Ronald Joseph De Feo an Example of the Topic Personal Essays by

Ronald Joseph De Feo I. Name of Profile Subject This case study involves Ronald Joseph DeFeo Jr., now 57 years old but who was only 23 when he committed the heinous crime that kept him behind bars at the Green Haven Correctional Facility in Beekman, New York up to the present. His numerous appeals for parole were all rejected. Need essay sample on "Ronald Joseph De Feo" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed II. Criminal Activity and Court Charges DeFeo Jr. was convicted of 6 counts of second degree murder in December 4, 1975 at Suffolk County, New York and sentenced to six 25-year terms equivalent to 150 years in prison or essentially life imprisonment (Lowe, 2008). In the early morning of November 13, the previous year in Amityville, New York, he used his .35 caliber Marlin rifle to massacre his father, mother, two sisters and two brothers while they were all sound asleep, killing them instantly (Lowe, 2008). The youngest victim was only 7 years old. He tried to conceal the evidence of his premeditated crime and weaved a story pointing to the Mafia as the ones responsible. Later, he admitted to the crime but fabricated different stories as to why he did it i.e. because of self defense and later because he was suffering from a severe psychological disorder. He also accused the police of forcing him to wrongfully confess to the crime. III. Case History Family Background Ronald DeFeo Jr. came from a well-off family. His mothers family owned a shop dealing Buick cars where his father worked diligently until he began to earn more than enough for his family to move to Amityville, Long Island, New York where they bought heir dream house (Crime Library, 2007). Finances not being a problem, he also had a boathouse built along the Amityville River. However, Ronald DeFeo Sr. had a violent temper and often displayed episodes of rage. He and his wife, Ronnie Jr.s mother, often had intense fights and because Ronnie Jr. was the eldest child, he most often became the subject of his fathers violent outbursts or abuse as well (Crime Library, 2007). DeFeo Sr. expected from his young son the same tough and authoritative character as himself. Ronnie Jr., as a child, was fat and brooding and was often the target of bullying in school. His father often berated him to stand up for himself against the bullies but was never allowed to speak for himself in front of his father or to disobey (Crime Library, 2007). As Ronnie Jr. grew older and gained physical strength, he displayed the same temper as his father and fought back until their quarrels increased in intensity as to involve violent physical confrontations. Students Usually Tell EssayLab professionals: Who wants to write assignment for me? Essay writers suggest: Find Wonderful Papers For Sale Here Eventually disturbed at his sons behavior, DeFeo Sr. brought him to a psychiatrist but Ronnie Jr. was unresponsive to treatment. In an effort to placate him, DeFeo Sr. gave Ronnie Jr. everything that he wanted a speedboat, lots of money and a car among others. Later, Ronnie Jr. was designated a petty job at his fathers car dealership where he received a salary whether or not he performed a task or not. Mental Defects or Disorders DeFeo Jr. displayed a lot of anti-social behavior. While working in the family owned shop, Ronnie Jr. was once sent on an errand to deposit some money and checks at the bank. Together with his friend, he took the money and checks but made it appear that both of them were victims of a hold-up. He also engaged in substance abuse involving alcohol, heroin and LSD and was kicked out of high school. Once, on a hunting trip with friends, he pointed his gun at one of his friends which terrorized the person he had known for a long time. He also did the same to his father, going to the extent of pulling the trigger. Were it not for a jam in the loaded gun, he would have killed his father at that very instant. During his trial psychologists presented different diagnoses of his behavior. The defense psychologist witness confirmed that he was delusional, neurotic and psychotic and so could not take full responsibility for his crime (Crime Library, 2007). His lack of remorse and his being pleased at the deaths of his family members was the evidence of his disorder. The prosecution psychologist witness stated that he had an antisocial personality disorder instead and so was aware of what was right and wrong and the results of his actions but was primarily motivated by self centeredness (Crime Library, 2007). His cleaning up the crime scene in order to remove evidence that would implicate him pointed to this mental defect. Case Facts Overview The prosecutor who effected the conviction was Assistant District Attorney Gerry Sullivan of Suffolk County, New York while Ronald Joseph DeFeo Jr. had the renowned lawyer William Weber as his counsel. The defense tried to plead innocence by reason of insanity with Dr. Daniel Schwartz, a psychologist famous for pronouncing not a few killers as insane, as expert witness (Newsday.com, 2008). However, DeFeos own statements explicitly provided a clear motive for cleaning up the crime scene and disposing of the evidence that connected him to the act (Newsday.com, 2008). By stating that he did not want to leave clues for the police that would implicate him, Ronnie DeFeo Jr. showed that his behavior was not irrational but was in fact acted out with precise motives. The jury unanimously found him guilty of all counts. Weber, DeFeo Jr.s former lawyer, wanted a retrial this time based on the argument that DeFeo Jr. was possessed by demons, i.e. satanic voices in his head ordered him to kill. Weber together with a friend, George Lutz, conspired to create what is known as the Amityville Horror in order to bolster DeFeo Jr.s supposed demon possession which would support his appeal for innocence due to insanity (1000misspenthours.com, 2008). This would also relieve the Lutzs of the mortgage that they realized they could not afford. Lutz created a supernatural haunting nightmare that he and his wife supposedly went through in the 28 days they stayed in the former Amityville residence of the DeFeos. Various ghost and poltergeist forms are only some of the elements found in the Lutzs narration (Morello, 2008). This created such a public sensation that many books were soon written about it and movies were made based on the story. This has influenced the public to believe that DeFeo Jr. indeed committed the crime because he was possessed. Meanwhile, the retrial based on a demonic possession defense never materialized as the courts did not buy the theory (Morello, 2008). IV. Theories An explanation of Ronald DeFeo Jr.s actions can be derived from the strain theory as a sociological theory on crime causation. Because of the abusive and violent behavior of his father, his fathers domination and authority figure in his life and unsatisfied with the amount of money his father gave him, he experienced so much stress that he sought to eliminate the limitations and causes of this through murder. Another explanation is provided by another sociological theory the social learning theory. As a child, DeFeo Jr. learned violence and deception from his father who is thought to have ties with the mob. DeFeo Sr. also once burned their boathouse down in order to collect insurance. His socialization in such behaviors led him to adopt them as his own. Finally, the psychological theory known as motivational theory states that people may behave like children who, by nature, are self-centered and selfish, perennially searching for gratification but not pain and so are antisocial (Jrank.org, 2008). Ronald deFeo Jr.s previous behavior before he committed the crime attest to his penchant of petty stealing, robbing his familys business and of indulging in his vices. The motive of eliminating his family in order to claim his parents life insurance for himself, as initially posed by the prosecution in his case, can not be discounted as a possibility. List of References Crime Library (2007). The Real Amityville Horror. JRank.org (2008). Theories of Crime Causation. Lowe, E. (2008). The Horrors in Amityville. Morello, M. (2008). Still Bleeding After All These Years: The Amityville Redux.

Top 5 Less Crowded Sites to Look For Retail Jobs

Top 5 Less Crowded Sites to Look For Retail Jobs You’re looking for a job in retail and it seems that all the usual job search sites are teeming with applicants. You want to find somewhere less crowded and more focused where you can search and apply in peace for your very specific skill set. Try searching off the beaten path for your next retail job- you’ll find employers who aren’t getting absolutely inundated with responses, and you might just find your next job! 1.  All Retail JobsThis site is free, lists from over 12,000 retail employers and recruiters, and lists both management and hourly job openings. You can save search specifications and set up email notifications that match your profile.2. Work In RetailThis site can also send you real-time job recommendations as they are posted. It’s free and focuses on retail- with job postings at any level.3. Retail Careers NowThis site is free, lets you set up an account/alerts, upload your resume, and do market and salary research. Good for both browsing and searching, it highlights â€Å"featured† jobs and employers.4. Retail CrossingThis free site boasts that it’s the â€Å"largest collection of retail jobs on earth.† It displays how many new jobs were posted by week and how many total jobs are currently available to search, and lets you preview your search by job type. You can also upload your resume and get some good general retail career information by browsing through.5. Retail Jobs WebAnother free site, much like the others, this one  very easily lets you search not only by position type but also by industry, or state, or full-time/part-time. You can even search by company, if you already have one in mind.

Drug policies in Saudi Arabia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Drug policies in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example It is also assumed that the situation related to the drug abuse in Saudi Arabia is still not at such an alarming level, it means that the drug related situation can be controlled and the country can be lead to a safer side. But apart from this some drug related problems are there which should be managed in order to make the country safer and secure. Some reports mentioned that there was a rising abuse of the drugs named as heroin as well as cocaine. The use of these drugs are no doubt increasing day by day and making many problems for the country, people due to many problems and due to many reasons are going towards a wrong direction and are being addicted to wrong things and means. Due to many reasons like family problems, routine stress, office based problems, employment problems and many other of problems people usually go in a wrong direction and thus ruin their lives. As mentioned above that around 36% to 37% people got admitted every year, out of this percentage majority are th e students or the young people who by following wrong means and ways ruin their lives and thus get addicted to drugs and in the end they have no other option to live. People after being addicted to drugs usually think that life is only to have drugs and to ruin our life; this is not a correct or the right way to think. People should try to think than what so ever they are doing is not a correct way and they should not ruin their lives. Young people usually get addicted to drugs and there is an increasing ratio which shows that young people, college people and the university people are those who are going to these activities and are also making their life worse and worse. As mentioned above there are many reasons due to which people get addicted to the drugs. These problems should be resolve in order to make each and every life better and better so that every one can live easily with full zeal and zest and can also make their life

Leadership Style Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Leadership Style - Term Paper Example He is an American-born hip hop star who established his own music production company in 1993 in New York City. Sean Combs is known for growing and mentoring artists such as Mary J. Blige and more in his company, Bad Boy Entertainment (Clifford, 2014). In this case, Sean Combs is portrayed as a charismatic leader because he inspires artists and motivates them to progress in their singing careers. At Howard University, Combs reveals his love for business practices when he holds entertainment activities in order to get monetary returns. His company, Bad Boy Entertainment, made billions of money in the late 1990’s as he sold his music recordings across the world. He portrays entrepreneurial success due to traits such as courage, intelligence and persuasiveness. Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was raised in a middle class family in Harlem, New York. He shows his determination to achieve global change by educating the youth. In his messages, he states that the youth should be given opportunities to pursue their dreams so that they can become the CEOs in the future (Clifford, 2014). According to Neider, (2002), the great man theory states that great leaders are born, but, not made. These theories can be used to analyze Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs since he seems to have possessed some leadership qualities from birth. The theories portray leaders as heroic and with strong personalities. Today, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a successful leader particularly, in his multi- billion company, Bad Boys Entertainment (Clifford, 2014). Although, he comes from a poor background, he seems to have been destined to rise in leadership even before he was born because he has established wide range of businesses and initiatives that have registered great success. He has established businesses, which deal with music recording, publishing, as well as, film and television production. He seems to be more of a charismatic leader because he is gifted and intelligent both in

Lincoln-Douglas Debates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lincoln-Douglas Debates - Essay Example He also insisted that he would be happy to abolish slave trade and slavery â€Å"I should be exceedingly glad to see slavery abolished in the District of Columbia.† His lack of support for the slavery was however not that passionate and he would not put in personal effort to see it end unless Congress as a whole made that decision based on the power the constitution had accorded them. He made this position very clear in his speech when he said â€Å"†¦I should not with my present views be in favor of endeavoring to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia†¦ (Henretta and Kevin 333)† His position on slavery was legal as he based everything on the constitution. This is evident for example when he said that he would abolish slavery because he was a member of the Congress and the Congress had the constitutional power to abolish it through changing or amending the slavery laws that were currently present. He also gave a number of legal conditions in which he would abolish slavery including if the majority of the voters in the District of Columbia voted for it to be abolished and also if the owners of those slaves were to be compensated for having to part with their slaves who were their laborers. An individual watching this speech would expect that once Lincoln becomes the president, he would honor his words by using his constitutional power to abolish slavery or influence the Congress to amend the constitution and especially the clauses that allow slavery as a way to abolish slavery. These expectations are based on the fact that Lincoln was a man who knew law very well and followed it to the letter and he was also a man of actions and especially when it is something he desired. If his desires were therefore on abolishing slavery, he would have made that happen as soon as he became president. His desires to abolish slavery

What Can We Expect From Input Enhancement?

