Environment and policy factors shaping global e-commerce diffusion: A cross-country comparison

This article examines the key global, environmental and policy factors that act as determinants of e-commerce diffusion. It is based on systematic comparison of case studies from 10 countries - Brazil, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Mexico, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States. It finds that B2B e-commerce seems to be driven by global forces, whereas B2C seems to be more of a local phenomenon. A preliminary explanation for this difference is that B2B is driven by global competition and MNCs that "push" e-commerce to their global suppliers, customers, and subsidiaries. This in turn creates pressures on local companies to adopt e-commerce to stay competitive. In contrast, B2C is "pulled" by consumer markets, which are mainly local and therefore divergent. While all consumers desire convenience and low prices, consumer preferences and values, national culture, and distribution systems differ markedly across countries and define differences in local consumer markets. These findings support the transformation perspective about globalization and its impacts. In terms of policy, the case studies suggest that enabling policies such as trade and telecommunications liberalization are likely to have the biggest impact on e-commerce, by making ICT and Internet access more affordable to firms and consumers, and increasing pressure on firms to adopt e-commerce to compete. Specific e-commerce legislation appears not to have as big an impact, although inadequate protection for both buyers and sellers in some countries suggests that mechanisms need to be developed to ensure greater confidence in doing business online

Critical Factors of the Buyer Decision Process Model in Business-to-Customer (B2C) E-Commerce in Taiwan

The purpose of this study is to identify the critical factors involved in each stage of the Buyer Decision Process model, developed by Kotler and Armstrong (1997), as this study relates to online retail shopping in the country of Taiwan. This study explored whether and to what extent these factors influence consumers making online purchase decisions. The Buyer Decision Process model consists of five stages: (a) need recognition; (b) information search; (c) alternatives evaluation; (d) purchase decision; and (e) post-purchase decision. This research study attempted to design a framework based on this model to explore the perceived consumer value of online purchase through the entire consumption process in a B2C e-commerce setting in the country of Taiwan. There are many problems in this research area, such as: (a) B2C e-commerce is very competitive; (b) online shoppers have different characteristics from traditional shoppers; (c) most B2C Websites are ignored by Internet users; and (d) online shoppers are unable to touch, feel, or see real products to evaluate quality. Therefore, how to attract worldwide potential customers to Websites is a challenge for global e-retailers; and how to analyze and understand consumer preferences is a challenge for global e-retailers in the fast-changing digital marketing as well. There are five research questions in this research study, based on the five stages of the Buyer Decision Process model to measure consumer online behavior in Taiwan. In order to answer the five research questions, the researcher identified 14 critical factors for consumer online purchase decisions based on the five stages. These critical factors include: Free Trials, Internet Advertisements, Search Engines, Online Shopping Malls, Auction Websites, Convenience, Price, Brand, Security, Promotion, Refund, Satisfaction, Customized Information, and Discount. In general, the study results supported the inference of relationships between the 14 critical factors and Internet users\u27 receptivity to online shopping, with Satisfaction ranking first, Online Shopping Malls ranking second, and Convenience ranking third

Influence of Taiwanese Consumer Beliefs in Web Site Attributes and E-Shopping Attitudes on E-Shopping Intentions

This study aimed at investigating Taiwanese consumers\u27 beliefs in Web site attributes and their e-shopping attitudes that influence their intentions to shop for books in e-bookstores. This study utilized the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) as the framework to explain the interrelationships among belief in Web site attributes, e-shopping attitude, and e-shopping intention. This study, using the method of two-stage quota sampling, used a sample of male and female students at different levels of several departments of Far East College. The survey questionnaires were non-randomly distributed to the voluntary participants. The survey was administered to a sample of undergraduate and graduate students who were students at Far East College of Taiwan and had purchased books in e-bookstores. The procedure of this non-experimental study guaranteed participants\u27 anonymity. Three hundred and fifty-one questionnaires were usable for data analysis. The three most important variables in this study were belief in Web site attributes, e-shopping attitude, and e-shopping intention. Independent variables were belief in Web site attributes and e-shopping attitude, and the dependent variable was shopping intention. Web site attributes consisted of four dimensions: Web site content, trustworthiness, interactivity, and marketing mix. In the questionnaire, six important constructs (belief in Web site content, belief in trustworthiness, belief in interactivity, belief in marketing mix, e-shopping attitude, e-shopping intention) were measured on a five-point semantic differential scale. The scale items for these six constructs were developed by modifying instruments in prior studies that had been conducted by different scale developers. The content of the questionnaire was composed of two parts: the first part contained three items inquiring about participants\u27 gender, age, and length of e-shopping experience; the second part contained 26 items to inquire about participants\u27 beliefs in Web site attributes, e-shopping attitudes, and e-shopping intentions. The collected data were processed on SPSS to conduct reliability analysis, factor analysis, descriptive analysis, simple regression, t-test analysis, analysis of variance, and multiple-regression. Findings indicated that e-shopping attitude was a predictor of e-shopping intention and had a positive and significant effect on e-shopping intention. Also, belief in Web site content, belief in trustworthiness, and belief in interactivity were antecedents of e-shopping attitude, but belief in marketing mix did not have an influential effect on e-shopping attitude. Furthermore, belief in marketing mix played an important role in affecting e-shopping intention. Practical implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research are further discussed

