Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
p. 511) note, ''Because Japanese consumers never departed from, and are far more
comfortable with, direct exchanges of cash for goods and services, the use of a
credit card number against a promise of a product represents a process involving
multiple layers of new and unfamiliar practice.'' The popularity of mobile internet
access has been central to the country's e-commerce; in 2005 the total mobile
internet commerce market was worth ΓΈ724 billion ($6.3 billion). However, small
Japanese corner retail outlets continue to play a significant role in the country's
e-commerce (Aoyama
2001
).
In an economically traditionally based on cash and face-to-face interactions,
South Korean internet-based financial transactions diffused relatively slowly (Cha
et al.
2005
). However, e-commerce flourished on the heels of the country's
aggressive adoption of broadband services (Lee et al.
2006
), the highest use in the
world. In 2010, e-commerce sales surpassed $62 billion, of which 90 % consisted of
B2B transactions. South Korea also has thousands of online shopping malls, whose
success depends heavily on their website design and functionality (Kim et al.
2008
).
4.7.5 Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia exhibits not only relatively well developed markets for electronic
services but an institutional framework designed to maximize its growth, including
the APEC Virtual E-commerce Resource Network. However, there are substantial
variations among countries in the region. Southeast Asian e-commerce, with the
exception of Singapore, is yet in its infancy. However, the potential of e-commerce
in the region is significant: Vietnam, for example, hopes to jumpstart an IT-based
software industry (Gallaugher and Stoller
2004
), and e-commerce there has
gradually begun to take root (Huy et al.
2012
).
Given its status as an electronic communications hub, Singapore has taken the lead
in this regard, developing not only the technical but also legal infrastructure that
facilitates such interactions, including the Electronic Transactions Act of 1998.
Singapore's advanced manufacturing clusters, with well managed supply chains, were
one major impetus, as was the government's aggressive promotion of telecommuni-
cations as part of its national competitiveness strategy (Wong
2003
). B2B commerce
there is most common among services, government-owned firms, and those with
younger managers (Teo and Ranganathan
2004
; Teo et al.
2009
). A densely con-
centrated, tech-savvy population, a highly globalized economy with numerous
transnational firms, and a legal system designed to promote trust have all contributed.
Internet retailing is widespread, but as in many Asian cultures, many people, espe-
cially women, continue to value the social and emotional dimensions of brick-and-
mortar shopping (Hui and Wan
2007
). Not surprisingly, given widespread cell phone
usage there, mobile e-commerce (or m-commerce) has flourished (Yang
2005
).
Malaysia, which developed a Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) to attract high
value-added producers, integrated information technology at the core of its Vision
2020 Master Plan (Mohan et al.
2004
). With 934 companies in 2003, the MSC has