What Can We Expect From Input Enhancement? Introduction Today, it is generally accepted that target grammatical form of L2 (second language) must be noticed to make acquisition happens and that SLA (second language acquisition) instruction must be integrated into language teaching by which the grammatical forms are presented to learners in meaningful context. IE (Input Enhancement), coined by Sharwood Smith (1991), is a deliberate manipulation to make specific grammatical features of L2 more salient. First of foremost, this technique underscores the fundamental role of input in language teaching. Likewise, the purpose of IE is to draw learners attention to target linguistic form in L2 input. According to Sharwood Smith (1991), learners could be led to noticing target form in two ways: Input Flood (IF) and Textual Enhancement (TE). Through IF, Sharwood Smith (1991) demonstrated the basic idea that the more frequent the exemplars of the target form appear in the input, the more likely the learners will notice the form. In other words, IF manipulates input by saturating L2 linguistic data with target form to draw learners attention. On the other hand, TE is a technique of manipulating the typographical features of a written text to increase the perceptual salience of target grammatical form. The typographical cues such as changing the font style, enlarging the character size, underlining, bolding, capitalizing, and highlighting with colours could be used. However, the question underpins the concept of IE is: Is it sufficient by exposing L2 manipulated input to learners? This question leads to further investigation as learners might not necessary parse the linguistic structure or make form-meaning connection. Therefore, a more specific question emerges: How effective is IE? Based on above discussion, this essay will argue that IE plays facilitative role in L2 learning. The purpose of this essay is to depict what aspects of IE could be fruitfully applied to design a language teaching activity. Review on the key empirical studies of IE will be presented in this essay. Throughout, advantages and limitations of IE will be identified within theoretical frameworks which underpin the stance. Then, we will describe how to overcome the shortfalls of IE by integrating IE with other interventions into classroom language teaching. Finally, IE implications and limitation on language teaching will be reiterated as conclusion. Before discussing the findings and implication of IE, we will first examine several input and noticing issues in SLA field. Input and Noticing Issues in SLA Research Wong (2005) defines of input as samples of language that learners are exposed to in a communicative context or setting (Wong, 2005:119). At the same time, VanPatten (2003) describes input as the language that a learner hears (or reads) that has some kind of communicative intent (VanPatten, 2003: 25). It is clearly to note that both definitions emphasise the terms of communicative. As claimed by VanPatten (2003), learners play communicative role to extract the meaning encoded in the meaning-bearing utterance or sentence. Through these interpretations, we could come to a understanding that L2 learning process engages learners as active participants in a communicative language classroom when they are exposed to L2 input. Despite of communicative value of input, it is generally agreed that input is prerequisite for L2 acquisition. However, there is a need to explore whether manipulation is essential to mediate input into intake. Perceivably, the distinction between input and intake has been drawn in SLA literature. For example, Sharwood Smith (1993) defines input as the potentially processable language data which are made available by chance or by design, to the language learner whereas intake as that part of input that has actually been processed and turned to knowledge of some kind (pp.167). This interpretation leads to ongoing debate about the role of consciousness and unconsciousness mechanism in learning process. Despite extensive research, it still remains controversial as to what type of cognitive mechanism is necessary for acquisition to occur (Svalberg, 2007: 289). Firstly, Krashen (1982) draws a distinction between learning and acquisition. Learning is the result of conscious process whereas acquisition is the product of subconscious process. According to Krashens (1982) strong Input Hypothesis, acquisition takes place when learners are exposed to comprehensible input which is a step more advanced than their current proficiency level. This perception not only implies that input is prerequisite for acquisition process, subconscious process also plays superior role compared to conscious process. In such a case, grammar instruction plays no role in L2 acquisition (Krashen, 1982). Comprehensible Input Hypothesis has thus provokes considerable debate in SLA domain. Among the researchers, Schmidt (1990), contrary to Krashens (1982) hypothesis, postulates that conscious awareness is crucial and necessary for L2 acquisition (p.27). According to Schmidt (1995: 20), only input noticed by learners will be mediated into intake. In contrast, disagree with Schmidts (1990) strong Noticing Hypothesis, Tomlin Villa (1994) posit that unconscious detection is the key process whereas conscious awareness only play facilitative role in L2 learning. Schmidt (1990) outlines six factors influencing noticing when learners process the input, including perceptual saliency of input, frequency of input, instruction, task demands, readiness of learner and processing capacity of learner. During the ongoing debates between the two positions, Sharwood Smith (1993) proposes IE techniques which are linked to Schmidts Noticing Hypothesis. IE techniques emphasise on the qualities of input, namely TE (related to input saliency) and IF (related to input frequency). Hereby, we could claim that the rationale for Sharwood Smiths (1993) IE is driven by Schmidts (1990, 1995) Noticing Hypothesis. That is, Noticing Hypothesis is the theoretical basis for IE. From this point, the debate has indubitably shifted away from general question of Is noticing necessary? to more specific questions of How noticing influence the learning outcome? and How intervention facilitate constrained grammar acquisition process? However, before we claim that IE is efficacy to facilitate L2 acquisition, we need to examine major empirical evidences in SLA research to justify our view on Sharwood Smiths notion. 2 Empirical Evidence of IE As mentioned before, the underpinning theoretical framework for IE is Schmidts (1990, 1995) Noticing Hypothesis. Although Noticing Hypothesis remains controversial, linguists (e.g. Alanen, 1995; Lee, 2002; Shook, 1994; White, 1998; Wong, 2001) has accumulated evidence over the last decade due to its important role in shedding light on how salient input can contribute to the acquisition of L2 target form. In this section, we will discuss the advantages and limitations of IE by reviewing empirical SLA studies on IF and TE. Various perspective of effectiveness such as degree of noticing, intake of forms, accurate production of forms and content comprehension will be examined along the discussion. Input Flood Empirical Evidence: Input Flood has positive effects Lee (2002) investigated the effects of input frequency on the incidental acquisition of Spanish future tense morphology. The subjects were 283 university students with different L1 backgrounds. The frequency of target form appeared in the input passages were 6, 10 and 16 exposures. In immediate post-test, he found frequency has positive effects on the comprehension and intake. In both immediate and delayed post-tests, 16F group outperformed 10F and 6F group significantly. White (1998) investigated the comparison effects of IF and TE on the acquisition of English possessive determiners (PD). 86 French children were divided into 3 treatment groups: textual enhanced input flood (IF-TE group), textual enhanced input flood plus extensive reading and listening (IF-TE+ group) and input flood without enhancement (IF group). In oral picture description task, all subjects experienced improvement. For the frequency of grammatical use, IF-TE+ significantly outperformed the IF-TE and IF group. However, there is no significant difference between IF-TE group and IF group. Empirical Evidence: Input flood has limited effects Trahey White (1993) investigated the effects of IF (positive evidence) on the acquisition of English adverb placement. Subjects were divided into 3 groups: IF group was given flooded positive evidence; IF-EI (A) group received flooded positive evidence and explicit instruction; IF-EI (Q) group received explicit instruction on question formation. They found IF group and IF-EI (A) group performed significantly better than IF-EI (Q) group on using correct word order. However, the results also revealed that IF group and IF-EI (Q) group used incorrect word order more than the IF-EI (A) group. Williams Evans (1998) examined the effects of IF (positive evidence) and explicit instruction on two English target forms: participial adjectives and the passive construction. The university students were divided into 3 groups: IF group received IF with no explicit instruction; IF-EI group received IF and explicit instruction on the forms, rules instruction and corrective feedback; and control group. For the participial adjective, both IF and IF-EI groups showed improvement. However, IF-EI group had significant higher score than IF group. This suggested that explicit instruction had greater effects than IF on this form. For the passive construction, both IF-EI and IF groups made greater improvement than the control group. However, there was no significant difference between IF-EI and IF groups. This suggested that explicit instruction has no greater effect than IF on this target form. Advantages of Input Flood Firstly, Sharwood Smith (1993, 2006) claims that the main purpose of IE is to enforce noticing. Studies show that IF increases learners attention on target forms without any explicit guidance. This incidental-driven technique provides linguistic materials that are essential for learning problem solution (Doughty William, 1998: 236). This statement is validated by Lees (2002) and Whites (1998) study. The findings supports the basic idea of IF that the more exemplars in a flood the better. Secondly, IF enhances content comprehension. The major advantage of IF is that it provides a lot of meaning-bearing input (Wong 2005: 42). With the availability of meaning-bearing input, learners are provided opportunities to capture the meaning embedded in words, syntax or morphology. In both immediate and delayed post-test, Lee (2002) found that input frequency has significant positive effects on the comprehension. Thus it could be noticed that through the exemplar-based and implicit learning method, learners could perform form-meaning connection and manage to penetrate the meaning of the message. Thirdly, IF fosters the intake of the target form. Lees (2002) study reported 16F group outperformed 10F and 6F group significantly in post-test. For recall task, 16F and 10F groups performed significantly better than 6F group. Results of oral picture description task in Whites (1998) study also revealed that all subjects experienced improvement in the use of English PD. However, there was no significant difference between IF-TE group and IF group, indicating that IF alone was sufficient to bring improvement whereas TE played no significant role on the correct use of the target form. Limitation of Input Flood First of all, studies reported that IF is a volatile technique. Findings from Williams Evans (1998) study suggested that forms did not behaviour uniformly in IF technique. Different form types can weaken or strengthen the effect of IF through their mutual interaction, as well as the interaction with other variables such as task requirement, individual differences, content complexity, and pragmatic information in the context (Han, Park Combs, 2008). Thus further investigation on how to eliminate or reduce the effect of the variables when using IF is worthwhile. Secondly, IF does not provide negative evidence. Trahey Whites (1993) study revealed the limitation of IF that the flood