The Impact of B2b E-Commerce Platform Governance Mechanisms on the Seller Firms’ Performance

Under the Chinese Government’s “Internet plus” – a quinquennial plan to encompass big data, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT) with a broad range of industries, electronic commerce platforms segmenting the B2B market jumped on the occasion to facilitate user firms’ performance, but this coerced digitalization also provided sellers with firm grounds for sole profit-seeking and unethical behaviors. In accordance with the seller firms’ core position, it is necessary that a B2B e-commerce platform supervises and manages seller firms to improve their performance. Drawing on symbiosis theory, this study proposes that platform governing mechanisms (monitoring and community-building) enhance seller firms’ sense of belonging, thus improving relationship satisfaction and finally increasing seller firms’ performance. This study designs effective governance mechanisms for the B2B e-commerce platform according to its new roles. In addition to an economic role, the B2B e-commerce platform should assume a “coordinator” role and a “supervisor” one