Abstract

Online auction is one of the successful business models in the electronic commerce. It not only provides efficient and entertaining trading experiences for both sellers and buyers, but also brings in profits for the trading sites. In this business model, buyers' willingness to bid is one of the key factors to success. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to investigate into the factors that affect consumer bidding intention. Based on prior literature, a model was proposed and empirically tested to gain a better understanding into consumer bidding behavior. The results showed that consumer's willingness to bid was influenced by his/her involvement with online auction, the trust toward the seller, and his/her perceived usefulness toward online auction. Together, they explained 70% of the observed variance in bidding intention. Trust toward the auction website, one the other hand, did not exhibit direct influence to the customer bidding intention. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.