E-Commerce Midterm Study Guide

Chapters 1-5

Which of the following is an example of e-business?

Amazon's Pinterest page

The Amazon.com website

Amazon's inventory control system

An Amazon mobile app

Amazon's inventory control system

(T/F) Price dispersion has been eliminated in e-commerce.

False

E-commerce is available just about everywhere and anytime. This is known as:

information density.

ubiquity.

richness.

reach.

Ubiquity

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

The market middlemen disappeared.

There remains considerable persistent price dispersion.

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

Consumers are less price-sensitive than expected.

The market middlemen disappeared.

________ was the first truly large-scale digitally enabled transaction system in the B2C arena.

The Baxter Healthcare system

Telex

The French Minitel

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

The French Minitel

Which of the following refers to any disparity in relevant market information among parties in a transaction?

imperfect competition

information asymmetry

dynamic pricing

unfair competitive advantage

information asymmetry

Which of the following can be considered synonymous with the term e-commerce?

the Internet

the Web

e-business

digital commerce

Digital commerce

(T/F) B2B e-commerce is the largest type of e-commerce.

True

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?

social e-commerce

consumer-to-consumer (C2C)

business-to-business (B2B)

mobile e-commerce

mobile e-commerce

(T/F) The Internet is a worldwide system of computer networks.

True

All of the following are platforms for C2C e-commerce except:

Etsy.

Facebook Marketplace.

Craigslist.

Walmart.

Walmart

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

2001

1995

1983

1985

1995

Which of the following is an example of an on-demand service company?

Tumblr

Facebook

YouTube

Airbnb

Airbnb

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

The Web was the original "killer app."

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

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

The Web provides access to pages written in Hypertext Markup Language.

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

Which of the following is a leading platform for social e-commerce?

Wikipedia

Facebook

eBay

Amazon

Facebook

Which of the following is an example of an e-commerce first mover that failed?

Etsy

eBay

eToys

E* Trade

eToys

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

• grew at double-digit rates between 2010 and 2018.

• has less revenue than C2C e-commerce.

• now constitutes over 50% of the overall U.S. retail market.

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

grew at double-digit rates between 2010 and 2018.

(T/F) Personalization involves targeting marketing messages to specific individuals by adjusting the message based upon a consumer's preferences or past purchasing behavior.

True

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?

• richness

• personalization

• information density

• ubiquity

Richness

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

Maintain a basic, static website depicting the firm's brand.

Use the Web to sell complex goods and services online.

Emphasize the necessity for the Web to generate profits.

Integrate social networks and the mobile platform with website marketing.

Maintain a basic, static website depicting the firm's brand.

Which of the following is not an example of the bricks-and-clicks e-tailing business model?

• Target

• Walmart

• Bluefly

• Staples

Bluefly

(T/F) A company's strong linkages with its customers increase switching costs.

True

Which element of the business model refers to the presence of substitute products in the market?

• value proposition

• competitive environment

• market opportunity

• competitive advantage

Competitive environment

Stickiness is an important attribute for which of the following revenue models?

• affiliate revenue model

• transaction fee revenue model

• advertising revenue model

• subscription revenue model

advertising revenue model

(T/F) Slow followers are sometimes more successful than first movers.

True

Organizations that typically provide an array of services to startup companies along with a small amount of funding are referred to as:

• venture capital investors.

• crowdfunders.

• angel investors.

• incubators.

Incubators

Which of the following features of e-commerce technology changes industry structure by lowering barriers to entry but greatly expands the market at the same time?

• personalization

• global reach

• richness

• interactivity

Global reach

First movers often fail because:

• they lack complementary resources needed to sustain their advantages.

• they are operating in a perfect market.

• they fail to leverage their competitive assets.

• their competitive advantage is unfair.

they lack complementary resources needed to sustain their advantages.

Which of the following are Amazon's primary value propositions?

• selection and convenience

• management of product delivery

• reduction of price discovery cost

• personalization and customization

selection and convenience

A ________ marketplace supplies products and services of interest to particular industries.

