Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research

Augmented Reality (AR) technology adoption has been growing worldwide in recent years. The potential of AR to blend digital information into the physical world has been a challenge for both academia and industry, who attempt to realize and anticipate its impact on users’ perceptions, adoption intention and use. The present paper is an empirical study aimed at making substantial suggestions and investigating an integrative theoretical paradigm which attempts to establish the significance of specific factors which allow using mobile augmented reality apps in shopping malls. The study employs information from the extant literature with a view to extending the Unified Theory on Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). The results show that performance expectancy, enjoyment and reward are direct determining factors of adopting the specific technology in shopping malls, whereas facilitating conditions, social influence, innovativeness and trust exert an indirect effect on behavioral intention adoption. The research findings have far-reaching theoretical and practical implications for the development, marketing and application of mobile AR apps in the context of the specific contemporary form of shopping. Full article

Online product reviews play important roles in the word-of-mouth marketing of e-commerce enterprises, but only helpful reviews actually influence customers’ purchase decisions. Current research focuses on how to predict the helpfulness of a review but lacks a thorough analysis of why it is helpful. In this paper, feature sets covering review text and context cues are firstly proposed to represent review helpfulness. Then, a set of gradient boosted trees (GBT) models is introduced, and the optimal one, which as implemented in eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), is chosen to predict and explain review helpfulness. Specially, by including the SHAP (Shapley) values method to quantify feature contribution, this paper presents an integrated framework to better interpret why a review is helpful at both the macro and micro levels. Based on real data from Amazon.cn, this paper reveals that the number of words contributes the most to the helpfulness of reviews on headsets and is interactively influenced by features like the number of sentences or feature frequency, while feature frequency contributes the most to the helpfulness of facial cleanser reviews and is interactively influenced by the number of adjectives used in the review or the review’s entropy. Both datasets show that individual feature contributions vary from review to review, and individual joint contributions gradually decrease with the increase of feature values. Full article

Although suppliers can sell their goods on e-retailers’ e-platforms through either a wholesale or agency contract, suppliers that produce complementary goods and have different channel roles have been confused as to how to choose an optimal distribution contract. This paper aims to study this problem by considering the combined impacts of suppliers’ channel roles, e-retailer’s referral fees, goods’ differences in the level of complementarity and goods’ differences in potential demand. Our results show that, regardless of one supplier’s distribution contract choice, the other supplier always prefers agency contract, which is independent of two suppliers’ channel roles, the e-retailer’s referral fees, two goods’ differences in the level of complementarity and two goods’ differences in the potential demand. Moreover, when two suppliers use different distribution contracts to sell goods with different levels of complementarity on the same e-retailer’s e-platform, low-complementarity goods have a larger optimal retail price only if the two goods’ differences in the level of complementarity are sufficiently high, and the supplier can obtain more profits by producing low-complementarity goods regardless of the supplier’s distribution contract and channel role. Full article

The theory of value cocreation has been applied widely in the research of a lot of fields, including the field of travelling. At present, online shared cars have become one of the main modes of travel for urban residents, which have caused people to think about the quality of its service and its customer satisfaction. The objective of this research is to explore the impact of value cocreation by both the platform and drivers on customer satisfaction and user loyalty using Didi as an example. We propose five factors that can measure value cocreation behaviors, among which system availability and privacy count for value cocreation by online platform and perceived usability, consistency and competence are indicators of value cocreation by drivers. In total, 338 questionnaires were distributed to retrieve data and further investigate the users’ willingness of taking shared-cars, their satisfaction and loyalty towards Didi in order to help the corporate progress. This study provides suggestions for service-oriented corporations related to the sharing economy in order to enhance their user loyalty as well as improve their management ability. Full article

Customers are important intangible assets of firms. Customer equity (CE) and customer equity sustainability ratio (CESR) cannot only provide a crucial basis for measuring the growth potential of firms but also provide managers a reference standard to allocate the marketing resource. This empirical study discussed the CE measurement of a mobile payments aggregator. With the rapid development of mobile payment in China, it is very meaningful to calculate the CE of these aggregators as an emerging business pattern because calculating CE cannot only help the mobile payments aggregator evaluate its future business development but also help it to provide value-added services and generate service fee from its clients, i.e., the retailers. The main purpose of this paper is to calculate CE of a mobile payments aggregator generated from a specific retailer from the perspective of technology diffusion. Based on the Bass model and Rogers’ theory of innovation diffusion, we calculated CE and CESR for five segments, namely innovators, early adopters, early majorities, late majorities, and laggards. The results show that it is the early adopters and the early majorities who generate most of the profit and it is also these two segments that have the greatest growth potential in the future. Full article

