An Exploration of Cross-border E-commerce Consumer Feedbacks: An LDA Approach

Cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) has become an important channel to help a firm to go into the international market in China. The recent influx in development of CEBC has caused a simultaneous influx in accumulation of text data such as consumer feedback. To better understand consumer feedback, we collected data from a leading CBEC firm in China to explore the topics of feedback posted directly by their customers. We employed the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) model to explore the potential topics focused on most by consumers. We found 35 primary topics are mentioned by both sellers and buyers. For the seller’s perspective, we found that the topics such as commission, product audit, communication between seller and buyer, order management and traffic are most important. On the buyer’s side, we found that return and refund, product tracking, product description, shipping time, and seller performance are the most mentioned topics. This study will help contribute to the understanding of how consumer feedback will help firms in many ways, including but not limited to recovering service and product failures, audit internal functions, and improve product quality

The Types of Redress Procedures in Business-To-Consumer (B2C) E-Commerce.

Redress is a process offering consumers access to internal complaint handling procedures and services to resolve disputes occurring in e-commerce transactions. The roles and types of redress have received much attention, particularly in offline business where the focus is largely on traditional litigation procedures. This paper focuses on types of redress procedure consumers have expected during B2C e-commerce disputes, by analysing the perceptions of a selected group of online consumers located in Melbourne, Australia. The research reveals that when problems occur in B2C e-commerce transactions, an accessible and responsive redress method is what consumers immediately required and expected from merchants. This suggests that traditional litigation or the usual legal methods to seek redress are not necessary

FROM PAPER TO PLASTIC BY 2002: RETAILERS' PERSPECTIVE ON ELECTRONIC BENEFIT TRANSFER SYSTEMS FOR FOOD STAMPS

The Food Stamp Program (FSP) is working under the deadline of October 1, 2002, to coordinate a change from the current paper disbursement system of paper food stamps to an electronic transfer system of benefits, known as EBT. The Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been studying the effectiveness of differing vehicles for benefit dispersal since the inception of the FSP in the 1960's. The merits of a direct cash payment have been compared to those of the paper system by the USDA and an array of professional groups and research organizations. The adoption of the electronic benefit transfer (EBT) system engenders a new set of questions about the effects of EBT on benefit recipients, retailers and the administering government agencies. Issues surrounding the transition from paper to plastic are still problematic for retailers in spite of the rapidly approaching deadline. National interoperability of EBT as well as fees involved with EBT operation are still points of contention for retailers. Anecdotal evidence from retailers also point to kinks in the institutional operation of EBT. Peak-loading problems with the electronic network system generate a host of undesirable consequences for benefit recipients and retailers. These problems impede the electronic system from taking advantage of the positive network effects that could arise from this new technology.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Marketing, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Legal Implications of E-Commerce: Basic Issues, Initiatives and Experiences in Asia

This paper gives a short overview on the major issues that have to be taken into account when formulating e-commerce-related laws and regulations and introduces two model laws relating to e-commerce and e-signatures which were created by the United Nations Commission of International trade Law. The paper has a closer look at e-commerce developments in Asia and the Pacific and gives an overview of the state of implementation of e-commerce laws. In conclusion, it discusses the e-ASEAN Reference Framework for electronic commerce legal infrastructure as example of a regional initiative to harmonize the legal basis for e-commerce.legal infrastructure, e-commerce laws, Asia, e-signature, e-ASEAN Reference Framework

Society Change or Organisational Evolution? Global or Local e-Pharmacies?

Buying drugs through Internet is known as an Online pharmacy. People can buy various kinds of drugs like Prescription or Over The Counter (OTC). The Online pharmacies generally lure the customers by offering them discount prices. It is not simply selling the drugs through Internet. There are Pharmacists who will be working for the Online pharmacies providing the valuable services to their customers and checking the prescription letters thoroughly before selling the drugs to the customers. Apart from selling drugs to the customers, the online pharmacies can also provide health care information to the customers according to the HON Code (Health On Net) ethics. As the generic drug sector in the Pharmaceutical industry is going to be a boom in the European Union and so the online pharmacies are going to pick up. By 2006, 75% of the ‘Innovative’ drugs are going to lose their patents, this is the reason why generic drugs are going to kick very soon in the market and so the online pharmacies are going to flood. Buying drugs through Internet is a serious issue because it is related to one’s health and hence, there are so many issues related to the Internet drugs in this document in order to go for the safe medicines over the Internet.online pharmacy, OTC, generic drugs, counterfeit drugs

Electronic Payment Systems Observatory (ePSO). Newsletter Issues 9-15

Abstract not availableJRC.J-Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (Seville

Factors Affecting Consumers’ Intention in Vietnam-China Cross-border E-commerce: An Empirical Study in Hanoi, Vietnam

In the era of innovative technologies, the physical border is no longer a concern in exchanging goods thanks to the widespread use of internet connections. On this basis, the study explores the determinants that impact cross-border online consumers’ purchase intentions in Hanoi, Vietnam. As fundamental ideas, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) are integrated with the influence of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The examined factors consist of Consumer Attitude, Subjective Norms, Perceived Behavioral Control, Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, Perceived Risk, Trust, and RCEP. The research was conducted on a survey questionnaire of 253 online shoppers in Hanoi who have experienced cross-border purchasing. The data was processed using several statistical methods, namely descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), correlation analysis, and regression analysis. The analysis reveals that Consumer Attitude, Subjective Norms, Perceived Behavioral Control, Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and Trust have a positive influence on the consumer’s intention to cross-border e-commerce (CBEC), while perceived risk and RCEP do not exert any force on the intention. Among these variables, Risk perception and trust have been demonstrated to have the most significant impact on online purchase intention. The outcomes of the study indicate that online retailers or intermediaries adopt a third-party payment processor and publish policies to protect consumers’ private information. It is also suggested that the government should educate the public on the benefits of RCEP, implement the relevant policies, and provide guidance for the sellers to follow to utilize the advantages of RCEP

