Determinants of Nonpaying Bid Behavior in Online Auction Platforms

Abstract The auction process can be divided into the auctioning, bidding, winning, and paying stages. Nonpaying bid behavior is a critical issue underlying the customer-to-customer (C2C) business model. This paper proposes and examines a research model that describes nonpaying bid behavior by concisely considering technological (platform quality), psychological (perceived risk), and individual (impulse buying inclination) aspects. The moderation effect of interaction–risk (combined interaction quality and perceived risk) on nonpaying attitude is investigated along with the influence of gender on such moderation effect. The proposed research model is examined by performing an empirical quantitative survey among users of a C2C auction platform. Based on data collected from 303 valid samples, results show that impulsive bidding inclination (individual aspect) and interaction quality (psychological aspect) are significantly associated with nonpaying bid behavior. Meanwhile, platform quality (technological aspect) and perceived risk (psychological aspect) are unlikely to determine nonpaying bid behaviors at the bid-paying stage. The moderation effect is significant, whereas the gender effect is insignificant. The managerial implications of these findings are also discussed along with some suggestions. This research highlights the value of modeling nonpaying bid behavior for C2C auction platforms.