Impact of E-commerce on Consumers And Small Firms

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.