was not effective in helping learners to be aware of impossible positions or incorrect grammar (Wong, 2005) and explicit instruction such as negative evidence might be necessary. This situation was also demonstrated in White (1998) study, as subjects frequency use of English PD was increased by TE, but both IF and TE did not have help learners to use the grammatical form correctly. That is, no significant difference was found for the accuracy ratio between IF group, IF-TE group and IF-TE plus extensive reading and listening group. However, when measuring the frequency of grammatical use, IF-TE plus extensive reading and listening group significantly outperformed the IF-TE and IF group. These findings suggest that comprehensible input might be more effective than IE in the acquisition of English PD agreement rules. Again, this issue still remains controversial and is worth further investigation as Krashens Comprehensible Input Hypothesis is refuted by mostly SLA researchers. Nevertheless, this phenomenon might be explained by the statement that comprehension precedes production (Lightbown et al, 2002; Krashen, 1982). Wong (2005: 94) cautions that acquisition is slow and complex hence we could not expect learners to use target form correctly immediately after IE treatment. Thirdly, Input Flood is an implicit technique where no effort is done to direct learners to the embedded forms in the input (Wong, 2005). Whites (1998) study reported that a third of learners were confused about the purpose of the textual enhancement. The textually enhanced input failed to help the learners to figure out the English PD agreement rule. As seen from empirical evidence, IF is an easy-to-use technique. It could be modified and incorporated easily in the classrooms to emphasize specific target form (Cowan, 2008). However, IF imposes some limitations on language teaching pedagogy which is not as effective as other focus-on-form activities. The discussion of how to apply this technique in language teaching will be demonstrated in next section of this essay. Textual Enhancement Like IF, SLA studies on TE also report mixed results. Researchers found that TE has positive effects, has partial effects, and has no effect on L2 acquisition of grammatical features. While Leow (2001) and Leow at al. (2003) have only manipulated the input by TE as an independent variable, the other studies investigated effects of TE in the combination with other intervention . Empirical Evidence: Textual enhancement has positive effects Studies conducted by Jourdenais et al. (1995), Shook (1994), Wong (2001) revealed that TE had not only helps learners to notice the target forms in input, but it is also very effective for enhancing learners intake new grammatical forms. Shook (1994) investigated the effects of TE on Spanish present perfect tense and relative pronouns (quen/quein). The subjects were 125 university students. The results revealed that the two experimental groups who received the passages with TE performed significantly better than the control group in all tests. However, there was no significant difference between TE group and TE plus focus on form group, revealing that focus on form information played no role in L2 acquisition. Jourdenais et al.s (1995) investigated the effects of TE on the acquisition of Spanish preterite and imperfect past tense forms. Both enhanced and unenhanced versions came with pictures depicting the events of the story. Think-aloud protocols and a picture-based written narration task were used to collect data. Results indicated that TE increased noticing of target L2 form and had a significant positive effect on learners output. Empirical Evidence: Textual enhancement has limited effects Alanen (1995) examined the effects of TE and explicit information on the acquisition of semi-artificial Finnish locative suffixes and consonant changes. 36 English subjects were divided into 4 groups: unenhanced passages (UE group), unenhanced passages plus explicit information (UE-EI group), enhanced passages (TE group) and enhanced passages plus explicit information (TE-EI group). On the sentence completion test, TE group performed better than UE group. However, Alanen (1995) found that both EI groups performed significantly better than non-EI groups on both target forms. The result, contradict with Shooks (1994) study, indicated that explicit grammar instruction had greater positive impact than TE. Results from Whites (1998) study, discussed in the previous section of IF, revealed that TE increased the grammatical use of possessive determiners. However, its impact was not as significant as IF which brought greater improvement. White (1998) concluded that benefits resulting from the experimental treatment conditions were due to increased exposure through IF of target forms and not to any other kinds of enhancement (White, 1998: 103). This claim means IF is the only effective tool to enhance L2 acquisition in her study is. Izumi (2002) investigated the comparative effects of TE and output on the acquisition of English relative clause. Subjects were 61 adults with different L1 backgrounds. Explicit information was given to the subjects to attend to the highlighted form. The results found that output-input task brought measurable gains in target form acquisition. Those who received TE treatment failed to show significant gains in acquisition. Wong (2001) examined the effects of TE, simplified input and exposure to reading on the acquisition of French gender agreement of past participles. 81 English university learners were respectively exposed to four conditions: enhanced and simplified passages (TE-S group), enhanced and unsimplified passages (TE-US group), unenhanced and simplified passages (UE-S group), and unenhanced and unsimplified passages (UE-US group). It is found that TE and simplification had no significant effects on the intake of the target forms. However, TE had significant positive effects on the content comprehension. Empirical Evidence: Textual Enhancement has no (or negative) effects In Leows (1997) study the effects of textual length and TE were examined. 84 college learners were divided into 4 groups and were accordingly given an unenhanced long passage, an unenhanced short passage, an enhanced long passage and an enhanced short passage. Results revealed that TE has no effects on either comprehension or intake of the targeted form. Shorter text length improved comprehension but not the intake. Overstreet (1998) replicated Jourdenais et al.s (1995) study and found negative effects of TE. He combined two factors, namely TE (bolded, underlined, increased font size, different font types and shadowed) and topic familiarity on the acquisition of Spanish preterite and imperfect past tense forms. 50 university learners were given one story each, either enhanced or unenhanced. Neither factor significantly affected learners intake. Moreover, Overstreet (1998) found that TE negatively affected comprehension, mainly due to numerous types of enhancements (Lee Benati, 2007: 25). Leow (2001), after a few years of his study in 1997, conducted another study to investigate effect of TE on the acquisition and comprehension of Spanish formal imperative. He did not apply other invention but only TE in this study. The results once again revealed TE has no effects on intake and comprehension. Leow et al. (2003) examined the effects of TE on the acquisition of Spanish present perfect tense and present subjunctive mood. 72 university learners were divided into two groups. One group was given 2 enhanced passages and another group was given 2 unenhanced passages. Results showed that although subjects noticed the target forms when reading, TE did not enhance the intake of the target forms. S.Lee (2007), similar to Overstreets (1998) study, examined the effects of TE ( ±TE) and topic familiarity ( ±F) on English passive construction. 259 Korean subjects were divided to 4 groups: +E/+F group, -E/-F group, -E/+F group and +E/à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢F group. The results revealed that TE was beneficial for the intake of target form, but interestingly, negatively affected the comprehension. Advantages and Limitations of TE Some of above studies demonstrated that TE has significant impact on SLA, either in positive or negative ways. First of all, TE increases noticing. This technique offers more salient target form in written input that learners may easily miss (Wong, 2005: 49). Jourdenais et al. (1995) stated that typographical modification can be used as an effective technique for enhancing salience of language features (Jourdenais et al., 1995: 208). As evidence, both Leow et al. (2003) and Jourdenais et al. (1995) used think aloud protocols and reported that subjects noticed the typographically enhanced target forms when reading. Second, TE is effective to enhance intake of forms. For example, Alanen (1995)s study reported that TE group performed better than UE group in sentence completion test. This indicates the positive role of TE on the acquisition of L2 grammar. Jourdenais et al. (1995) also reported that TE had a significant effect on learners output. By contrast, TE failed to demonstrate positive impact on learners comprehension and intake in Leows (1997, 2001) and Overstreets (1998) studies. These studies demonstrated that implicit noticing is not as effective as explicit instruction and that, clearly, learners needed more help than the input provided (White, 1998: 102). Also, although subjects in both Leow et al.s (2003) and Jourdenais et al.s (1995) studies noticed the enhanced target forms, they performed differently in production. Jourdenais et al. (1995) found positive effect of TE on the intake of the target forms whereas Leow et al. (2003) reported that TE did not enhance the intake of the target forms. In addition, Izumi (2002) found that subjects who received TE treatment failed to show significant gains in acquisition, despite the positive impact on the noticing of the target form. More interestingly, output played significant role in his study. These findings are contradicted to Ellis (1997) claim that TE is effective to induce learners to undertake a kind of form function analysis of the structure, as this is exemplified in input that has been specially contrived to illustrate it (Ellis, 1997: 87). Therefore Polio (2007) states that Sharwood Smiths focus was what had been done to the input, rather than what happened in learners mind (Polio, 2007, cited in Gass Selinker, 2008: 388). However, this notion is inaccurate that Sharwood Smith (1991, 1993) has alerted that we should not rely solely on TE to increase learners attention. Noticing triggered artificially by TE might not result in intake. Although learners may notice the signals, the input may nevertheless be non-salient to their learning mechanism (Sharwood Smith, 1991: 21). As Ellis (1997) describes the use of TE focuses learners attention on specific linguistic features and assists them to encode the meaning embedded in the features, it is suggested here that TE should be integrated with other interventions for better result. Third, TE enhances comprehension. In Wong (2001)s study, TE had significant positive effects on the content comprehension, namely it enhanced the recall of the idea units that corresponded to the target forms. However, evidence from Overstreets (1998) and S.Lees (2007) studies suggested TE distracted learners attention from meaning. The results indicated that TE has negatively affected learners comprehension on the content of the passages. In spite of increasing evidence suggesting that TE can promote noticing of certain linguistic features, it remains a matter a debate whether or not it has simultaneously created a trade-off between intake and comprehension (Han, Park Combs, 2008). Also, Simard (2009) cautioned that selection and combination of different typographical cues lead to different impacts on the intakes. His study reported that the use of capital letters and a combination of 3 typographical cues promote the intake of the forms. Overstreets (1998) use of numerous types of typographical cues might lead to distraction and confusion thus did not enhance the acquisition. Therefore, in order to ensure the quality of instructional material, language teachers should select cues carefully. Fourth, TE is a volatile and changeable technique. In other words, external variables may affect the effectiveness of TE. For example, with no prior knowledge about the target forms, the technique is not beneficial to learners (e.g. Leow, 1997, 2001; Leow et al. 2003). Alanens (1995) study also reported that TE had different effects on different target grammatical forms. Age and puberty are other factors that might mitigate the effects of TE. In Whites (1998) study, the children who are still developing their L2 may have encountered a cognitive overload problem (Doughty William, 1998) and therefore constrained the learning process. Clearly, conflicting results on the impact of IE on acquisition, whether positive, limited or negative, are noticeable from previous studies. Several questions emerged subsequently from the review: are these mixed results attributed to different methodological designs that provide learners different degree of input quality and quantity? Or is it due to different grammatical forms targeted in different studies? If so, does this mean that different target forms are vulnerable variable that correspond to IE techniques in different ways? These insights are meaningful and important for the implication of IE in language pedagogy and will be discussed in following section. 