The role that perceived information quality has on the intention to use a computer supported collaborative work (CSCW) system in the Federal Highway Administration is the focus of this study. The purpose of this study was to examine the functional diversity of the contributors in a CSCW as a major determinant of perceived information quality. The study relied on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to propose a theoretical model which shows that perceived information quality influences perceived risk and trusting belief of the users of these systems. Both perceived risk and trusting belief shape the intention to use a computer supported collaborative work systems. This study conducted a web-based survey to validate the theoretical model. The study focused on the use of computer-supported collaborative work systems in the Federal Highway Administration. This study empirically validated the theoretical model. Scales were developed within the context of the variables (functional diversity, perceived information quality, perceived risk, trusting belief, and intention to use.) to survey discipline members at the Federal Highway Administration.The statistical results showed support for perceived information quality’s positive influence on trusting belief, perceived information quality’s negative influence on perceived risk, perceived risk’s negative influence on the intention to use a CSCW and trusting belief’s positive influence on the intention to use a CSCW. The results also showed there is no statistically significant difference in perceived information quality by functional diversity. This study concluded that the research model showed significant results to support four of the five hypotheses proposed and helped uncover key findings on how perceived information quality can be impacted. This research served as an original contribution to CSCW while working in functionally diverse teams environments.

Thesis (M.M. (Strategic Marketing))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2015. / The remarkable and apparent growth in the use of mobile technology in society is eccentric. Mobile technology brought about a swift change on how business is conducted and how individual communicate and interact. The increasing number of mobile applications available in app stores could be a challenge for developers as they will be required to stay innovative in order to acquire and maintain a competitive edge. For the mobile application businesses to succeed, owners of these applications need to know and understand their customers and their requirements to be able to meet their demands. Due to the currency of this trend, there seems to be scarcity in terms of academic literature and information intelligence for businesses on the subject. The purpose of the study is therefore to investigate the influence of systems quality, user trust and user satisfaction on purchase intention of mobile applications users in South African. A quantitative survey was conducted using a sample of 500 internet user in Gauteng Province. The survey questionnaire was designed on Qualtrics. A project manager was appointed to roll out the project that lasted two weeks. After collecting 353 responses, the survey was closed. The results were statistically analysed using the IBM SPSS to draw descriptive statistics. The construct reliability and validity was assessed by conducting Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using AMOS version 22. The model fit was also assessed by conducting path modelling. The results of the study indicated some level of significance on all the relationships. However, the results showed a very weak significance level between user satisfaction and purchase intention. In the concluding chapter, a number of recommendations are provided where it was suggested that business should invest and channel their resources towards building trust and reliance with their customers. The limitations of the study were highlighted and the chapter concluded by making suggestions for future research. Key Words: System Quality, user trust, satisfaction, purchase intension, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)

Student Number : 0063608J - MSc(Eng) dissertation - School of Electrical and Information Engineering - Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment / “You can see the computer age everywhere except in the productivity statistics”. This offhand remark by Robert Solow, the Nobel prize-winning economist [1] has stimulated many other economists to conduct more rigorous analyses on the impact of information technology on productivity. The research presented in this dissertation has been conducted on a large telecommunications utility. An important business process of the utility, that of collecting information on its geographically dispersed network assets, was automated using mobile computing and wireless technologies. The research compared this newly developed automated process with the current, manual, process of sourcing the field network asset data using paper-based templates, and capturing the data manually from the templates. The results of the pilot for this automated business process were encouraging and demonstrated an improvement of over 50% in the productivity of the data collection process, and its integrity. An important aspect of the research outlined in this dissertation was to design and implement the mobile computer-based electronic data collection prototype to minimise user obstruction to the technology deployed. The prototype was tested for technology acceptance by the targeted field workers. This test also proved successful. The research demonstrated that an improvement in productivity of over 50% was achievable from a well-considered investment in information technology. The results from the research also pointed the way for the deployment of this data collection solution in other utilities, e.g. electricity distribution, water reticulation, and municipalities. Through user prototype tests and a cultural intervention process on the targeted users (field workers), the research also demonstrated how the automated business process can be geared for use by low-skilled field workers, so important to improve productivity in developing economies such as those in Africa.

