Trust and e-commerce consumption: evidence from China

Using panel data from three rounds of the China Family Panel Studies and employing the panel Tobit random-effects model, our study firstly examines the impact of trust on e-commerce consumption amount. We find that trust has a significantly positive effect on e-commerce consumption. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the causal effect is particularly pronounced among younger families and in urban areas. Our paper enriches the studies on the impact of trust on consumption and platform economy.