3 Pedagogical Implications Nowadays it is common for language teachers to use IE techniques to enhance specific features of L2 in order to draw learners attention to target linguistic aspects. Although IE does not provide full and consistent picture to SLA pedagogy, it offers valuable information on how to deliberately draw learners attention to target forms. As shown, uncertainties still exist on the facilitative role of IF and TE in SLA research. The debate on Noticing Hypothesis still remains open while previous studies failed to show conclusive and consistent results on IE effectiveness. However, fortunately, the field has moved from the debate on the necessity of conscious noticing to the mixed results of IE efficacy. That is, the theoretical development has now provided a clearer window to take a glimpse and imply IE techniques more effectively to language pedagogy with underpinning SLA issues. In contrast with UG, IE is a sub-field of cognitive models which emphasis on how learners process and decode the input. It should be borne in mind that noticing triggered artificially by IE might not result in intake. This implies that one cannot be assured if the enhanced input will become comprehensible and that the effects of IE vary from case to case. In terms of Input Hypothesis (Krashen, 1982), we argues that input play roles in L2 acquisition with the aids of noticing. As stated by Wong (2005), once target form is noticed, learners need to make form-meaning connection to encode underlies linguistic rules correctly (p.90-91). This notion is in line with VanPattens (1996, 2003) input processing theory where intake is equalised to form-meaning connection. Thus IE and other focus on forms tasks such as processing instruction (VanPatten, 1996, 2003) and consciousness-raising tasks might be combined in language teaching for better results. Also, it is reckoned that output tasks might be integrated into SLA instruction when applying IE concept. Long (1996) distinguishes two types of input: positive evidence and negative evidence. In coherence with Longs notion, Sharwood Smith (1993) proposed both positive and negative IE techniques. IE and TE are positive IE whereas negative IE is basically feedback or negative evidence. When there is a gap between learners perception of L2 grammar and evidence in the input, then positive evidence (input) may triggers to change the grammar (Sharwood Smith, 1991: 122-123). On the other hand, when learners are being confronted with their own production (output), negative IE signals that given forms are incorrect, thus warns learners that they have violated the grammatical rules (Sharwood Smith, 1993: 177). This notion implies that IE approach not only adopts Schmidts Noticing Hypothesis as major foundation, but has also implies Longs Interaction Hypothesis as well as Swains (1995) Output Hypothesis. Apparently, Sharwood Smith proposal of negative evidence has been generally neglected by SLA researchers. Therefore, it would be beneficial if language teachers reckon that input (positive evidence) and output (negative evidence) are both important to promote acquisition with the aid of noticing. Particularly, Ellis (1997: 109) asserts that comprehensible input is derived from both input and interactional (output) modifications makes specific linguistic features more salient and facilitates the development of L2. Negotiate for meaning is thus beneficial to promote acquisition. It directs learners attention to focus on the form that initially caused understanding problems and also helps learners to modify their interlanguage production whenever the gap is being identified (Long, 1983; Pica, 1992). Likewise, Wong (2005) suggested that input should not be one-way instruction, namely simply giving input to L2 learners. Learners may be instructed to respond to the input through activities such as quiz, answering questions, story reconstructing, drawing based on oral directions and games. Hereby, interaction has been stressed in order to make the IF more meaningful to the learners. As pointed out by Wong (2005: 46, 60-61), instructors must always keep meaning communication as primary goal of language in attempts of enhancing the input. Attending to both meaning and form is important to make form-meaning connections possible. By this way, respond to the input is a crucial compartment for language learning. This insight is compatible to Ellis (1997) claim that input-based interpretation grammar instruction mediates input into intake. Accordingly, Lee VanPattens (1995: 51) proposal to use learners and classroom setting for language teaching could be combined with IE in a communicative language classroom. Instructors might integrate grammar teaching into authentic context. For example, input could be presented to learners through IF visually and verbally in a natural classroom setting. It will be beneficial if simple scenarios could be constructed. In addition, name of learners could be addressed in the sentence to promote further noticing, such as below: à §Ã… ½Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ ¨Ã… ½Ã¢â‚¬ °Ãƒ ¦Ã…  Ã…  Ãƒ ©- ¨Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ³Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã…  Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ Mary BA door close up. à ¥Ã‚ ¤Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ Ã‚ «Ãƒ ¦Ã…  Ã…  Ãƒ ©Ã… ¾Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ­Ã‚ Ãƒ §Ã‚ ©Ã‚ ¿Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã…  Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ David BA shoes put on. à §Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¦Ãƒ §Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ °Ãƒ ¦Ã…  Ã…  Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ ¤Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ­Ã‚ Ãƒ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ã‚ ¿Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ John BA chair move away.

Procrastination :: essays research papers

Procrastination Procrastination is a universal everyday phenomenon that can seem little more than clich‚, a small-talk joke or boast or complaint; we all do it, after all. Yet a newly reported survey of students at a large urban university in the U. S. is probably typical in that a majority (52%) of the students claimed a high or moderate need for assistance with regard to procrastination which is more than any other area of concern (www.info.wlu.ca). There are a great many causes to the addiction to this thing called procrastination. There are many underlying issues and causes of procrastination. Lack of relevance and interest are two of the most common causes. While perfectionism (having extremely high standards which are almost unreachable) is another. Evaluation anxiety, ambiguity, fear of failure and self-doubt, fear of success, inability to handle the task, lack of information needed to complete the task, environmental conditions, physical conditions, and anxiety over expectations that others have of you, are all very serious causes of procrastination. Poor time management is a great cause of procrastination. Procrastination means not managing time wisely. You may be uncertain of you priorities, goals and objectives. You may also be overwhelmed with the task. As a result, you keep putting off your academic assignments for a later date, or spending a great deal of time with your friends and social activities, or worrying about you upcoming examination, class project and papers rather than completing them. There are quite a few people that have difficulty concentrating. When you sit at your desk you find yourself daydreaming, staring into space, looking at pictures of your boyfriend/girlfriend, etc., instead of doing the task. Your environment is distracting and noisy. You keep running back and forth for equipment such as pencils, erasers, dictionary, etc.(www.wings.buffalo.edu/student-life/ccenter/Stress/procras.bro). Your desk is cluttered and unorganized and sometimes you sit or lay on your bed to study or do your assignments. You probably notice that all of the examples that you just read promote time wasting and frustration. Our behavioral patterns are another cause of procrastination. Getting started on an unpleasant of difficult task may seem impossible. Procrastination is likened to the physics concept of inertia - a mass at rest tends to stay at rest

Ifc Survey Report in Ghana

IFC Survey Reports Expansion of Ghana’s Leasing Market WEBWIRE – Thursday, August 30, 2007 IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, today released the findings of its second annual survey of Ghana’s leasing market. The results show that the number of new leases issued in the country grew from 311 in 2005 to 536 at the end of 2006 – an increase of 72 percent. The total lease portfolio represented by gross lease receivables by the sector also increased by over 73 percent from $29. million in 2005 to $51. 3 million in 2006. The report notes a significant increase in the number of leasing providers, from seven in 2005 to 12 in 2007, with many banking institutions entering the sector. The Leasing in Ghana 2007 report represents the most comprehensive survey of Ghana’s leasing market to date. It highlights major developments in the leasing industry in 2006 and makes recommendations for further improvements in the policy, regulatory, and tax environments tha t govern the sector. The report was compiled by the SECO IFC Leasing Program, a project that seeks to enhance the role of leasing as an alternative financing mechanism for businesses in Ghana. Launching the report, Taba Cookey, SECO IFC Leasing Program Manager, said, â€Å"IFC is committed to supporting efforts that deepen Ghana’s financial sector and expand access to finance for the private sector. The 2007 survey provides strong evidence that the leasing sector is playing an increasingly important role in financing the needs of private businesses in Ghana. Philippe Sas, Economic Advisor at SECO, said, â€Å"Leasing is important, because it benefits mostly small and medium enterprises that generally cannot access financing from banking institutions. It makes it easier for these businesses to acquire capital equipment even when they lack the credit history or sufficient collateral to access traditional forms of financing. † Speaking at the launch, Dela Selormey, Head of Banking Supervision at the Bank of Ghana, commended the development of the leasing sector and outlined various efforts by the bank to support further growth of the financial sector. Worldwide, leasing has demonstrated the ability to increase investment in capital equipment. Leasing plays an important role in economic development. For example, it is reported that every 8 to 9 percent growth in leasing activities leads to a corresponding 1 percent average growth in a country’s GDP. In developed countries, leasing is used to finance about one-third of private investments.

