The role of institution-based trust in initial trust formation between E-commerce buyers and sellers in the Nigerian E-commerce environment

The following is a summary of my masters degree dissertation which is a study of Nigerian attitudes with respect to E-commerce in Nigeria, It is mainly focused on trust. The full text can be read here or in the scribd window right at the end of the writeup, enjoy...


Abstract
E-commerce has been largely very successful and participation requires one to engage with whom they have little or no prior interaction, this requires trust.
The role of trust in E-commerce has been researched and written about extensively, however, most of the literature has focused mainly on developed economies and as such data and survey samples have been taken mostly from these economies. This study intends to contribute to filling that gap by researching key institutional safeguards that encourage initial trust formation between online consumers and vendors and testing them within the Nigerian online environment.
Drawing from Institution based trust literature an integrated model of institutional trust was developed. Nine institutional mechanisms influencing customer trust in e-commerce relationships were identified. They are perceived feedback, perceptions of credit card guarantees, perceptions of security, perceptions of monitoring, perceptions of legal bonds, perceptions of insurance, perceptions of accreditation, perceptions of escrow services and perceptions of third party payment services.
Nine Hypotheses were drawn based on the institutional mechanisms identified and their validity in the Nigerian online environment and an empirical study was carried out to test them. Two Nigerian banks were selected as case study debit Card issuers and data for the study was collected in Nigeria by means of survey questionnaires and semi-structured interviews of the a senior banking officers in each of the case study Debit card issuers (Nigerian Banks).
All hypotheses were confirmed. It was found that all the institutional mechanisms identified by the study influence Nigerian online users' decisions to trust in an e-commerce relationship.


Summary of results
As can be seen in Table 2.0 below, based on the results of the survey conducted in the study, all the hypotheses stated in the abstract were confirmed within the Nigerian context but to varying degrees.

Recommendations 
The results of this study suggest that Nigerian internet users are influenced to trust web vendors based on their perceptions of protections even if in reality such protection does not exist. This has strong implications for e-commerce in Nigeria, it means e-commerce web third parties have to work extra hard to make customers aware of their presence and how they protect the online customer, for e-commerce business management it implies that they need to sensitize customers and make them aware of the measures in place to assure their safety, for the Nigerian Government it implies a need for laws that are more protective of customers in cyber space and massive sensitization of these to encourage e-commerce growth.

Research Limitations 
Although the data generally supports the model that has been proposed by this study it is necessary to highlight the limitations of this study.
The two main limitations are that the sample size is smaller than has been recommended for the size of the population that is being studied and the statistical methods used were very simple. However, it is important to note that this study is primarily aimed at offering a snapshot of institutional mechanisms within the Nigerian context and as a first study is meant to open up the area for further research and with regards to that it succeeds.

Suggestions for future research
This study draws from existing literature on trust and seeks to prove that trust mechanisms exist within the Nigerian context and influence Nigerian online users to transact online. The aim of this study is to open up the study of trust in e-commerce within the context of Nigeria specifically and developing economies generally. Therefore there is need for better and more accurate research with a larger sample size, more variables and better statistical analysis.

Conclusion 
This study was able to answer the research questions posited at the first chapter in this study as it has been able to prove that theories on the role of institution-based trust in initial trust formation between buyers and sellers hold true for Nigeria. The study was also able to identify key institutional mechanisms that influence customers to transact online with Nigerian web vendors.
It was able to raise some interesting points with regards to how the perceptions of protection are stronger than the reality of the protection actually offered by institutional mechanism within the Nigerian context.
The study has made recommendations that are very useful for common web users, e-commerce management and government agencies.


Full text of Writeup below....
The Role of Institution-based Trust in Initial Trust Formation Between E-commerce Buyers and Sellers in the...

.NET Facebook SDK

Just found this on the Microsoft MSDN website, a free downloadable .net toolkit for Facebook. It looks pretty awesome.