Background: A continuously growing urban population leads to congested urban areas. As a result, people are wasting time being stuck in traffic. One way of solving this problem is to use the air for moving people. Thus, companies all over the globe are working extensively on approaches for Urban Air Mobility such as air taxis. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is the identification of key determinants influencing the acceptance of air taxis from a potential user perspective. Thereby, the thesis develops the Urban Air Mobility Acceptance Model (UAMAM) as an extension of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Method: An explanatory online survey was conducted to test the hypotheses in the proposed UAMAM. Data from 321 respondents living in cities larger than one million inhabitants representing the potential target group was collected. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS SEM) was used to assess the measurement model in terms of validity and reliability and the structural model in terms of hypotheses testing and strength of relationships between proposed variables. Further, a multigroup analysis has been examined to identify significant differences among groups. Conclusion: The results show that the attitude, which is strongly influenced by the perceived usefulness, as well as subjective norm, travel cost and the personal innovativeness are key determinants affecting the users’ behavioral intention to use air taxis. Further, moderating effects of age on the relation between time saving and behavioral intention as well as on the relation between personal innovativeness and behavioral intention were identified. Additionally, moderating effects of occupational status on the relation between travel cost and behavioral intention were found.

Abstract Background: Around 45% of Swedish consumers canceled their online purchase in 2018, due to too high delivery fees and issues concerning payments. This research is focusing on e-payments by utilizing the Technology Acceptance Model 3 and its determinants perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, and how they contribute to the e-payment method decision. Additionally, the relevance of online trust and online security are examined in relation to purchasing cancellations due to trust and security issues in e-payment methods.   Purpose: The purpose of this research paper is to understand how Swedish millennial consumers’ perceptions of online security and online trust of e-payment methods effect on online purchasing cancellation. Furthermore, this paper examines how perceptions of usefulness and ease of use contribute as determinants in choosing between e-payment methods according to Swedish millennial consumers.   Method: The research is carried out in a qualitative manner by conducting a series of semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Fifteen Swedish millennials contributed to the empirical study. The gathered primary data is analyzed and then presented in chapter 4 and connected to the existing literature in chapter 5.   Conclusion: For the Swedish millennials, both online trust and online security are perceived as important determinants when evaluating whether or not the e-payment method could be used. When choosing between different e-payment methods, perceived ease of use seemed to be more important. Additionally, the decisions are made based on which e-payment method is secure, trustworthy, and easy to use. The presence of those determinants also increases perceived usefulness. When making purchases online domestically it appears that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness weight heavier. While trust and security are given more importance if the purchase is made from a foreign website.

I studien undersöks vilka faktorer som påverkar företags anpassning till m-payment. Mobiltelefonen är tätt sammanlänkad med människan i dagens samhälle. I Sydostasien sker en stor del av betalningar redan med mobiltelefonen. Mobile payment (m-payment) förväntas kunna öka integreringen av fler fenomen än bara betalningstjänster – kundrabatter och kundlojalitet är exempel på det som har nämnts i tidigare forskning. Tidigare forskning är emellertid mestadels inriktad på konsumenter, och därför riktar denna studie in sig på företag. Med hjälp av en enkät med utgångspunkt i Technology Acceptance model samt Diffusion of Innovations model undersöks ett urval om 134 företag med 32 svarande. Svaren kodades sedan i en logistisk regressionsmodell samt en kompletterande faktoranalys. Ingen av variablerna i modellen uppvisar statistisk signifikans vilket gör att resultaten från studien inte förklarar vad som påverkar företagens anpassning till m-payment. Storleken på urvalet kan nämnas som en av huvudförklaringarna till avsaknaden av signifikans. En liknande studie med ett större urval föreslås därför i framtida forskning.

