As digital transformation reshapes consumption patterns, consumers’ preference for groundedness is gaining prominence. Grounded in the agri-food system, agricultural product live e-commerce exhibits an innately groundedness. Addressing both theoretical and practical gaps, the study develops the Agricultural Product Live E-Commerce Groundedness Scale (APLEGS). By extending the concept of groundedness into the emerging field of digital marketing, it provides a valuable tool for understanding consumer preferences in agricultural product live e-commerce.
A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Study 1 employs grounded theory to conceptualize the dimensions of Agricultural Product Live E-Commerce Groundedness. Study 2 develops and refines the scale through exploratory factor analysis with 305 participants. Study 3 validates the scale’s structure and construct validity using confirmatory factor analysis with a separate sample of 321 participants.
Agricultural product live e-commerce is innately grounded in place, people, and the past, and this embeddedness critically shapes consumer decision-making. (2) The results show that agricultural product live e-commerce groundedness is a multidimensional construct, comprising three dimensions: connection to place, connection to people and connection to the past. The APLEGS, consisting of 11 items across these dimensions, demonstrates robust reliability and validity.
(1) Groundedness, traditionally examined in offline contexts, is introduced into online live e-commerce. (2) The validated APLEGS provides an effective tool for groundedness academic research and offers practical managerial and marketing insights for agricultural product live e-commerce.
