A model to enhance the perceived trustworthiness of Eastern Cape essential oil producers selling through electronic marketplaces

dc.contributor.advisorIsabirye, Naomien
dc.contributor.authorGcora, Nozibeleen
dc.date.accessioned2026-08-20T07:23:02Z
dc.date.available2026-08-20T07:23:02Z
dc.date.issued2016en
dc.description.abstractEastern Cape Province farmers in the natural essential oils industry are yet to fully realise the use of electronic commerce (e-commerce) platforms, such as electronic marketplaces (e-marketplaces) for business purposes. This is due to the issues that include lack of awareness, poor product quality, untrusted payment gateways and unsuccessful delivery that are associated with e-marketplaces. As a result, farmers do not trust e-marketplaces and therefore hesitate to engage in e-marketplaces for business purposes. This is further complicated by natural essential oils buyers‟ tendency of preferring face-to-face interaction with a supplier rather than online interaction as they need quality assurance. As such, this research proposes a model to enhance the perceived trustworthiness of natural essential oil producers in the Eastern Cape Province selling through e-marketplaces. The model constitutes the factors that could be considered in assisting essential oil producers to create a perception of trustworthiness to buyers in e-marketplaces. These factors were evaluated amongst five organisations involved in the production, retail or processing of essential oils using a multiple-case study methodology. The study‟s use of multiple-case study was applied within the interpretivist paradigm and five cases were considered. Interviews, document analysis and observations were used for data collection. Data analysis was done using within-case analysis followed by cross-case analysis to establish factors of trust. The essential oil producers based in the Gauteng, Kwazulu-Natal and Western Cape provinces were cases that had been successfully using e-marketplaces for a notable period of time. Accordingly, factors that contributed to the successful use of e-marketplaces informed the proposed model of this research. The model proposes that perceived trustworthiness of enterprises in e-marketplaces can be achieved through following the uncertainty reduction stages (Entry, Personal and Exit) and applying uncertainty reduction strategies (passive, active and interactive).en
dc.format162 leavesen
dc.formatpdfen
dc.identifier.citationGcora, Nozibele. 2016en
dc.identifier.othervital:27672en
dc.identifier.otherhttp://hdl.handle.net/10353/2194en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11837/4967
dc.language.isoEnglishen
dc.publisherUniversity of Fort Hareen
dc.publisherFaculty of Management and Commerceen
dc.rightsUniversity of Fort Hareen
dc.subjectElectronic commerce -- Security measures -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Essences and essential oils -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Essences and essential oils -- Marketingen
dc.subjectInternet marketing -- South Africa -- Eastern Capeen
dc.subjectLCSHen
dc.subjectElectronic commerce -- Security measures -- South Africa -- Eastern Capeen
dc.subjectEssences and essential oils -- South Africa -- Eastern Capeen
dc.subjectEssences and essential oils -- Marketingen
dc.titleA model to enhance the perceived trustworthiness of Eastern Cape essential oil producers selling through electronic marketplacesen
dc.typeThesisen
dc.typeMastersen
dc.typeMComen

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