4. Research method
To investigate the consumer behaviors in online market, we used web-based
experiment method to gain better control, flexibility and validity (Wade and Tingling,
2005). A web-based experiment system was developed to simulate the interface and
transaction process in online C2C market. The structure and functions of the
experiment system is described in Lin and Xu (2005). When conducting experiment on
the system, human subjects were provided with various information on the interface,
including product type, price, seller reputation score, and so on. Then they were asked
to make decision on whether to conduct the purchase and whether to use OES. The
experience is very similar to the real BIN auctions on online C2C markets such as
eBay.com and Taobao.com