• horizontal

• vertical

• differentiated

• perfect

Vertical

A perfect market is one in which:

• competition is at a minimum, as each niche market within an industry is served by the company with the greatest competitive advantage.

• one firm develops an advantage based on a factor of production that other firms cannot purchase.

• one participant in the market has more resources than the others.

• there are no competitive advantages or asymmetries because all firms have equal access to all the factors to production.

there are no competitive advantages or asymmetries because all firms have equal access to all the factors to production.

Portals primarily generate revenue in all of the following ways except:

• sales of goods.

• collecting transaction fees.

• charging advertisers for ad placement.

• charging subscription fees.

sales of goods.

Innovative entrepreneurs and their business firms that destroy existing business models are referred to as:

• venture capitalists.

• angel investors.

• disruptors.

• crowdfunders.

disruptors

Which of the following involves a company giving away a certain level of product or service without charge, but then charging a fee for premium levels of the product or service?

• subscription revenue model

• premium strategy

• advertising revenue model

• freemium strategy

freemium strategy

(T/F) In the subscription revenue model, a company primarily generates income from the display of ads.

False

All of the following can be considered a direct competitor of Priceline except:

• Travelocity.

• Expedia.

• Orbitz.

• ESPN.

ESPN

Which of the following is an unfair competitive advantage?

• superior technology

• lower product prices

• brand name

• access to global markets

brand name

________ and ________ are typically the most easily identifiable aspects of a company's business model.

• Revenue model; market opportunity

• Value proposition; revenue model

• Competitive advantage; competitive environment

• Market strategy; market opportunity

Value proposition; revenue model

In general, the key to becoming a successful content provider is to:

• provide online content for free.

• own the technology by which content is created, presented, and distributed.

• own the content being provided.

• provide other services as well as online content.

own the content being provided.

Which of the following does not use a subscription revenue model?

• Twitter

• Ancestry

• eHarmony

• Apple Music

Twitter

PayPal is an example of which of the following types of payment system?

• digital checking system

• digital credit card system

• online stored value payment system

• accumulating balance system

online stored value payment system

Accessing data without authorization on Dropbox is an example of a:

• cloud security issue.

• sniffing issue.

• social network security issue.

• mobile platform security issue.

cloud security issue.

Which dimensions of security is spoofing a threat to?

• availability and authenticity

• integrity and authenticity

• availability and integrity

• integrity and confidentiality

integrity and authenticity

All of the following are limitations of the existing online credit card payment system except:

• cost to merchant.

• social equity.

• cost to consumers.

• poor security.

cost to consumers.

Next generation firewalls provide all of the following except:

• the ability to identify users regardless of the device or IP address.

• the ability to automatically update applications on a client computer with security patches.

• the ability to identify applications regardless of the port, protocol, or security evasion tools used.

• an application-centric approach to firewall control.

the ability to automatically update applications on a client computer with security patches.

(T/F) A Trojan horse appears to be benign, but then does something other than expected.

True

The Data Encryption Standard uses a(n) ________-bit key.

• 8

• 56

• 256

• 512

56

Which of the following is an example of an integrity violation of e-commerce security?

• A website is not actually operated by the entity the customer believes it to be.

• A customer denies that he is the person who placed the order.

• A merchant uses customer information in a manner not intended by the customer.

• An unauthorized person intercepts an online communication and changes its contents.

An unauthorized person intercepts an online communication and changes its contents.

Which of the following was designed to cripple Iranian nuclear centrifuges?

• Shamoon

• Snake

• Storm

• Stuxnet

Stuxnet

Automatically redirecting a web link to a different address is an example of which of the following?

• pharming

• sniffing

• DDoS attack

• social engineering

pharming

What is the first step in developing an e-commerce security plan?

• Perform a security audit.

• Create a security organization.

• Perform a risk assessment.

• Develop a security policy.

Perform a risk assessment.

Which of the following dimensions of e-commerce security is not provided for by encryption?

• confidentiality

• message integrity

• nonrepudiation

• availability

availability

Asymmetric key cryptography is also known as:

public key cryptography.

Which of the following statements about blockchain is not true?

• A blockchain system is a transaction processing system.