Globalization and E-Commerce VIII: Environment and Policy in Taiwan

The international environment is the most important factor that drives the diffusion of B2B e-commerce in Taiwan. The digital information network that enables supply-chain management is used by Taiwanese firms as a means to protect their position in global production. National environment elements, such as telecommunication infrastructures and human resources, are useful reinforcing factors, but not powerful enough to drive the whole process. Government policies play a role only to the extent that they encourage a certain approach to e-commerce solutions. In the case of B2C e-commerce, Internet penetration among the general population is a precondition for diffusion. On-line security concerning trading and payment is critical for the acceptance of electronic commerce by Internet users and the national environment is crucial in this regard. Nevertheless, the most effective driver for the diffusion of electronic trade appears to be innovation of the right products. Without such products, the diffusion of e-commerce will be limited, even with the right environment and policies

Competitiveness and internationalization of a Portuguese SME in the cheese market - marketing mix and budget

S4, an experienced Portuguese cheese company leader in the domestic fresh segment, aims to expand and consolidate its business internationally. By screening several countries based on macro and industry-specific indicators and conducting an in-depth analysis of the four most promising ones, United States and Germany resulted to be the most attractive markets for S4’s internationalization. Following, the most suitable entry mode was defined as well as the ideal business model and marketing plan to effectively run a business in both countries. Financial projections and risk evaluations were performed to assess the viability of the proposed international plan

Impact of Globalization on Small-Scale Artisans in Azrou, Morocco

Faced with the impact of globalization upon business productivity and the consumer\u27s expectations and demands in current-day Morocco, Moroccan small scale artisans are struggling to compete and earn income to survive. This new phenomenon is due to a smaller interest in the handicraft sector both by the state and by the young consumers, whereas until today, the most basic infrastructural needs for successful business such as affordable transportation and affordable means of publicity are absent in remote villages such as Azrou..

The Case of Denmark

The Danish companies are ahead of the US in B2C e-commerce. With the exception of Germany, Denmark is leading the group of 10 countries included in the survey data forming the basis for this report. The average global sample and countries as Germany is performing substantial better than Denmark on B2B on-line sales. Danish companies have high level of investments in IT, have the lowest barriers for ecommerce and the highest levels of e-commerce drivers. On most indicators for readiness e-commerce such as companies use of e-mail, intranet, EDI, extranet, and provision of mobile services..

Effect of E-Service Quality on Customer Online Repurchase Intentions

In the early years of online retailing, having an online presence and low prices were believed to be key drivers of success. More recently, electronic service quality has become essential as an online marketing strategy. Online stores provide higher service quality to create online customer loyalty, improve customer satisfaction, and keep a lasting competitive advantage. According to the literature review, service quality is an important instrument of developing a competitive advantage in e-business. It is one of the most critical factors for maintaining long-term relationships with customers, building customer loyalty, and encouraging repeat purchases (Li & Suomi, 2007). Therefore, service quality has become a significant factor in determining the success or failure of an online business by influencing online customer shopping experiences and has a greatly effects both online customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. However, most past studies focused on the relationship between e-service quality, e-satisfaction and online purchase intentions. No empirical studies have explored the relationship between e-service quality and online repurchase intentions. In other words, this research investigated the potential for future online purchases by the customers significantly contributing to the research knowledge base. The purpose of this study was to explore and analyze the effect of e-service quality on customer intention to repurchase online. The study employed the e-commerce customer satisfaction index (ECCSI) model and the NetQual model to examine potential relationships and effects of several variables on online repurchase behavior. A quantitative, non-experimental, explanatory, and correlational research design was used to answer four research questions and test nine hypotheses. The sample consists of daytime undergraduate students at a university in Taiwan. The data was analyzed using statistical software to conduct descriptive analysis, reliability analysis, factor analysis, simple regression, and multiple regression. In this study, the finding indicated that two variables (information and ease-of-use) of e-service quality dimension had positively influenced online repurchase intentions. Meanwhile, E-service quality also had a positively significant effect on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Online customer satisfaction and loyalty had a positively significant effect on online repurchase intentions. Finally, the results indicated that a greater e-service quality will increase online customer satisfaction, build customer loyalty, and encourage online repurchase intentions. Thus, the online retailer should be build long-term relationship with their customers through e- service quality to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty and enhance customer repurchase intentions. Lastly, the limitations and recommendation for future research are included

E-Commerce in Agri-Food Sector : A Systematic Literature Review Based on Service-Dominant Logic

Agricultural e-commerce (AE) has attracted substantial attention within various research disciplines for several years. In this paper, we present a literature review of the recent state of AE research published from 2000 through to 2021 in 83 journals. Based on Service-Dominant Logic (S-D logic) and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), we identify six research themes, and a theoretical continuum is applied to reveal how research themes and scholarly approaches fit into the S-D logic framework. A general increasing trend in the number of articles confirms the escalating interest in AE research; however, different themes perform unevenly with S-D logic. Even though research themes such as Consumer Willingness are getting closer to S-D logic premises, and ideologies that are increasingly approaching S-D logic have been applied to analyzing AE topics, unfortunately, there remains a paucity of papers that wield S-D logic in the AE field. Our research focuses on an innovative emerging AE field and, simultaneously, provides an approach of integrating S-D logic into analyzing academic papers in the AE domain. This research may shed some light on future possibilities that S-D logic could support the co-creation of value between consumers and agribusiness managers, and other broader disciplines such as management and marketing.Peer reviewe