With the rapid growth of virtual communities, more and more group-buying are now held within the communities. However, no study discusses the effect of virtual communities on group-buying. Comparing to other transaction modes, it is easier for consumers to aggregate their demands in virtual communities. The coherence and trust among community members, at the same time, further reduce potential risks in transactions. This study aims to understand factors that affect consumer intentions to join group-buying within the virtual communities and to develop a comprehensive framework.
The results indicate that perceived trust in group-buying initiator and perceived trust in other community members are the main factors that influence consumers¡¦ intention to join. Their perceived risk, at the same, has no significant effect. Furthermore, consumers¡¦ involvement in the virtual community has the most effect on their perceived trust in initiators while their perceived trust in other members and the perceived expertise of the initiator are also critical factors. The results implies that the trust among members, which is resulted from their intense interactions, is the key factor of group-buying. The expertise of initiator, meanwhile, is not the critical determinant of group-buying.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NSYSU/oai:NSYSU:etd-0909109-133610 |
| Date | 09 September 2009 |
| Creators | Lin, Yu-Chun |
| Contributors | Chao-Min Chiu, Hsiang-Chu Lai, Her-Sen Doong |
| Publisher | NSYSU |
| Source Sets | NSYSU Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lib.nsysu.edu.tw/ETD-db/ETD-search/view_etd?URN=etd-0909109-133610 |
| Rights | withheld, Copyright information available at source archive |
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