The toolkit is comprised of the following core assemblies:

• Facebook.dll: This is the main assembly that will be used by all applications. This has all the logic to handle communication with the Facebook application. This assembly also has specific support of XAML applications (Silverlight and WPF) to enhance the Facebook platform to make databinding and data caching easier.
• Facebook.Silverlight.dll: This is the Silverlight version of the main assembly that will be used by all Silverlight applications. This has all the logic to handle communication with the Facebook application. This assembly also has specific support of XAML applications to enhance the Facebook platform to make databinding and data caching easier. The REST API in this assembly is Asynchronous only.
• Facebook.Web.dll: This assembly should be used by Canvas applications. The main functionality supported in this assembly is to encapsulate the handshake between the Facebook application and a canvas application (both FBML and IFrame)
• Facebook.Web.Mvc.dll: Provide a support building canvas applications using ASP.NET MVC. Separated from Facebook.Web.dll to avoid all developers from needing to install the MVC bits.
• Facebook.Winforms.dll: This assembly provides support for writing Facebook applications using Winform technology. This provides a Component that wraps the API to make it easier to use from Winforms. This also contains some user controls to help display Facebook data easily.

Will have a look at it soon and post my findings plus (possibly) a link to a Facebook app developed by me. :-)

Apple losing its cool factor with techies?

According to Jason Hiner of tech republic's article, Apple might be falling out of favor with techies based on  "The company’s stubborn refusal to support Adobe Flash (which wins props with some IT pros but breaks a lot of Web sites), its draconian and ambiguous review policy for the App Store, and it’s strong-arm legal tactics with HTC and Gizmodo" (u know the incident where an apple engineer forgot an iPhone prototype in a bar, was found by some guy, who sold it to a gizmodo columnist, who was later arrested and his house ransacked by police because he posted the pictures of the phone online.. phew, mouthful.).


As for me say, its about time!! they've had it coming for a long long time. I will be the first to admit that apple's products are really really cool and very well built but I have always had a problem with the way they do their business, releasing Iphones officially in only select markets,  heavy screening of iphone apps for the appstore, c'mon!!


They seriously need to think very carefully about where they intend to be in the next couple of years and how they intend to get there, the path they are currently on is the dark path, they have been warned...

Some changes to Microsoft's 2010 certifications

For its 2010 certification process, Microsoft made some changes and I am glad to say for the better, being a .net developer I will be focusing on visual studio, the visual studio certificates are

•    Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS)
•    Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD)

Now I will not go into much detail because doing so will be rehashing the Microsoft learning website, just go there to get more info.
I will be focusing on the web developer ASP.Net stream because that’s where my interest lies, if you need more info on the other streams go here.
I will answer a few FAQs based on my research so far. The FAQs are:

•    How many exams do I have to take
•    When will I be able to do the exams
•    What’s the syllabus
•    How much will it cost
•    How do I prepare

How many exams do I have to take
Good news!! No need to do the .net foundation exam otherwise known as Exam 70-536: TS: Microsoft .NET Framework, Application Development Foundation, I have always wondered the point of an exam that does not give you a certificate (can you say money making scheme).
To be an MCTS (Microsoft Certified Technologist) all you need to do is pick your flavour, and do the exam, my flavour is MCTS: .NET Framework 4, Web Applications so i’ll be doing the Exam 70-515: TS: Web Applications Development with Microsoft .NET Framework 4.
To be an MCPD (Microsoft Certified Professional Developer) all you need to do is .. yes you guessed it, pick a flavour, mine is MCPD: Web Developer 4, and do the requisite MCTS exams which for my flavour are

1. The Exam 70-515: TS: Web Applications Development with Microsoft .NET Framework 4 for the MCTS: .NET Framework 4, Web Applications
2. The Exam 70-513: TS: Windows Communication Foundation Development with Microsoft .NET Framework 4 for the MCTS: .NET Framework 4, Service Communication Applications
3. The Exam 70-516: TS: Accessing Data with Microsoft .NET Framework 4 for the MCTS: .NET Framework 4, Data Access

As well as the appropriate MCPD exam, mine is Exam 70-519: PRO: Designing and Developing Web Applications Using Microsoft .NET Framework 4

Summary of number of exams needed

• 1 exam to get any MCTS 
• 3 requisite MCTS exams + 1 MCPD exam to get an MCPD

When will I be able to do the exams
Sadly the only clues as to when the exams can be done can be found here and here . On the pages it just says “Published: July 02, 2010(In development)”, not sure but I guess that can be taken to mean the exams will be ready by July 02.
For now there’s no mention of the exams on the Prometric website (they administer all Microsoft exams), so we’ll have to wait and see.

