Online Vendors Research Articles

Finding determinants of e-commerce success: a PLS-SEM approach

PurposeWith the growth in internet technology, the competition between the e-commerce firms has become fierce. This has forced these online vendors to consider customer-centric strategies apart from the retail strategies for generating revenue. The purpose of this paper is to propose a structural model to study the interrelationship between a formative endogenous latent variable (LV), i.e. e-commerce success, and other LVs representing the customer-oriented success factors such as website service quality (WSQ), customer support system (CSS), personalization and electronic word-of-mouth (EWOM).Design/methodology/approachThe authors develop a structural model to validate the determinants of electronic commerce success. Survey-based data obtained from 265 respondents are used to validate the model hypotheses. To analyze the data, partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is performed using smartPLS 2.0 software. The results on the interrelationships between the constructs are determined using path analysis.FindingsThe data analysis results infer the impact of these success factors on e-commerce success systems. After applying bootstrapping technique, the authors observed that WSQ, CSS, personalization and EWOM have a significant positive effect on e-commerce system success (ESS). Further studies can be performed considering mobile commerce and their critical success factors.Practical implicationsThe findings of the study emphasize on the importance of these four exogenous variables for e-businesses in order to achieve a competitive edge over their competitors. The study provides a detailed managerial implication with respect to each causal relationship, so as to suggest some remedial measures to gain customer market.Originality/valueHere, the authors consider an empirical model which shows the determinants of ESS. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, a distinctive system success framework is modeled considering a unique combination of exogenous variables not considered by previous studies.

Is online multiple-stores cooperative promotion better than single-store promotion? Misprediction from evaluation mode

Inspired by the evaluation mode theory, we show online vendors mispredict consumers’ responses to different types of sales displays. While vendors predict that consumers evaluate a featured product more positively in a cooperative sales promotion (CSP; i.e., multiple stores promoting synchronously) than in an independent sales promotion (ISP; i.e., a single store promoting independently), consumers actually do the opposite. The reason is that vendors compare CSP with ISP and are able to evaluate depending on perceived acquisition utility; consumers, however, see either CSP or ISP, resulting in difficulty in accessing acquisition utility. Thus, they evaluate according to perceived transaction utility.

Contracting for online personalisation services: An economic analysis

Our study contributes to the literature as follows. Firstly, we are the first to develop and analyse a new contracting problem in the context of personalised services in which the vendor strategically offers two complementary personalisation services to acquire customer preference information. Secondly, given heterogeneity in the willingness to use and expected utility for complementary personalisation services, we uniquely incorporate market realities about the differentiation of customer segmentation. We investigate how the boundedly rational customer segment affects the vendor’s optimal personalisation service strategies and profits. Thirdly, our study extends the privacy calculus theory in information systems through an economic model to reveal customer privacy perceptions and online behaviours. In brief, our study offers guidelines for online vendors that address online personalisation and sheds light on how to effectively carry out information acquisition strategies with boundedly rational customer issues. Market demand uncertainty and customer preference complementarity make targeted advertising and pricing decisions for online vendors particularly challenging. Advanced Internet technologies have provided vendors with the capacity to acquire customer complementary preference information. These technologies depend on the level of personalisation services and segmentation of customers. These problems get exacerbated by the fact that a vendor cannot accurately predict customer preference and thus cannot charge for online personalisation services. Therefore, designing service contracts to acquire customer preference information is vital for the vendor. This study tries to derive the optimal contracting structures (basic service, zero-utility complementary, and positive-utility complementary contracts) for vendors under information asymmetry, considering service complementarity and customer segmentation. Our study can be used in many online shopping and line-interactive systems that give the vendor a noteworthy information advantage.

Is Online Multiple-Stores Cooperative Promotion Better than Single-Store Promotion? Misprediction from Evaluation Mode

Inspired by the evaluation mode theory, we show online vendors mispredict consumers' responses to different types of sales displays. While vendors predict that consumers evaluate a featured product more positively in a cooperative sales promotion (CSP; i.e., multiple stores promoting synchronously) than in an independent sales promotion (ISP; i.e., a single store promoting independently), consumers actually do the opposite. The reason is that vendors compare CSP with ISP and are able to evaluate depending on perceived acquisition utility; consumers, however, see either CSP or ISP, resulting in difficulty in accessing acquisition utility. Thus, they evaluate according to perceived transaction utility.

