| Summary: | A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Communication Science at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2012. === Advances in electronic service technology have created great opportunities as well as threats to
organizations in various business and services sectors. As such businesses, either willingly or
reluctantly, are increasingly embracing the Internet as distribution channel in order to remain
competitive or gain market share. With particular reference to e-services, absence of accurate
information on factors that have influenced user’s behaviour to adopt or use e-services could
mislead an organization into adopting unhelpful solutions as it strives to accelerate the
implementation of e-services. The study is undertaken by a student who lives in the heart of a rural
community in South Africa and also attends a University which is based in a rural settlement. This
study, based on the perceptions of rural communities on the safety of e-commerce transactions,
investigates factors that influence adoption and usage of e-service, especially, in eNkandla rural
communities. Factors were empirically tested against data collected from four hundred participants
using survey questionnaires. Perceived complexity was found to be the most significantly related
factor affecting e-service adoption in rural communities of eNkandla, followed in turn by privacy
and compatibility. Quality of the Internet and its relative advantage also had a notable effect on e-service
usage and adoption in eNkandla rural communities.
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