E-guanxi: Theoretical underpinnings and scale development

International Journal of Market Research, Ahead of Print.
China is now a world-leading e-commerce market. As a result, studies to deconstruct online relationships in China can inform marketing scholarship and practice. Hence, our primary goal is to create an improved e-tailing-centric e-guanxi scale to assess guanxi in online B2C and C2C commerce contexts. We also explore and confirm the factors contributing to and stemming from e-guanxi. Two survey-based online studies of Chinese university students were used to test a PLS-SEM model with e-guanxi as the central construct, online communication as the antecedent, and buyer satisfaction, word-of-mouth, and repurchase intention as the consequents. By informing e-guanxi-enhancing strategies, this research can provide insights into e-guanxi’s effect on Chinese e-tail markets and help identify the best e-guanxi-enhancing practices.

​International Journal of Market Research, Ahead of Print. <br/>China is now a world-leading e-commerce market. As a result, studies to deconstruct online relationships in China can inform marketing scholarship and practice. Hence, our primary goal is to create an improved e-tailing-centric e-guanxi scale to assess guanxi in online B2C and C2C commerce contexts. We also explore and confirm the factors contributing to and stemming from e-guanxi. Two survey-based online studies of Chinese university students were used to test a PLS-SEM model with e-guanxi as the central construct, online communication as the antecedent, and buyer satisfaction, word-of-mouth, and repurchase intention as the consequents. By informing e-guanxi-enhancing strategies, this research can provide insights into e-guanxi’s effect on Chinese e-tail markets and help identify the best e-guanxi-enhancing practices. Read More