Chapter 1

Front 1

Which of the following statements about e-commerce in the United States in 2014 is not true?

A) Mobile e-commerce generates more revenue than social e-commerce.

B) Over 160 million Americans are expected to make at least one purchase online.

C) B2B e-commerce is about 10 times the size of B2C e-commerce.

D) Growth rates for retail e-commerce are higher in the United States than in China.

Back 1

D) Growth rates for retail e-commerce are higher in the United States than in China.

Front 2

In 2014, roughly ________ million people in the United States accessed the Internet via tablets.

A) 47

B) 67

C) 147

D) 167

Back 2

C) 147

Front 3

Which of the following is not a major business trend in e-commerce in 2014-2015?

A) Social e-commerce continues to grow.

B) Small businesses and entrepreneurs are hampered by the rising cost of market entry caused by increased presence of industry giants.

C) Sharing economy companies garner multi-billion dollar valuations.

D) Mobile and social advertising platforms begin to challenge search engine marketing.

Back 3

B) Small businesses and entrepreneurs are hampered by the rising cost of market entry caused by increased presence of industry giants.

Front 4

All of the following are major technology trends in e-commerce in 2014-2015 except:

A) cloud computing enables the creation of Big Data.

B) firms are turning to Web analytics to make sense out of Big Data.

C) the mobile computing and communications platform creates a new platform for online transactions, marketing, advertising, and media viewing.

D) computing and networking component prices continue to fall dramatically.

Back 4

A) cloud computing enables the creation of Big Data.

Front 5

E-commerce can be defined as:

A) the use of the Internet, the Web, and mobile apps to transact business.

B) the use of any Internet technologies in a firm's daily activities.

C) the digital enablement of transactions and processes within an organization.

D) any digitally enabled transactions among individuals and organizations.

Back 5

A) the use of the Internet, the Web, and mobile apps to transact business.

Front 6

Which of the following is not a unique feature of e-commerce technology?

A) interactivity

B) social technology

C) information asymmetry

D) richness

Back 6

C) information asymmetry

Front 7

Which of the following features of e-commerce technology enables merchants to market and sell "complex" goods and services to consumers via marketing messages that can integrate video, audio, and text?

A) richness

B) ubiquity

C) information density

D) personalization

Back 7

A) richness

Front 8

Which of the following features of e-commerce technology allows users to participate in the creation of online content?

A) ubiquity

B) global reach

C) information density

D) social technology

Back 8

D) social technology

Front 9

Which of the following is the best definition of transaction cost?

A) the expense of changing national or regional prices

B) the cost of participating in a market

C) the cost of finding suitable products in the market

D) the cost merchants pay to bring their goods to market

Back 9

B) the cost of participating in a market

Front 10

In 2014, the world's online population was estimated to be around:

A) 280 million.

B) 2.8 billion.

C) 28 billion.

D) 280 billion.

Back 10

B) 2.8 billion.

Front 11

All of the following are major social trends in e-commerce in 2014-2015 except for:

A) the impact of social networks on privacy.

B) the continuing conflict over copyright management and control.

C) the refusal of online retailers to accept taxation of Internet sales.

D) the growth of government surveillance of Internet communications.

Back 11

C) the refusal of online retailers to accept taxation of Internet sales.

Front 12

Which of the following features of e-commerce technology is related to the concept of network externalities?

A) richness

B) interactivity

C) universal standards

D) information density

Back 12

C) universal standards

Front 13

Which of the following statements is true about the traditional tradeoff between the richness and reach of a marketing message prior to the development of the Web?

A) Marketing messages had little richness.

B) The smaller the audience reached, the less rich the message.

C) The larger the audience reached, the less rich the message.

D) Richness was unrelated to reach.

Back 13

C) The larger the audience reached, the less rich the message.

Front 14

Which of the following is not an example of a social network?

A) Uber

B) Twitter

C) Pinterest

D) Tumblr

Back 14

A) Uber

Front 15

Which of the following is not a major business trend in e-commerce in 2014-2015?

A) the growth of a mobile app-based online economy.

B) the weakening revenues of B2B e-commerce.

C) the emergence of social e-commerce.

D) the growth of the mobile advertising platform.

Back 15

B) the weakening revenues of B2B e-commerce.

Front 16

Which type of e-commerce is distinguished by the type of technology used in the transaction rather than by the nature of the market relationship?

A) consumer-to-consumer (C2C)

B) social e-commerce

C) mobile e-commerce

D) business-to-business (B2B)

Back 16

C) mobile e-commerce

Front 17

Which of the following is a mobile photo-sharing application?