What’s the syllabus
For Exam 70-515 Towards the MCTS: .NET Framework 4, Web Applications the syllabus is
•    Developing Web Forms Pages (19%)
•    Developing and Using Web Forms Controls (18%)
•    Implementing Client-Side Scripting and AJAX (16%)
•    Configuring and Extending a Web Application (15%)
•    Displaying and Manipulating Data (19%)
•    Developing a Web Application by Using ASP.NET MVC 2 (13%)
More info here

and for exam Exam 70-519 towards the MCPD: PRO: Designing and Developing Web Applications Using Microsoft .NET Framework 4, the syllabus is
•    Designing the Application Architecture (19%)
•    Designing the User Experience (17%)
•    Designing Data Strategies and Structures (18%)
•    Designing Security Architecture and Implementation (17%)
•    Preparing For and Investigating Application Issues (15%)
•    Designing a Deployment Strategy (14%)
More info here

How much will it cost
It’s not on the Prometric website, so no information on pricing yet. The 2008 ones cost £80 per exam

How do I prepare
For now there are no .net framework 4.0 self training kits on the Microsoft website or anywhere on the internet for that matter (or at least the part of the internet I searched). I suppose for now one will have to use a combination of the old self training kits and .net 4.0 courses on Microsoft’s channel 9

Windows Azure vs VPS vs Shared Hosting

I currently need a cloud service provider to host my website and applications, my search took me in 3 main directions
·         Microsoft windows Azure ,
·         Shared hosting service providers and
·         VPS (virtual private servers).

Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing can be loosely defined as a technology in services are provided over the internet/network to clients/users, in other words, it’s a method of computing in which the hardware producing the service is remotely located and the service is given on demand, all that’s needed from the client is a browser, internet/network connectivity and maybe a credit card to make the payments for the service rendered, just joking about the credit card bit, some cloud services are free of charge e.g. facebook, yahoomail, gmail etc yep the free internet services and websites that you know and love are actually implementations of cloud computing

Types of cloud computing

• Software as a service (SAAS), software offered as a service over the wire e.g. yahoomail.com and salesforce.com
• Infrastructure as a service (IAAS), hardware offered on demand over the internet e.g. computing power and virtual servers
• Platform as a service (PAAS): Application development environments offered on demand over the wire e.g. Microsoft azure services
• Storage as a Service, storage offered on demand over the internet

Microsoft Azure services
Microsoft Azure Services implements Platform as a server and according to Wikipedia provides an API built on REST, HTTP and XML that allows a developer to interact with the services provided by Windows Azure. A client-side managed class library is also provided that encapsulates the functions of interacting with the services. It also integrates with Microsoft Visual Studio so that it can be used as the IDE to develop and publish Azure-hosted applications
It provides a cloud operating system called Windows Azure that serves as a runtime for the applications and provides a set of services that allows development, management and hosting of applications off-premises.
Now ordinarily the thought of having the power of a thousand CPUs and infinite storage at your disposal should be dizzying to any developer but there are some important constraints to consider
 Azure is primarily created to provide a powerful application development environment, this is great, however the downside is that you don’t have loads of flexibility, you don’t get have a machine at your disposal which you can remote into and install apps on i.e. Webserver(s), SQL Server 2008 etc
There is news that Microsoft might implement IAAS, meaning developers would be able to have bare machines to work with, install software on and tweak to their hearts desire.


