Risk Analysis and Consumer Protection in B2C Transactions

Recent studies have shown that the perceived lack of security is a major obstacle to the wider acceptance of e-commerce. To overcome this barrier, businesses need to implement comprehensive consumer protection systems that protect consumers during every stage of the purchasing process. This paper used the consumer behaviour model as the basis for analysing risks in Bussiness-to-Consumer (B2C) transactions. Four categories of risks were identified: information, agreement, payment and delivery risk. By combining these risk categories with the three dimensions of management, technology and legislation, a comprehensive B2C consumer protection framework is developed.