Community and Social Interaction in Digital Religious Discourse in Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon

Since the advent of the Internet, religion has maintained a very strong online presence. This study examines how African Christianity is negotiated and practised on the Internet. The main objectives are to investigate to what extent online worshippers in Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon constitute (online) communities and how interactive the social networks of the churches are. This study shows that some important criteria for community are met by African digital worshippers. However, interaction flow is more of one to many, thus members do not regularly interact with one another as they would in offline worship. Worshippers view the forums as a sacred space solely for spiritual matters and not for sharing social or individual feelings and problems. However, the introduction of social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and interactive forums is an interesting and promising new development in religious worship in Africa

Determining University Students’ Motivations for Using Computer- Mediated Communication Technologies

Motivated by the increasing popularity of computer-mediated communication (CMC) technologies in university students learning, this study will explore students’ motivations for using CMC technologies in their learning. By employing uses and gratifications (U&G) perspective, this paper aims to identify dimensions of motivation in students’ CMC technology use. It also proposes that students’ technology self-efficacy and communication apprehension influence their motivations for using technologies. A three-stage research design procedure is proposed. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for both IS researchers and higher education

Exploiting Multimodal Biometrics in E-Privacy Scheme for Electronic Health Records

Existing approaches to protect the privacy of Electronic Health Records (EHR) are either insufficient for existing medical laws or they are too restrictive in their usage. For example, smartcard-based encryption systems require the patient to be always present to authorize access to medical records. A major issue in EHR is how patient’s privacy and confidentiality can be maintained because there are known scenarios where patients’ health data have been abused and misused by those seeking to gain selfish interest from it. Another issue in EHR is how to provide adequate treatment and have access to the necessary information especially in pre-hospital care settings. Questionnaires were administered by 50 medical practitioners to identify and categorize different EHR attributes. The system was implemented using multimodal biometrics (fingerprint and iris) of patients to access patient record in pre-hospital care. The software development tools employed were JAVA and MySQL database. The system provides applicable security when patients’ records are shared either with other practitioners, employers, organizations or research institutes. The result of the system evaluation shows that the average response time of 6seconds and 11.1 seconds for fingerprint and iris respectively after ten different simulations. The system protects privacy and confidentiality by limiting the amount of data exposed to users. The system also enables emergency medical technicians to gain easy and reliable access to necessary attributes of patients’ EHR while still maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of the data using the patient’s fingerprint and iris. Keywords: Electronic Health Record, Privacy, Biometric

Ordering versus grabbing: the influence of temporal proximity on unregulated online buying behavior

A study is proposed to test the effects of temporal proximity between the encounter of a stimulus and the receipt of the product on impulsive online buying behavior. In traditional retail settings, temporal proximity between exposure to a stimulus and receipt of the product is an important factor influencing impulsive buying behavior. In most online shopping situations however, there is a time lag between the purchasing process and the receipt of the product; studies have nevertheless shown the widespread existence of impulsive buying behavior in online settings. A model is proposed that demonstrates how future consequences can influence online buying behavior and how the temporal proximity between the exposure to a stimulus and the possibility to conduct a purchase “on the spot” can override the consideration of future consequences and trigger impulsive online buying behavior. In order to test the model, a laboratory experiment has been designed. The expected findings will further the understanding of factors influencing impulsive online buying behavior, and will thus provide prescriptive insights for the design of business-to-consumer e-commerce systems

Virtual product experience: The effects of interactivity and task on presence perceptions

Presence perceptions (i.e., perceptions of nonmediation in technology-mediated environments, Lombard & Ditton, 1997) have been demonstrated to influence consumers’ attitudes and intentions in online shopping situations; the factors leading to presence, however, are not well understood. In business-to-consumer e-commerce environments, factors such as task characteristics (i.e., searching versus browsing), object interactivity, and users’ characteristics can influence presence perceptions. A model is presented that demonstrates how a consumer’s task as well as the interactivity of virtual product representations can influence the consumer’s sense of presence, and, subsequently, beliefs about the product and the web site. In order to test the theoretical model, a laboratory experiment has been designed. The expected findings will further the understanding of factors influencing presence perceptions and online buying behavior, and will thus provide prescriptive insights for the design of business-to-consumer e-commerce systems

The Use Of Computer Mediated Communication In Consumer Complaining: A Study In Higher Education

The electronic channel for consumer complaining has increased dramatically in recent years and continued growth is expected in the future. The objective of this research was to explore how computer-mediated communication is being used as a channel for complaining in higher education. A study was conducted of the complaint intentions of 222 students at one college in the eastern half of the United States.  Four complaining dimensions were studied:  Voice, Negative Word-of-Mouth, Third Party, and Exit.  The results indicated that the most common behavioral intentions are: Complain to other students face-to-face, complain to the professor in office, and never take another class from the professor. The research findings also indicate the number of students who are likely to use computer-mediated communication to complain. In addition, the results show strong correlations between computer-mediated complaining and other complaining responses

Exploring Individual User Attitudes Towards Performance with Web Search Engines: An Extension Study

As the Internet fulfills an increasingly important role in society, study into human behavior and interaction with the technology becomes key to the development of improved systems. As a result, the research agenda of the authors seeks to identify the role of individual differences with users of technology and its subsequent impact on performance. In this initial study, we examine an instance of individual differences with users of the World Wide Web by evaluating user attitudes and performance with Web search engines. Search engine importance is connected to their role as the primary vehicle for locating content on the Internet. Prior research into user attitude has shown a connection with use of technology. In our study we replicate, extend, and critique an investigation conducted by Liaw and Huang (2003) into user attitudes toward search engines as information retrieval tools. Liaw and Huang found that factors such as individual computer experience, quality of search systems, motivation, and perceptions of technology acceptance impact users desire to use search engines as a tool for information retrieval. However, the connection is not drawn to actual individual user performance with a searching task. Based upon the analysis of our data, we were unable to replicate the results achieved in the Liaw and Huang study or draw a connection between these factors and performance. This finding, that our analysis yielded different results, supports the need for further investigation into individual differences and suggests areas for future research

Online retailing: open all hours?

Globally, online retailing has become increasingly important to retailers and consumers. In the UK, the online shopping spend has increased from 0.07% to 7% of the annual retail sales and the consumers' appetite for buying online continues to grow as the internet becomes increasingly accessible, convenient and secure. However, does the internet provide a truly comprehensive shopping experience or are there limitations? A visit to eBay can enable bargain hunters to find almost any product, but many goods are secondhand, which does not suit the needs of all consumers and promps the question of how comprehensive the product ranges offered for sale online by mainstream retailers are. The web is developing into an important shopping environment, but the current flobal internet penetration is under 19% of the world population, suggesting that there are major limitations on who can shop online. On one hand, in certain segments, there is an increasing demand for online shopping but, on the other hand, personal constraints and restrictions in service provision are limiting access to online retailing. This paper focuses on the future of online retailing, the factors which influence consumers' intentions to shop online and the extent of the online shopping services provided by retailers