Key influencing factors of consumers’ vegetable e-commerce adoption willingness, behavior, and willingness-behavior consistency in Beijing, China

Purpose Vegetable e-commerce is of great significance for improving the efficiency of vegetable circulation, and for solving the problems of high circulation cost and poor connection between production and marketing. The purpose of this study is to explore the key factors that influence consumers’ vegetable e-commerce adoption willingness, behavior, and willingness-behavior consistency. Design/methodology/approach A total of 427 valid questionnaires were collected from 16 districts of Beijing in 2019 via the internet, yielding a response rate of 94.9%. Bivariate probit and binary logistic regression were used for analysis. Findings The results show that 62.84% of vegetable e-commerce consumers have the same willingness and behavior, and 37.16% of consumers have a deviation of willingness and behavior; the key factors influencing the willingness, behavior, and willingness-behavior consistency of vegetable e-commerce consumers are different. The three variables of usefulness perception, logistics service quality perception, and nearest vegetable market distance have significant effects on and are positively correlated with the adoption willingness, behavior, and willingness-behavior consistency of vegetable e-commerce consumers. Research limitations/implications Consumers in Beijing, a first-tier city, were taken as the research object in this study. Second-tier and even third-tier cities can be investigated as comparative studies in a follow-up study. In addition, the key factors that affect the differences in the willingness and behavior of vegetable e-commerce adoption can be studied. Originality/value The results obtained in the present study and their implications could aid in vegetable e-commerce optimization, and contribute to the understanding of how to improve consumers’ awareness and participation in vegetable e-commerce. The suggestions of this study could also be used for the improvement of vegetable e-commerce in other cities facing similar issues.