Users’ Selection of E-auction Websites in China: the Effects of Design, Trust and Country-of-origin

With the world’s second largest Internet population and a huge potential e-commerce market, China has been witnessing a remarkable growth of online auctions in recent years. However, there are few studies that have investigated the e-auction phenomena in China, and current literature gave little guidance on the design and development of eauction websites. To fill this void, this research compares and contrasts user’s perceptions toward two most popular e-auction websites: eBay China and Taobao. Besides investigating the differences of website design and trust-building mechanisms between these two websites, this research introduced the concept of Country-of-Origin (COO) into the research model and studied its effects on Chinese consumers’ selection of these two sites. The research results bring insights to the researchers who are interested in understanding China’s e-auction status and to the practitioners who want to expand eauction business in China.