Evaluation of E-commerce Poverty Alleviation Effect in the Context of Rural Revitalization Strategy

School of Business and Tourism Management, Yunnan University, Kunming 650500, China

Abstract The industrial prosperity proposed in the overall requirement of rural revitalization strategy in the Report of the 19th National Congress is the cornerstone of rural development. E-commerce poverty alleviation is an effective way of poverty alleviation in recent years. This paper mainly explored the factors influencing the rural e-commerce poverty alleviation and the evaluation of poverty alleviation effects, in order to come up with countermeasures and recommendations to provide assistance and guidance for the use of e-commerce to achieve poverty alleviation and accordingly to revitalize the rural industry. Firstly, using the literature research method, it proposed four level I indicators influencing the e-commerce poverty alleviation, and designed a detailed level II indicator system under each dimension. Then, the questionnaire survey method was employed to collect data for SPSS analysis to verify whether the designed indicator system is correct. Finally, it analyzed the problem of the current stage of e-commerce poverty alleviation by means of the quadrifid graph, and came up with corresponding countermeasures on the basis of the four key levek I factors.

Key words E-commerce poverty alleviation, Rural revitalization, Influencing factors, Effect evaluation, Strategies

1 Introduction

The "Implementation of Rural Revitalization Strategy" clearly stated in the Report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has become one of the priorities of China’s rural work in the new era. In the process of rural development in China, poverty is a very important issue. E-commerce is a big tide under the rapid development of the Internet. The agriculture-related e-commerce has a good development prospect and development significance, and it can play a great role in the revitalization of the rural industry. Poverty-stricken areas such as Shaji Dongfeng Village, Jieyang Junpu Village and Qinba Mountain Longnan area, which have taken the lead in implementing e-commerce, have made great achievements in poverty alleviation. Besides, practice has proved that the e-commerce poverty alleviation method has significant effects in improving poverty-stricken households’ enthusiasm for poverty alleviation, solving employment problems, make transparent and clear use of poverty alleviation funds, and make clear the responsibility system. Therefore, rural e-commerce has very important research value and significance.

2 Literature review

E-commerce is an emerging way of poverty alleviation, and different scholars have different opinions. Under the mainstream trend of e-commerce development, using e-commerce to assist the poverty-stricken people can actively guide the industrial development and it has a positive effect on financial poverty alleviation[1]. At the same time, however, using e-commerce to help the poor has the obstacles of insufficient understanding, inadequate infrastructure, insufficient funds, lack of talent,etc.

In the way of e-commerce poverty alleviation, at the current stage, the e-commerce poverty alleviation mainly includes e-commerce education poverty alleviation, poverty alleviation through leading enterprises driving the industrial chain, and poverty alleviation through large-scale development[3]. Besides, the benefit structure and social policies have a great impact on poverty alleviation[4]. In addition, tourism plays a role in poverty alleviation in developing countries. Developing tourism can help poverty-stricken areas develop and reduce income inequality[5].

As to factors influencing the e-commerce, many scholars have undertaken studies from many aspects. Some scholars have pointed out that the key factors influencing the success of e-commerce system (mainly 7 categories and 33 factors), include leadership, organization, product strategy, management, technology, suppliers, customers[6]. Some foreign scholars stated that the key factors influencing the success of e-commerce include internal factors, external factors, driving forces and obstacles, and described them through 15 level II factors[7]. Financial indicators and operational indicators are also two important dimensions influencing the success of e-commerce system[8]. In this study, we mainly referred to the influencing factors and evaluation indicators proposed by domestic scholar Huang Jinghua[16], and made modification in combination with the research and actual situation of different foreign scholars.

3 Empirical analysis

Through the data collected by questionnaires, we put forward the hypothesis: the rural e-commerce poverty alleviation evaluation indicators are classified correctly; the indicators can reflect the implementation effect of rural e-commerce poverty alleviation; all kinds of influencing factors (government, technology, farmers and product strategies) can reflect and represent their respective categories, and all indicators are suitable.

