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E-commerce poverty alleviation (EPA) is an innovative poverty alleviation model in China. The institutional mechanisms of the e-commerce platform improve the effect of EPA and exert online shopping purchase power in rural China. From a socio-technical perspective, this paper used adoption readiness of farmers and perceived risk to construct an integrated model to discern the effect of enhanced e-commerce institutional mechanisms on farmers' online shopping intention in the context of EPA.

The survey included 832 valid samples from rural farmers in Shanxi province. This study analyses using structural equation modelling (SEM) and bootstrap methods used to empirically test the model.

Findings suggest that enhanced e-commerce institutional mechanisms have significant direct and indirect positive impacts on farmers' online shopping intention; adoption readiness and perceived risk play partial mediation roles in determining the relationship between farmers' online shopping intention and enhanced e-commerce institutional mechanisms; and the indirect mediation effect of adoption readiness is greater than that of perceived risk.

Although the proposed model was supported in the questionnaire survey, the investigation method was not completely excluded. Future research can combine the method of panel data and apply the framework to other e-commerce platforms, as well as to other cultural settings.

The study suggests that enhanced e-commerce institutional mechanisms that are based on the needs of farmers from poverty-stricken areas change the shopping habits of farmers. Moreover, enhanced e-commerce institutional mechanisms should allow farmers' perceived adoption readiness to play its promoting role and reduce the impeding role of perceived risk. The results of this study are conducive to the intensive implementation of the ‘Three Rural Issues’ strategy in China.

A new model to generate a two-factor mediation effect model by integrating the perceived effectiveness of enhanced e-commerce institutional mechanisms with farmers, farmers' adoption readiness, perceived risk and online shopping intention. The study explored the relationship between enhanced e-commerce institutional mechanisms and farmers' online shopping intention, bridging the gap in related empirical studies. Besides, this study first proposed farmers' adoption readiness and clarifies the mediating role of farmers' adoption readiness and perceived risk, which highlights the previously unnoticed role of farmers' adoption readiness.

Drawing upon institution-based trust theory, the purpose of this paper is twofold: firstly, to examine the joint influences of legally binding and market-driven institutional mechanisms in promoting customers’ trust and continuance intention in the ridesharing platform; and secondly, to examine if there exists a trust transfer mechanism between institution-based trust and interpersonal trust.

An online survey was conducted in China and data were collected from 307 customers in DiDi, which is one of the largest ridesharing platforms in China. Structural equation modeling statistical method was used to test the theoretical model and research hypotheses.

The empirical results suggest that market-driven institutional mechanisms, regarding feedback and surge pricing, have strong influences on customers’ trust in the ridesharing platform. In addition, legally binding institutional mechanisms, regarding payment security and driver certification, are also beneficial to promote customers’ trust. Furthermore, there is a trust transfer between customers’ trust in the platform and trust in the driver.

This study provides guidelines to the administrators of the ridesharing platform to establish effective institutional mechanisms. In particular, the platform can appropriately adopt and implement the legally binding mechanisms combined with market-driven mechanisms on the platform, in order to enhance customers’ trust and promote their subsequent transaction behaviors.

This study enriches and extends the extant literature of institution-based trust from e-commerce to the sharing economy by identifying four significant institutional mechanisms. Furthermore, this study presents a new perspective of customer trust (one-to-many) in the context of ridesharing and uncovers the transfer mechanism between institution-based trust and interpersonal trust.

Information and communications technology (ICT) offers enormous opportunities for individuals, businesses and society. The application of ICT is equally important to economic and non-economic activities. Researchers have increasingly focused on the adoption and use of ICT by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the economic development of a country is largely dependent on them. Following the success of ICT utilisation in SMEs in developed countries, many developing countries are looking to utilise the potential of the technology to develop SMEs. Past studies have shown that the contribution of ICT to the performance of SMEs is not clear and certain. Thus, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of ICT in generating firm performance since this has implications for SMEs’ expenditure on the technology. This research examines the diffusion of ICT among SMEs with respect to the typical stages from innovation adoption to post-adoption, by analysing the actual usage of ICT and value creation. The mediating effects of integration and utilisation on SME performance are also studied. Grounded in the innovation diffusion literature, institutional theory and resource-based theory, this study has developed a comprehensive integrated research model focused on the research objectives. Following a positivist research paradigm, this study employs a mixed-method research approach. A preliminary conceptual framework is developed through an extensive literature review and is refined by results from an in-depth field study. During the field study, a total of 11 SME owners or decision-makers were interviewed. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using NVivo 10 to refine the model to develop the research hypotheses. The final research model is composed of 30 first-order and five higher-order constructs which involve both reflective and formative measures. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to test the theoretical model with a cross-sectional data set of 282 SMEs in Bangladesh. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire issued to SMEs selected by applying a stratified random sampling technique. The structural equation modelling utilises a two-step procedure of data analysis. Prior to estimating the structural model, the measurement model is examined for construct validity of the study variables (i.e. convergent and discriminant validity).

