Title: Consumer motives toward cross-border e-commerce: means-end chain analysis

Authors: Md. Rakibul Hoque; Jian Mou; Ying Zhang

Addresses: Department of Management Information Systems, Faculty of Business Studies, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh ' School of Business, Pusan National University, 2, Busandaehak-ro 63beon-gil, Geumjeong-gu, Busan, 46241, South Korea ' School of Economics and Management, Nantong University, 9, Seyuan Street, Nantong, 226019, China

Abstract: Cross-border e-commerce transactions have been increasing significantly in the developing world. The benefits of entering into cross-border e-commerce are observed for various sizes of enterprises, from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to large enterprises. This study has undertaken a qualitative exploratory research method because very little is known about consumer's motives in a cross-border e-commerce context. The study follows a popular means-end chain (MEC) analysis methodology, which is widely used in the marketing sector. The result shows that six core values influence consumers' motives in using cross-border e-commerce platforms. These are: 1) thriftiness; 2) self-fulfilment; 3) satisfaction; 4) happiness; 5) comfort; 6) security. Furthermore, these values, along with other identified elements, are classified into three motivational patterns which are: 1) value-seeking; 2) pleasure; 3) security. Among the three motivational patterns, value-seeking and security are two utilitarian motivational patterns and pleasure is a hedonic motivational pattern.

Keywords: consumer motives; cross-border; e-commerce; means-end chain; MEC.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEB.2022.126261

International Journal of Electronic Business, 2022 Vol.17 No.4, pp.367 - 385

Received: 29 Apr 2021
Accepted: 11 Oct 2021
Published online: 18 Oct 2022 *

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