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How do you feel when you see a list of prices? the interplay among price dispersion, perceived risk and initial trust in Chinese C2C market

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  • Wu, Kewen
  • Vassileva, Julita
  • Noorian, Zeinab
  • Zhao, Yuxiang

Abstract

The issues of trust fraud, product genuineness and price dispersion jointly make Chinese C2C buyers difficult to identify trustworthy sellers with a low price. Little is known about the generation of initial trust when buyers search products and receive lists of widely ranged prices. This study proposes a theoretical model to explain how price dispersion interacts with other factors in C2C purchase, such as initial trust, perceived risk, perceived value and purchase intention. Product type is considered as a moderator. 261 students were invited in a survey-based experiment. The results from PLS analysis show that price dispersion negatively affects perceived value, whilst, positively affects perceived risk, which further influences perceived value negatively. Price dispersion also negatively influences initial trust through perceived risk. Moreover, the negative effects of price dispersion are stronger when buyers purchase high-touch products.

Suggested Citation

  • Wu, Kewen & Vassileva, Julita & Noorian, Zeinab & Zhao, Yuxiang, 2015. "How do you feel when you see a list of prices? the interplay among price dispersion, perceived risk and initial trust in Chinese C2C market," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 36-46.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:25:y:2015:i:c:p:36-46
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2015.03.007
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    5. Talwar, Shalini & Dhir, Amandeep & Khalil, Ashraf & Mohan, Geetha & Islam, A.K.M. Najmul, 2020. "Point of adoption and beyond. Initial trust and mobile-payment continuation intention," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
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    11. Goel, Pooja & Parayitam, Satyanarayana & Sharma, Anuj & Rana, Nripendra P. & Dwivedi, Yogesh K, 2022. "A moderated mediation model for e-impulse buying tendency, customer satisfaction and intention to continue e-shopping," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 1-16.
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