Will Alibaba's additional financial service contribute to sellers' satisfaction and loyalty during the pandemic? Evidence from Taobao sellers

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) has shown dramatic growth in recent decades, and sellers on e-commerce platforms have also been affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic. By collecting data from 313 Taobao sellers, we investigated the relationships among e-commerce platform additional financial service quality, sellers' satisfaction, and loyalty to the platform, as well as the moderating roles of sellers' financial pressure during the pandemic and perceived COVID-19 government financial support in the satisfaction-loyalty relationship. Our results show that better financial service quality enhances sellers' satisfaction with the platform, which in turn translates into platform loyalty. We also evidence the moderating effects of COVID-related financial pressure and sellers' perception of COVID-related government financial relief policy on the satisfaction-loyalty relationship. Our research makes potential contributions to the e-commerce field and provides timely guidance for e-commerce practice in the pandemic period.

Will Alibaba’s additional financial service contribute to sellers’ satisfaction and loyalty during the pandemic? Evidence from Taobao sellers

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) has shown dramatic growth in recent decades, and sellers on e-commerce platforms have also been affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic. By collecting data from 313 Taobao sellers, we investigated the relationships among e-commerce platform additional financial service quality, sellers' satisfaction, and loyalty to the platform, as well as the moderating roles of sellers' financial pressure during the pandemic and perceived COVID-19 government financial support in the satisfaction-loyalty relationship. Our results show that better financial service quality enhances sellers' satisfaction with the platform, which in turn translates into platform loyalty. We also evidence the moderating effects of COVID-related financial pressure and sellers' perception of COVID-related government financial relief policy on the satisfaction-loyalty relationship. Our research makes potential contributions to the e-commerce field and provides timely guidance for e-commerce practice in the pandemic period.

COVID-19 information overload and generation Z's social media discontinuance intention during the pandemic lockdown.

While previous research highlights the benefits of social media in times of a pandemic, this research focuses on the potential dark side of social media use among Generation Z (Gen Z) in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown between March and May 2020. The study reveals that COVID-19 information overload through social media had a negative impact on Gen Z social media users' psychological well-being. Moreover, perceived information overload heightened both social media fatigue and fear of COVID-19, which, in turn, increased users' social media discontinuance intention. In addition, considering that social media is the predominant method of maintaining connectivity with others for Gen Z users during the lockdown, the fear of missing out (FoMO) buffered the impact of social media fatigue and fear of COVID-19 on Gen Z users' social media discontinuance intention. Our research adds a hitherto underexplored perspective to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people's mental health. We offer a series of practical suggestions for social media users, social media platform providers, and health officials, institutions, and organizations in the effective and sustainable use of social media during the global COVID-19 pandemic and in the post-pandemic time.