Grey market e-shopping and trust building practices in China

Abstract

In the last decade, the wide use of the Internet, particularly through the proliferation of broadband, has dramatically changed the behaviour and lifestyle of many people. China, as a fast-growing emerging economy with a different shopping culture, different ideology, very large population, increasingly industrial and high-tech society (Gong et al. 2004; Li et al. 2004) forms an interesting case. By the year 2004, there were 94 million Internet users in Mainland China. In the most developed urban areas, such as Beijing and Shanghai, more than 25 per cent of the population are reported to be regular Internet users, a level almost equal to that of Spain or the Czech Republic. The China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC) (2005) survey indicated that about 62 per cent of Chinese Internet users frequently or sometimes access online shopping websites and about 40 per cent of Chinese Internet users have purchased goods or services through online shopping websites.