A major challenge confronting online retailers is that of stimulating consumer online purchase intention. Many studies have explored the factors that affect consumer purchase behavior; however, few have described the underlying mechanism that links the online shopping experience to social ties and the effect of their strength on purchase intentions. This study adapted the stimuli–organism–response (S–O–R) model to analyze the effects of the online shopping experience on customer involvement and online purchase intention under conditions of weak and strong social ties. Two quasi-experiments were conducted to test the research model and hypotheses. The results showed that online shopping experience had a positive effect on customer involvement, and this involvement in turn had a positive effect on online purchase intention in the strong-tie group and the weak-tie group. Cognitive and affective involvement played partial mediating roles between the online shopping experience and online purchase intention in the weak-ties group and full mediating roles in the strong-ties group. The effects of online shopping experience on customer involvement and online purchase intention differed between the two tie strength groups. The implications of these findings for researchers and practitioners are discussed. Full article

This study aims to explore if traditional guanxi facets (i.e., ganqing, renqing and mianzi) between buyer and seller affect buyer’s trust in seller, recommendation and purchase intention in social commerce. It also investigates the mediating effects of recommendation intention and trust in seller on the relationship between guanxi facets and purchase intention. This study used an online survey in Taiwan and the partial least squares (PLS) model to test the hypotheses. Drawing on a sample of 323 respondents in Taiwan, the results show that (a) ganqing, renqing and trust in seller have positive effects on recommendation intention, (b) all guanxi facets exert positive effects on trust in seller, (c) ganqing and mianzi contribute to recommendation intention via trust in seller, (d) renqing benefits directly purchase intention but also via recommendation intention, and (e) trust in seller facilitates purchase intention via recommendation intention. This study might be the first to investigate the vital roles of traditional guanxi facets, rather than swift guanxi, in social commerce. This study also clarifies the mediating effects of buyer’s recommendation intention and trust in seller on transferring traditional guanxi facets into purchase intention. Full article

In an effort to help organizations understand consumers, our study deconstructs task–technology fit into two segments: ideal task–technology fit and individual use context–technology fit. Users’ continuous use of cloud-based bookstores is studied through survey methodology to collect consumer experience data related to the use of such cloud-based bookstores. In total, 185 samples were collected. Analytical results demonstrated that both ideal task–technology fit and individual use context–technology fit were significantly associated with the confirmation of users’ expectations as related to cloud-based bookstores. Expectation confirmation and ideal task–technology fit also have a significant link to users’ perceived usefulness and satisfaction, respectively. Furthermore, perceived usefulness significantly predicts satisfaction. Finally, perceived usefulness and satisfaction are also significantly associated with a users’ continuous use of cloud-based bookstores. As a result of this study’s findings, system administrators may foster suitable strategies for an improvement of users’ continuous use of cloud-based bookstores. Full article

The relationship between perceived risk and behavioral intention (BI) in e-shopping, based on family life cycle (FLC) stages, has been analyzed in this work. Although FLC stages are considered to have a better predictive ability than age, few e-shopping studies have concentrated on understanding its effects. This study, as a pioneering effort, has divided Indian women based on nine FLC stages and has studied the role of ten dimensions of perceived risk on BI to shop online across each life cycle stage. Results show that different facets of risks had distinct effects on purchase behavior among women belonging to different FLC stages. In effect, this study shows the importance of splitting people based on FLC stages in e-marketing and its value in making marketing decisions. Full article

The objective of this study is to explore methods to improve the effectiveness of anti-piracy educational deterrence efforts. We studied the effects of message framing (positive vs. negative), issue involvement (high vs. low), risk perception (high vs. low), and message evidence (anecdotal vs. statistical) on the perceived effectiveness of an anti-piracy campaign message. Our experimental results suggest that message frame alone does not have an impact on perceived message effectiveness. However, the effect of message framing is moderated by issue involvement, risk perception, and message evidence. Specifically, a positively framed message is more effective for individuals with low issue involvement, high perceived piracy risk, and who are exposed to anecdotal evidence. In contrast, a negatively framed message is more effective for individuals with high involvement, low risk, and who are exposed to statistical evidence. Full article

Online furniture rental platforms are expanding choice and convenience, allowing customers to rent from a wide array of providers with the click of a button or tap of a finger. The business of online furniture rental is undergoing rapid change as new online platforms race to capture markets and customers across most of the metropolitan cities in India. The paper aims to investigate attributes for online furniture rental platforms by proposing and empirically testing platform attributes-conversion model, examine how platform characteristics influence the renting decision of a consumer and how it subsequently lead to conversion. A mix method design was adopted for the study and a pilot study comprising of 341 respondents was carried out. The study focuses on six key attributes - occupational mobility, psychological ownership, complementary services, social gratification, perceived value, and customization, while identifying the most important attributes for renting furniture online. Full article

Although the increasing mobile technology applies in our daily lives, there remain questions that clearly illustrate the experience inspired by the mobile technology environment. It is theoretically and practically meaningful to systematically reveal how mobile technology generates users’ virtual experience and, subsequently, the behavioral response. To fill the gaps, drawing on the Stimulus-Organism-Response model, this paper regards flow as the core experience based on the features of the mobile users’ experience. The framework is that mobile technology will promote users’ virtual experience, and in turn, affect their behavioral response. This study uses online survey data from 452 respondents. We employ the structural equation model based on the partial least squares method and further mediation analysis by the Sobel test to validate the research hypotheses. Our results show that the mobile technology environment has a significantly positive effect on users’ purchase intention/return mediated by the virtual experience. However, the direct relationship between ubiquity and flow, as well as telepresence and intention to purchase/return, are not significant. Finally, a few theoretical and managerial contributions are also discussed. Full article

