Understanding the Selection of Cross-Border Import E-Commerce Platforms Through the DANP and TOPSIS Techniques: A Multi-Study Analysis

The platform of cross-border e-commerce has gained momentum in recent years. It is of paramount importance to fathom the factors influencing consumers’ choice of the platform and the relationships among the underlying factors. Departing from the theoretical lens of perceived value and our comprehensive review of the literature, this paper proposes a selection model including four dimensions and twelve criteria of cross-border import e-commerce platform. We propose a multi-study approach, in which the DANP technique is leveraged to extract and analyze the influence of the relationships between dimensions and criteria to determine their weight; then we use the TOPSIS technique to further evaluate three cross-border import e-commerce platforms in China, including Tmall Global, Koala and JD Global, to validate our model. The results show that when consumers choose a cross-border import e-commerce platform, products and experience are the most salient elements, while services and risks are the effective elements, with the greatest impact of risks.