Research On The Impact Of Social Capital On Farmers’ Electronic Commerce Behavior

Through developing e-commerce for agricultural products,innovation of agricultural products circulation and trading methods,promotion of the supply-side structural reform of agriculture,acceleration of the implementation of rural revitalization strategy,and realization of the growth of farmers’ income,have drawn the attention of the whole society.However,as the microcosmic subject of the production and management decision,farmers differ in the decision-making process of agricultural products e-commerce due to the heterogeneity in individual endowments and in obtaining and utilizing social resource network and market information,which leads to the insufficient release of agricultural product e-commerce dividend and further restricts products circulation.Farmers’ e-commerce decision-making should be based on various resources,and social capital is both a resource network owned by individuals and a capacity to obtain resources,which will provide resources in decisionmaking process.Previous studies on farmers’ sales behavior mainly focus on traditional channel instead of e-commerce.According to the research paradigm of behavioral economics,this study reveals the mechanism and the influence path of social capital and information capacity after measuring farmers’ social capital and information capacity.It provides a policy reference for the government to guide farmers to develop agricultural products e-commerce,to enhance the breadth and the depth of participation in e-commerce,to solve the problem of selling agricultural products,to revitalize the rural real economy,and to realize the increase of farmers’ income.Based on the existing research results at home and abroad,and based on the theories and methods of Western economics,behavioral economics,social capital theory,behavioral decision-making theory,econometric and so on,this study utilized 544 facilities of strawberry producers and managers in Liaoning province of northern China(mature marketing from New Year’s Day to Spring Festival each year)to adjust the situation.Research data,theory and empirical analysis are combined to explain the impact of social capital on farmers’ e-commerce behavior,explore the significant factors affecting farmers’ e-commerce behavior,and put forward countermeasures and suggestions to develop e-commerce of agricultural products,solve the "selling difficulties" of agricultural products and improve farmers ’income.This research carries out systematic and innovative exploration in the following four aspects:Firstly,based on attribution theory and expectation value theory,this paper explains the motivation of farmers’ e-commerce behavior from the psychological perspective,and holds that farmers’ behavior in choosing agricultural products sales channels is attributed to the expected return of channel selection behavior in the future.From the perspective of economic risk preference and VNM utility theory,this paper makes a theoretical analysis of farmers’ e-commerce behavior,and holds that the original marketing of agricultural products should be changed.Sales channels will bring certain operational risks,and there is "uncertainty" infarmers’ e-commerce behavior choice.From the perspective of incomplete information game and dynamic evolutionary game,theoretical analysis of farmers’ e-commerce behavior shows that farmers are limited rational actors in the decision-making of e-commerce behavior,and will actively adjust their own behavior decision-making by referring to the behavior of other individuals in their group until the end of this paper.To achieve a stable equilibrium state;using social capital theory,full information theory and behavioral decision-making theory,this paper makes a theoretical analysis of the mechanism of farmers’ e-commerce behavior,and holds that social capital is a multidimensional concept,which includes social resources network,social trust,social reciprocity,social prestige,social capital cultivation,and expected functions and relationship continuity have a direct impact on household e-commerce behavior,and indirect impact on household e-commerce behavior through the intermediary role of information capability.On the basis of theoretical analysis,the theoretical framework of this paper is constructed.Secondly,using the theory of social capital,we design the scales and measure the level of social capital of farmers.The research considers that seven indicators,such as social resource network,social trust,social reciprocity,social reputation,social capital cultivation,expected function and relationship continuity,are reduced by sub-analysis.According to KMO value and Bartlett ball test value,reliability and validity test and confirmatory factor analysis,they are finally determined as social capital measurement indicators.The measurement of farmers’ e-commerce behavior firstly screens the sample of whether farmers choose e-commerce channel or not.436 farmers choose e-commerce channel in the interviewed farmers,which indicates that farmers have changed from a single choice of traditional marketing channel to a complementary choice of business channel and traditional channel.Secondly,436 farmers who choose e-commerce channel measure their electricity from the choice of e-commerce platform and the degree of business participation respectively.Among them,the choice of e-commerce platform includes third-party e-commerce platform,independent website e-commerce platform,Wechat micro-commerce platform and QQ spatial micro-commerce platform.The measurement index of e-commerce participation degree is the proportion of e-commerce channel sales revenue to the total sales revenue of agricultural products,which indicates the depth of farmers’ e-commerce behavior.Thirdly,it explains the influence mechanism of social capital on farmers ’e-commerce behavior-e-commerce platform selection,constructs theoretical models,and puts forward seven