1 (A) The needs and wants that will be solved by Bitcoin include:
- Self-esteem
- Security of resources
- Security of property
The need of self-esteem is satisfied because of the fact that the consumer will use bitcoin to pay for a service or product. They will be satisfied with the service of the achievement of the product. The service could be offered by an institution which accepts payments through bitcoin. It could be an online or offline service or product. The use of bitcoin could be used to purchase this service and product.
The other needs security of resources. This is because the bitcoin could be used to secure a resource that is being offered. The entity offering the resource could accept payments through bitcoin. By using bitcoin to pay, the resource buyer shall have secured that resource.
Another need is that of security of property. If there is some property that is being sold and bitcoin is accepted as a form of currency, then the buyer shall have achieved the security of the property.
1(B) Marketers
- Achievement
- Security of employment
- Creativity
The need of achievement will be met with the use of bitcoin because of the fact that the marketer shall have sold the items they have and will be satisfied that they have achieved something. They will have an achievement of meeting the sales target they had set.
Another need that will be satisfied with the use of bitcoin is that of security of employment. This is because the marketer will be assured of employment with the continuous flow of sales using bitcoin as a medium of exchange. With more institutions accepting bitcoin as a medium for exchange, the marketer is also assured of employment(Babaioff, Dobzinski, Oren, & Zohar, 2012).
Another need is that of creativity. This need will be achieved because the marketer shall have introduced the clients and consumers to a new form of payment. They shall have helped in marketing this new technology. This is a new way of payment that is considered to be a form of creativity. The marketer shall have achieved this need and will feel that they were an important part of the marketing process. Innovation without marketing will be useless because the innovation will not be utilized by the people who are intended to utilize. This is where the marketers come in and their marketing role will serve a role where they will be tasked with promoting the use of this new form of payment. The more the number of users, the more satisfied the marketers will get(Nakamoto, 2008).
2 (A)
One of the perceived risks that the consumers may have with the use of bitcoin is that the bitcoin they have and could be used to purchase items could be lost. Unlike other currencies where there could be remedies if the authorities act fast, with bitcoin, loss of the security certificate will be lost forever. The buyers will be concerned about the safety of the bitcoin in their system.
Another worry/risk of the consumers is that of fear of loss during transaction. The buyers fear that in the course of transacting the business, their accounts will be hacked and their security certificates for the bitcoins will be lost. This is because of the fact that there are internet security threats that keep on becoming complex by the day(Reid & Harrigan, 2013).
Another risk is that since the bitcoin is exchanged between peers, their bitcoin could be traced and be implicated of an offence like drug abuse. This is because the bitcoin they have could have been used to commit serious crimes. They could be traced and implicated with the crime with which the bitcoin was committed.
2 (B)
One risk that marketers may be faced is volatility. Marketers find it hard to get consumers who accept the use of bitcoin as a form of payment. The volatility is very high such that many think it is the end of Bitcoin while others believe the storm will be controlled and things will stabilize. It becomes meaningless to store wealth in Bitcoin if the price is not stable and unpredictable(Barber, Boyen, Shi, & Uzun, 2012).
Another risk with bitcoin is that of hacking. Marketers fear that accounts could be hacked and the bitcoin reserves could be stolen. Marketers fear that the payments they get from the purchasers could be stolen in the process of exchange. The other risk is that of being hard to trade. This is because it is not yet well marketed.
The security breach is also another issue at hand that greatly concerns the Bitcoin system. It is possible to misplace or even to delete Bitcoin from your account. Once the digital records are lost all the money is lost.
2C
There are measures that are being undertaken by the issuers of bitcoin to reduce the risks that are faced by consumers. One measure that could be taken to secure the bitcoin for purchasers is improving the security certificate process. Security of the bitcoin currency has been a major point of concern for the issuers. Encryption is used to protect the Bitcoin wallet but the user is the one who decides if it should be activated or not. If it is not encrypted, it can be stolen(Wallace, 2011).