Online ballot stuffing: Influence of self-boosting manipulation on rating dynamics in online rating systems

Vendors on online shopping platforms have incentives to provide misinformation by manipulating consumer ratings. However, few studies have empirically examined whether temporal self-boosting rating manipulation changes the follow-up dynamic pattern of online ratings. This study empirically identifies manipulated ratings and examines how this manipulation influences the evolution of follow-up ratings over time. Rating records of more than 30,000 restaurants are extracted from the server log of a restaurant review website. The results show a statistically nonsignificant difference in the average rating scores between before and after manipulation, indicating that manipulation does not influence follow-up rating dynamics. Moreover, the difference in average ratings between before and after manipulation decreases within a long time window, which indicates that the long-term effect is weaker than the short-term one. The results are further validated by an online field experiment. We then construct a simulation model to reveal the underlying mechanisms of why the follow-up raters could correct the bias of rating manipulation. The manipulated high-rating score of the vendor will increase the diversity of consumers’ individual preferences, which leads to diverse evaluations among users. The aggregation of online ranking by taking the average score of ratings helps form a decentralized climate of opinion and finally helps correct the biased rating. This study challenges the common belief that self-boosting misinformation affects the performance of online commerce. The nonsignificant effect of rating manipulation on rating dynamics echoes the theory of the wisdom of crowds. Furthermore, this study has managerial implications for both online vendors and online rating platforms. We suggested that the system should degrade social influences among users in order to reduce the possible impacts by manipulated ratings.

Sales Taxation, Spatial Agglomeration, and the Internet

Technological innovations facilitating e-commerce have well-documented effects on consumer behavior and firm organization in the retail sector, but the effects of these new transaction technologies on fiscal systems remain unknown. By extending models of commodity tax competition to include urban spatial structure (agglomeration) and online commerce, one can analyze strategic tax-policy interactions among neighboring localities. Consumers buy different types of commodities, sold either by traditional or by online vendors. When the cost of online shopping falls, we show that equilibrium tax rates and revenues increase in small jurisdictions and decrease in large jurisdictions with retail shopping centers. Policy commentators warn that e-commerce erodes tax revenue - true enough for some localities - but, more accurately, changing transaction costs can generate entirely new commercial and fiscal equilibria that ultimately “redistribute” tax revenues from localities with concentrations of traditional vendors toward other, typically smaller, localities.

Multi-Sessions Mechanism for Decentralized Cash on Delivery System

To date, cash on delivery (COD) is one of the most popular payment methods in developing countries thanks to the blossom of customer-to-customer e-commerce. With the widespread of a very small business model and the Internet, online shopping has become part of people’s daily activity. People browse for desirable products at the comfort of their homes and ask the online vendor that a shipper can deliver the merchandise at their doorstep. Then, COD allows customers to pay in cash when the product is delivered to their desired location. Since customers receive goods before making a payment, COD is, therefore, considered as a payment system. However, the crucial issue that previous research has not yet addressed is that their models only support single delivering session at a time. More precisely, if the current buyer is not available to receive the goods, the shipper has to wastefully wait for the complete payment and he/she cannot start shipping another merchandise. The tracking system seems to poorly handle this issue. In particular, we propose a multi-session mechanism, which consists of blockchain technology, smart contracts and hyperledger fabric platform to achieve distributed and transparent across delivering sessions in the decentralized markets. Our proposed mechanism ensure the efficiency of delivering process. The authors release our sources codes for further reproducibility and development. We conclude that the integration of multi-session mechanism and blockchain technology will cause significant efficiency across several disciplines.

A MODEL FOR CONSUMER TRUST IN E-COMMERCE


 E-commerce has grown rapidly over the past decade and has become a significant trend. One of the major concerns for the successful proliferation of e-commerce is the issue of consumers’ trust in Internet vendors. This study examines the antecedents of trust in e-commerce among Malaysian online consumers. Data was collected from 300 respondents who had recently made online purchases. Structural equation modelling-partial least squares (SEM-PLS) was used to analyse the data, and our findings reveal that brand recognition, service quality, security, and word-of-mouth (WOM) lead to higher levels of consumer trust, whereas customer satisfaction has an insignificant relation to consumer trust. This study enables online vendors or e-commerce business owners to understand consumer demand and satisfy their needs. Strategies need to be set right too to attract more consumers in purchasing online.