• A blockchain system is inherently centralized.

• A blockchain system is composed of a distributed network of computers.

• Cryptocurrencies are based on blockchain technology.

A blockchain system is inherently centralized.

________ is the ability to ensure that e-commerce participants do not deny their online actions.

• Authenticity

• Nonrepudiation

• Availability

• Integrity

Nonrepudiation

Software that is used to obtain private user information such as a user's keystrokes or copies of e-mail is referred to as:

• a backdoor.

• spyware.

• a browser parasite.

• adware.

spyware

(T/F) The easiest and least expensive way to prevent threats to system integrity is to install anti-virus software.

True

A digital certificate contains all of the following except the:

• subject's private key.

• digital signature of the certification authority.

• digital certificate serial number.

• subject's public key.

subject's private key.

________ typically attack governments, organizations, and sometimes individuals for political purposes.

• Tiger teams

• Hacktivists

• Crackers

• Bounty hunters

Hacktivists

Which of the following is the leading cause of data breaches?

• hackers

• theft of a computer

• DDoS attacks

• accidental disclosures

Hackers

In the address, which of the following is the top-level domain?

• company.com

• http

• .com

• www

.com

Which of the following technologies has enabled the Internet to grow exponentially to support millions of users, without overloading the network architecture?

• client/server computing

• IPv6

• fiber optics

• Wi-Fi

client/server computing

Which of the following are specialized computers that transmit message parcels along available Internet communication paths and on to their destinations?

• Web servers

• packet servers

• routers

• IP servers

routers

A(n) ________ allows users to easily add and edit content on a web page.

• wiki

• blog

• podcast

• RSS feed

wiki

The first web browser to make it possible to view documents on the Web with colored background, images, and animations was:

• Mozilla.

• Internet Explorer.

• Mosaic.

• Netscape Navigator.

Mosaic

________ is a utility program that allows you to check the connection between your client and a TCP/IP network.

• Finger

• Ping

• Telnet

• Tracert

Ping

Which of the following was the most popular web browser as of August 2018?

• Internet Explorer

• Safari

• Firefox

• Chrome

Chrome

The Transport Layer of TCP/IP is responsible for which of the following?

• addressing, packaging, and routing messages

• placing packets on and receiving them from the network medium

• providing a variety of applications with the ability to access the services of the lower layers

• providing communication with the application by acknowledging and sequencing the packets to and from the application

providing communication with the application by acknowledging and sequencing the packets to and from the application

The Web runs in which layer of Internet architecture?

• Network Technology Substrate layer

• Middleware Services layer

• Transport Services and Representation Standards layer

• Applications layer

Applications layer

When talking about the physical elements of the Internet, the term redundancy refers to:

• multiple duplicate devices and paths in a network built so that data can be rerouted if a breakdown occurs.

• transmitting multiple copies of a single packet to safeguard against data loss.

• delays in messages caused by the uneven flow of information through the network.

• the use of tiered high-speed switching computers to connect the backbone to regional and local networks.

multiple duplicate devices and paths in a network built so that data can be rerouted if a breakdown occurs.

The major technologies used with wireless local area networks are:

• Bluetooth and 3G.

• WiMax and 3G.

• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

• Wi-Fi and WiMax.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

________ is a model of computing in computer processing, storage, software, and other services which are provided as a shared pool of virtualized resources over the Internet.

• Client/server computing

• Cloud computing

• Mobile computing

• P2P computing

Cloud computing

Which of the following is the core communications protocol for the Internet?

• TLS

• FTP

• net

• TCP/IP

TCP/IP

Which of the following was the original purpose of the Internet?

• to enable government agencies to track civilian communications

• to provide a network that would allow businesses to connect with consumers

• to link large mainframe computers on different college campuses

• to develop a military communications system that could withstand nuclear war

to link large mainframe computers on different college campuses

(T/F) A private cloud is operated for the benefit of multiple firms.

False

(T/F) The term latency refers to a delay that can be experienced in packet-switched networks.

True

Which of the following is not one of the basic technological foundations of the Internet?