3.1 Descriptive statistical analysis

3.1.1Collection and statistics of the questionnaire. In this survey, we mainly surveyed three large fruit towns (Guwei Town, Nanwei Township and Monan Town) in Shanxi Province, which have made great achievements in rural e-commerce poverty alleviation. We distributed a total of 220 copies of questionnaire, collected 194 valid ones, the response rate was 88.2%, so this survey was valid. Among the respondents, 99 were men, accounting for 51%, and 95 were women, accounting for 49%. The gender distribution was basically balanced. In terms of the education, 78.4% received college and below education, 21.6% received university or above education, showing generally low educational level of respondents. The age was mainly distributed in 18-50 years old, accounting for 95.4%.

3.1.2Descriptive statistical analysis. According to the analysis results, in 22 variables of five factor indicators, the minimum value of 2 variables was 2, and the minimum value of other variables was 1, the maximum value of 22 variables was 5, indicating that the respondents had different answers to each question. The mean value of the five indicators was 3.77, the maximum was 4.14, the mean was greater than 3, and the standard deviation was 0.936, indicating that there is basically no difference in the situation of e-commerce rural poverty alleviation.

In the questionnaire, the reliability coefficient of all data was α=0.963, which is greater than 0.9, proving that the inherent reliability of the scale is very high, so it can be used for factor analysis, KMO=0.938, which is very close to 1, indicating that the sample size is sufficient and suitable for factor analysis. The approximate chi-square value of Bartlett’s spherical test was 5 006.906, the degree of freedom was 946, and the concomitant probability was 0.000 < 0.01, reaching a significant level, so it is suitable for factor analysis.

3.2 Factor analysis of influencing factors and evaluation factorsWe divided the factors influencing the success of e-commerce poverty alleviation into four categories: government (G), individual farmer (F), technology (T), and product strategy (S). In this study, we analyzed these four categories of factors, effect evaluation dimensions, and overall dimensions. In the analysis of government dimension, technical dimension, subject dimension, product strategy dimension, effect evaluation indicator and overall dimension, both the reliability and validity were tested, and all factor loads were greater than 0.7 (Table 1), indicating that the proposed measurement indicators really reflect the dimensions.

Table 1 Analysis of influencing factors and dimensions

3.3 Correlation analysis on influencing factors and implementation effectThe correlation coefficient between all influencing factors and the implementation effect of poverty alleviation was positive, indicating that these four factors are positively correlated with the implementation effect. The correlation between the individual farmer factor and implementation effect was the highest, reaching 0.739, and the product strategy factor also had high correlation, reaching 0.721, and the weakest correlation was technical factor, and the correlation coefficient was 0.496 (Table 2). According to the analysis results, the correlation coefficient was the individual farmer>product strategy>government>technology.

Table 2 Correlation analysis on influencing factors and application effect

Note: the sample size is 194, and**denotes significant correlation at 0.01 level (two-sided).

3.4 Quadrifid graph model analysisThrough the quadrifid graph model, we scored the importance and satisfaction degree of the indicators. The horizontal axis represents the degree of satisfaction, increasing from left to right, the vertical axis represents the importance level, increasing from bottom to top, Zone A has high importance and high satisfaction, and it is the dominant zone; Zone B has high importance but low satisfaction, and belongs to improvement zone; Zone C has low importance and satisfaction, so it needs to be maintained, but does not need to spend too much energy but should not abandon, so it belongs to the maintenance zone; Zone D has high satisfaction but low importance, and it is necessary to adjust the investment, so it belongs to adjustment zone. Fig.1 is the quadrifid graph plotted according to the scores of importance and satisfaction of farmers for level II factors influencing the rural e-commerce poverty alleviation.

