Commercio elettronico per la dinamica delle catene agro-alimentari internazionali: un’analisi del potenziale [E-commerce for the dynamics of international agri-food chains: an adoption potential analysis]

Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce is an innovative use of information and communication technologies and refers to the exchange of goods and related information between companies supported by Internet-based tools such as electronic marketplaces (also called electronic trade platforms) or online shops. It provides opportunities for cost-efficiency in supply chain management processes and access to new markets. With regard to the food sector with its chain levels input – agriculture – industry – retail – consumer, B2B e-commerce would take place in the exchange of food products between all levels except retail to consumer (business-to-consumer e-commerce). It is evident and widely known that B2B e-commerce brings key advantages and potentials for European consumers and the European food sector: - The affordability of high quality, traceable food for European consumers is supported as the innovation potentials from e-commerce technologies for cost-efficient processes along the food chain. The healthy choice of quality food will become the easy and affordable choice for European consumers. - The competitiveness of the European food sector with the majority of SMEs increases as B2B e-commerce technologies support cost-efficient transaction processes in food supply chains. In recent years, the availability of sophisticated B2B e-commerce technology has improved tremendously. The “European e-Business Market Watch” initiative from the Directorate-General Enterprise and Industry from the European Commission has shown that only large multinationals exploit the potentials of B2B e-commerce in the food sector for their supply chain management with their business partners. SMEs however, which create the majority of turn over in the European food sector and therefore create jobs and welfare in Europe, are reluctant to take up existing B2B e-commerce technologies into their food supply of selling. The crucial barrier to adoption is that trust between companies is not mediated appropriately by existing e-commerce technology. Currently, the barrier for food sector SMEs towards B2B e-commerce come from - the difficulty to examine the quality and safety of food products. This refers to all kinds of transactions in the food sector, whether supported by e-commerce or not. However, when it comes to e-commerce, the difficulty of physical product examination plays a much larger role as physical product inspection is not possible; - the (perceived) risk of performing a transaction via e-commerce. This includes concerns regarding secure transfer of data, or the possibly unknown transaction partner. Elements for the generation of trust between companies in the food chain and therefore of trustworthy B2B e-commerce environments for the food sector include guaranties regarding food quality, multimedia food product presentations to signal their quality, secure e-commerce technology infrastructures, third-party quality signs to be provided. As trust is highly subjective and depends on culture, food chains in different European countries with a different cultural background require different combinations of trust generating elements regarding the quality and safety of food. Different food chain scenarios with their transaction processes and risks regarding food quality and food safety and related trust elements need to be analysed and differences in trust in different European food chains need to be considered. It is the objective of this paper to identify food chains with trans-European cross-border exchange of food and international food chains in order to analyse the transaction processes and typical risks regarding food quality and food safety. The analysis focuses on trans-European cross-border and international food chains with their chain levels (e.g. production to wholesale trade, wholesale trade to industry, or wholesale trade to retail). In particular, it regards the food categories meat, grains, fresh vegetables, and fresh fruits and the particular risks regarding food quality and safety along the chains.e-commerce, B2B transactions, agri-food trade

Understanding the Digital Divide As It Relates to Electronic Commerce

There exists an electronic digital divide within the United States. This digital divide concerns access to the Internet and its corresponding technologies. The U.S. government is concerned about the digital divide because it appears that certain ethnic groups and income levels are being excluded from computer technologies and the Internet. These groups include African Americans and Hispanics, who are lagging the Caucasians significantly in gaining access to the Internet. For a while the gap between majority and minority groups appeared to be widening. Since Internet access is a prerequisite to electronic commerce, an understanding of the relationship between the digital divide and marketing is important. Numerous Federal, State, and Local governments are trying to reduce or eliminate the digital divide to ensure equal access to all citizens. Marketing would benefit if equal access also meant increased electronic commerce. Business leaders are also concerned about the digital divide because it affects access to the Internet and corresponding technologies. If the consumers are denied access to the Internet, it will be difficult for them to participate in business to consumer (B2C) level electronic commerce. However, this research has shown statistically that solving the problems of the digital divide will not necessarily aid business to consumer level electronic commerce. The research has further found that the apparent reasons for the digital divide, currently thought to be income, education, and ethnic orientation, may be less important than initial government surveys indicate. The research demonstrates that between Internet access and consumer intent to purchase goods and services in business to consumer electronic commerce lies at least three other considerations that need to be addressed by business leaders. These areas are: consumer trust, consumer commitment, and consumer involvement with Internet technologies. All are important links between using the technology at all and using the technology for business to consumer electronic commerce. The research also shows that these three areas have a combined relationship to the magnitude of the digital divide. Thus, any actions that affect these constructs will also affect the digital divide. Business leaders seeking to engage in business to consumer electronic commerce must pay attention to consumer trust, consumer commitment, and optimizing the consumer experience (involvement) when using the Internet. Not addressing these issues proactively will increase the likelihood of failure while engaging in electronic commerce

