What Makes People Purchase Used Products Online? Focusing on the Roles of Consumer Value, Platform Attachment, and Consumer Engagement

Abstract

Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) platforms have seen tremendous growth recently with most studies focusing on C2C platform for ridesharing and accommodation. However, little studies have explored C2C platform for used product transaction and the relevant factors that influence its continuous usage and recommendation. This study explores how consumer value serves as an antecedent of consumer engagement and platform attachment, leading to continuous use and recommendation intentions of C2C used-product platforms through the lens of uses and gratification theory. Analyzing the structural equation model with survey responses from experienced users of C2C used-product platforms reveals that multi-dimensional consumer values significantly influence consumer engagement and platform attachment. Consumer engagement is observed to substantially impact continuous use intention and recommendation intention of C2C used-product platforms. In contrast, platform attachment significantly affects only recommendation intention. A multi-group analysis, however, shows that platform type (i.e., community-based connector vs. supportive models) does not moderate the strength of the relationship between the exogenous and endogenous constructs of the research model. The results raise a favorable theoretical implication for future and practical implications for C2C used product and e-commerce firms.