Online Payment and Consumers’ Attitude towards Risk reduction strategies in a cash based economy

Online payment for goods has grown globally; unfortunately, the advancement in technology has not lowered the level of perceived risk felt by customers who pay for products online. The adoption of online payment in Nigeria is still low hence, consumers are given options considered less risky to use. Many online vendors have adopted different risk reducing strategies to help curb the perceive risk felt by customers when paying online. The effect of these risk reducing factors have not been adequately investigated in Nigeria especially, given that online vendors in Nigeria accommodate buying online and paying cash. Using a sample of 170 young people in Nigeria, an ordered logistic regression was used to test the relationship between various risk-reducing strategies such as Money Back Guarantee (MBG), Electronic Word of Mouth (EWOM), Informational Influence (IIF) and Pay on Delivery (POD) in Nigeria and customers’ attitude towards electronic payment (CAT). We found that MBG, EWM and POD have significant positive influence on (CAT) while IIf exhibited a significant negative influence. The various risk reduction strategies employed by the study contributes a significant 12% to the variation of customers’ attitude towards electronic payment. We concluded that risk reduction strategies have a significant positive impact on customers’ attitude towards electronic payment in Nigeria. Hence, we recommend that online vendors should encourage more interpersonal online interaction among users, they should also provide more money back guarantees and pay-on-delivery offers to consumers to simulate and hasten their movement from traditional payment methods to online payment methods.

Are Consumers International? A Study of CSR, Cross-Border Shopping, Commitment and Purchase Intent among Online Consumers

The purpose of this study is to investigate purchase intent in online marketplaces as an international phenomenon. A profile of the international online consumer is established, taking into account factors such as indicators of socio-economic development of their home countries. A structural model is analyzed using LISREL, testing the importance of CSR, the propensity to buy from international online vendors and commitment with purchase intent as the dependent variable. A cross-national dataset of 804 respondents from 57 countries is analyzed, showing that CSR activities alone do not increase purchasing intent, but they do when mediated by commitment.

Dynamic model of online information quality perceptions and impacts: a literature review

ABSTRACTThis paper reviews the literature related to the concept of information quality (IQ) in the context of the online environment to understand how it has been conceptualised in the Information Systems (IS) literature, to identify gaps in the literature, and to make recommendations for future research. This study also extends the Information Processing Model (IPM) and proposes a novel dynamic model of online IQ perceptions and impacts. To understand the online IQ construct, an in-depth review of the literature is conducted. Overall, we reviewed 508 journal articles published between 1995 and 2016. This study found that there is a substantial gap in the IS literature in regards to a full understanding of the online IQ construct and its relation with the IPM. More research is needed to understand the way individuals process and respond to online information. Further, although the importance of context in theory development has been emphasised in the literature, very few empirical articles have explored the impact of contextual factors on the IPM as well as perceived online IQ. The findings provide online vendors with important guidelines that should be considered to motivate individuals to acquire more information from their websites that could lead to more satisfied and loyal users.

A challenge for healthcare but just another opportunity for illegitimate online sellers: Dubious market of shortage oncology drugs.

IntroductionDrug shortages mean a challenge to healthcare systems. Exposed patients or health care providers may seek alternative resources for these products online. The purpose of our study was to analyze the online availability of oncology shortage drugs at national and at international levels in 2014 and 2016.MethodsWe tested the online accessibility of oncology shortage drugs by simulating the Internet search method of patients. Search results were evaluated according to operational, distributional, and patient safety characteristics.ResultsIn 2014 and 2016 all (100%) antineoplastic agents affected by shortages were available on the Internet without medical prescription. The number of relevant websites among search engine results has decreased from 112 to 98, while online vendors actually offering oncology shortage drugs for sale has risen from 66.1% to 80.6% within relevant websites in the two evaluated years. None of the online sellers were classified as legitimate or accredited by LegitScript and VIPPS online pharmacy verification databases.ConclusionAccording to our findings shortage oncology drugs are widely available online. To manage shortages and illegal Internet trade national and international standardized shortage reporting and information systems, regularly updated Internet pharmacy verification databases are needed. As well, institutional procurement and medication use review policies are required.

Online Opportunities: A Quantitative Content Analysis Benchmark Study of Online Retail Plant Sales

Online, direct selling (ODS) has become the leading way that people acquire goods, with Amazon (Seattle, WA) being the largest online vendor in the United States. This study sought to determine if horticultural businesses were engaging in ODS with Amazon, ebay, and other websites. Researchers examined the ODS activity of 498 businesses using quantitative content analysis methods, and found that 93 horticultural industry businesses were conducting some form of ODS through their websites, but only four offered products on Amazon. Results indicate that ODS remains an untapped marketplace for the horticultural industry, particularly for small, rural businesses.

