[The Impact of Digital Marketing within the Sport Retail Industry]

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This research would not have been possible without the guidance of my research supervisor so I would like to thank them for their support.

DECLARATION

I [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

ABSTRACT

Access to internet services is essential for all users regardless of age. Accessing online bank accounts, e-mail, e-commerce, or social networking services, however, typically requires a username and password (Renaud & Ramsay, 2007; Nelson & Vu, 2010). Many of these websites require users to provide personal information to identify individual users, which makes them susceptible to online threats. Older adults may become targeted because they have less internet experience and slower cognitive skills than the rest of the population. However, the advantage of relying on online services for the general population is quite clear because most information is accessed electronically today. In fact, most services encourage online transactions as a convenience for users as well as the companies themselves because they are easier to track, maintain, and require less human interaction. The users have shown increased trust in the security of online accounts because they continue to give up personal information as requested by the site (Vu et al., 2007). Users that provide personal information for financial accounts might feel safe because online banking systems provide instantaneous access to financial information that helps users maintain control of day to day interactions. In addition, online banking accounts provide services such as check copies, account balances, and daily financial activity that cannot be monitored as precisely through occasional bank visits. In recent years, these online services have evolved from luxuries to mandatory components of daily life. The convenience of online activity does come at the cost of having to create and remember many username-password combinations. Each online account requires the user to authenticate who they are by an individual username and password to protect the account. However, with so many different online accounts available for multiple purposes and the increased use of the internet, the number of passwords as well as individual usernames per user has increased because the username password combination is practically the most universal authentication method for accounts (Renaud & De Angeli, 2004). Not only do users have to create unique passwords, they also have to recall the correct password for each account. Research has shown that humans in general have difficulty creating unique, secure usernames and passwords as well as recalling them for future use (Nelson & Vu, 2010). Given that these accounts are numerous and differ with respect to frequency of access (e.g. email is accessed daily, whereas banking and online shopping accounts may be accessed less often), the user may need to exert additional cognitive processing in order to correctly retrieve a password for ...