Title
e-commerce sustainability: The case of Pinduoduo in China
Date Issued
01 August 2019
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Publisher(s)
MDPI
Abstract
Internet-based platforms are competing fiercely in the Chinese market by fostering an omni-channel shopping ecosystem. Companies have grouped under two giants, Alibaba and Tencent, leading to one-to-many competition dynamics in the Chinese market. In the midst of this competition, the three-year-old Pinduoduo has gained attention with its fast growth, positioning itself as the third biggest e-commerce platform in China with 19.4% of the market share. Pinduoduo has targeted a niche market made up of cheap products, low-income workers, and small business owners in small cities. Recently, however, many Pinduoduo users have returned to their former platforms, due to the proliferation of fake and low-quality products on the platform. Our study aims to investigate the reasons that prompted users to return to other platforms after their Pinduoduo experience. We conducted in-depth interviews to understand this phenomenon and built a research model based on risk theory and the customer resistance to change (CRC) framework. Results suggest that switching costs and relative attractiveness influence CRC, while risk perceptions form negative attitudes toward CRC, which finally result in negative word of mouth. Finally, theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Volume
11
Issue
15
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ciencias de la computación Economía
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85070482827
Source
Sustainability (Switzerland)
ISSN of the container
20711050
Sponsor(s)
This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2018S1A5A8027174).
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus