Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Platform trust in C2C e-commerce platform: the sellers’ cultural perspective

  • Published:
Information Technology and Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

With the development of online retailing on third-party e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, the churn of individual shops is becoming increasingly severe. Platform operators are eager to learn the causes of this eroding trust. Based on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory, this paper aims to investigate how masculinity, uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation impact platform trust and the interaction between these three cultural variables. Based on data collected from sellers on the largest Chinese C2C platform, we found that uncertainty avoidance had a negative effect on platform trust, while masculinity and long-term orientation exerted a positive impact on platform trust. A significant association among the cultural factors was also found.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Baker TL (2011) Cultural impacts on felt and expressed emotions and third party complaint relationships. J Bus Res 7:1–7

    Google Scholar 

  2. Bao H, Li B, Shen J, Hou F (2016) Repurchase intention in Chinese E-marketplace: roles of interactivity, trust and perceived effectiveness of E-commerce institutional mechanisms. Ind Manag Data Syst 116(8):1759–1778

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Bhattacherjee A (2002) Individual trust in online firms: scale development and initial test. J Manag Inf Syst 19(1):211–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Cantallops AS, Salvi F (2014) New consumer behavior: a review of research on eWOM and hotels. Int J Hosp Manag 36:41–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Capece G, Calabrese A, Pillo FD, Costa R, Crisciotti V (2013) The impact of national culture on E-commerce acceptance: the Italian case. Knowl Process Manag 20(2):102–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Yoon C (2009) The effects of national culture values on consumer acceptance of E-commerce: online shoppers in China. Inf Manage 46(5):294–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Chin W (1998) The partial least squares approach to structural equation modeling. Mod Methods Bus Res 295(2):295–336

    Google Scholar 

  8. Kim DJ (2015) A study of the multilevel and dynamic nature of trust in E-commerce from a cross-stage perspective. Int J Electron Commer 19(1):11–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. De Mooij GH (2011) Cross-cultural consumer behavior: a review of research findings. J Int Consum Market 23(2):181–192

    Google Scholar 

  10. Ein-Dor P, Segev E, Orgad M (1993) The effect of national culture on IS: implications for international information systems. J Glob Inf Manag 1(1):33–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Donthu N, Yoo B (1998) Cultural influences on service quality expectations. J Serv Res 1(2):178–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Fang Y, Qureshi I, Sun H, McCole P, Ramsey E, Kai L (2014) Trust, satisfaction, and online repurchase intention: the moderating role of perceived effectiveness of e-commerce institutional mechanisms. MIS Q 38(2):407–427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Furrer O, Liu BS-C, Sudharshan D (2000) The relationships between culture and service quality perceptions: Basis for cross-cultural market segmentation and resource allocation. J Serv Res 2(4):355–371

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. George JF, Gupta M, Giordano G, Mills AM, Tennant VM, Lewis CC (2018) The effects of communication media and culture on deception detection accuracy. MIS Q 42(2):551–575

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Hallikainen H, Laukkanen T (2018) National culture and consumer trust in e-commerce. Int J Inf Manage 38(1):97–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Hasan B (2010) Exploring gender differences in online shopping attitude. Comput Hum Behav 26(4):597–601

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Hoehle H, Zhang X, Venkatesh V (2015) An espoused cultural perspective to understand continued intention to use mobile applications: A four-country study of mobile social media application usability. Eur J Inf Syst 24(3):337–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Hofstede G (1980) Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work Related Values. Sage Publications Inc., Los Angeles

    Google Scholar 

  19. Hofstede G (1983) The cultural relativity of organizational practices and theories, journal of international business studies. Spec Issue Cross-Cult Manage (Autumn) 14(2):75–89

    Google Scholar 

  20. Hofstede G (1984) The cultural relativity of the quality of life concept. Acad Manag Rev 9(3):389–398

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Hofstede G (2005) Culture and organizations: Software of the mind. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  22. Huang SS, Crotts J (2019) Relationships between Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and tourist satisfaction: A cross-country cross-sample examination. Tour Manage 72:232–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Hwa-Froelich DA, Vigil DC (2004) Three aspects of cultural infleunce on communication. Commun Disord Q 25(3):107–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Jones K, Leonard LNK (2014) factors influencing buyer’s trust in consumer-to-consumer E commerce. J Comput Inf Syst 54(4):71–79

