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Legitimacy building and e-commerce platform development in China: The experience of Alibaba

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  • Kwak, Jooyoung
  • Zhang, Yue
  • Yu, Jiang

Abstract

Although existing studies have connected the emergence and development of e-commerce with infrastructure, culture, and regulations, we approach technological and platform acceptance from the perspective of legitimacy building. In our study, legitimacy is categorized into market, relational, and social legitimacy, and the link between each type of legitimacy and acceptance is explored. We select the case of Alibaba and argue that Alibaba was especially competent in building legitimacy. Alibaba's continuous efforts to build legitimacy facilitated platform evolution despite its exposed weakness in intellectual property rights. These efforts rendered Alibaba as a de facto standard e-business model. This research suggests that any firm that wants market acceptance for its platform or e-commerce technology should focus more on building legitimacy among stakeholders than on anything else.

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  • Kwak, Jooyoung & Zhang, Yue & Yu, Jiang, 2019. "Legitimacy building and e-commerce platform development in China: The experience of Alibaba," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 115-124.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:139:y:2019:i:c:p:115-124
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2018.06.038
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    7. Tachia Chin & Francesco Caputo & Yi Shi & Mario Calabrese & Chiraz Aouina‐Mejri & Armando Papa, 2022. "Depicting the role of cross‐cultural legitimacy for responsible innovation in Asian‐Pacific business models: A dialectical systems view of Yin‐Yang harmony," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(6), pages 2083-2093, November.
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    14. Lozić, Josko & Fotova Čiković, Katerina, 2022. "The Impact of Covid-19 on the Alibaba Platform," Proceedings of the ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference (2022), Hybrid Conference, Opatija, Croatia, in: Proceedings of the ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference, Hybrid Conference, Opatija, Croatia, 17-18 June 2022, pages 200-211, IRENET - Society for Advancing Innovation and Research in Economy, Zagreb.
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