A) YouTube

B) Tumblr

C) Wikipedia

D) Instagram

Back 17

D) Instagram

Front 18

Which of the following describes the basic Web policy of large firms during the Invention period?

A) Integrate social networks and the mobile platform with Web site marketing.

B) Emphasize the necessity for the Web to generate profits.

C) Use the Web to sell complex goods and services online.

D) Maintain a basic, static Web site depicting the firm's brand.

Back 18

D) Maintain a basic, static Web site depicting the firm's brand.

Front 19

The size of the B2B market in 2014 was estimated to be around:

A) $570 million.

B) $5.7 billion.

C) $570 billion.

D) $5.7 trillion.

Back 19

D) $5.7 trillion.

Front 20

Interactivity in the context of e-commerce provides which of the following functionalities?

A) the ability to physically touch and manipulate a product

B) complexity and content of a message

C) the ability of consumers to create and distribute content

D) the enabling of two-way communication between consumer and merchant

Back 20

D) the enabling of two-way communication between consumer and merchant

Front 21

Which of the following statements about the Web is not true?

A) The Web is the technology upon which the Internet is based.

B) The Web was the original "killer app."

C) The Web provides access to pages written in HyperText Markup Language.

D) The Web is both a communications infrastructure and an information storage system.

Back 21

A) The Web is the technology upon which the Internet is based.

Front 22

In 2014, there were an estimated ________ Internet hosts.

A) 1 million

B) 10 million

C) 100 million

D) 1 billion

Back 22

D) 1 billion

Front 23

All of the following can be considered a precursor to e-commerce except:

A) the development of the smartphone.

B) Baxter Healthcare's PC-based remote order entry system.

C) the French Minitel.

D) the development of Electronic Data Interchange standards.

Back 23

A) the development of the smartphone.

Front 24

Which of the following was the first truly large-scale digitally enabled transaction system in the B2C arena?

A) Telex

B) the Baxter Healthcare system

C) the French Minitel

D) EDI

Back 24

C) the French Minitel

Front 25

In which year can e-commerce be said to have begun?

A) 1983

B) 1985

C) 1995

D) 2001

Back 25

C) 1995

Front 26

Business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce in the United States:

A) has grown at double-digit rates between 2010 and 2014.

B) has less revenue than C2C e-commerce.

C) now constitutes over 40% of the overall U.S. retail market.

D) is growing more slowly as it confronts its own fundamental limitations.

Back 26

A) has grown at double-digit rates between 2010 and 2014.

Front 27

Which of the following is not true about the use of apps?

A) The average U.S. consumer spends over 2 hours and 45 minutes a day using apps.

B) Users still spend less time using apps than they do using desktops or mobile Web sites.

C) Apps are easier to control and monetize than Web sites.

D) Over 175 million people in the United States launch a smartphone app more than 60 times a day.

Back 27

B) Users still spend less time using apps than they do using desktops or mobile Web sites.

Front 28

All of the following are issues facing Pinterest except:

A) copyright infringement.

B) inability to retain users.

C) spam.

D) scams.

Back 28

B) inability to retain users.

Front 29

Which of the following is a characteristic of e-commerce during the Invention period?

A) mobile technology

B) earnings and profit emphasis

C) disintermediation

D) extensive government surveillance

Back 29

C) disintermediation

Front 30

All of the following are characteristics of Web 2.0 sites and applications except:

A) they support interactions among users.

B) they rely solely on mobile access to the Web.

C) they tend to rely on user-generated content.

D) they tend to attract large audiences that provide marketers with extraordinary opportunities for targeted marketing and advertising.

Back 30

B) they rely solely on mobile access to the Web.

Front 31

Which of the following is not a characteristic of a perfect competitive market?

A) Price, cost, and quality information are equally distributed.

B) A nearly infinite set of suppliers compete against one another.

C) Customers have access to all relevant information worldwide.

D) It is highly regulated.

Back 31

D) It is highly regulated.

Front 32

All of the following were visions of e-commerce expressed during the early years of ecommerce except:

A) a nearly perfect information marketspace.

B) friction-free commerce.

C) disintermediation.

D) fast follower advantage.

Back 32

D) fast follower advantage.

Front 33

Unfair competitive advantages occur when:

A) one competitor has an advantage others cannot purchase.

B) market middlemen are displaced.

C) information is equally distributed and transaction costs are low.

D) firms are able to gather monopoly profits.

Back 33

A) one competitor has an advantage others cannot purchase.

