Abstract

Online electronic marketplace platforms, a business model that connects buyers with sellers through an intermediary, are steadily growing in Brazil. This research seeks to investigate the importance of the reputation of third-party sellers and its effects on consumers' perceptions of risk and trust; we also assess the consequent impacts on purchase intention within the e-marketplace platform. Data was collected via a survey of 309 respondents and tested through structural equation modeling. All proposed hypotheses were confirmed. The results point to the third-party seller's reputation negatively affecting the perception of risk and positively affecting trust in the third-party seller and the intermediary store. Consequently, trust in the intermediary store seems to negatively influence perceived risk, while positively affecting purchase intention. Implications for practice include suggestions for firms that operate in the e-commerce sector. In order to optimize their efforts in e-marketplaces, online retailers should (a) focus on improving the management of third-party sellers and their reputation systems to promote transparency and interactivity and (b) constantly invest in branding, customer service, training, and communicating with third-party sellers. Also, firms must understand that the transfer of trust to third-party sellers raises consumer repurchase intentions and makes e-businesses sustainable.

摘要

在线电子市场平台是一种通过中介将买家与卖家联系起来的商业模式，正在巴西稳步发展。本研究旨在调查第三方卖家声誉的重要性及其对消费者风险和信任感知的影响；我们还评估了对电子市场平台内购买意愿的后续影响。数据是通过对 309 名受访者的调查收集的，并通过结构方程模型进行测试。所有提出的假设都得到证实。结果表明，第三方卖家的声誉对风险感知产生负面影响，并对第三方卖家和中间商店的信任产生积极影响。因此，对中间商店的信任似乎对感知风险产生负面影响，同时对购买意愿产生积极影响。对实践的影响包括对在电子商务领域运营的公司的建议。为了优化他们在电子市场的努力，在线零售商应该 (a) 专注于改进第三方卖家的管理及其声誉系统，以提高透明度和互动性，以及 (b) 不断投资于品牌、客户服务、培训、并与第三方卖家沟通。此外，公司必须明白，将信任转移给第三方卖家会提高消费者的回购意愿，并使电子商务可持续发展。在线零售商应 (a) 专注于改进对第三方卖家及其声誉系统的管理，以提高透明度和互动性，以及 (b) 不断投资于品牌建设、客户服务、培训以及与第三方卖家的沟通。此外，公司必须明白，将信任转移给第三方卖家会提高消费者的回购意愿，并使电子商务可持续发展。在线零售商应 (a) 专注于改进对第三方卖家及其声誉系统的管理，以提高透明度和互动性，以及 (b) 不断投资于品牌建设、客户服务、培训以及与第三方卖家的沟通。此外，公司必须明白，将信任转移给第三方卖家会提高消费者的回购意愿，并使电子商务可持续发展。