Untangling the Performance Impact of E-marketplace Sellers’ Deployment of Platform-Based Functions: A Configurational Perspective

Jicheng Zeng (), Yulin Fang (), Huifang Li (), Youwei Wang () and Kai H. Lim ()
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Jicheng Zeng: Department of Management, Marketing and Information Systems, School of Business, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
Yulin Fang: Institute of Digital Economy and Innovation, Faculty of Business and Economics, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
Huifang Li: International Institute of Finance, School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
Youwei Wang: School of Management, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
Kai H. Lim: Department of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Business, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China

Information Systems Research, 2025, vol. 36, issue 3, 1397-1417

Abstract: Previous studies have shown great interest in examining the performance impact of platform-based functions (PBFs) used by e-marketplace sellers and the contingent role of salient variables, such as seller reputation, in the e-marketplace. Their findings, however, are fragmented and inconsistent, as they generally focus on the net, separate effect of a single PBF with debatable findings. The theorization of how sellers should configure multiple types of PBFs as a whole to achieve high sales performance lags far behind the booming competition practice. To identify an effective PBF combination, this study takes a configurational perspective to identify appropriate PBF configurations that can achieve high sales performance for sellers with different product positions and reputations. A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis of a longitudinal data set of over 3,300 apparel sellers in a large e-marketplace yields interesting findings. The configuration results reveal recipes for PBF combinations for achieving high sales performance that vary across different levels of seller reputation and product positioning strategies. Our configuration findings suggest that sellers should configure PBFs according to distinctive product strategies accompanied by seller reputation conditions, where the resulting PBF configurations play an essential and multifaceted role in achieving high sales performances. Interestingly, our configuration analysis uncovers that for reputable sellers offering high-priced products, the utilization of pricing and marketing functions is counterproductive. Additionally, we observe complex interplays between after-sales functions and online reputation, characterized by complementary, substitutive, and independent relationships. Furthermore, our results demonstrate an asymmetry relationship between high and low sales configurations. It contributes to the emergent investigation of causal complexity in competitive strategy studies of e-marketplace sellers and provides specific causal recipes and holistic guidelines for sellers and platform operators.

Keywords: platform-based functions; sales performance; configurational approach; seller reputation; product positioning; e-marketplace; qualitative comparative analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:orisre:v:36:y:2025:i:3:p:1397-1417

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