Subdivided or aggregated online review systems: Which is better for online takeaway vendors?

This paper examines the role of a subdivided or aggregated online review system to help online takeaway vendors select the most appropriate information strategy. First, we develop two models to depict the interaction between online vendors’ information strategies and consumers’ responses. Second, we take the multidimensional product attributes with their corresponding weights into consideration and illustrate that the sensitivity to product misfits, instead of the relative importance of product attributes, dominates profit maximization. Third, we make a comparison to find the most appropriate scenario to adopt a full or partial information strategy. When a large number of consumers satisfy the delivery time performance, an aggregated review system will be a better choice. Otherwise, vendors are advised to host a subdivided review system. Finally, we universally identify a variance boundary in the rating-star review system, which not only prevents consumers from expressing their real feelings but also makes observing consumer feedback and strategic adjustments inconvenient for online vendors.

Novel Benzodiazepines (Clonazolam and Flubromazolam) Identified in Candy-Like Pills.

To identify the contents of pills found on an intoxicated patient by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTof).5 To highlight the potential ability that this technique can add to the clinical laboratory. Illicit PEZ-like pills purchased from an online vendor, containing unknown substances, were investigated by UHPLC-QTof. Accurate mass and experimental data were obtained. Tentative identifications were subsequently confirmed with commercial standards. Accurate mass data, high-energy mass spectra, elucidation software, and a review of the scientific literature enabled the tentative identification of clonazolam and flubromazolam in the PEZ-like pills. On the basis of these tentative identifications, commercial standards were purchased to confirm the initial findings. On subsequent reinterrogation of the data, flubromazolam was identified in the urine specimen of the patient. Utilizing high-resolution mass data, 2 novel benzodiazepines were tentatively identified by reinterrogation of a routine analysis for drugs of abuse. Use of UHPLC-QTof in a clinical toxicology laboratory provides additional capabilities to explain and potentially improve treatment of patients presenting to the emergency department with symptoms possibly due to toxic substance ingestion.

User experience in personalized online shopping: a fuzzy-set analysis

PurposeIn the complex environments of online personalization, multiple factors have been considered to explain consumers’ online behaviour, but largely without considering the role of specific configurations of variables and how they may affect consumer behaviour. This study aims to show how trust towards online vendors, privacy, emotions and experience combine to predict consumers’ purchase intentions.Design/methodology/approachBuilding on complexity theory, a conceptual model followed by research propositions is presented. The propositions are empirically validated through configurational analysis, using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) on 182 customers with experience in personalized online shopping. Predictive validity analysis is also performed.FindingsFive solutions of trust, privacy, emotions and experience increase intention to purchase, and six solutions inhibit it. The findings verify the importance of trust and happiness in successful personalized online shopping. Their absence inhibits purchase intentions. Also, high experience may help to overcome low trust or negative emotions, whereas low experience requires the combination of high trust and happiness. None of the examined factors are indispensable to explain purchase intentions.Research limitations/implicationsThe study uses fsQCA, differentiating from traditional studies in the area that use variance-based methods and identifies multiple solutions explaining the same outcome. The proposed approach contributes to theory development in the field.Practical implicationsThe multiple solutions lead to new ways on how companies may approach their customers, as each one covers a specific part of the sample, adding to the fact that in personalized marketing there is not one single optimal solution explaining customer purchase intentions.Originality/valueThis study contributes by extending existing knowledge on how trust, privacy, emotions and experience combine to increase or mitigate intention to purchase towards the development of new emotion-centric theories and the design and provision of personalized services and presenting a step-by-step methodological approach for how to apply fsQCA in e-commerce studies.