Pros
Great environment for running and testing your .net applications
Cloud operating system and db integrates directly with the visual studio 2010 IDE

Cons
Not suitable as a host for simple website
Can’t install any other software, plugins etc on the platform
Does not offer root access to bare machines


Shared hosting
Is a fairly common technology and can simply be described as webserver space for rent. A webserver is the combination of software and hardware that serves web pages and related services in response request made by internet users via browsers and software. It’s simple enough, for a monthly payment they (the hosting companies) host your website and other services which you provide to your website visitors, its important to note that the servers are not dedicated and a single server will host multiple customers..
The servers usually have windows server or a linux flavour (Fedora, Ubuntu) as operating system and come with many useful web development tools and DBs installed e.g. ASP.NET, IIS, SQL Server, MYSQL, Apache, Ruby on rails, Pearl etc.
It also means what affect your server cohabitants affects you, if a website on your shared server is being dos attacked, its likely going to slow the entire server down including your running apps or website. Also you still don’t get finely grained control in that you don’t have root access to the server, you can’t install software, you have to use what the service provider offers.

Pros
The websevers tend to have website and app dev tools preinstalled.
Monthly payments tend to be very low

Cons
Any attacks on a website that is sharing a server can slow down the entire server thereby slowing all other websites hosted on the server.
The is no access to the root of the server and software can’t be installed on the server by the user

Virtual private Servers (VPS)
If shared hosting is like sharing a flat with noisy neighbours, then VPS is like living in a nice house with the ability to change furniture and fittings and even add extra rooms, and it’s all yours, no sharing.
Because VPS is an implementation of IAAS you get full virtual Servers with your choice of operating system i.e windows server or linux flavours. The servers usually come loaded with web app dev tools, databases and in some cases email servers as well. In most cases you get assigned an i.p address but you can optionally request for more, additionally because you are getting a full virual server with root access, you can remote in and install whatsoever you wish and host as many websites as you want.

Pros
Root Access and ability to install anything you wish
The great flexibility and power at your finger tips

Cons
May be tough to configure and run
Quite expensive

Conclusion
After considering all the technologies above, I decided try Azure out, and if I find it useful I will consider subscribing. Microsoft is currently doing an introductory offer here that offers the following services free of charge

Windows Azure

•  25 hours of a small compute instance
•  500 MB of storage
• 10,000 storage transactions

 SQL Azure

• 1 Web Edition database (available for first 3 months only)

AppFabric

• 100,000 Access Control transactions
• 2 Service Bus connections

Data Transfers (per region)

• 500 MB in
• 500 MB out

I’ll also build a web server at home, I’ll do the following

• Download and install Microsoft server 2008 trial on my old hp laptop which I don’t use anymore (the screen is bad)
• Get a domain name(s)
• Get a personal IP from my ISP, which I can map to my websites.
• Possibly get a dynamic IP setup which allows me to host my website wherever I can find an internet connection
• Install useful web app tools and DB e.g. IIS 7, Apache, SQL Server 2008, email server (open source version) etc
• Deploy my websites/apps to my Server
• When my trial expires I will probably install a linux flavor on the server.

Should be a blast

Mono for the Iphone

While searching for a c# open source project to work on on the mono website, I found mono touch, a framework that allows .net developers to interact with the iphone dev API. meaning .net pips can design apps for the iphone and ipad, how cool is that?!!!

It can be found here, the only downside is that its not free... who said the best things in life are free..

I do not like Steve jobs' business model of select few marketing, especially with the iphone, its unbelievable that its still not been officially released in many many countries, why make a great product and restrict access to that product?? there's also the tight grip on software released for the iphone, don't even get me started on that..

Anyway the iphone is a great gadget/platform and many many .net developers (me inclusive) would love to get in on the action without having to code objective C; the iphone's dev language.

I will play around with monotouch and post findings.. wonder if there is something out there for android as well, now that's a platform i would like to sink my teeth into.. sigh

Still searching for my open source project of choice though.. will post progress on that too

Currently downloading visual studio 2010, will play around with that and post first impressions on that as well..

I love I.T

why is it that you never hear doctors talk about the amazing new stethoscope they were given, or engineers going on about the hi tech machinery the company just acquired, but developers and other i.t geeks can never stop harping on about the new release from Microsoft, oracle etc.. could it be because Info tech work is the only profession in the world that is not a job but a lifestyle?