research hypotheses on direct and indirect impact;uses structural equation model(SEM)to verify the direct impact of social capital on farmers’ e-commerce platform selection,and tests the intermediary role of information capacity.It is found that the latent variables of social resources network,social reciprocity,social capital cultivation and relationship continuity of social capital have significant direct and positive effects on farmers’ choice of e-commerce platform,with the direct impact coefficients of 0.018,0.173,0.216 and 0.135,respectively;information capacity in social resources network,social capital cultivation andcommunity.The potential variables of reciprocity have mediating effects on farmers’ choice of e-commerce platform,with indirect effect coefficients of 0.007,0.049 and 0.004,respectively.Social resources network and social prestige have a significant positive impact on farmers’ choice of third-party online business platform;social resources network,social trust,social capital cultivation,social prestige,expected function and relationship persistence have a significant positive impact on farmers’ choice of independent websites online business platform;social resources network,social trust,social capital cultivation,expected function and relationship persistence have a significant positive impact on farmers’ choice of independent websites online business platform;social resources network,social trust,social capital cultivation,expected function and relationship persistence Farmers’ choice of Weixin micro-commerce platform has a significant positive impact;social resources network,social reciprocity and expected functions have a significant positive impact on farmers’ choice of QQ spatial micro-commerce platform,and information capacity plays a part of the intermediary role in the impact.Fourthly,it explains the mechanism of social capital’s influence on farmers’ e-commerce behavior-e-commerce participation degree,constructs theoretical models,and puts forward seven research hypotheses on direct and indirect impact.It uses Heckman sample selection model to empirically test the direct impact of social capital on farmers’ e-commerce participation degree and the intermediary role of information capacity.The results show that social resource network,social trust,social capital nurturing and expected function have significant direct and positive effects on farmers’ e-commerce participation at 1% level,with path coefficients of 0.202,0.148,0.127 and 0.116,respectively;social resource network,social trust,social capital nurturing,and expectation.Function and relationship continuity have significant indirect and positive effects on household e-commerce participation at the level of1% or 5%,and information capability plays a part of the intermediary role.Based on the above analysis,the following countermeasures and suggestions are put forward for farmers to develop e-commerce of agricultural products:Firstly,we should build and maintain social relations networks,increase the stock of social capital of farmers,build and maintain interpersonal relationships,encourage farmers to join organizations such as farmers’ cooperatives and e-commerce associations that are conducive to their own development,improve the accumulation of social capital,expand the relationship network,and help farmers develop e-commerce for agricultural products.Secondly,we should attach importance to the intermediary role of information ability in the impact of social capital on farmers’ e-commerce behavior.Through the guidance and demonstration of agricultural technicians,rural talents and village cadres,we can guide farmers to understand and use relevant information,so as to improve the information ability level of farmers’ individual behavior decision-making.Thirdly,setting up the typical model of e-commerce development,leading and driving farmers to develop e-commerce of agricultural products,through the driving role of the typical demonstration subject of e-commerce,isconducive to forming the cluster effect of e-commerce industry in rural areas,and realizing the increase of farmers’ income.Fourthly,we should strengthen e-commerce training,improve the skills of farmers in e-commerce operation,and create a good business environment for guiding farmers to carry out e-commerce operation according to local conditions.This study has the following characteristics:Firstly,this study deeply analyzed the mechanism of farmers’ e-commerce behavior and the influence path of social capital on farmers’ e-commerce behavior,and designed a new logical framework and analysis ideas to study the modernization of agricultural products circulation and increase farmers’ income from a new perspective.Secondly,this study uses social capital theory to measure farmers’ social capital,and uses full information theory to measure farmers’ information ability level.Based on structural equation model and sample selection model,it verifies the impact of social capital on farmers’ e-commerce platform selection behavior and e-commerce participation,as well as the complete and partial intermediary role of information ability in the impact.Thirdly,using the paradigm of behavioral economics,this study introduces social capital theory,full information theory and behavioral decision-making theory into the theoretical and empirical analysis of farmers’ e-commerce behavior,and explores in depth the impact of social capital on farmers’ e-commerce behavior.This research is based on the scientific research methods of combining theoretical analysis with empirical test,qualitative analysis with quantitative research.The research conclusions drawn from the econometric model show that the policy implications are applicable and operable.It can develop e-commerce for fresh agricultural products,increase farmers’ income,and realize the existence of small farmers and large markets,small farmers and modern agriculture.Machine connection and so on have important reference value.