A MATURITY MODEL FOR C2C SOCIAL COMMERCE BUSINESS MODEL

Individuals and sole proprietors in developing countries like Thailand have been gaining financial benefits from social media technologies that have enabled a new trading channel opportunity. Commercial activities conducted through social networking sites among users themselves has grown significantly. A rapid increase in the number of new vendors has forced the existing ones to improve their business for competitive advantage. Systematic and effective implementation and improvement has taken place by using a tool that provides business capability self-assessment such as the maturity model. Although there are a number of studies describing maturity of social media usage in organizations or businesses, there are few studies focusing on the C2C business model. This study presents a maturity model of C2C s-commerce for assessing stage of growth of C2C s-commerce. The methodology included both secondary research and case study research. The model includes five distinct maturity levels (Ad hoc, Active repeatable, Proactive functional, Pre-emptive managed, and Optimized). Their characteristics have been researched through four major dimensions (i.e., Business environment, People, Process, and Technology). The proposed maturity model helps online vendors implement their business activities by reducing business risks and also supports consumers by minimizing risks involved in purchasing. To cite this document: Supattana Sukrat and Borworn Papasratorn, A MATURITY MODEL FOR C2C SOCIAL COMMERCE BUSINESS MODEL , International Journal of Electronic Commerce Studies, Vol.9, No.1, pp.27-54, 2018. Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.7903/ijecs.1545

In Vitro Neurochemical Assessment of Methylphenidate and Its "Legal High" Analogs 3,4-CTMP and Ethylphenidate in Rat Nucleus Accumbens and Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis.

3,4-dichloromethylphenidate (3,4-CTMP) and ethylphenidate are new psychoactive substances and analogs of the attention deficit medication methylphenidate. Both drugs have been reported on online user fora to induce effects similar to cocaine. In the UK, 3,4-CTMP appeared on the drug market in 2013 and ethylphenidate has been sold since 2010. We aimed to explore the neurochemical effects of these drugs on brain dopamine and noradrenaline efflux. 3,4-CTMP and ethylphenidate, purchased from online vendors, were analyzed using gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy to confirm their identity. Drugs were then tested in adolescent male rat brain slices of the nucleus accumbens and stria terminalis for effects on dopamine and noradrenaline efflux respectively. Fast cyclic voltammetry was used to measure transmitter release. Methylphenidate (10 μM) increased evoked dopamine and noradrenaline efflux by 4- and 2-fold, respectively. 3,4-CTMP (0.1 and 1 μM) increased evoked dopamine and noradrenaline efflux by ~6-fold and 2-fold, respectively. Ethylphenidate (1 μM) doubled evoked dopamine and noradrenaline efflux in both cases. 3,4-CTMP's effect on dopamine efflux was greater than that of methylphenidate, but ethylphenidate appears to be a weaker dopamine transporter inhibitor. Experiments using the dopamine D2 antagonist haloperidol, the noradrenaline α2 receptor antagonist yohimbine, the dopamine transporter inhibitor GBR12909 and the noradrenaline transporter inhibitor desipramine confirmed that we were measuring dopamine in the accumbens and noradrenaline in the ventral BNST. All three psychostimulant drugs, through their effects on dopamine efflux, may have addictive liability although the effect of 3,4-CTMP on dopamine suggests that it might be most addictive and ethylphenidate least addictive.

Assessing the Buyer Trust and Satisfaction Factors in the E-Marketplace

Indonesian online sales have received remarkable growth with as high as 20% consistently every year. In 2016, there were estimated more than 180 million internet users and have reached 40% of 250 million total inhabitants. Based on the surveys, there are four most popular online vendors in Indonesia, such as: Lazada, Tokopedia, OnLine eXchange and Bukalapak, with strong customer bases. Due to its tremendous growth, however, there is still very few studies can be found to understand the characteristics of e-marketplace in Indonesia. For this reason, the article examines those most popular online vendors in Jakarta area, where the most buyers tend to have more experiences in conducting online purchases. The article utilizes the revised TAM as a valuable method to assess the important factors of online purchases such as: buyer and satisfaction factors, that comprised of: buyer perceived risk, seller’s expertise and reputation, and convenience of buying. The findings are aimed to address the important factors that can be used to increase buyer satisfaction. The outcomes of the study are expected to provide valuable guidance for all e-sellers and buyers to understand Indonesian e-marketplace.

The effect of online reviews on product sales: A joint sentiment-topic analysis

This research examines the business impact of online reviews. It empirically investigates the influence of numerical and textual reviews on product sales performance. We use a Joint Sentiment-Topic model to extract the topics and associated sentiments in review texts. We further propose that numerical rating mediates the effects of textual sentiments. Findings not only contribute to the knowledge of how eWOM impacts product sales, but also illustrate how numerical rating and textual reviews interplay while shaping product sales. In practice, the findings help online vendors strategize business analytics operations by focusing on more relevant aspects that ultimately drive sales.