E Payment

Chapter 1. Introduction 1. 1 Electronic payment systems and their place in electronic commerce 1. 1. 1 E-commerce and electronic payment systems 1. 1. 2 Limitations of traditional payment systems in the context of online payments 1. 1. 3 The need for new payment systems designed for e-commerce 1. 2 User acceptance: understanding and issues 1. 3 Research objectives 1. 4 Research scope 1. 4. The role of electronic payments in customer e-commerce activities 1. 4. 2 Approach and methodology Chapter 2. Classification and characteristics of electronic payment systems 2. 1 Classification of payment systems 2. 1. 1 Introduction 2. 1. 2 Primary classification of payment systems 2. 1. 3 Further classification of account-based systems 2. 1. 4 Further classification of electronic cash systems 2. 1. Payment mediation services vs. payment systems 2. 2 Identifying the characteristics of payment systems 2. 3 Advantages and limitations of payment models 2. 3. 1 Advantages and limitations of the elect ronic cash model 2. 3. 2 Advantages and limitations of the acount-based model 2. 5 Conclusions Chapter 3. User survey of electronic payment systems 3. 1 User acceptance of electronic payment systems 3. 2 Survey of users’ attitudes towards characteristics of payment systems 3. 2. 1 Survey participants . 2. 2 Questionnaire design and analysis 3. 2. 3 Survey results and discussion 3. 2. 4 Implications for user acceptanc Introduction 1. 1 Electronic payment systems and their place in electronic commerce In the early 1990s the business and consumer world encountered a new way of conducting trade business, which was named electronic commerce (e-commerce). Over the years electronic commerce has evolved into a popular and acknowledged way of conducting business.While researchers are still trying to understand it and gauge its importance and turnover, e-commerce is changing and growing incredibly quickly, producing such extraordinary results from both business and customer perspective that its phenomenon cannot be overlooked by anyone who has ever thought of conducting business, whether in online or offline environments. With many organisations and people labouring in the field of e-commerce it has become very clear that ecommerce is here to stay and organisations and customers are trying to get maximum benefit from it.E-commerce has become especially important in two interrelated dimensions, namely business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce. Business to-consumer e-commerce is enabling customers to have an increasing influence on products created, how products are customised, and how services are delivered. Ecommerce offers customers convenient shopping methods for products, information and services, electronic banking, and personal finance management.It is making it easier for consumers to find the desired products and services, match them more precisely to their requirements, and compare prices, (Vulkan, 2003). Several business models have been developed to support various customers’ needs, among them are online portals, content providers, transaction brokers and community creators. For business-to-business relations e-commerce facilitates the form of organisation where companies rely on suppliers and product distribution to respond more effectively to the changing market and customers demand and to achieve more efficient operation.This type of e-commerce relationships offers organisations the possibility to work in the direct contact with producers, giving more room for customization and control over business activities. This helps to reduce the costs significantly by removing ‘middlemen’ from the supply chain. Good examples of companies that employ this business model are Dell and Cisco, (Guttmann, 2003; Laudon & Traver, 2002). Consequences that e-commerce brings for business-to-business relationships are eliminating inventory, and operational and distributional costs that indirectly provid e customers with lower prices.E-commerce can help businesses to increase production flexibility by ensuring timely availability of components from suppliers, to improve quality of the products by increasing cooperation between buyers and sellers and reducing quality issues, to increase opportunities for collaborating with suppliers and distributors, and to create greater price transparency — the ability to see the actual prices on the market, (Laudon & Traver, 2002). In this way e-commerce responses to the customer demand of lower prices and greater convenience. 1. 1. 1E-commerce and electronic payment systemsThe most popular definition of e-commerce is based on the online perspective of the conducted business. E-commerce provides the capability of buying and selling products, information and services on the Internet and other online environments. As for any trading activity, the issue of safe and reliable money exchange between transacting parties is essential. In an e-comme rce environment, payments take the form of money exchange in an electronic form, and are therefore called electronic payments. Electronic payments are an integral part of e-commerce and are one of its most critical as pects.Generally defined, electronic payment is a form of a financial exchange that takes place between the buyer and seller facilitated by means of electronic communications. An e-commerce electronic payment is a financial exchange that takes place in an online environment, (Kalakota & Whinston, 1997). Electronic payment systems (EPSs) are summoned to facilitate the most important action after the customer’s decision to pay for a product or service – to deliver payments from customers to vendors in a most effective, efficient and problem-free way.The role of e-commerce electronic payment systems is pivotal for future of ecommerce, whose further growth depends on the timely development of EPSs. The development of new types of e-commerce purchasing relation ships and business models has created the need for new ways of money exchange and new EPSs. For instance, online auctions, (Ribbers & Heck, 2004), has spurred the necessity for personto- person payment systems to allow online money exchange between individuals. Certain types of information products and services require small payments and micropayments.Businesses would like to sell information content that costs very little, accumulating revenues with high turnover. E-commerce EPSs can be designed for selling specific types of products, for example for trading copyrighted online content, such as music. Another unforeseen earlier requirement is conducting e-commerce using wireless mobile devices, such as mobile phones or personal digital assistants (PDA). The need for paying with mobile devices has urged the development of payment systems for mobile electronic commerce, (Laudon & Traver, 2002).In addition, ecommerce provides the possibility to enhance current payment systems or substi tute them with online variants. The need for online payments was first addressed by using extant payment methods of the offline world for online payments. For example credit cards, originally intended as an offline credit instrument, have become the major payment instrument for ecommerce. As e-commerce and online purchasing grows, the weaknesses of credit and debit cards, and cheques are becoming more apparent. These limitations are discussed in section 1. . 2. The lack of the fit-for purpose payment mechanisms and infrastructure is one of the main restricting factors that hold back the growth and evolution of ecommerce, (Guttmann, 2003; Laudon & Traver, 2002; O'Mahony, Peirce, & Tewari, 1997). 1. 1. 2 Limitations of traditional payment systems in the context of online payments Three factors are stimulating the development of electronic payment systems: reduced operational and payments processing costs, growing online commerce and decreasing the costs of technology, (Kalakota & Whin ston, 1997).Reduction of costs is one of the major reasons for research and development of EPSs. The central impetus for ecommerce and e-business is to provide a more efficient service, primarily in terms of costs. In this light, paying online with traditional payment systems such as credit cards is rather paradoxical, given that credit cards are one of the most expensive of all available mainstream payment means for both end consumers and merchants, defeated perhaps only by paper checks, (Lietaer, 2002; Laudon & Traver, 2002). Several limitations of traditional payment systems in the context of e-commerce can be outlined.Existing payment systems, such as credit cards, are inadequate for retail customer digital business from the following viewpoints: Lack of usability. Existing payment systems for the Internet require from the end user to provide a large amount of information, or make payments using complex elaborated web site interfaces. E. g. credit card payments via a web site ar e not the easiest way to pay, as these require entering extensive amounts of personal data and contact details in a web form, (Kalakota & Whinston, 1997). Lack of security.Existing payment systems for the Internet are an easy target for stealing money and personal information. Customers have to provide credit card or payment account details and other personal information online. This data is sometimes transmitted in an un-secured way, (Kalakota & Whinston, 1997). In practice this happens even in spite of introduction of secure transactions mechanisms, such as Secured Socket Layer. Providing these details by mail or over the telephone also entails security risks, (Guttmann, 2003; Laudon & Traver, 2002). Lack of trust.Users tend not to trust existing systems with the long history of fraud, misuse or low reliability, as well as novel systems without established positive reputation. In the present situation, money loss by customers is quite possible when using existing payment systems, such as credit cards, for Internet payments. Potential customers often mention this risk as the key reason why they do not trust a payment service and therefore do not make Internet purchases, (Lietaer, 2002). Lack of applicability. Not all web sites support a particular payment method, thus limiting customers’ ability to pay.Credit cards work only with merchants who have signed-up to the services of the corresponding credit card company, and do not support direct business-to-business or interpersonal payments, (Kalakota & Whinston, 1997). Lack of eligibility. Not every potential customer with money and intention to pay can make use of certain payment methods. Not all potential buyers can obtain credit cards due to credit history limitations, low income or other reasons, (ibid). Lack of efficiency. Some payments over the Internet can be too small to be handled by existing payment systems, because of overheads included in the processing of payments and transaction.Credit cards are too expensive for effecting small payments and are unsuited for small transactions. The minimum fixed fee charged to the retailer for processing a transaction could even surpass the value of the goods sold, (Guttmann, 2003). High usage costs for customers and merchants. Existing payment systems use a rather expensive infrastructure to facilitate the payment process. Credit cards are very expensive for end users, not in the least because of the enormous and growing size of fraud, which amounts to billions dollars per year.This loss is invisibly re-financed by users by the higher costs of credit card services. In addition, credit card payments are still heavily paper-dependent. Most credit card bills are sent in a paper form to customers by post, and the bills are mostly settled by posting paper documents, like checks of giro payments, which makes the whole cycle rather expensive. As mentioned above, this means that resources employed in processing of credit cards transactions re nder them rather ineffective for small payments, because the high overhead of credit cards, (Laudon & Traver, 2002; Guttmann, 2003).In online credit card payments credit cards are not physically available for inspection by the payee, (this situation is referred as ‘card not present’). This imposes higher charges for merchants, because the chance of fraud is higher; see section 2. 1. 3 for more discussion. Credit cards have low finality of payments because users can refute or repudiate credit cards payments in certain situations. Moreover, financial regulations in certain countries, e. g. in the USA and the UK, place the risks of repudiation, fraud, or non-payment largely on the merchant and issuing banks, (Laudon & Traver, 2002; APACS, 2002).These issues make credit cards less attractive to merchants. Certain authentication schemes, e. g. Verified by Visa and SecureCode from MasterCard allow to shit fraud liability from merchant to credit cards issuing banks, and can ea se this burden for merchants, (see www. verifiedbyvisa. com and www. mastercard. com). However, end users can found themselves paying more for the cards issued by the banks to refinance bank’s losses due to fraud. There are more concerns related to the credit card use in online e-commerce that are responsible for reluctant users acceptance of credit cards and e-commerce.According to the report published by marketing research firm IDC, (Asmussen, Raschke, & Arend, 2002), almost half of European users of the Internet do not buy goods online because they either do not trust the Web merchants or fear their credit card details will not be secure. According to analysts, total credit card fraud rose to $4 billion in 2002 (i. e. $2 for every card issued). Industry estimates that the amount of online credit card fraud could be in the $5oo million range, (Laudon & Traver, 2002).Authorities believe that hackers have stolen more than one million credit card numbers from E-commerce sites. It would not be a surprise that many customers use their credit cards with reservations. A survey by Visa of 15 Banks from 12 EU countries in 2002 found that online credit card payments account for nearly half of all complaints. More than one in five of these came from people who had not even shopped on the Internet, but were billed for online transactions, (Philippsohn & Thomas, 2003). Privacy issues are also associated with the use of existing payment systems.There are cases when users’ identities (i. e. personal data such as credit card numbers, names and addresses) were stolen when hackers break into websites’ databases and obtain personal information of the customers. Fraudsters then attempt to use this information to open new credit and bank accounts using the stolen identity, (Philippsohn & Thomas, 2003). These and other issues with existing payment systems such as credit cards render them not very suitable for online payments. 1. 1. 3 The need for new payment systems designed or e-commerce Despite that electronic commerce is a growing phenomenon, its future development is, to a large extent, hampered by the lack of appropriate payment systems. Since most of business-to-consumer payments over the Internet are performed currently via credit cards, an admittedly problematic payment medium due to costs, security and trust problems, the need for new payment systems clearly emerges from the existing situation, (Lynch & Lundquist, 1996; Wayner, 1997; Laudon & Traver, 2002; Guttmann, 2003).Research and development in Internet-based payments tried to resolve this situation by conjuring numerous online EPSs, a good proportion of which has been put to use. This was possible due to the stimulating factors listed above, and in the first place due to the availability and reduced costs of the enabling technology. However, the new payment systems, purposely crafted for the Internet, also could not avoid their own share of problems. This has led to the r eluctant use of new online electronic payment systems, i. e. esulted in low user acceptance of newly introduced payment systems by customers, (see section 1. 