Impact of E-commerce on Consumers And Small Firms

by Zappala, Salvatore; Gray, Colin

• ISBN13: 9780754644163
• ISBN10: 0754644162
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-11-24
• Publisher: Ashgate Pub Co

Summary

This book gives a clear analysis of those factors facilitating the adoption and the use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), describing such factors at the level of both firms and consumers. Many consumers wish to keep pace with and to be informed of the services offered through the internet by businesses. The first section of the book concerns the adoption of e-commerce by small firms (and related organisational changes) and explores the efforts that firms are making to offer better quality services. Firms adopting and using eCommerce have to keep in mind not only technological and organisational aspects, but also must consider the potential users of web sites, with their own attitudes, needs, skills and fears of technologies. The second section of the book focusses on consumers' online behaviour, marketing and web skills in order to better comprehend consumer processes. The general theme explored throughout is that firms and consumers are exchanging not only money but information and trust in order to successfully complete a transaction.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors	vii
Introduction	ix
Colin Gray
Salvatore Zappala
PART I: Impact of e-Commerce on Small Firms
Stage Models of ICT Adoption in Small Firms	3	(18)
Colin Gray
Social Influence and Diffusion of Innovations in Education	21	(14)
Carlo Tomasetto
Felice Carugati
Climate for Innovation, Attitudes to Internet and ICT Adoption in Small Firms	35	(16)
Salvatore Zappala
Guido Sarchielli
Changing Leadership Cultures in e-Commerce Service Industry	51	(12)
Mikko J. Ruohonen
e-Business and Small Firms in London	63	(18)
Jane Tebbutt
The Value of Internet Forums to Small Rural Businesses	81	(20)
Robert Mochrie
Laura Galloway
David Deakins
e-Business and the Work Organization in Craft Enterprises	101	(22)
Sabine Wendt
Tatjana Grek
Lothar Lissner
PART II: Internet Marketing and Website Effectiveness
Internet Marketing and the Portuguese Marketplace	123	(16)
Rute Xavier
Francisco Costa Pereira
e-Marketing Adoption in Organizations	139	(12)
Abdel Monim Shaltoni
World Wide Markets and the World Wide Web: Problems and Possibilities for Small Businesses	151	(10)
Heather Fulford
Website Usability: Cognitive versus Activity Theory Approaches	161	(18)
Elvis Mazzoni
PART III: Impact of e-Commerce on Consumers
Consumption on the Net	179	(12)
Laura Sartori
Affective States, Purchase Intention and Perceived Risk in Online Shopping	191	(16)
Elfriede Penz
Erich M. Kirchler
Risk Perception in Online Shopping	207	(16)
Marco G. Mariani
Salvatore Zappala
The Fun Side of the Internet	223	(12)
Daniele Scarpi
Risk Perception as a Motivational Barrier for Online Purchasing	235	(14)
Annamaria Silvana de Rosa
Elena Bocci
Sara Saurini
Conclusions: Common Themes and Future Perspectives	249	(12)
Salvatore Zappala
Colin Gray
Index	261