The effect of trust, transaction utility, and product uniqueness on International Online Outshopping (IOO) intention and customer delight: the role of e-tailer’s country image

International Online Outshopping (IOO) is the virtual movement of consumers from one electronic marketplace to another across the globe with the intention of purchasing goods from the convenience of their homes, at the click of a button. With an increasing number of U.S. consumers looking to shop for apparel-related products at foreign websites, this recent IOO phenomenon has raised questions among e-tailers and academicians as to the characteristics of this new-age, international online outshopper and the nature of an IOO purchase. Though there have been significant efforts to understand the characteristics of an outshopper in prior research, the process of an IOO purchase is yet to be understood comprehensively, especially in identifying the antecedents and consequences of an IOO purchase. Moreover, understanding of the influence of consumers’ perception of the e-tailer’s country image on their IOO intention is limited. Filling these research gaps, the purpose of this study is to develop and test a comprehensive framework consisting of both the antecedents of initial IOO intention and emotional consequences of an IOO purchase. Built on Commitment-Trust Theory, Mental Accounting Theory, Commodity Theory, and The Model of Customer Delight. The research framework consisted of two phases. Phase I manipulated and tested the effect of three antecedents (i.e., trust in e-tailer, transaction utility and product uniqueness) on IOO intention and included country image (U.K. image and China image) as the moderator of these effects (H1a-c to H3a-c). Phase II manipulated and tested the effect of the above three antecedents on the Model of Customer Delight which includes the emotions of surprise, arousal, positive affect, and customer delight (H4a-b to H11a-b). Both phases were tested on U.S. consumers’ IOO purchase at Chinese and U.K. e-tailers, the top two IOO destinations for U.S. consumers as well as leading developing and developed country e-tailers, respectively. An experiment was conducted by developing 16 IOO scenarios consisting of all possible combinations of high and low levels of trust (2) x transaction utility (2) x product uniqueness (2) at both Chinese (8 scenarios) and U.K. (8 scenarios) e-tailer settings. Using Qualtrics to conduct the experiment, 539 usable responses (275 Chinese and 264 U.K. e-tailer setting) were collected from college students. Participants were randomly assigned to one of 16 scenarios at either Chinese or U.K. e-tailer setting. Pre-tests were conducted to validate and refine the manipulation of high and low levels of trust, transaction utility and product uniqueness prior to data collection. Upon manipulation of the scenarios, participants’ IOO intention and their emotions in the Model of Customer Delight were captured using items on Likert-type scales. The hypotheses in the causal model (research framework) were tested using multiple-sample Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The findings of this study showed that, in Phase I, trust in an e-tailer positively influenced IOO intention at both Chinese and U.K. e-tailers (H1 a & b supported), transaction utility positively influenced IOO intention at U.K. e-tailers but not at Chinese e-tailers (H2a unsupported, H2b supported) and product uniqueness did not influence IOO intention at both Chinese and U.K. e-tailers (H3 a & b unsupported). Country image moderated only the relationship between transaction utility and IOO intention such that it was stronger in the U.K. than Chinese e-tailer settings; however, this effect was opposite to the strength that was hypothesized (H2c unsupported). There was no moderating effect of country image on the relationship between trust and IOO intention, and product uniqueness and IOO intention (H1c and H3c unsupported). The findings of Phase II revealed that trust was the only manipulated factor that influenced surprise while transaction utility and product uniqueness did not influence surprise. However, contrary to the hypothesis, this effect of trust on surprise was negative (H4 – H6 unsupported). Further analysis into this anomaly revealed that trust increased the level of surprise among consumers with no prior experience shopping at foreign websites, whereas it decreased the level of surprise among those with prior IOO experience. Finally, the relationships in the Model of Customer Delight were significant (H7 – H11 supported). This study extended the research in outshopping literature to understand the phenomenon of IOO by conducting an experimental study, thereby advancing the theoretical understanding of country image, online trust, transaction utility and customer delight. The findings of this study suggest to managers in the e-tailing industry that, developing a trustworthy website is the most important step towards generating purchase intention at that e-tailer’s website, regardless of the e-tailer’s country image. The limitations of this study and suggestions for future research are also provided

The drivers and impediments for cross-border e-commerce in the EU

There are no official statistics on international online trade in goods so far. This paper uses a consumer survey to construct a unique matrix of online B2C domestic and cross-border trade in goods between the 27 EU Member States. We compare online and offline trade patterns for similar goods. We find that the standard gravity model performs well in explaining online cross-border trade flows. The model confirms the strong reduction in geographical distance-related trade costs, compared to offline trade. However, the trade costs associated with crossing language barriers increase when moving from offline to online trade. Institutional variables such as online payments facilities and cost-efficiency of parcel delivery systems might play a significant role in cross-border trade and our analysis confirms this. In a linguistically segmented market like the EU, online home market bias remains high compared to bias in offline cross-border trade. We conclude that it is hard to predict at this stage whether regulators could boost online cross-border trade through improvements in legal and financial systems, and parcel delivery infrastructure.JRC.J.3-Information Societ