The drivers and income effect of big data use by e-commerce farmers: evidence from China

More and more Chinese farmers have engaged in e-commerce markets, and some e-commerce farmers have used big data products developed by e-commerce platforms to improve their business decision-making. Based on the questionnaire data of 418 e-commerce farmers in China, this paper reveals how big data product attributes affect the use decisions of e-commerce farmers on big data products, and how the use of big data products affect the income of e-commerce farmers. It is found that the usefulness, ease of use, and experience of big data products all have a significantly positive impact on the e-commerce farmers' use decisions. The use of big data products has significantly increased the income of e-commerce farmers by enhancing their entrepreneurial alertness and dynamic capabilities. The findings have positive references for the academic research and policy making of rural e-commerce and big data applications in developing countries.