Today, advances in the technological sector spurs invention toward new heights. What can be achieved today was just decades ago science fiction. Recent years, augmented reality has emerged which is explained by Kipper & Rampolla (2012, p. 1) as a technology that combines the real world with virtual objects which creates a supplement to reality. With its ability to strengthen the impressions of reality by weaving the physical and the digital world together, enables it to be used in various settings. The retail industry has been struggling as of late, with e-commerce flourishing on one hand but contrastingly classic brick-and-mortar stores foreclosing by the thousands. Thus, a technology that has the ability to combine these two channels would thus act as a mitigating force enabling customers to virtually try on their clothes or make furniture digitally appear in their living room. There are numerous possibilities with this technology, given that it can be used in different industries as well with examples from the marketing and gaming industries as the most prominent. What is evident is its ability to interact and engage, making it a usable tool for many activities. Thus, through this thesis we study if augmented reality can affect consumer engagement, and if so which attributes of it has significant positive relationships with the dimensions of consumer engagement. In this thesis, we first provide a framework in which to measure augmented reality in general settings quantitatively, through the use of attributes. These attributes consist of; Interactivity, Playfulness (Escapism & Enjoyment), Service Excellence, Aesthetics, Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness. We then hypothesize the attributes relationship with two dimensions of consumer engagement identified by Hollebeek et al. (2014); Affection and Cognitive Processing. However, Ease of Use and Service Excellence were not tested in this thesis, as a result of unsatisfactory loadings in the factor analysis. Through an online survey, 79 useful responses were collected and used in testing the hypotheses. Significant positive relationships were found for all tested attributes and Affection, and further significant positive relationships were found between Aesthetics and Perceived Usefulness with Cognitive Processing. It is our belief that this thesis further develops and solidify the current work with consumer engagement quantitively by validating the use of a known framework. Further, it adds to the literature by adopting a general definition of the concept of consumer engagement. This thesis also adds to quantitative work with augmented reality by creating and using a framework in which to study the attributes of augmented reality in a general setting, which has not been done previously. For practitioners, this thesis provides insight into which attributes of augmented reality systems should be emphasized in order to maximize consumer engagement. The thesis ends in suggestions for future research, where we call upon further testing on consumer engagement across different contexts with the use of Hollebeek et al.’s (2014) framework. Such work could lead to a universally accepted quantitative scale for measuring consumer engagement. Lastly, adopting the framework for augmented reality presented in this thesis and applying it to further contexts could yield valuable results, and further tests on Ease of Use and Service Excellence to validate their importance for consumer engagement would be of utmost interest.

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Date:                             04 June 2018 Level:                            Master Thesis in International Marketing, 15 ECTS Institution:                     School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University Authors:                       Anastasiadou, Elena                       Meier, Philip                                       (94/05/25)                            (88/03/11) Title:                              Cross-border Online Purchase Intent: An Investigation of CSR-conscious Young Adults Supervisor:                   Emilia Rovira Keywords:                   Online purchase intent, international online vendors, corporate                                      social responsibility, technology acceptance model, Ikea Research Question:     What factors affect the online purchase intent of CSR-conscious young adults buying from IOVs and how? Purpose:                       With the worldwide increasing access and usage of the Internet, cross-border shopping has emerged as an online trend, especially amongst young adults. Simultaneously, CSR-consciousness has spread rapidly around the globe. Consequently, it is this study’s purpose to gain a deeper understanding of factors influencing CSR-conscious young adults’ cross-border online purchase intent. Method:                         For the sake of reaching a deeper understanding of factors influencing online purchase intent this study applies qualitative research methods. Primary empirical data is collected via focus group interviews. In order to introduce a relatable online shopping scenario to the interviewees, the investigators present the interviewees with a case company during focus group sessions. Ikea’s online store is chosen as a case, since Ikea is a well-known IOV engaging in CSR practices. Lastly, the empirical findings are assessed by doing a thematic analysis. Conclusion:                  The conceptual model (see Figure 3. OPIM) proves to be suitable for exploring cross-border online purchase intent of CSR-conscious young adults, as each element appears to play a vital role in understanding influences on behavioural intention to purchase products or services online. With the help of the OPIM, several contributions could be made in this particular field of research. Firstly, this study uncovered a relationship between company size and CSR-conscious young adults’ trust, as part of their perceived quality. The relation is negative when investigating at the trust towards CSR promises but positive when looking at trust towards payment procedures. Secondly, non-monetary sacrifices, stemming from IOVs’ intangible nature, have a strong negative impact on the behavioural intention to purchase goods and services online, while comparing it to physical store counterparts. Thirdly, the investigators discovered how convenience and flexibility concerns lower potential customers’ perceived usefulness of IOVs. Fourthly, IOVs need to positively influence subjective norms and tailor online loyalty programs to increase potential customers’ commitment to purchase their products and services online. Lastly, this study finds that the level of satisfaction with a given online purchase is part of a mental re-evaluation process that directly influences potential future purchases.   Abbreviations:              B2B:             Business to Business Relationship                                  B2C:             Business to Consumer Relationship                                      CSR:                       Corporate Social Responsibility                                      IOV:             International Online Vendor                                      IS:                Information Systems                                       IT:                 Information Technology             OPIM: Online Purchase Intent Model            TAM:               Technology Acceptance Model