The risk of loss through transaction process will also be solved with the security mechanism that has been suggested in the paragraph above. The issue of tracing the bitcoin for implications of criminal offences can be solved with enhancing security mechanisms. This has been addressed with the cryptographic solutions that have been put by bitcoin issuers.
2(D)
The issuers of bitcoin can have measures to ensure that bitcoin is a popular medium of currency. This is done by having laws and regulations and integrating it to the national policies and regulations. This will have the government to adopt this form of medium.
The security issues that are associated with bitcoin in marketers can be solved by the use of certificates and cryptography. This is a sure way in which this can be eradicated.
3(A)
One negative attitude that the consumer has towards the use of bitcoin is that will be hard to trade. This is because of the fact that there is low use of bitcoin as a means of payment.
3(B)
One change strategy that the consumer can use to change the attitude of the consumer is by training on the future of technology and how e-commerce is fast being adopted by many individuals and organizations.
Another strategy is to market the bitcoin in the leading media and have it explained to consumers on how this technology works. This will change the attitude of the consumers and will start perceiving how this form of payment will be used in the future(Karame, 2012).
4(A)
One of the negative aspects of the sellers towards the use of bitcoin is that it is not regulated. This will mean that it will be hard to have constant flow and maybe easily be inflated. The bitcoin might undergo inflation because there is no regulation(Androulaki & Karame, 2012).
4(B)
One of the change strategies that the issuer of bitcoin could use is to train the marketer on how bitcoin works and how it is hard to regulate. By understanding the way this medium if exchange works, the marketer will have a new perception of how this technology works. They will understand how inflation will be hard to be seen(Grinberg, 2012).
Another change strategy is that of having the marketers understand the different steps that the various governments have taken in the regulation process. Marketers will be taught on the role of the government in the entire process. By understanding that the government has played a key role in the entire process of the regulation process, they will understand that this is an important currency that is under scrutiny and secured by various governments(Nakamoto, 2012).
5
The rate of adoption will be affected by the rate of technology adoption. This is because regions where technology is underutilized will not use this medium. Another factor is the rate of e-commerce adoption in different regions. The more the consumers purchase from online stores, the high the rate of adoption.
5 (B)
The rate of technology adoption will affect the rate of bitcoin use. The higher the rate of technology adoption, the higher the rate of diffusion. Likewise, the higher the rate of e-commerce use, the higher the rate of bitcoin adoption.
5(C)
The slow rate of e-commerce use will be a hindering factor. One way in which this can be eradicated is to have offline businesses (which are not connected to the internet) to use bitcoin as a form of currency exchange. There should be more marketing for offline transactions. This will work to speed up the rate of adoption because even offline businesses will be able to use the medium.
References
Androulaki, E., & Karame, G. (2012). Evaluating User Privacy in Bitcoin. IACR Cryptology ePrint .
Babaioff, M., Dobzinski, S., Oren, S., & Zohar, A. (2012). On bitcoin and red balloons. Proceedings of the 13th ACM . Retrieved from http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2229022
Barber, S., Boyen, X., Shi, E., & Uzun, E. (2012). Bitter to Better—How to Make Bitcoin a Better Currency. Financial Cryptography and Data .
Grinberg, R. (2012). Bitcoin: an innovative alternative digital currency. Hastings Sci. & Tech. LJ.
Karame, G. (2012). Two Bitcoins at the Price of One? Double-Spending Attacks on Fast Payments in Bitcoin. IACR Cryptology ePrint .
Nakamoto, S. (2008). Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Consulted.
Nakamoto, S. (2012). Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system, 2009. URL: http://www. bitcoin. org/bitcoin. pdf.
Reid, F., & Harrigan, M. (2013). An analysis of anonymity in the bitcoin system. Security and Privacy in Social Networks.
Wallace, B. (2011). The rise and fall of Bitcoin. Wired.