The Emergence of Electronic Market Intermediaries

In this paper, we provide preliminary findings of an empirical study which supports the hypothesis that electronic markets do not become “disintermediated” as they become facilitated by information technologies. We explore thirteen case studies of companies participating in electronic commerce and find evidence across markets which indicate necessary roles for electronic market intermediaries including matching suppliers and customers, providing trust, and providing interorganizational market information. Two specific examples are explored in greater detail to show the unsuccessful (Bargain Finder) and successful (Agents Inc.) identification of electronic market intermediary roles

THE INVESTIGATION OF THE FACTORS ASSOCIATING CONSUMERS’ TRUST IN E-COMMERCE ADOPTION

The success of electronic commerce significantly depends on providing security and privacy for its consumers’ sensitive personal information. Consumers’ lack of acceptance in electronic commerce adoption today is not merely due to the concerns on security and privacy of their personal information, but also lack of trust and reliability of web vendors. Consumers’ trust in online transactions is crucial for the continuous growth and development of electronic commerce. Since Business to Consumer (B2C) e-commerce requires the consumers to engage the technologies, the consumers face a variety of security risks. This study addressed the role of security, privacy and risk perceptions of consumers to shop online in order to establish a consensus among them. The findings provided reliability, factors analysis for the research variables and for each of the study’s research constructs, correlations as well as regression analyses for both non-online purchasers’ and online purchasers’ perspectives, and structural equation modeling (SEM) for overall model fit. The overall model was tested by AMOS 18.0 and the hypothesis, assumptions for SEM and descriptive statistics were analyzed by SPSS 12.0. The empirical results of the first study indicated that there were poor correlations existed between consumers’ perceived security and consumers’ trust as well as between consumers’ perceived privacy and consumers’ trust regarding e-commerce transactions. However, the construct of perceived privacy manifested itself primarily through perceived security and trustworthiness of web vendors. While trustworthiness of web vendors was a critical factor in explaining consumers’ trust to adopt ecommerce, it was important to pay attention to the consumers’ risk concerns on ecommerce transactions. It was found that economic incentives and institutional trust had no impact on consumers’ perceived risk. Findings from the second study indicated that perceived privacy was still to be the slight concern for consumers’ trust in e-commerce transactions, though poor vi i relationships or associations existed between perceived security and consumers’ trust, between trustworthiness of web vendors and consumers’ trust, and between perceived risk and consumers’ trust. The findings also showed that the construct of perceived privacy manifested itself primarily through perceived security and trustworthiness of web vendors. It was found that though economic incentives influenced a consumers’ perceived risk in online transactions, institutional trust had no impact on consumers’ perceived risk. Overall findings suggested that consumers’ perceived risk influenced their trust in e-commerce transactions, while the construct of perceived privacy manifested itself primarily through perceived security as well as trustworthiness of web vendors. In addition, though economic incentives had no impact on consumers’ perceived risk, institutional trust influenced a consumers’ perceived risk in online transactions. The findings also suggested that economic incentives and institutional trust had relationships or associations with consumers’ perceived privacy. The findings from this research showed that consumers’ perceived security and perceived privacy were not mainly concerned to their trust in e-commerce transactions though consumers’ perceived security and perceived privacy might slightly influence on the trustworthiness of web vendors in dealing with online store sites abroad. Furthermore, consumers’ perceptions on the trustworthiness of web vendors were also related to their perceived risks and the concern about privacy was also addressed to perceived risks. Index terms: Perceived security; perceived privacy; perceived risk; trust; consumers’ behaviour; SE

The moderating effect of religiosity on the relationship between technology readiness and diffusion of electronic commerce

Developing states, following the theory of “the survival of the fittest”, are severely in need of building up their electronic commerce for their economic survival on the globe.Beside other challenges, developing states are lagging behind in terms of technology readiness (TR).Another leading factor, particularly within the practicing Muslim communities, could be the impact of religiosity that has been unanimously found playing an immense role in buyers’ buying attitude, judgment of product price and quality. Having an immense influence, it affects both intra-personally and interpersonally.Furthermore, religiosity shapes consumers’ mind-set, learning and life style and is also considered as one of the significant factors with regards to hi-tech innovations adoption. This paper puts light on the relevant and valuable perspectives: technology readiness, religiosity and diffusion of electronic commerce, in the perspective of Muslim majority developing countries. While contributing to the field of knowledge, the study highlights the importance of technology readiness and trust in the diffusion process of electronic commerce. Looking into the moderating effect of religiosity in this regard, it underlines the unique features (completeness, universality, ever-greenness and applicability) of Islam including the moderate approach of Islam, toward technologies including e-commerce, thus boosting up electronic commerce trade.While, possessing the practical, educational and theological implications, the study will be helpful to all the stakeholders including; prospective consumers, governmental concerned authorities and e-commerce global community