The estimates show cognitive evaluation as an important antecedent for expectation which is shaped primarily by the entrepreneurs’ beliefs (perception) and also influenced by the owners’ innovativeness and culture. Culture further influences expectation. The study finds that facilitating condition, environmental pressure and country readiness are important antecedents of expectation and ICT use. The results also reveal that integration and the degree of ICT utilisation significantly affect SMEs’ performance. Surprisingly, the findings do not reveal any significant impact of ICT usage on performance which apparently suggests the possibility of the ICT productivity paradox. However, the analysis finally proves the non-existence of the paradox by demonstrating the mediating role of ICT integration and degree of utilisation explain the influence of information technology (IT) usage on firm performance which is consistent with the resource-based theory. The results suggest that the use of ICT can enhance SMEs’ performance if the technology is integrated and properly utilised. SME owners or managers, interested stakeholders and policy makers may follow the study’s outcomes and focus on ICT integration and degree of utilisation with a view to attaining superior organisational performance.

This study urges concerned business enterprises and government to look at the environmental and cultural factors with a view to achieving ICT usage success in terms of enhanced firm performance. In particular, improving organisational practices and procedures by eliminating the traditional power distance inside organisations and implementing necessary rules and regulations are important actions for managing environmental and cultural uncertainties. The application of a Bengali user interface may help to ensure the productivity of ICT use by SMEs in Bangladesh. Establishing a favourable national technology infrastructure and legal environment may contribute positively to improving the overall situation. This study also suggests some changes and modifications in the country’s existing policies and strategies. The government and policy makers should undertake mass promotional programs to disseminate information about the various uses of computers and their contribution in developing better organisational performance. Organising specialised training programs for SME capacity building may succeed in attaining the motivation for SMEs to use ICT. Ensuring easy access to the technology by providing loans, grants and subsidies is important. Various stakeholders, partners and related organisations should come forward to support government policies and priorities in order to ensure the productive use of ICT among SMEs which finally will help to foster Bangladesh’s economic development.

Retaining customers is very important for the survival of e-commerce sellers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the roles of computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools, interactivity, trust and perceived effectiveness of e-commerce institutional mechanisms (PEEIM) in influencing customer’s repurchase intention in the Chinese online e-commerce marketplace.

The research model is empirically tested using survey data analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling.

This study confirms the positive relation between customer satisfaction and trust in the seller, which further contributes to repurchase intention. Results also support the positive influences of effective use of an instant messenger and feedback system on customer perceived interactivity, which helps enhance trust in the seller. PEEIM demonstrates interesting results regarding its moderating effects.

In the future, researchers can extend the study to other e-commerce platforms and take trust transfer effects and product categories into consideration.

This study highlights the importance to manage trust, PEEIM, interactivity and CMC tools in e-commerce platforms, assisting practitioners to develop appropriate business strategies and processes to retain customers.

This study extends previous investigations by integrating trust and PEEIM with interactivity and testing the model in the context of the Chinese online marketplace.

The emphasis on inter-organizational systems gave rise to concerns about inter-organizational relationships as trading partners became aware of the socio-political factors and trust that affect their relationships. This paper examines the importance of inter-organizational-trust in business-to-business E-commerce organizations. It examines how inter-organizational relationships impact trading partner trust, perceived benefits, perceived risks, and technology trust mechanisms in E-commerce that can in turn influence outcomes of business-to-business E-commerce. This paper develops a conceptual model and tests the model using a case study research methodology. The aim is to solicit qualitative in depth understanding of inter-organizational-trust in business-to-business E-commerce. Eight organizations from a cross section of industries that formed four bi-directional dyads participated in the third stage of this study. The first two stages include exploratory case studies in three organizations in the automotive industry that applied EDI via Value-Added-Networks in 1997, and a nationwide survey of organizations that examined the extent of E-commerce adoption in Australia and New Zealand in 1998. The findings identify the need for trustworthy business relationships in an E-commerce environment.

