A Conjoint Approach to Understanding Online Buyers’ Decisions towards Online Marketplaces

Abstract:The marketplace-based e-commerce is the dominant type so far. Therefore, it is important to understand the decisional attributes and their relevance for online consumers when choosing marketplaces. However, little research is devoted to this issue. This paper outlines seven attributes of ma...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Lu,Baozhou, Zhang,Song
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:Chile
Institución:Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo
Repositorio:SciELO Chile
OAI Identifier:oai:scielo:S0718-18762020000300106
Acceso en línea:http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-18762020000300106
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Online purchase decision
Marketplace choice
Conjoint analysis
Decisional attribute
Institutional mechanisms
Descripción
Sumario:Abstract:The marketplace-based e-commerce is the dominant type so far. Therefore, it is important to understand the decisional attributes and their relevance for online consumers when choosing marketplaces. However, little research is devoted to this issue. This paper outlines seven attributes of marketplace based on three theories, including ease of use, usefulness, logistics service quality, effectiveness of feedback mechanisms, effectiveness of escrow service, effectiveness of information security services, and effectiveness of dispute resolution mechanisms. Via conjoint analysis methodology, we find that for the whole sample effectiveness of dispute resolution is the most important attribute, whereas logistics service quality is the least important one. The results further reveal gender has impacts on the relative strength of each attribute: while male buyers think some attributes (i.e., effectiveness of dispute resolution mechanisms and effectiveness of information security services) are more important than others (i.e., logistics service quality), female buyers consider that each attribute is equally important. This study suggests that institutional theory and technology adoption model offer more relevant theoretical perspective than the logistics service theory for marketplace choice. Though having limitations including focusing on young users in one region, this paper offers several theoretical contributions to research and some insights for practice.