2). User acceptance of electronic payment systems At this stage the situation with the development of online EPSs is far from ideal. A survey on electronic money developments by the Bank for International Settlement reports a rather low level of EPSs use, even in the most advanced countries, (BIS, 2000). According to the European Central Bank, the proportion of online payments among cashless payment instruments in the European Union is rather low.The report admits that although there has been a lot of discussion on the use of EPSs and their importance â€Å"it is still not a widely used medium†, (ECB, 2001). The lack of customer demand, the diversity of technological standards and the lack of support by financial institutions are mentioned among the reasons preventing the development of electronic payment systems, (ECB, 2003). Some experts estimate that about 85% of all Internet transactions are done with credit cards that were not originally designed for the Internet, (Philippsohn & Thomas, 2003).According to a survey by marketing research firm Jupiter Research, credit cards are still the dominant payment method for online purchases, accounting up to 95% of online transactions in the United States, (Jupiter Media Metrix, 2000). This demonstrates still low user acceptance of alternative electronic payment systems, designed specifically for e-commerce. 1. 2User acceptance: understanding and issues End user acceptance of such sensitive technology as money-circulating payment systems is the critical key aspect of the whole path of payment systems’ establishment.Without such acceptance no technology can successfully exist on the market, and payment systems are not an exception. According to Dillon & Morris (1996) user acceptance is â€Å"the demonstrable willingness within a user group to emplo y information technology for the tasks it is designed to support†. This definition can be enhanced with the understanding that the user perception of information technology (IT) can be influenced by objective characteristics of technology, as well as by human factors and interaction with other users and related parties.For example, the social information processing model (SIPM), (Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978), suggests that attitudes towards technology are influenced by opinions, information, and behaviour of others. User acceptance is a pivotal factor determining the success or failure of any information system project, (Davis, 1993). Many studies on information technology report that user attitudes and human factors are important aspects affecting the success of an information system, (Davis, 1989, Burkhardt, 1994, Rice & Adyn, 1991). The arguments in section 1. and in the following paragraphs suggest that this is the case also with EPSs. Besides SIPM, a well-known approach to e xplaining and modelling user acceptance is the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), (Davis, 1989). TAM suggests that users formulate attitudes toward the technology that depends on whether they perceive the IT to be useful and easy to use. However, TAM does not take into account other factors that may be critical to user acceptance or rejection of such specific technology as EPSs, such as security, trust, privacy and involved risks.Extending the SIPM assumption, user acceptance of online EPSs could be affected by a number of factors and parties, creating a broader sense of the social context of EPSs in the Internet environment. User experience with an EPS can be influenced or manipulated by various aspects, such as marketing, publicity, the reputation of the bank behind the system, trust towards the company operating the system and technology behind the system, and convenience of the user interface, see also Guttmann (2003), Kalakota & Whinston (1997), Egger (2003). Figure 1. attempts to illustrate the social context in which parties and factors could possibly influence user perception and experience with electronic payment systems. These parties and factors should be taken into consideration when exploring issues of user acceptance of online EPSs. They are either required for a successful operation of a payment system (banks), its promotion (marketing organisations), or monitor and regulate its operation (government). For example, the company operating the payment service will have to address users’ concerns about security, privacy and trust.Users can be influenced in their experience by other parties than the operator itself, e. g. the bank or financial institution that facilitates the payment transactions, see Figure 1. 1. Customers can be influenced by the user interface, or by other parties involved in the payment service, such as technical partners. Since e-commerce EPSs operate in the Internet environment, the reputation and impression of the syste m can be easily communicated to other users via online communities, creating yet another social impact on the system.Therefore, social influences, e. g. opinions and behaviour of other users, like family and friends, and reputation of banks and the parties involved, should be taken into account for user acceptance of EPSs. This argument can be supported by above-mentioned SIPM, (Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978). Issues such as trust, usability, applicability, security, and convertibility are extremely important because they can influence subsequent decisions of people whether to use a payment system or not.There are several obstacles to user acceptance of EPSs: developers not only have to sell the service to potential users, they also have to convince the users to entrust their money to a third party institution, to rely on the payment system in their business and personal finance, and to use it frequently for convenience, reliability, specific applications, services and for a variety of o ther reasons. To achieve this high standard of user acceptance, the creators of a payment system should bear in mind user-related factors from the very beginning of the conception of the payment system.Designing for user acceptance of online electronic payment systems is thus the main issue put forward by research described in this thesis. An open challenge remains for designers and developers of novel Internet-based payment systems to meet user expectations, requirements, preferences and needs in design and operation of the systems. Resolving these issues is critical for the development and operation of new payment systems and future growth of e-commerce. 1. 2. 1User factors in payment technology The importance of user-related factors can be demonstrated in the example of the notorious problem of security of information systems.There are thousands of security mechanisms, matched with a growing number of hacks and security breaches, (Flynn, 2001, p. 61). However, the nature of secur ity issues is changing with the constant improvement of information technology. While security technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated and tamper-proof, experts in information security admit that user factors are the most important issues for security problems. The vast majority of all security issues in IT environments is caused or assisted by users inside organisations, rather than hackers and other utsiders. Security experts know many stories about people exchanging their passwords, or IT managers attaching notes with logins and passwords to their monitors, or about hackers finding these notes in the trash. To avoid this kind of mistakes, experts are talking about enforcing security policies in organisations, to be able to address user-related factors in security, (Flynn, 2001). Therefore, security practices have embraced user-related factors. This example helps to illustrate the importance of user-related factors in the design and operation of information systems.The f ollowing example illustrates a failure of a payment system due to neglecting to focus on user and market needs. The Chipknip â„ ¢ and Chipper â„ ¢ smart card payment technologies, (Nannery, 1998), were introduced in the Netherlands in early 90s. Both systems were intended to provide a way of paying small amounts in everyday transactions, which people would normally pay with cash. However, these two systems competed with each other for some time, being incompatible, so customers could not pay with the competitor’s card at certain shops, (BIS, 2001).Eventually, this created problems of interoperability and limited the user base for both systems. Another obstacle was that the card readers were installed in shops where people already had another method of payment – debit cards, which worked very effectively and efficiently and which were used by most people for all kinds of payments. In a way, Chipknip and Chipper duplicated the functions and applications of debit ca rds. On the other hand, the real need for Chipknip and Chipper for small payments at parking lots, vending, and public transport tickets machines was not met.A serious situation arose regarding the high costs of accepting Chipknip for merchants. As the result, the union of Small and Medium Enterprises in the Netherlands threatened to boycott Chipknip, (Het Financieele Dagblad, 2001). In this case, an important factor stimulating the development of EPSs was not met, namely the reduced operational and processing costs. Despite of a certain potential for uses acceptance of e-purse technology (Van Hove, 2004), this situation is changing slowly.All these issues led to a low acceptance of Chipper and Chipknip technologies. Chipper International decided to stop operations and support of Chipper in the Dutch market, (Libbenga, 2001; BIS, 2001); Chipper has fused with Chipknip, and while some issues have been addressed, the expected applications for this smart-card technology are yet to come . The example above helps to illustrate the complexity of human and marketing factors in the context of payment systems and their crucial influence on the eventual success of a payment system.Therefore, for successful design of electronic payment systems from the user perspective it is important to find out what user-related factors and systems’ aspects have the most direct impact on user acceptance and which of them can cause problems when neglected in design. 1. 3Research objectives 1. 4Research scope 1. 4. 1 The role of electronic payments in customer e-commerce activities The process of paying is an essential part of customers’ online buying activities. These activities are well described by the Consumer Mercantile Activities Model, (Kalakota & Whinston, 1997).The model comprises prepurchase interaction, purchase consummation and postpurchase interaction phases. The payment activity takes place within the purchase consummation phase, Figure 1. 2. â€Å"The purchas e consummation phase specifies the flow of information and documents associated with purchasing and negotiating with merchants for suitable terms, such as price, availability, and delivery dates; and electronic payment mechanisms that integrate payment into the purchasing process†, (Kalakota & Whinston, 1997). The buyer arrives to payment activities after identifying products of services to be purchased.The buyer and seller conduct then a mercantile transaction. In a mercantile transaction the buyer and the seller exchange information followed by the necessary payment. The payment methods they use should be mutually negotiated and agreed on (ibid). Therefore, in order to conduct a successful e-commerce mercantile transaction the buyer should at least be willing to use the payment method offered by merchants. From this viewpoint, user acceptance of e-commerce EPSs is critical for the completion of the purchase consummation phase and the whole purchasing process. It can be there fore bserved that the payment process and the user involvement in it are highly important for e-commerce activities. Scope of payment systems Business-to-consumer Payment Systems This research is focused on user acceptance of new payment systems in consumer ecommerceenvironments. The main focus of the presented work is therefore Businessto- Consumer e-commerce EPSs, which are designed with the main purpose to facilitate payments for consumer e-commerce. Taking into account the B2B systems would have made the scope too broad to handle within this research. Payment Systems designed for the WebCurrently, consumer e-commerce is done mainly via the WWW (Web) service of the Internet. The market for conducting e-commerce payments via wireless PDAs, mobile phones and other Internet services is still under development, (Bohle, 2001a), and therefore does not have a wide user basis and usage experience. Thus, in the scope are Web-oriented online e-commerce EPSs and Web e-commerce applications. Scope of payment tasks Because the scope of the defined business relations is Business-to-Consumer, the payment tasks in the focus of this thesis are related to consumer e-commerce and trade of goods and services.In these tasks there should be at least one 1) business party involved and 2) one physical person, who is conducting purchasing activities in an ecommerce environment. Scope of target activities These activities include those that are related to buying goods and services, and essentially represent consumer e-commerce. The scope of these activities is embracing a significant and, arguably, the most important part of the consumer e-commerce represented by B2C relations. Purchasing goods: tangible, require shipping, intermediated (by shipping companies). Purchasing information and software: intangible, immediate, not intermediated (by shipping companies). Purchasing services: intangible/tangible, not always immediate, can be intermediated (by service companies). The followi ng activities are therefore excluded from the scope because they are not in line with the defined scope of electronic payment systems, namely B2C consumer ecommerce. Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) money payments and exchange.C2C payments do not belong to B2C e-commerce, (Figure 1. 3), e. g. personal auctions payments, debt settlement. Specific payment applications, for instance, gambling or adult-content sites. In this context the sites place specific requirements on B2C relations and userrelated factors, e. g. on privacy. Related activities Additional activities that have to be explored are the influence of pre- and postpurchase interaction phases, according to Kalakota and Winston (1997) on the user experience with a payment system on the whole.It is very likely that correct introduction,application and follow up of payment products and services in retail e-commerce are important for user acceptance of EPSs, and therefore the pre- and post-purchase interaction phases cannot be reaso nably disregarded when investigating the payment process. The user experience within these phases could affect their decision as to whether to use the e-commerce service at all, without even arriving at the payment process itself. Amount of money The minimum amount of money within the scope was chosen to be above â‚ ¬2.This means excluding small and micropayments. The nature of payment tasks in case of micropayments is different from higher amounts. For instance, users may wish to automate this kind of payments to avoid the need to authorize a payment of â‚ ¬0. 