    Google Scholar 

  25. Kim EEK, Mattila AS, Baloglu S (2011) Effects of gender and expertise on consumers’ motivation to read online hotel reviews. Cornell Hosp Q 52(4):399–406

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Kluekhohn FR, Strodtbeek FL (1961) Variationsin value orientations row. Petersonand Company, NewYork

    Google Scholar 

  27. Lam SK, Ahearne M, Schillewaert N (2012) A multinational examination of the symbolic-instrumental framework of consumer-brand identification. J Int Bus Stud 43(3):306–331

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Lee J, Garbarino E, Lerman D (2007) How cultural differences in uncertainty avoidance affect product perceptions. Int Mark Rev 24(3):330–349

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Lindell MK, Whitney DJ (2001) Accounting for common method variance in cross-sectional research designs. J Appl Psychol 86(1):114–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Litvin SW, Kar GH (2004) Individualism/collectivism as a moderating factor to the self-image congruity concept. J Vacat Mark 10(1):23–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Matzler K, Strobl A, Stokburger-Sauer N, Bobovnicky A, Bauer F (2016) Brand personality and culture: The role of cultural differences on the impact of brand personality perceptions on tourists’ visit intentions. Tour Manage 52:507–520

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Matzler K, Strobl A, Stokburgersauer NE, Bobovnicky A, Bauer F (2016) Brand personality and culture: The role of cultural differences on the impact of brand personality perceptions on tourists’ visit intentions. Tour Manage 52(52):507–520

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. McKnight DH, Cummings LL, Chervany NL (1998) Initial trust formation in new organizational relationships. Acad Manage Rev 23(3):473–490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. McKnight DH, Choudhury V, Kacmar C (2002) Developing and validating trust measures for E-commerce: an integrative typology. Inf Syst Res 13(3):334–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Mensah IK, Zeng G, Luo C (2020) The impact of national culture dimensions on the adoption of cross-border e-commerce: a comparative study. Int J Inf Syst Serv Sector (IJISSS) 12(4):91–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Midha V (2012) Impact of consumer empowerment on online trust: an examination across genders. Decis Support Syst 54(1):198–205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Murphy GB, Tocher N (2011) Gender differences in the effectiveness of online trust building information cues: an empirical examination. J High Technol Manage Res 22(1):26–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Myers MD, Tan FB (2002) Beyond models of national culture in information systems research. J Glob Inf Manag 10(1):24–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Peng LG (2010) The role of cultural characteristics in the adoption of mobile commerce and the trust relationship of transactions. Enterprise Economy 8:171–174

    Google Scholar 

  40. Podsakoff S, MacKenzie B, Lee JY, Podsakoff NP (2003) Common method biases in behavioural research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. J Appl Psychol 88(5):879–903

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Qu WG, Yang Z (2015) The effect of uncertainty avoidance and social trust on supply chain collaboration. J Bus Res 68(5):911–918

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Roghanizad MM, Neufeld DJ (2015) Intuition, risk, and the formation of online trust. Comput Human Behav 50(C):489–498

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Sabiote CM, Frias DM, Castañeda JA (2012) The moderating effect of uncertainty-avoidance on overall perceived value of a service purchased online. Internet Res 22(2):180–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Salcedo E, Gupta M (2021) The effects of individual-level espoused national cultural values on the willingness to use Bitcoin-like blockchain currencies. Int J Inf Manage 60:102388

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Samuel LHS, Balaji MS, Wei KK (2015) An investigation of online shopping experience on trust and behavioral intentions. J Int Commerce 14(2):233–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Shao Z, Zhang L, Li X, Guo Y (2019) Antecedents of trust and continuance intention in mobile payment platforms: the moderating effect of gender. Electron Comm Res Appl 33:100823

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Sohaib O, Kang K, Miliszewska I (2019) Uncertainty avoidance and consumer cognitive innovativeness in e-commerce. J Glob Inf Manag 23(1):1–30

    Google Scholar 

  48. Srite M, Karahanna E (2006) The role of espoused national cultural values in technology acceptance. MIS Q 30(3):679–704

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Stamolampros P, Korfiatis N, Kourouthanassis P, Symitsi E (2019) Flying to quality: cultural influences on online reviews. J Travel Res 58(3):496–511