The success of social commerce depends on the actual transactions of consumers, which will be prevented in the presence of high uncertainty. However, attention paid to the uncertainty reduction strategies in social commerce is limited, especially from a unified theoretical framework. Based on uncertainty reduction theory (URT), this paper aims to investigate how three uncertainty reduction strategies (i.e. situational normality, perceived effectiveness of social commerce institutional mechanisms (PESIM) and swift guanxi) affect perceived uncertainty in social commerce, which in turn affects buyers' purchase intention and purchase behavior. The moderating effects of PESIM on the relationships between the other two strategies and perceived uncertainty were also tested.

In this study longitudinal data from 211 buyers who have usage experience of Xiaohongshu were collected to test the proposed model and hypotheses.

Results show that the three uncertainty reduction strategies significantly reduce perceived uncertainty. PESIM negatively moderates the relationships between situational normality and perceived uncertainty, swift guanxi and perceived uncertainty. Perceived uncertainty is negatively related to purchase intention. Purchase intention positively affects purchase behavior.

This study focuses on the role of uncertainty reduction mechanisms in promoting purchase behavior through uncertainty reduction and sheds light on the relationships among situational normality, PESIM, swift guanxi and perceived uncertainty based on URT, which have not been extensively studied from a theoretical perspective in social commerce contexts. Besides, this study investigates the moderating role of PESIM, which improves the understanding of the role of swift guanxi and situational normality in reducing perceived uncertainty under the boundary condition of PESIM.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) introduces significant data protection obligations on all organizations within the European Union (EU) and those transacting with EU citizens. This paper presents the GDPR privacy label and uses two empirical studies to examine the effectiveness of this approach in influencing consumers' privacy perceptions and related behavioral intentions.

The paper tests the efficacy of two GDPR privacy label designs, a consent-based label and a static label. Study 1 examines the effects of each label on perceptions of risk, control and privacy. Study 2 investigates the influence of consumers' privacy perceptions on perceived trustworthiness and willingness to interact with the organization.

The findings support the potential of GDPR privacy labels for positively influencing perceptions of risk, control, privacy and trustworthiness and enhancing consumers' willingness to transact and disclose data to online organizations.

The findings are useful for organizations required to comply with the GDPR and present a solution to requirements for transparent communications and explicit consent.

This study examines and demonstrates the efficacy of visualized privacy policies in impacting consumer privacy perceptions and behavioral intentions.

Investigates the differences in protocols between arbitral tribunals and courts, with particular emphasis on US, Greek and English law. Gives examples of each country and its way of using the law in specific circumstances, and shows the variations therein. Sums up that arbitration is much the better way to gok as it avoids delays and expenses, plus the vexation/frustration of normal litigation. Concludes that the US and Greek constitutions and common law tradition in England appear to allow involved parties to choose their own judge, who can thus be an arbitrator. Discusses e‐commerce and speculates on this for the future.

This study aims to examine whether customer trust is influenced by the congruence and incongruence between customers' perceptions of two types of omnichannel integration—perceived transactional integration (PTI) and perceived relational integration (PRI). The authors further considered the perceived effectiveness of e-commerce institutional mechanisms (PEEIM) as the boundary condition of omnichannel integration's effect.

Drawing upon the stereotype content model, this study hypothesizes the influences of PTI and PRI on customer trust wherein PEEIM moderates the relationships. The research model was empirically examined based on the responses surface analysis of survey data collected from 311 omnichannel customers.

Results showed that when PTI and PRI are congruent, customers are inclined to trust brands that have high levels of PTI and PRI rather than low levels of PTI and PRI. Moreover, the incongruence between PTI and PRI is positively related to customer trust. PEEIM was found to weaken the congruence effect while strengthening the incongruence effect. The authors also examined customer distrust as another relational outcome to provide a robust check.

This study uncovers customer cognition of omnichannel integration and examines the influences on customer trust, therefore contributing to our understanding of omnichannel integration's effect from the customer perspective. Findings from this research provide insights for brand managers on deploying channel integration strategies and institutional mechanisms to manage customer trust.