01 every time, while with bigger amounts they are likely to have control over each transaction. Furthermore, different researches show that at this moment there is little market for services that support small and micropayments, (Bohle, 2001b). In the focus are therefore small to medium sized payments, e. g. from â‚ ¬2 to â‚ ¬1,000.The upper payment limit is set to â‚ ¬1,000 to indicate that highest amount with in the scope of this research. The suggested range of payment amounts is typical for the current status of the domain and is similar to range of payments with existing offline EPSs, like credit, debit and smart cards, (Lelieveldt, 2001; Bohle, 2001a). Larger payments can be expected to raise different user acceptance issues, because of more user attention to risks, security, efficiency and other aspects of transactions with such amounts, (Humphrey, 1995). 1. 4. 2 Approach and methodologyThis research employs practices of the multidisciplinary scientific field of Human- Computer Interaction in order to research issues of user acceptance and user-related factors in online e-commerce electronic payment systems. Specifics of HCI research The nature of Human-Computer Interaction is such that it has to employ various scientific, research and design disciplines and cross borders between them for successful research. HCI is different from other disciplines in that it studies interaction bet ween people and artificially created artefacts, and not an independent natural phenomenon, like in other disciplines.This complex nature of HCI and its research goals compel researchers to adopt both inductive and deductive approaches to science, as described in Mackay & Fayard (1997). In the deductive approach the purpose is to generate a set of hypothesis that can explain real world phenomena. The scientist proposes a theory about a phenomenon, and formulates a hypothesis to be tested in an empirical research. In order to verify the hypothesis, an experiment is conducted, and with the revision of its results the theory is re-examined and an updated hypothesis is created.This approach is employed by the experimental study of this thesis. The inductive model aims to construct the most precise description of the real world, as opposed to explanation. The scientist observes phenomena in the real world without having a preconception or theory of what they are looking for. Then the scie ntist attempts to create a model of the world that explains the phenomena. By returning to the real world the model can be validated and changed if there are contradictions between the model and the studied phenomena.The qualitative study in this thesis employ this approach for requirements elicitation and creation of the design recommendations. The research process applied in this thesis, aimed to gain validated design knowledge, can be described as an iterative circular or spiral movement. This process is best described by Figure 1. 4, adapted from the work of Rauterberg (2000). This approach asserts to combine â€Å"analytical strength of empirical validation methods (e. g. , observation, experiment, inquiry, etc. with the synthetic strength of system design†. This triangle structure conceptualizes the three most important components of HCI research: â€Å"(1) the collection of ‘design relevant knowledge’, (2) the ‘interactive system’ in differen t possible representation forms, and (3) the several possibilities to represent a ‘user’ for (empirical) validation†, (ibid). The following sections describe how using diverse research activities helped to combine these components in the research reported in this thesis. Outline of the thesis The diagram in Figure 1. illustrates a combination of the research and design activities of this thesis. These activities included acquiring design knowledge on ecommerce EPSs, applying the knowledge to a commercial payment system designed by an industrial party, and empirical validation of the design knowledge. Chapter 2 presents a survey of literature on EPSs, which was necessary for understanding EPSs. The outcome this survey is a classification and a set of characteristics of EPSs. The importance of the characteristics of EPSs had to be confirmed with potential users of EPSs.Chapter 3 describes an investigation into the importance of the characteristics of EPSs to end use rs by means of a survey of consumer attitudes towards EPSs. The user survey helped to identify what characteristics should be given more attention in the design of EPSs. However, the knowledge about the importance of the characteristics did not inform how they should be realised in design of EPSs. To acquire a deeper understanding of these issues, a qualitative research in the form of a diary study was conducted, Chapter 4.The diary study aimed to understand how EPSs are experienced and perceived by users in the context of actual use and how EPSs can be designed to meet users’ needs. As the outcome of the diary study, implications for design of Internet-based payment systems have been derived and formulated as design recommendations. To ensure that the application of the design recommendations benefits user acceptance of EPSs, an experimental study was conducted, that is described in Chapter 5. This study helped to substantiate the validity of a subset of the design recommend ations.It was hoped to find the ideal situation where it is possible to apply the hypothesised design knowledge to a real-life system, rather than testing them in the laboratory, in order to achieve high realism of the results. Due to the participation of industrial parties, this situation has become available. The experimental study involved two parts: 1) a real-life EPS was redesigned in accordance with the proposed DRs, 2) an experimental comparison of the redesigned system with the old one has indicated improvements of user attitudes in several aspects, thus demonstrating the validity of the design recommendations.Chapter 2 2. 1 Classification of payment systems 2. 1. 1 Introduction This chapter presents a framework for classification and characterising of electronic systems that facilitate paying in an e-commerce environment. This framework is an attempt to describe and to relate the wide variety of the payment systems, with more than 150 payment mechanisms invented worldwide. This chapter also presents a survey of literature on EPSs, which has been a necessary step for understanding payment systems. The outcome of this phase of the research is a classification and characterisation of electronic payment systems. . 1. 2 Primary classification of payment systems The principal classification of EPSs is based on the form of money representation and the principle of money transfer. Existing payment systems can be divided into two groups: electronic cash mechanisms (or electronic currency) and credit-debit systems, (Medvinsky & Neuman, 1993). Electronic cash resembles conventional cash, when parties exchange electronic tokens that represent value, just as banknotes and coins determine the nominal value of conventional cash money.The credit-debit approach in the context of electronic payments means that money is represented by records in bank accounts, and this information is electronically transferred between parties over computer networks. Another terminologic al approach offered by Wayner (1997), based on the type of information that is exchanged, distinguishes between ‘account-based’ and ’token-based’ systems, which, respectively, corresponds to credit-debit systems and electronic cash in the definition of Medvinsky and Neuman. A similar distinction is found in Camp et al. 1995), who distinguish between notational and token forms of money. A different view on classification of EPSs is offered in Asokan et al. (1997), where payment mechanisms are classified based on the temporal sequence of money flows between the payer and receiver of the payments. Various attempts of classification of payment systems are also reported in Kuttner and McAndrews (2001), and Schreft (2002). These references are aggregated into the classification of electronic payment systems, illustrated in Figure 2. , which was first reported in Abrazhevich (2001b). The figure illustrates the further classification of EPSs, described in the foll owing sections. It provides examples of EPSs in each subcategory; some of these systems are described further in the text. The figure illustrates if the systems are only theoretical developments, that were only tested as limited pilots, and that have never been implemented for the commercial use. Payment mediation services that aggregate various EPSs in one payment infrastructure are described in section 2. 1. 5. 2. . 3 Further classification of account-based systems In the group of account-based systems, one can distinguish between 1) generic online EPSs that use simple account-based model for serving Internet payments, 2) systems that use the debit and credit cards model, and 3) specialized payment systems that, for instance, were designed for trading content online such as music. Some researchers consider credit cards systems as a separate group of payment models, (Medvinsky and Neuman, 1993), others consider them to be a variant of the credit-debit type.This classification adopt s the latter distinction. The basic principle of account-based systems is that the exchange of money between accounts is maintained by a payment service provider. Users can authorize charges against their EPS accounts, as they would do with usual bank accounts, though the ways of authorization are different for various systems. With the debit approach, the customer maintains a positive balance of the account and money is subtracted when a debit transaction is performed.With the credit approach, charges are posted against the customer's account and the customer is billed for this amount later or subsequently pays the balance of the account to the payment service. One of the most widely used systems for electronic payments is the debit card, which as the name suggest, is a clear example of a debit system, (Evans & Schmalensee, 1999). Debit cards combine the service of Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) cards and cheques. When customers pay with a debit card, the money is automatically de ducted from their checking bank account.In contrast with the credit cards, the spent money comes from the bank account directly. Many banks issue a combined ATM/debit card that looks like a credit card and can be used in places where credit cards are accepted. In this case, when users pay with a debit card, the payment will still be processed as a debit transaction. Other payment mechanisms that use the credit-debit model are Yahoo PayDirect, Pay- Pal. com, and theoretical payment projects like NetBill (Sirbu and Tygar, 1995), and NetCheque (Medvinsky and Neuman, 1993).A special group of account-based instruments that are currently in wide use are credit card systems. A great part of trade on the Internet is done using credit cards and these payment systems should not be overlooked. The biggest advantage of this approach is that the customers, who have already received credit cards offline, can use them directly for online payments. This also results in high scalability, as no addit ional installations are necessary. Credit cards provide a large customer base for merchants who accept them, thus their applicability is quite high.There are critical security issues associated with the use of credit cards in an online environment. When using credit cards over open networks, encryption mechanisms, such as widely used Secure Socket Lauer (SSL), in principle can prevent a hacker or eavesdropper from intercepting the customer's credit card number. There are some schemes that even hide card numbers from the merchant, providing protection against intercepting the card details from merchant databases or against fraud by the merchant. Nevertheless, these incidents happen regularly (Caunter, 2001; IFCC, 2003; Wales, 2003).It is important to note, however, that without some form of customer registration with a payment service or substantial proofs of identity, credit cards can be very risky to pay with and can be easily abused. Even encrypted Internet credit card transaction s do not include the owner’s signature, and anyone with knowledge of the customer's credit card number and expiration date can create a payment order. An important aspect of credit card payments in the online world is referred to as card-not-present (CNP) transactions.CNP transactions are those where neither the card, nor its holder are present at the point of sale, e. g. in orders by mail, telephone, fax or the Internet. The buyer does not have to demonstrate the physical presence of the card, or the card and the buyer do not have to be co-located. This imposes issues with card validation, security and fraud. CNP transactions are widely used in mail order/telephone order purchasing (MOTO) which also do not require co-location of buyer and seller. To secure transactions of this type, credit card companies ask for additional information, such as name, address, etc. that can be used to verify their identity, for instance, if the ordered goods should be mailed to the billing add ress associated with the credit card. Other information often required is the additional 3-4 digits code, printed on the back side of the card and not present in the credit card number. Merchants ask the customer to read this code from the card in a card-not-present order. The merchant then asks for verification during the authorization process. The issuer (or credit card processor) validates the code and relays the decision to decline or approve the transaction to the merchant.Nevertheless, the MOTO transactions incorporate limited protection against credit card fraud. Credit card CNP transactions could sometimes employ even less identity verification information. Since no signature involved in CNP transactions, the buyers can opt out of any order, if they claim they did not agree with the purchase, (O'Mahony, Peirce, & Tewari, 1997). The charges for orders cancellation are borne by merchants in the form of the higher costs for processing of CNP transactions. In addition, merchants could be liable for the whole amount of the disputed order, (APACS, 2002).Furthermore, because online payments are administered as standard credit card charges, the costs are too high to make this method unsuitable for payments below â‚ ¬1 and hence inefficient. Credit card companies are constantly lowering the minimum amount that can be paid to enable small payments, but charges for merchants still remain high. It should be also taken into account that cards are issued by banks and organisations, which after a screening, decide whether they can issue credit cards to certain customers.Customers with a low income, an imperfect credit history, might not be eligible for a credit card. This may restrict the customer base to a certain degree and limit user and merchant acceptance of credit cards as a payment method. 