MCom (Business Information Systems) / Department of Business Information Systems / Today, information and communication technologies (ICT) have become an integral part of humans lives more especially in business, be it those in developed or developing countries. The evolution of ICT’s has also led to the introduction of e-Commerce services. Both the public and private sectors, develop these technologies with customer satisfaction in mind. Out of all the efforts by businesses and ICT experts, e-commerce systems continue to fail because of low user acceptance and user attitude, especially in developing nations. Security issues are known to be of top most concern for online shoppers. A survey was administered to 161 respondents, to find out how cyber security affects consumer’s intentions and actual use of e-commerce systems. The study encompasses both users of e-commerce systems and non-users of e-commerce systems across Vhembe district of Limpopo Province in South Africa. A quantitative research approach was used. The findings revealed that perceived security was the main concern for non-users of e-commerce intentions to use e-commerce systems because of lack of information and lack of trust on e-commerce systems. The study also revealed that users of e-commerce systems are still concerned about security, even though they intend to continue using e-commerce systems. For the success of e-commerce in rural communities, government needs to join hands with retailers and SME’s to start awareness campaigns that will clarify how e-commerce systems work and eradicate negative perception on e-commerce systems. / NRF

PhD (Business Management) / Department of Business Management / Despite the fast pace of development within the mobile commerce industry globally, marketers in developing countries are still lagging in understanding why and how consumers participate in mobile marketing transactions. The literature reporting on mobile marketing transactions’ adoption in a South African context remains largely inconsistent and fragmented as most previous studies are based on the experience of consumers in a non-South African (and nondeveloping country) context. Therefore, this study identifies a literature gap, in that there lacks a sufficient critical mass of studies into the moderating effect of information security on consumer adoption of mobile marketing transactions in South Africa particularly among the youth who have a strong affinity for constant mobile connectivity. Furthermore, confronted with rapid changes in emerging technology, previous models of technology adoption are slowly becoming outmoded. Consequently, this study considered testing a proposed model on the predictive power of marketing-related mobile activity to help improve understanding and prognosis of the adoption of mobile marketing transactions in South Africa. Specifically, in order to render these tests robust, perceived information security was applied as a moderator variable to increase the explanatory power of the model. The objectives set out for this research were measured utilising a single cross-sectional approach, guided by the positivist paradigm. In keeping with the dictates of ensuring the highest levels of reliability and validity, a measuring instrument developed from past studies was used. Using a self-administered questionnaire, data were collected from a sample of 810 students from selected South African universities. Descriptive and multivariate statistical tests including the moderated hierarchical regression analysis were used to analyse data. The implication of the study is that it provides both marketers and policymakers with a set of controllable variables that may be manipulated to promote the adoption of mobile marketing transactions. / NRF