A literature review of electronic marketplace research: Themes, theories and an integrative framework
In this paper, we presented a literature review of the current status of electronic marketplace (EM) research. It consists of 109 journal articles published in 19 journals that are appropriate outlets for electronic commerce research. The results show that an increasing volume of EM research has been conducted from diverse theoretical perspectives. Based on content analysis, we identified eight research themes, five types of methodologies and six categories of background theories which most EM researches were grounded in. By combining research themes and the patterns of the background theories, an integrative framework of EM was proposed to represent the paradigms of EM researches. The framework shows that EM phenomena can be addressed from three perspectives: information systems, inter-organizational/social structure and strategic management perspectives. This framework suggests a parsimonious and cohesive way to explain key EM research issues such as EM adoption, success and impact.
literature review electronic marketplace integrative framework research theme