, expectancies, motivation, intention, and usage regarding the Web. Research evidence spoke strongly against univariate or bivariate motivational schemes. In addition to surveillance and diversion functions that have been found in traditional mass media, the Web also provided two unique qualities, utility and interaction. Approximately one-third of variance in Web usage was explained by expectancy-value judgments or motivations. Other influences, including non-sociological-psychological variables, attributed to Web usage variance remain to be explored. Research findings also indicated that expectancy-value judgments and motives function similarly in determining intention and usage regarding the Web; however, user motives or gratifications appeared to further separate from the general attitude toward the Web. Further improvement in scaling expectancy-value and gratifications items is suggested to attain discriminant and convergent validity. INDEX WORDS: Expectancy-Value, Uses and Gratifications, Web Usag

    A methodology for economic evaluation of cloud-based web applications

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    [EN] Cloud technology is an attractive infrastructure solution to optimize the scalability and performance of web applications. The workload of these applications typically fluctuates between peak and valley loads and sometimes in an unpredictable way. Cloud systems can easily deal with this fluctuation because they provide customers with an almost unlimited on-demand infrastructure capacity using a pay-per-use model, which enables internet-based companies to pay for the actual consumption instead of peak capacity. In this paradigm, this paper links the business model of an internet-based company to the performance evaluation of the infrastructure. To this end, the paper develops a new methodology for assessing the costs and benefits of implementing web-based applications in the cloud. Traditional performance models and indexes related to usage of the main system resources (such as processor, memory, storage, and bandwidth) have been reformulated to include new metrics (such as customer losses and service costs) that are useful for business managers. Additionally, the proposed methodology has been illustrated with a case study of a typical e-commerce scenario. Experimental results show that the proposed metrics enable internet-based companies to estimate the cost of adopting a particular cloud configuration more accurately in terms of the infrastructure cost and the cost of losing customers due to performance degradation. Consequently, the methodology can be a useful tool to assess the feasibility of business plans.This work has been partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under Grant TIN2013-43913-R.Domenech, J.; Peña Ortiz, R.; Gil, JA.; Pont Sanjuan, A. (2016). A methodology for economic evaluation of cloud-based web applications. International Journal of Information Technology and Decision Making. 15(6):1555-1578. https://doi.org/10.1142/S021962201650036XS1555157815

    The influence of patient absorptive capacity and perception of technology characteristics on patients' satisfaction with medical services in Guangzhou, China: an affordance theory based approach

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    Background: Based on the theory of Affordance, this thesis proposes two analytical dimensions of Subjective Affordance (SA) and Behavioral Affordance (BA).The research aims to explore the influence of patients’ Absorptive Capacity (AC) and Technology Characteristics Perception (TCP) on their SA and BA of the WeChat client-side app in community hospitals so as to further evaluate the SA and BA influence on patients’ satisfaction of medical service (PS). Research subjects are patients who have used the community hospital WeChat client-side information platform in 28 community health service centers in nine districts of Guangzhou in the South of China. A questionnaire with 4 sections and 44 questions was designed and distributed. The effective questionnaire data were checked for descriptive analysis and a path model with 5 observed variables (AC,TCP, SA,BA,PS). was developed. Results: 1. A total of 410 questionnaires was distributed, of which 400 have been collected and 387 of them were valid and analyzed. 2. There is a significant difference among variable scores of patients with different ages and educational background. 3. The group of patients who use the information platform more actively have higher scores in the 5 variables. 4. TCP has a direct influence on PS while BA plays an intermediary role. It was found that the mediation effect of SA is not valid. 5. AC has no direct or indirect influence on PS. Conclusions: Age, educational background, and TCP (evaluation of the innovation characteristics of technology) play an important role in the final implementation of technology application behavior (BA), and the effective application of technology can indeed improve satisfaction with the medical services (PS)Tendo por base a teoria da Affordance, esta tese analisa duas dimensões desta teoria: a Affordance subjetiva (AS) e a Affordance comportamental (AC). A investigação tem por objetivo estudar a influência da Capacidade de Absorção (CA) e da Percepção das Características Tecnológicas (PCT) na AS e na AC dos pacientes estudados em relação à utilização da aplicação Wechat como plataforma de informação e fornecimento de serviços em Centros de Saúde, a fim de avaliar em que medida a AS e a AC influenciam a sua satisfação com os serviços médicos (SP). Os sujeitos do estudo são pacientes que utilizaram a aplicação WeChat na sua interação com Centros de Saúde. Foi administrado um questionário contendo quatro partes e um total de 44 questões em 28 destes centros localizados em 9 distritos da cidade de Cantão no sul da China. Os dados foram depois analisados tendo sido concebido um modelo com base nas 5 variáveis observadas (AS, AC, CA, PCT e PS). Resultados: 1. Dos 410 questionários distribuídos recolheram-se 400 dos quais 387 foram considerados válidos para análise; 2. Os resultados revelaram que existe uma diferença significativa entre os pacientes de diferentes idades e diferente formação académica; 3. O grupo de pacientes que mais utiliza a aplicação tem valores mais altos nas cinco variáveis analisadas; 4. A PCT tem uma influência direta na SP enquanto que a CA desempenha um papel mediador. Os resultados demonstraram ainda que o efeito moderador da AS não se verifica; 5. A AC não tem qualquer influência direta ou indireta na SP. Conclusões: A idade, a formação académica e a PCT (percepção das características inovadoras da tecnologia) desempenham um papel importante na Affordance Comportamental (AC) e a utilização efetiva da tecnologia pode contribuir para melhorar a satisfação dos pacientes com os serviços médicos (SP)

    An environment for protecting the privacy of e-shoppers

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    Privacy, an everyday topic with weekly media coverage of loss of personal records, faces its bigger risk during the uncontrolled, involuntary or inadvertent disclosure and collection of personal and sensitive information. Preserving one's privacy while e-shopping, especially when personalisation is involved, is a big challenge. Current initiatives only offer customers opt-out options. This research proposes a `privacy-preserved' shopping environment (PPSE) which empowers customers to disclose information safely by facilitating a personalised e- shopping experience that protects their privacy. Evaluation delivered positive results which suggest that such a product would indeed have a market in a world where customers are increasingly concerned about their privacy

    Hotel website dimension: Analyzing customers’ preferences / Azdel Abdul Aziz... [et al.]

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    The revolutionary of technology in this modern era is explicitly giving significant impacts to hotel industry and hotel website is use as part of for marketing and business purposes. Various attributes and dimensions have developed through the hotel website. This study is empirically investigates the most important hotel website dimensions to be considered in relation to the international tourists’ preferences. The hotel website dimensions are measured through two categories of variables which are website interactivity and website information. Sample of 400 foreign tourists at Kuala Lumpur International Airport were selected. The most important dimension that attracts online purchasing was selected throughout the study. The study also concluded that website information was the most important variables in hotel website dimension. Practically, this research has shown the importance of understanding in choosing the best and appropriate website dimension to encourage customer to purchase via online
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