The Influence of Web 2.0 Tools on the Sustainable Development of E-Commerce: Empirical Evidence from European Union Countries

Madalina Mazare () and Cezar-Petre Simion
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Madalina Mazare: Management Department, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 010615 Bucharest, Romania
Cezar-Petre Simion: Management Department, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 010615 Bucharest, Romania

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 14, 1-19

Abstract: In the context of accelerating digitalization, this study investigates how electronic commerce performance is influenced by Web 2.0 instruments in the 27 EU member states. Analyzing literature reviews and performing our own bibliometric review, we identified a gap related to the measurable economic results of e-commerce. The scope of this study was to analyze the relationship between Web 2.0 tools and the level of turnover generated by e-commerce, applying robust econometric models based on panel data regression with random effects and fixed effects (Arellano–Bond). The results highlight that the online paid advertisement and social media usage variables have significant, positive effects on e-commerce performance, confirming the first and second hypotheses. “Use the enterprise’s blog or microblogs” and “use of multimedia content sharing websites” do not influence enterprises’ total turnover from e-commerce sales to a valid and statistically significant extent. Thus, the third and fourth hypotheses are not confirmed by the results of the research conducted, possibly due to limited innovation and platform ownership in Europe. This study makes a notable empirical and methodological contribution, embedding digital sustainability in the analysis, which implies that the findings can be used for updating e-commerce policies.

Keywords: Web 2.0 tools; e-commerce performance; digital transformation; economic sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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