Degree Type

Creative Component

Semester of Graduation

Summer 2020

Department

Information Systems and Business Analytics

First Major Professor

Kevin Scheibe

Second Major Professor

Anthony Townsend

Degree(s)

Master of Science (MS)

Major(s)

Human Computer Interaction

Abstract

Maroof is a new third-party platform that is managed by the Saudi Ministry of Commerce. Maroof is designed to evaluate, regulate, and organize stores and E-commerce practices in Saudi Arabia. This paper will examine the platforms' strengths, opportunities, and recommendations for improvements. Maroof was designed to help buyers make purchase decisions and issue certificates to registered stores. A major strength of the platform is that sellers are encouraged to sign up with their social security number, which makes them "known'' to the Saudi Ministry of Commerce. Additionally, it legitimizes the store owners' credentials. Therefore, Saudi citizens can feel more confident when purchasing goods from social media accounts that are registered with Maroof. Utilizing Maroof is one of the factors that increase trust in buying in Saudi Arabia, especially in E-commerce. The purpose of Maroof is to prevent any fraudulent activities as the platform allows buyers to report a claim easily.

On the other hand, the Maroof is a new platform with a major shortcoming, and thus there are several opportunities to improve Maroof's usability. The major area that could use improvement is the comments section. For instance, a registered sign in username and password is not required to post a review. The platform simply allows users to anonymously write product reviews and comments along with ratings of sellers or stores using their social media accounts. This paper's aim is to review these comments on the Maroof platform, which is a supposed, reliable, and trusted governmental website. Although the Maroof team claims they are continuously working on detecting fake reviews, and the Ministry of Commerce states that Maroof provides authenticated reviews, findings of this paper show that there are many fake positive reviews on Maroof. As a result, the Saudi Ministry of Commerce should make it clear that ratings do not always represent the quality of a product, even on a governmental website.

Copyright Owner

Almehaimeed, Eman

File Format

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