Leveraging Users’ Trust and Reputation in Social Networks

In on line communities, where there is a huge number of users that interact under anonymous identities, it has been observed that e-word of mouth is a very powerful influence tool. So far, this technology is well known in on-line marketplaces, such as Amazon, eBay or travel based platforms like Tripadvisor or Booking. However, these trust based approach can be leverage in other scenarios from e-democracy to trust based recommendations on e-health context and e-learning systems. The purpose of this contribution is to analyse the main existing trust and reputation mechanisms and to point out new research challenges that needs to be accomplished with the objective of fully exploiting these systems in real world on-line communities.The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from the EU project H2020-MSCA-IF-2016- DeciTrustNET-746398 and FEDER funds provided in the Spanish project TIN2016-75850-P

Adoption of Web 2.0 Social Media eCommerce in SMEs: Conceptualising Theories and Factors for Zambia

The application of Web 2.0 social media in eCommerce and e-marketplaces (ECEMs) in developing countries has been on the increase in recent times especially during Covid19 and beyond. However, it is still unclear what theoretical foundations and factors guide ECEM in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets such as Zambia. Generally, the understanding of eCommerce using Web 2.0 social media applications (WSMAs) in SMEs has lacked rigour over time as focus has shifted to pressing issues such as Covid19. This paper purposes to investigate the theoretical foundations and factors influencing WSMA for new eCommerce era in developing countries with particular emphasis on SMEs in Zambia. The methodological research design employs a qualitative study approach using literature reviews, coupled with content analysis of purposively selected articles. Results show that theories such as TAM, TPB, UTAUT2, TOE, TTF, DIT, among others, have guided eCommerce research in SWMA. Behavioural, technological and organisational factors such as trust, ease of use, after-sales logistics, price flexibility have been prevalent, among others. The paper ends with recommendations and strategies for continued adoption of WSMA by SMEs with similar geographical contexts to Zambian context