The relationship between platform choice and supplier’s efficiency- evidence from China’s online to offline (O2O)e-commerce platforms

Xing Wan () and Jing Chen ()
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Xing Wan: Nanjing University of Finance and Economics
Jing Chen: Nanjing University of Finance and Economics

Electronic Markets, 2019, vol. 29, issue 2, No 3, 153-166

Abstract: Abstract Online to offline (O2O) is defined as e-commerce that combines searching and booking products or services online, and consumption in brick-and-mortar stores. Both China and other countries have witnessed the rise of O2O e-commerce platforms in recent years. This paper explores this rapid development from the supply side of O2O e-commerce platforms. Drawing upon the utilities roles of digital platforms and resource dependence theory, we propose and validate hypotheses on the relationships between platform choice and suppliers’ efficiency, using cinemas as an example. The findings support the significant and positive impact of platform choice on cinemas’ efficiency. Furthermore, we find that the more platforms a cinema chooses to link with, the higher efficiency the cinema will achieve. Our empirical results partially support that vertical integration has a negative impact on the relationship between platform choice and suppliers’ efficiency. This study enhances the understanding of the utilities roles of digital platforms and interaction between platform ecosystems and vertical integration.

Keywords: Platform choice; Vertical integration; O2O platforms; Resource dependence theory; IT utilities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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DOI: 10.1007/s12525-017-0280-3

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