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Sun T (2011) The roles of trust and experience in consumer confidence in conducting e-commerce: a cross-cultural comparison between France and Germany. Int J Consum Stud 35(3):330–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Taraboulsi R (2018) Shopify: will it be a winner or a loser because of e-commerce growth? Seeking alpha, retrieved Mar 26, 2018 from https://seekingalpha.com/article/4158921-shopify-will-winner-loser-e-commerce-growth

  52. Tung FC, Chang SC, Chou CM (2008) An extension of trust and TAM model with IDT in the adoption of the electronic logistics information system in HIS in the medical industry. Int J Med Inform 77(5):324–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Thatcher JB, Srite M, Stepina LP, Liu Y (2003) Culture, overload and personal innovativeness with information technology: extending the homological net. J Comput Inf Syst 44(1):74–81

    Google Scholar 

  54. Wang L, Sharma G (2014) Ethical perspectives on c-commerce: an empirical investigation. Internet Res 24(4):414–435

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Wang Y, Asaad Y, Filieri R (2020) What makes hosts trust airbnb? antecedents of hosts’ trust toward airbnb and its impact on continuance intention. J Travel Res 59(4):686–703

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Woszczynski AB, Whitman ME (2004) The problem of common method variance in IS research. In: Whitman M, Woszczynski A (eds) The handbook of information systems research. Idea Group Publishing, Hershey, pp 66–77

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  57. Xin H, Techatassanasoontorn AA, Tan FB (2015) Antecedents of consumer trust in mobile payment adoption. J Comput Inform Syst 55(4):1–10

    Google Scholar 

  58. Xu CY, Ou MN, Yang L (2013) Research on the effect of cultural characteristics on the adoption of mobile phone. Inquiry Into Econom Issues 10:144–153

    Google Scholar 

  59. Yoon HS, Occeña LG (2015) Influencing factors of trust in consumer-to-consumer electronic commerce with gender and age. Int J Inf Manage 35(3):352–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  60. Zhang J, Beatty SE, Walsh G (2008) Review and future directions of cross-cultural consumer services research. J Bus Res 61:211–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Zucker LG (1986) Production of trust, institutional sources of economic structure, 1840–1920. Res Org Behav 8(2):53–111

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The research for this paper was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71801047), the Beijing Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning Project (No. 17GLC052), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities in UIBE (CXTD12-04), and the Foundation of Key Laboratory of Trustworthy Distributed Computing and Service (BUPT), Ministry of Education.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Information, University of International Business and Economics, No. 10 HuixinEast Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100029, China

    Liangjuan Qin, Qixing Qu & Li Zhang

  2. Old Dominion University, Norfolk, USA

    Harris Wu

Authors
  1. Liangjuan Qin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. Qixing Qu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  3. Li Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  4. Harris Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qixing Qu.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Measure and Items

2.1 Sellers’ trust towards e-commerce platform [55]

TRUST01 I believe the e-commerce platform is trustworthy.

TRUST02 I believe the e-commerce platform has enough ability to solve any problem during and after transactions.

TRUST03 I feel confident that encryption and other technological advances on the e-commerce platform make it safe for me to share private information.

TRUST04 I am willing to pay and continue using the e-commerce platform if the site requires a fee to use in the future.

Masculinity [19, 20, 22]

MA01 In work and life, I think men and women should have a clear division of labor and give full play to their strengths, instead of insisting that men and women are all the same.

MA02 In work and life, I believe that accomplishing tasks is more important than caring for others.

MA03 In work and life, I think men should be masculine and women should be feminine.

Uncertainty Avoidance [19, 20, 22]

UA01 It is important to have transaction instructions spelled out in detail so that sellers always know what they are expected to do.

UA02 Standard operating procedures are helpful to sellers during and after transactions.

UA03 Rules and regulations are important because they inform sellers what and how they do during and after transactions.

Long-term Orientation [19, 20, 22]

LO01 We believe that over the long run our relationship with the e-commerce platform will be profitable.

LO02 Maintaining a long-term relationship with the e-commerce platform is important to us.

LO03 We expect the e-commerce platform to be working with us for a long time.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Qin, L., Qu, Q., Zhang, L. et al. Platform trust in C2C e-commerce platform: the sellers’ cultural perspective. Inf Technol Manag 23, 233–243 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10799-021-00349-1

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10799-021-00349-1

Keywords