Gender Differences in the Technology’s Classic Models in Social Network Sites

Social Network Sites (SNS) have very rapidly become part of the daily reality of Internet users in recent years. Firms also use social networks as a two-way communication with their current and potential customers. This exploratory work means to analyze if Internet users’ gender influences the behavior of using social networks. There is a reason for this. Despite Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) acceptance and use being more frequent in men, according to the previous literature, in line with different surveys on the subject, social networks are more used by women. The authors, therefore, analyze in this chapter if there are gender differences in the constructs of technology’s classic models, such as the TAM (Technology Acceptance Model) and the TPB (Theory of Planned Behavior). They use a sample of 1,460 university students.

New Perspectives on Payment Systems

The technological developments in the mobile industry during the last few years have led companies to increase the functionalities of mobile phones. According to many authors in the field, the NFC mobile payment has become one of the payment systems of the future thanks to its numerous advantages. This chapter revises the importance of this payment system within the mobile commerce strategy that many companies are adopting. The model used in the research is based on the classic variables of the technological acceptance model, together with other variables from recent studies. The results obtained in this research show the decisive impact of perceived compatibility, attitude, and subjective norms on the future intention to use this system. Finally, the authors underline the main implications for management, as well as some strategies that strengthen this new business in the context of the new technical developments.

How Can E-Vendors Create Trust in B2C and C2C Contexts?

One of the most important and the most difficult challenges in the context of an online as opposed to an offline purchase is how to generate consumer trust. It is likely that the signals that generate trust will differ in online C2C auctions from online B2C purchasing through other Websites. This chapter follows signaling theory and presents a model that attempts to capture the effects of Website signals and perceived risk on consumer trust and draws comparisons between C2C and B2C online contexts using multigroup analysis. Using information collected from a sample of online buyers, results show that vendors should stress the quality of information given to the client on C2C Websites, the offer of a wide variety of competitive prices, and the guarantee of meeting deadlines, whereas in the case of B2C sites there seem to be a series of factors that create trust in a balanced way.

New Perspectives of Mobile Payment Platform for Developing Countries

Mobile phones have become substantially more popular and sophisticated as African consumers have become remarkably comfortable with their use. This chapter shows the impact of the growing adoption of mobile payments as a financial transaction medium for money transfer, retail payments, or micropayments in Africa. Adoption was slow due to the nature of the mobile technology supporting the concept. The author shows how these innovations will continue to improve the quality of life of Africans, especially those in rural areas. He presents M-Pesa as a mobile payment system, which has had great success in Kenya. The author identifies the fundamental principles of success; thus, this enables the author to create an ECOPAY platform, which is an innovative mobile payment platform for emerging markets. The platform provides different types of m-payment like as B2C, B2B, or P2P using the mobile phone or others devices. Each transaction is secure by using encrypted messages and encrypted connections between the devices and the ECOPAY servers. The solution is based on the social and technological environment in developing countries.

Mobile Banking

For over a decade, financial institutions, driven by advances in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), have been shifting to a new business model that prioritizes new channels for managing customer relationships. These new channels, which are based on the Internet and mobile devices, offer major business and growth opportunities. This chapter looks at the current status of online and mobile banking in Spain from the perspective of both financial institutions and users and compares it to the situation in Europe at large. Following an analysis, it draws a number of conclusions regarding the future prospects of these channels and the areas offering the greatest potential for growth and profitability.

The Relationship Between E-WOM from SNS or Internet and Purchase

The main proposal of this chapter is to analyze the influence of eWOM and Internet referrals across different product types, including gender as a moderator variable. In addition, some sub-objectives that drive to the main one are the following: 1) to analyze how important are the recommendations for the buying process, in the Internet and in SNS; 2) to study the gender effect on the importance of recommendations for the buying process; and 3) to examine the role of product types in the relationship between eWOM and purchase. Results pointed out that, in general, consumers prefer recommendations collected from the Internet to those picked up from their friends in SNS, but gender moderates the importance of SNS and Internet recommendations. In addition, the percentage of online purchase is significantly higher for men than for women.

Perceived Risk in E-Commerce and the Development of Loyalty

This chapter examines the effect of Website design, the language used on the Website, and the user’s flow state while browsing on processing online information in terms of perceived security and loyalty towards the tourism service being promoted. The results underline the importance of Website design and language on perceived risk online, and of user flow state on the development of loyalty towards the tourist destination in question. It was found that user involvement with the site content is a key moderator in reducing perceived risk and increasing loyalty. In light of the findings, firms are recommended to select content for their Websites that reflect the different types of client motivation so as to make browsing more useful and appealing to users.

New Market Segmentation Paradigms and Electronic Commerce Adoption

The purpose of this chapter is to offer a better understanding of online shoppers’ behaviour, so that virtual shops may improve and adapt their product offering to effectively reach their target segments. In order to achieve this goal, a characterization of motivations to shop online is proposed as a basis for motivation-based customer segmentation. Building upon this segmentation, acceptance models—namely, an adaptation of UTAUT2 to e-commerce—have been used to look further into the purchasing behavior of each identified segment. The results from the empirical study based on responses to an online questionnaire from a sample of 718 Spanish shoppers shows seven different groups of motivations and five different customer segments, and confirms different behavioral patterns in the adoption of e-commerce for different segments of customers, with special influence of effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, and perceived risk in the online shopping behaviour of individuals.

Internet as a Sales Channel for the Agri-Food Sector

The Spanish market for organic products is notable for a supply side that offers one of the largest ranges in the world and a demand side that can only be termed symbolic. The reasons that have been given for this situation include the few and scattered points of sale, higher prices than for the conventional equivalents, and the consumers' disinformation about this product range. The Internet offers solutions to these barriers that some companies have used to facilitate online transactions in organic products. The case study presented in this chapter focuses on examining a virtual platform managed by an intermediary, not a producer, which puts producers and consumers of organic products in direct contact with each other. Making use of the Internet's advantages as a sales channel, developing a differentiation strategy based on promoting values such as the environment and sustainability, and the company's mutualist relationship with its small-scale suppliers have generated an associate and customer base that ensures the success of this business model.

Comparative Study Among New Payment Systems and New Future Trends in Mobile Payments

Over the last few years, the payment systems used in business activities have been altered by recent technological developments. Increasingly, more consumers use their mobile phones to do their purchases. Currently, sales through smartphones are an indicator of the growth potential that these new trade and payment methods have in the future society. In this chapter, the authors carry out a theoretical review of the different payment systems, from the most traditional ones to the new payment systems used on the Internet. They also analyze the different security protocols that are currently operational, with the aim of improving consumers’ trust. In this literature review, the authors extract a few implications and recommendations to management of M-Payment-based businesses.