Front 34

The early years of e-commerce were driven by all of the following factors except:

A) an emphasis on exploiting traditional distribution channels.

B) a huge infusion of venture capital funds.

C) an emphasis on quickly achieving very high market visibility.

D) visions of profiting from new technology.

Back 34

A) an emphasis on exploiting traditional distribution channels.

Front 35

The early years of e-commerce are considered:

A) the most promising time in history for the successful implementation of first mover advantages.

B) an economist's dream come true, where for a brief time consumers had access to all relevant market information and transaction costs plummeted.

C) a stunning technological success as the Internet and the Web increased from a few thousand to billions of e-commerce transactions per year.

D) a dramatic business success as 85% of dot-coms formed since 1995 became flourishing businesses.

Back 35

C) a stunning technological success as the Internet and the Web increased from a few thousand to billions of e-commerce transactions per year.

Front 36

Which of the following best describes the early years of e-commerce?

A) They were a technological success but a mixed business success.

B) They were a technological success but a business failure.

C) They were a technological failure but a business success.

D) They were a mixed technological and business success.

Back 36

A) They were a technological success but a mixed business success.

Front 37

Which of the following is an example of a sharing economy company?

A) YouTube

B) Airbnb

C) Tumblr

D) Facebook

Back 37

B) Airbnb

Front 38

Which of the following is a characteristic of the Reinvention phase of e-commerce?

A) massive proliferation of dot-com start-ups

B) widespread adoption of broadband networks

C) rapid growth of search engine advertising

D) expansion of e-commerce to include services as well as goods

Back 38

D) expansion of e-commerce to include services as well as goods

Front 39

Which of the following is a characteristic of the Consolidation phase of e-commerce?

A) predominance of pure online strategies

B) emphasis on revenue growth versus profits

C) brand extension and strengthening becomes more important that creating new brands

D) shift to a technology-driven approach

Back 39

C) brand extension and strengthening becomes more important that creating new brands

Front 40

Which of the following is not true regarding e-commerce today?

A) Economists' visions of a friction-free market have not been realized.

B) Consumers are less price-sensitive than expected.

C) There remains considerable persistent price dispersion.

D) The market middlemen disappeared.

Back 40

D) The market middlemen disappeared.

Front 41

Which of the following types of merchants has the highest share of retail online sales?

A) virtual (Web only)

B) catalog/call center

C) retail chain

D) consumer brand manufacturer

Back 41

A) virtual (Web only)

Front 42

Retail chains account for around ________ % of online retail firm revenues.

A) 15

B) 35

C) 75

D) 95

Back 42

B) 35

Front 43

One of the predictions for the future of e-commerce is that:

A) overall revenues from e-commerce will grow at an annualized rate of about 13% a year through 2018.

B) the first movers from the early years of e-commerce will retain or increase their market share as they continue to exploit economies of scale and switching costs.

C) prices will lower enough to encourage more consumers to engage in online shopping.

D) the number of online shoppers will continue to grow at double-digit rates.

Back 43

A) overall revenues from e-commerce will grow at an annualized rate of about 13% a year through 2018.

Front 44

Which of the following is the top-selling online retail category?

A) apparel/accessories

B) computers/electronics

C) mass merchant/department stores

D) office supplies

Back 44

B) computers/electronics

Front 45

Which of the following is the top online retailer ranked by online sales?

A) Apple

B) Amazon

C) Staples

D) Walmart

Back 45

B) Amazon

Front 46

62) Above all, e-commerce is a ________ phenomenon.

A) technology-driven

B) finance-driven

C) sociological

D) government-driven

Back 46

A) technology-driven

Front 47

Which business application is associated with the technological development of local area networks and client/server computing?

A) transaction automation (e.g., payroll)

B) desktop automation (e.g., word processing)

C) industrial system automation (e.g., supply chain management)

D) workgroup automation (e.g., document sharing)

Back 47

D) workgroup automation (e.g., document sharing)

Front 48

Which of the following is one of the three primary societal issues related to e-commerce?

A) liability

B) anonymity

C) equity

D) intellectual property

Back 48

D) intellectual property

Front 49

Which of the following statements is not true?

A) No one academic perspective dominates research about e-commerce.

B) Economists take a purely technical approach to e-commerce.

C) There are two primary approaches to e-commerce: behavioral and technical.

D) Management scientists are interested in e-commerce as an opportunity to study how business firms can exploit the Internet to achieve more efficient business operations.

Back 49

B) Economists take a purely technical approach to e-commerce.