2. 1. 4 Further classification of electronic cash systems Electronic cash is stored in a digital form and serves as a cash substitute for the Internet or other informatio n systems. Electronic cash represents value in some form and can be spent with merchants, who deposit money in their own accounts or can spend it in other places.It can be represented by electronic ‘bills’ and ‘coins’, certificates, packets of data, or electronic tokens in one form or another. When using electronic cash systems, customers purchase electronic digital tokens from the issuing company using a conventional payment system, e. g. credit cards, electronic checks, or even paper currency (for example, via a reverse automatic teller machine which accepts cash, or when purchasing prepaid cards). Some of the systems allow converting electronic cash back into another form of money (Medvinsky and Neuman, 1993), which is very important for convertibility of the systems.Another distinction amongst electronic cash systems is between those that use smart cards for the storage of tokens and those where tokens reside only on user’s accounts and computer networks. The former are often called electronic purses (e-purses), the latter are sometimes addressed as ‘online cash’ or ‘Web cash’. Examples of e-purse electronic cash systems are CAFE project, (Boly et al. , 1994) and Mondex (Martin, 1994). Tokens in these systems exist and travel in the computer environment,for example, on a currency server or customers’ hard disk.Mondex is a smart card payment system that was designed to enable person-to-person as well as Internet payments, (Van Hove, 1999, p. 141). The card can be used to make small payments, store personal and application-specific information, and serve as a telephone card. Web cash representatives are E-cash, E-gold, Millicent (Glassman & Manasse, 1995), PayWord and MicroMint (Rivest & Shamir, 1996), and NetCash system (Medvinsky and Neuman, 1993). It has to be noted that these systems are mostly theoretical work and have not been implemented on the market. Systems that employ smart cards e. g. Chipknip, Chipper in the Netherlands, Proton in Belgium, and Visa Cash can be also placed in the category of electronic cash and also called e-purses, however, in representing money they hardly use tokens. In this case, the numerical data stored on the card is changed when a payment takes place. Judged by the principle of the operation and use they act like electronic purses. The value is stored on a card and if the card is lost, the money is gone, in a fashion similar to cash. It has to be noted that smart cards like Chipknip are not principally designed for Internet payments and are used mainly at point-of-sale terminals.There have been nevertheless pilot tests of facilitating paying over the Internet with Belgian Proton smart card EPS, but the use of Proton on the Internet is now discontinued. An important development towards standardisation of e-purses is establishing Common Electronic Purse Specifications with the goal to define requirements needed to implement a globally i nteroperable electronic purse program, while maintaining full accountability, (see www. cepsco. org). CEPS, which were made available in March of 1999, outline overall system security and certification.Being established by the key parties in electronic purse cards, and supported by organisations from over 30 countries, CEPS paved the way for the creation of an open global electronic purse standard. For cardholders it means that they will be able to use their electronic purse cards domestically and internationally with the knowledge that the card will be accepted wherever the acceptance mark is displayed. Visa Cash is an example of CEPS implementation, (see www. visa. com). Prepaid card EPSs can be also included in the same category of electronic cash, because the principle of their work resembles the use of e-purses, such as Chipknip.Users can buy a prepaid card for a specified amount. Prepaid card systems are specifically designed for Internet payments. Users can pay with a prepaid card by entering on merchant sites the card’s unique number, which corresponds to the card’s nominal. The value of the card is decreased by the amount paid to the merchant. To better understand what issues that surround electronic payment systems, it makes certain sense to introduce a definition of payment mediation services, which use existing payment systems as mediators to provide extra services. 2. 1. 5 Payment mediation services vs. payment systemsTo further refine the focus of this research, we have to make one important distinction, which is between payment mediation services and payment systems. This distinction particularly makes sense in the context of electronic and Internet payment mechanisms. Payment mediating services have appeared as a response to the imperfection and inefficiency of current payment systems for the Internet. They extend the services of the existing systems and operate as mediators between merchant, payment systems and users. Their goal is to help merchants to accept as many payment systems users could possibly want to use when paying over the Internet.In payment mediation services the existing payment infrastructure from many payments providers is aggregated to provide broader services, or to overcome shortcomings of the available payment options. Figure 2. 2 describes the relations between merchants, EPSs and payment mediation services. The difference between payment mediation services and payment systems can be summarized in that a payment mediation service is as an intermediary between payer, business, and payment system, while there is no such middle tire for payment systems. The payment process in this case is transparent to the users of a site.A mediating service provider ‘intercepts’ payments from users, processes them, and credits the account of the owner of the site when the authorization and transactions are completed. For example, there are numerous companies among mediating services provid ers that facilitate acceptance and processing of various credit cards. A special class of payment mediation services has emerged, that provides convenience for paying bills for businesses and end users. An example of payment mediation services is providing bill payments for end users and companies, for instance, utilities or telephone bills.Over a Web front-end provided by the billing systems, customers and companies can pay bills that are normally paid offline by paper cheques or bank transfers. Some systems even provide additional services such as automated accounting merged with online payment facilities. Syndication of payment services Another angle on payment mediating systems is viewing them as a form of syndication of payment services in an online environment. The notion of syndication originates from the entertainment world, where it forms the fundamental organizing principle.With the advent of the ‘new economy’ and the use of the power of Internet distribution, syndication can be recognised as an emerging model for e-commerce. In this context syndication would mean selling the same information to many different customers, who render and integrate it with other information in various value-adding ways and then redistribute it. According to this principle, businesses involved can play three or more roles: originators who create original content; syndicators, who collect and package digital information to meet specific customers’ needs; and distributors who deliver digital content to customers, (Werbach, 2000).In the context of online payments, payment mediation services can be seen as syndicators of the original services offered by payment systems. Payment mediation services syndicate e-commerce EPSs, offering merchants the way to accept a variety of payment systems. Examples of payment mediation services A good illustration a payment mediation service is Bibit Billing Services (www. bibit. com). This Dutch company specializes in Int ernet payment and billing services. The service supported about 70 payment methods from 18 countries by 2004.When customers want to pay on a Web site of a Bibit’s client, they select one of the provided payment methods. The payment process goes as follows: 1. A customer selects products on sale in a virtual shop. 2. For payment, the customer is then redirected to Bibit Payment Service. 3. Within Bibit Payment Service, the customer can select a payment system he or she would like to pay with, provided it is supported by Bibit. The customer makes the payment with the system of his or her choice. 4. After a successful payment, Bibit notifies the merchant that the order can be shipped and transfers the money to the merchant.The processing of the transactions, which is conducted entirely by Bibit, is therefore transparent to the customers of the site and the client company. The company business model, which utilizes a number of payment systems, relies on providing extra services t o facilitate payments, and therefore it fits into the definition of a mediating system. It is interesting to note that the service allows the use of micropayments, by accumulating charges for products like news, articles, stock and research reports, online games and charging users on a subscription basis.Examples of other payment mediation services are Orbiscom (www. orbiscom. com), iBill (Ibill. com), PayTrust, (www. paytrust. com), DataCash (www. datacash. com), PayNet (www. paynet. ch). Systems that conceal real customer’s credit card numbers by providing them a unique temporary card number for each transaction have gained certain popularity among payment mediation services. The customers can then use this unique number in a normal credit card transaction, and their real credit card will be charged.This temporary card number expires after every transaction and would not be approved for the subsequent use. The data of real credit cards of customers is not exposed to parties online in online transactions. In this case the payment mediation services are using credit cards infrastructure to provide extra security and anonymity (ABN-Amro e-wallet, O-Card by Orbiscom. com). By using these measures merchants expect to accept more secured payments without changing the way shoppers pay and without changing existing payment processes or infrastructure.The research summarized in this thesis is concerned mainly with payment systems and not with mediating solutions for existing payment infrastructure. Payment mediation services on the Internet emerged because of the absence of relevant payment solutions or have problems that prevent their successful use by merchants and users. Many of EPSs are probably transitory systems, unable to completely solve problems that appear in the context of the Internet paying process, because the problems originate in the payment systems they use; see discussion on PayPal. om in section 2. 4. While syndication of EPSs by payment med iation services provides in the end a better level of service than individual EPSs they use, it also places the payment mediation systems out of the scope of this research, which is exploring ways to design better individual EPSs. 2. 2 Identifying the characteristics of payment systems As observed in the example with Chipknip and Chipper in the previous chapter, there are a lot of factors that determine the success or failure of payment systems, and not all of them are of technical nature.As mentioned already, user acceptance depends on many issues, such as consumer choice, preferences, advertisement, a state of the market, etc. The discussion of diverse aspects of electronic payment systems can be found in many works on development and research of payment systems. Attempts to classify and describe the requirements and characteristics of payment systems such as security, reliability, convertibility, efficiency, traceability, and others can be found, among others, in the works of Med vinsky & Neuman (1995), Langdon et al. (2000), Lynch & Lundquist (1996), Wayner (1997).It has to be noted however, that these studies are mainly focused on technical aspects of electronic payment systems, which is not the only facet that is important in this field. Below the characteristics of payment systems are extended to account for user-related aspects of EPSs. These characteristics can be also used for assessment of payment systems, as described further. The list of characteristics of payment systems Anonymity, privacy This characteristic reflects the desire of users to protect their privacy, identity and personal information.In some transactions, the identities of the parties could be protected by anonymity. Anonymity suggests that it is not possible to discover someone’s identity or to monitor an individual's spending patterns. Where anonymity is important, the cost of tracking a transaction should outweigh the value of the information that can be obtained by doing so . As an illustration, when a customer pays with a debit card, the purchase is registered at the vendor and bank’s databases. It is possible to find out what amount was paid and what actually was purchased. Thus debit card payments are not anonymous.On the contrary, when one pays with cash at a shop or in a marketplace, no one can say by examining the cash that money came from the payer, as there is no direct information about this payer’s personality associated with the banknotes. Thus, cash is an anonymous payment system. Currently, the right of users to choose how their personal information is disclosed is viewed as privacy. There are privacy laws in several countries that limit usage of personal information by banks, authorities and other parties, including online businesses and payment systems, like European privacy acts or similar directives, e. . European Commission Data Protection Directive. Applicability The added value of a payment mechanism is dependent upon how useful it is for buying something. Applicability (or acceptability, as it is often referred in literature, (Medvinsky & Neuman, 1995)) of a payment system is defined as the extent to which it is accepted for payments at points of sale, or at online e-commerce sites in this case. For instance, cash is accepted widely and virtually everywhere in the offline world and thus has a very high level of applicability.Debit cards and credit cards have a very high applicability, as one can pay with them in a variety of places. The applicability of a payment system may vary from country to country. For example, in Germany and in the Netherlands cheques are no longer common due to the steady growth of other payment methods. However, in the UK and the USA cheques are still quite a common method of payment and the level of their applicability is quite high. Authorization type Authorization type is referred in the literature as the form of a control over the validity of transactions, (Lynch and Lundquist, 1996; Asokan et al. 1997). The authorization type can be offline or online. Offline authorization means that users of the system can exchange money while not connected to a network, without a third party mediating for the transaction. Paper cheques are an illustration of offli