Push-Pull-Mooring framework is adopted to identify the antecedents affecting users’ switching intention from Internet payment to mobile payment. Using the data obtained from 264 valid respondents, the results show that both the mooring factors (perceived switching cost and personal innovativeness) and pull factors (relative advantages of substitute information technology and critical mass) are direct antecedents affecting customer switching behavior. In addition, mooring factors could moderate the relationship between push factors (dissatisfaction on system quality and dissatisfaction on service quality) as well as pull factors and customer switching intention. Managerial implications of findings were provided to payment service providers for maintaining incumbent customers and attracting potential customers. Full article

Contrary to the traditional economic prediction that prices decrease as more firms enter the market, this paper finds a non-monotonic relationship between the number of firms and prices in online book markets. A substantial decrease in posted prices is observed when the market moves from a monopoly to duopoly. Surprisingly, as the market further expands, posted prices converge to monopoly price rather than competitive price. This is because as the number of sellers increase on the internet, the cost for consumers to obtain accurate information as well as the cost to evaluate products and sellers increase. Thus, the existence of a large number of sellers deter consumer search and lead to more random purchases. With little consumer search, sellers’ returns to undercutting price reduce. Therefore, instead of lowering price when faced with more competitors, sellers increase prices. Full article

User reviews are a new source of information in the hospitality and tourism sector. Usually, these reviews contain comments of users and assessments expressed through ordered qualitative scales. The website Booking.com uses a smiley face scale to ask users the degree of satisfaction regarding several aspects of accommodations. The scoring system of the website assigns numerical values to each item of the smiley face scale. However, when users perceive different proximities between pairs of items of an ordered qualitative scale, these numerical codifications are because they may misrepresent the original ordinal information. In this paper, we analyze the drawbacks and limitations of the scoring system of Booking.com and we manage its smiley face scale through a purely ordinal procedure. This procedure avoids assigning numerical codifications to items of scales and it takes into account how users perceive the proximities between pairs of items. The findings show the importance of considering how users understand qualitative scales when they face subjective assessments through ordered qualitative scales. Full article

Proliferation of social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, Snapchat and others among their numerous strengths unfortunately came along with some inconveniences such as uncertainty users face during communication. The aim of this study is to determine the preference of Social Networking Sites for uncertainty reduction by international students and local community. The research adopted quantitative methodology to find out international students’ preference of Social Networking Sites with respect to reducing the level of uncertainty. In line with previous research, results of the study indicate a direct relationship between preference of SNSs and low-level of uncertainty. Thus, the results reveal that active, passive and interactive strategies used by the international students play an important role in the degree of uncertainty faced by the local and international students. Full article

The purpose of this research is to examine the effects of trust transfer and online contents on purchase intention in the online-to-offline e-commerce. A partial least squares based structural equation model was utilized to test the framework of causality and a series of multivariate analyses of variance were conducted to test the effects of online content size. The partial least squares results indicate that trust transfer from online-to-offline platforms to offline merchants, perceived effectiveness of online product reviews as well as perceived effectiveness of numerical ratings positively influence trust in merchants directly and purchase intention indirectly, while perceived effectiveness of online production descriptions shows no significant effect. The multivariate analyses of variance results confirm the positive effects of review number and picture number on customer trust toward merchants and purchase intention. The multivariate analyses of variance results also support the positive effects of review length when a merchant has a high review balance. This research contributes to e-commerce and behavior literature by investigating how trust transfer and online contents engage customers and induce their purchase behaviors in online-to-offline commerce. It also assists leading a better online-to-offline outcome for online-to-offline platforms and offline merchants in the highly competitive online-to-offline markets. Full article

The purpose of this paper was to identify the most significant factors and issues concerning a successful Pre-Commercial Procurement in the Slovak and Czech markets and to validate a conceptual model developed to describe relations within all procurement phases with more detailed exploratory attributes. Number of price changes within the negotiation phase (generally in electronic dynamic pricing environment) and volume of procurement were identified as the most crucial determinants of savings, with a positive and negative effect on the success of Pre-Commercial Procurement respectively. Selection of auction type affects the number of participants and number of new participants in the auction, with less transparent auction types being more attractive for suppliers than transparent types. Further, Pre-Commercial Procurement was compared to traditional procurement of common products and services, identifying differences in number of participants and total volume of auctions. A survey conducted identified the critical need to improve innovation driven sourcing ecosystem to make the market more transparent for identification of suitable suppliers but also for the procurer to be more visible on the market when procurement is taking the place. The developed conceptual framework with tested relations can be a guide to proper Pre-Commercial Procurement procurement setting. Full article