[雙語翻譯]消費者行為外文翻譯文獻—數字經濟背景下的競爭與消費者行為（原文）

1、AE Competition and Consumer Behavior in the Context of the Digital Economy 354 Amfiteatru Economic COMPETITION AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOR IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DIGITAL ECONOMY Elena-M?d?lina V?t?m?nescu1*, Bogdan Gabriel

2、Nistoreanu2 and Andreea Mitan3 1) 3) National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania 2)The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania Please cite this article as: V?t?m?nescu, E.M.,

3、Nistoreanu, B.G. and Mitan, A., 2017. Competition and Consumer Behavior in the Context of the Digital Economy. Amfiteatru Economic, 19(45), pp. 354-366. Article History Received: 24 December 2016 Revised: 24 Januar

4、y 2017 Accepted: 27 March 2017 Abstract The current paper aims to investigate the relation between competition and online purchasing decision-making, integrating consumer protection awareness and the corresponding co

5、nsumer behavior as mediators. The focus is on both subjective and objective measures related to the level of consumer awareness and action in a fast-growing competition, potentiated by the digital economy. In order to

6、investigate the relations between the aforementioned concepts, a questionnaire-based survey was conducted, using a sample of 257 students from three top Romanian universities. Based upon the theoretical directions pre

7、sented in the literature review, a conceptual model was elaborated and tested by employing a partial least squares structural equation modeling technique. As the examination of the structural model indicated, online pu

8、rchasing decision-making is indirectly influenced by the high competition in the digital economy, by means of consumer protection awareness and consumer protection behavior. At this level, the analyzed factors, namely

9、 the competition in the digital economy, the consumer protection awareness and the consumer behavior with respect to the consumer protection policies, explain over 16% in the variance of the online purchasing decision-

10、making. Keywords: consumer protection, competition, digital economy, online purchasing decision-making JEL classification: D18, F12, F68 *Corresponding author, Elena-M?d?lina V?t?m?nescu – madalina.vatamanescu@yahoo.com

11、. AE Competition and Consumer Behavior in the Context of the Digital Economy 356 Amfiteatru Economic 1. Literature review Consumer protection can be enhanced by revising the law, by political and/ or legislative inter

12、ventions, or as a consequence of the direct requests made by consumers. These factors have been presented as vectors of the beneficial changes related to consumer protection in EU between 2012 and 2015 (CI, 2014; Monop

13、olkomission, n.d.). Both the law makers in the United States of America and in Europe agree that these are key drivers of change, and underline the strong connection between consumer protection and competition policies

14、 (Erbach, 2014; EC, 2016a; EC, 2016c). Competition policy turns operational through a set of policies and laws that ensure the unrestricted manifestation of competition. It is connected to consumer protection and stop

15、s the sellers from engaging in unfair practices (Motta, 2004). Here, Muris (2002) stresses upon the fact that consumer protection plays a leading role in building a safer world. From the standpoint of the Organization

16、for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2008), the competition policy and consumer protection have substantial interactions as both share the goal of enhancing consumer welfare. Firstly, competition policy u

17、ndertakes measures to prevent business misconduct in the market, while the consumer policy ensures that consumers are able to exercise choice. Secondly, consumer protection manifests in more diverse ways than the compe

18、tition policy, has a narrower specialization and regards particular business practices, while the competition policy affects entire markets - the cases they approach are fewer, but broader in scope. Thirdly, both poli

19、cies are applied constantly; each may make the other more effective. It might be difficult to coordinate them, as different agencies watch over them. Fourthly, OECD experts debate on the opportunity of combining the tw

20、o functions in order to facilitate reaching common goals. This could increase operational efficiency and facilitate cross- fertilization between the two disciplines. In the fifth place, if combined in a single agency,

21、the two functions could compete for resources, thus making less impact. The penultimate observation shows that in countries where the two functions work separately, the collaboration between institutions benefit from d

22、rawing market-based solutions. Finally, both competition and consumer policy play a vital role in reaching core goals of the European Union, and they are a cornerstone in the EU?s Lisbon Strategy, which seeks to impro

23、ve the daily life of its citizens as consumers, as well as improve competitiveness. According to the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) (2016), in most cases, consumers benefit from rule enforcement, such as enforcement

24、 of antitrust laws and the government actions, such as the ones meant to maintain net neutrality or public procurement. As a result, competition has the quality of stimulating productivity, raising product quality and

25、 stimulating innovation, while also lowering prices and offering greater choice (EC, 2016b). Moreover, in the markets that are supported by the general contract-law, competitive pressure only allows those companies tha

26、t satisfy their customers to prosper, and competitors offer voluntarily – in order to differentiate their offers – guarantees that protect buyers even more than law requires (Armstrong, 2008; Andrei and Zai?, 2014; Zbu

27、chea, V?t?m?nescu and Pînzaru, 2016). As a consequence, intense competition is the best means towards consumer protection with respect to many products, even though competition in itself does not guarantee consum