• TCP/IP

• FTP

• client/server computing

• packet switching

FTP

Applications for Android operating system-based smartphones are typically written in which of the following?

• ActiveX

• Swift

• ColdFusion

• Java

Java

The process of slicing digital messages into parcels, sending them along different communication paths as they become available, and reassembling them at the destination point is called:

• routing.

• the File Transfer Protocol.

• packet switching.

• the Transmission Control Protocol.

Packet switching

The ________ allows a natural language expression, such as Google.com to represent a numeric IP address.

• assigned numbers and names (ANN) system

• uniform resource locator system

• domain name system

• Internet protocol addressing schema

domain name system

Which system functionality must your website have to be able to personalize or customize a product for a client?

• an inventory management system

• customer on-site tracking

• an ad server

• a site tracking and reporting system

customer on-site tracking

Which of the following is a simple but powerful method for strategizing about a business?

• SLDC

• SWOT analysis

• benchmarking

• DevOps

SWOT analysis

The process of comparing a website with that of its competitors in terms of response speed, quality of layout, and design is known as:

• system testing.

• split testing.

• funnel testing.

• benchmarking.

Benchmarking

In order from beginning to end, the major steps in the SDLC are:

• systems analysis/planning; systems design; building the system; testing; and implementation.

• systems design; testing; building the system; and implementation.

• systems analysis/planning; implementation; building the system; and testing.

• systems analysis/planning; systems design; building the system; implementation; and testing.

systems analysis/planning; systems design; building the system; testing; and implementation.

What are the two most important management challenges in building a successful e-commerce presence?

• identifying the key components of your business plan and selecting the right software, hardware, and infrastructure for your site

• building a team with the right skill sets and closely managing the development process

• having an accurate understanding of your business environment and an achievable business plan

• developing a clear understanding of business objectives and knowing how to choose the right technology to achieve those objectives

developing a clear understanding of business objectives and knowing how to choose the right technology to achieve those objectives

The primary way a website is able to personalize the content presented to a visitor is through the use of:

• accessibility rules.

• site management tools.

• cookies.

• privacy policies.

cookies

Which of the following types of e-commerce presence is best suited for creating an ongoing conversation with one's customers?

• offline media

• e-mail

• website

• social media

social media

(T/F) In general, the annual system maintenance cost will roughly parallel the development cost.

True

All of the following are basic functionality provided by e-commerce merchant server software except:

• a shopping cart.

• credit card processing.

• a product catalog.

• marketing analytics.

Marketing analytics

Which of the following helps you engage your customers in a conversation?

• product database

• shopping cart

• on-site blog

• site tracking and reporting system

on-site blog

Which of the following involves creating a skeleton version that focuses on functionality rather than design?

• Scrum

• web services

• DevOps

• wireframing

wireframing

The concept of a "sprint" is related to which of the following development methodologies?

• Scrum

• prototyping

• component-based development

• DevOps Apache

Scrum

Which of the following monitors and controls access to a main web server, and implements firewall protection?

• mail server

• list server

• proxy server

• groupware server

proxy server

MySQL is which of the following?

• web server software

• scripting language embedded in HTML documents

• website analytics software

• open source database software

open source database software

Which of the following typically includes a data flow diagram (DFD) to describe the flow of information for an e-commerce site?

• physical design

• logical design

• co-location plan

• testing plan

logical design

Beginning the e-commerce development process with a mobile presence rather than a desktop website is referred to as which of the following?

• RESS

• AWD

• RWD

• mobile first design

mobile first design

Which of the following are the two main components of a systems design?

• behavioral design and technological design

• logical design and physical design

• front-end systems and back-end systems

• business objectives and technology requirements

logical design and physical design

Which of the following is used to process certificates and private/public key information?

• Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security

• File Transfer Protocol

• HTTP

• data capture tools

Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security

Which of the following verifies that the business objectives of the system are in fact working?

• acceptance testing

• system testing

• unit testing

• implementation testing

acceptance testing

All of the following are website design features that annoy customers except:

• multi-browser functionality.

• splash pages.

• slow-loading pages.

• pop-under ads.

multi-browser functionality.