Key decision criteria for integrating non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into e-commerce platforms

Abstract

This paper develops a comprehensive multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework to evaluate the integration of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into e-commerce platforms. Grounded in Saaty’s Benefits, Opportunities, Costs, and Risks (BOCR) model, the framework systematically captures both favorable and unfavorable decision dimensions. The Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method models causal relationships among the four BOCR dimensions and sixteen evaluation criteria, while the DEMATEL-based Analytic Network Process (DANP) derives their relative weights. Empirical data were obtained through an expert-validated questionnaire completed by 365 e-commerce professionals in Taiwan. DEMATEL results reveal that Cost, Risk, and Opportunity function as causal drivers, whereas Benefit operates as a reactive outcome. However, DANP analysis shows that Benefit holds the highest global weight among the four dimensions, underscoring its centrality in platform-level decision priorities. At the criteria level, Electronic Word of Mouth, System Quality, Data Protection, and Profit-Sharing Mechanisms emerge as most influential. By formalizing the evaluation of interdependent criteria across strategic dimensions, this dual-method framework advances NFT adoption research and offers a replicable, BOCR-based model anchored in platform decision-making. Theoretically, this study contributes by extending BOCR-based evaluation into the emerging context of NFT-enabled commerce and by demonstrating how DEMATEL and DANP can jointly capture causal influence and interdependence among platform-level decision criteria. Practically, the findings provide e-commerce operators with an evidence-based tool for prioritizing system reliability, data protection, incentive mechanisms, and electronic word-of-mouth strategies when designing NFT-augmented services. The proposed framework is also adaptable to broader Web3 innovations, offering firms a structured approach to assessing and comparing token-based business models under conditions of uncertainty.