EXTENDED UTAUT2 MODEL ON FACTORS INFLUENCING OF MOBILE COMMERCE ACCEPTANCE IN YANGON, MYANMAR

Today, wireless telecommunication is well designed and there is significant evidence on the critical growth of wireless technologies in developing countries including Myanmar. However, the usage of mobile services and transactions such as mobile payment, mobile wallet, electronic business are still low in Myanmar.  This research attempts to investigate the factors influencing Mobile Commerce acceptance in Yangon, Myanmar and examines the differences in acceptance level among three generation groups (Generation X, Generation Y and Generation Y). A conceptual framework was developed based on an extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) for M-Commerce, and two additional variables such as disturbance concerns and perceived trust on behavior intention on use of M-commerce.  A survey data was collected from 405 the respondents who owned the mobile phone with M-Commerce knowledge in Yangon, Myanmar by using judgmental, quota and convenience sampling methods.  The Simple and Multiple Linear Regression and One-Way ANOVA were used.   Findings indicated that the five independent factors such as performance expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, price/value, habit from technology acceptance theory positively significantly influence the behavioral intention towards MCommerce acceptance.  The two extended variables such as disturbance concerns negatively significantly, and perceived trust positively significantly influence the behavioral intention towards M-Commerce acceptance. Among significant factors, habit is the most influencing on M-Commerce acceptance and Generations such as X and Y are sensitive on trust while using M-Commerce

Developing customer positive word-of-mouth and loyalty in mobile banking services by considering the role of trust and security

The number of people involved in electronic commerce is growing. Mobile banking, which was introduced by developing mobile technology, is a newly adopted technology in electronic commerce. Mobile banking is accepted as part of the daily lives of people, but focusing on merely adopting this technology is insufficient. Managers should go far beyond to increase the number of their customers. In addition, increasing the number of customers in an online business without considering several factors is difficult. Therefore, the importance of investigating the development of customer loyalty and positive word-of-mouth (WOM) as two major concerns of online managers is remarkable. Trust and security are the two principal technical factors cited by most researchers in adopting mobile banking needs. Several studies have focused on the relationships between customers and banks through mobile technologies, but research that analyzes the formation of both concepts is scant. Hence, this paper investigates the relationship of security and trust for developing customer loyalty and positive WOM in mobile banking services. Data are collected from mobile banking users in Malaysia through questionnaires. The data are subsequently analyzed through SPSS and LISREL software. Results indicate a direct and positive relationship between security and trust in developing customer loyalty and positive WOM

THE INVESTIGATION OF THE FACTORS ASSOCIATING CONSUMERS’ TRUST IN E-COMMERCE ADOPTION

The success of electronic commerce significantly depends on providing security and privacy for its consumers’ sensitive personal information. Consumers’ lack of acceptance in electronic commerce adoption today is not merely due to the concerns on security and privacy of their personal information, but also lack of trust and reliability of web vendors. Consumers’ trust in online transactions is crucial for the continuous growth and development of electronic commerce. Since Business to Consumer (B2C) e-commerce requires the consumers to engage the technologies, the consumers face a variety of security risks. This study addressed the role of security, privacy and risk perceptions of consumers to shop online in order to establish a consensus among them. The findings provided reliability, factors analysis for the research variables and for each of the study’s research constructs, correlations as well as regression analyses for both non-online purchasers’ and online purchasers’ perspectives, and structural equation modeling (SEM) for overall model fit. The overall model was tested by AMOS 18.0 and the hypothesis, assumptions for SEM and descriptive statistics were analyzed by SPSS 12.0. The empirical results of the first study indicated that there were poor correlations existed between consumers’ perceived security and consumers’ trust as well as between consumers’ perceived privacy and consumers’ trust regarding e-commerce transactions. However, the construct of perceived privacy manifested itself primarily through perceived security and trustworthiness of web vendors. While trustworthiness of web vendors was a critical factor in explaining consumers’ trust to adopt ecommerce, it was important to pay attention to the consumers’ risk concerns on ecommerce transactions. It was found that economic incentives and institutional trust had no impact on consumers’ perceived risk. Findings from the second study indicated that perceived privacy was still to be the slight concern for consumers’ trust in e-commerce transactions, though poor vi i relationships or associations existed between perceived security and consumers’ trust, between trustworthiness of web vendors and consumers’ trust, and between perceived risk and consumers’ trust. The findings also showed that the construct of perceived privacy manifested itself primarily through perceived security and trustworthiness of web vendors. It was found that though economic incentives influenced a consumers’ perceived risk in online transactions, institutional trust had no impact on consumers’ perceived risk. Overall findings suggested that consumers’ perceived risk influenced their trust in e-commerce transactions, while the construct of perceived privacy manifested itself primarily through perceived security as well as trustworthiness of web vendors. In addition, though economic incentives had no impact on consumers’ perceived risk, institutional trust influenced a consumers’ perceived risk in online transactions. The findings also suggested that economic incentives and institutional trust had relationships or associations with consumers’ perceived privacy. The findings from this research showed that consumers’ perceived security and perceived privacy were not mainly concerned to their trust in e-commerce transactions though consumers’ perceived security and perceived privacy might slightly influence on the trustworthiness of web vendors in dealing with online store sites abroad. Furthermore, consumers’ perceptions on the trustworthiness of web vendors were also related to their perceived risks and the concern about privacy was also addressed to perceived risks. Index terms: Perceived security; perceived privacy; perceived risk; trust; consumers’ behaviour; SE