According to the interval of each indicator in the quadrifid graph, combined with the different attributes of the A, B, C, and D4 intervals, we obtained the following conclusions: (i) Zone A. T1 (infrastructure), S1 (accurate positioning of products), S4 (suitable e-commerce model), F1 (farmers’ enthusiasm) fall in Zone A, indicating that at the current stage of rural e-commerce poverty alleviation, people attach great importance to the infrastructure construction and product positioning, and e-commerce model, and have done a good job in these aspects and obtained high satisfaction. (ii) Zone B. T3 (logistics convenience) is close to the center of the quadrant, and the degree of importance and satisfaction are basically the same. F2 (e-commerce knowledge), G2 (government provides sufficient human and financial resources), T4 (skills training) fall in Zone B, indicating that people think these three factors are important, but their degree of satisfaction is low. (iii) Zone C. S3 (standardization of selling products), S2 (setting up brands), G3 (coordination of relevant departments), G4 (government’s confidence and patience), G5 (government fairness and honesty) fall in Zone C, the importance of these factors in this zone are lower, and the satisfaction is lower, so it is necessary to maintain in future. (iv) Zone D. G1 (attention degree of government), T2 (geographical location), F3 (farmers patience and responsibility) fall in Zone D, indicating that these factors have low importance, but their satisfaction is high. In the future implementation process, it is required to pay attention to reducing investment and use energy and funds in more important fields.

Fig.1 Quadrifid graph for level II indicators of influencing factors

4 Strategies for e-commerce rural poverty alleviation

4.1 GovernmentGovernment should attach greater importance to the e-commerce poverty alleviation, formulate preferential policies for the development of e-commerce in poverty-stricken areas, and formulate a series of standardization policies for e-commerce poverty alleviation. Besides, the incentive policies should also be closely followed to stimulate the enthusiasm of farmers in poverty-stricken areas. It is recommended to accelerate the solution the "last kilometer" problem; actively cooperate with large-scale e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba and Jingdong to promote the sales of rural e-commerce products.

It is necessary to take full advantage of the national poverty alleviation funds, and the government should do a good job in providing guidance and assistance. Particularly, government should provide corresponding support of human and financial resources for the implementation of rural e-commerce, including the purchase and use of network facilities, talent introduction and skills training. In addition, government should also actively guide and encourage farmers to get to know rural e-commerce through major commercial banks, and provide diverse and flexible credit financing channels for the development of rural e-commerce. Furthermore, local government should strengthen cooperation with large Internet companies and financial institutions to develop pure credit unsecured loans, and provide credit subsidies and reduce the barriers for farmers in poverty-stricken areas to participate in e-commerce.

Local government should clarify the responsibilities of the responsible persons in all aspects of the process of using rural e-commerce to help the poor, and should be fair and honest. (i) Government officials should strengthen the study of relevant laws and regulations such as integrity and self-discipline. (ii) It is necessary to take strict control of the use of public funds and make announcements. In accordance with the national, provincial, municipal, and district-related poverty alleviation funds management measures, the government should strictly implement the project and make prior notice and announcement system. If there is no report or feedback after announcement, funds will be allocated according to the project completion schedule, so as to ensure the safe use of funds. (iii) It is necessary to take strict supervision and inspection of the use of public funds. It is necessary to carry out long-term supervision on poverty alleviation projects. For those projects that have hidden dangers, government should promptly come up with rectification plans, deal with the problems in the bud, and really improve the integrity of poverty alleviation funds. Finally, it is required to take strict auditing of the poverty alleviation funds. For all poverty alleviation projects, it is required to carry out strict auditing, know clearly the use of funds, understand the benefits of using funds, and investigate and punish those with misappropriation, corruption, entrapment, and fraudulent use of poverty alleviation funds.

4.2 Farmer individualFarmers should have the courage to try e-commerce and have high confidence in e-commerce. It is true that objective conditions have a certain relationship with the success of e-commerce, but it is not absolute. Farmers should be bold to overcome difficulties, believe and be willing to try e-commerce, and truly participate in e-commerce, then they may get rid of poverty and finally get rich. Poor people should take the initiative to learn the various skills and related knowledge about e-commerce, so as to improve efficiency and make achievements in the implementation process.

The implementation process of e-commerce includes three stages: pre-implementation, implementation, and post-implementation. In the pre-implementation, farmers should answer the questions of the users; in the implementation, the farmers should be responsible for their own products, including both the quality and quantity; in the post-implementation, for the matters related to after-sales return and exchange, farmers should be patient, careful and responsible. In summary, individual farmers should improve personal cultivation and provide patient, caring and responsible services.

4.3 TechnologyE-commerce is developed through combining business activities and information technology. Therefore, the success of e-commerce rural poverty alleviation requires the support of two technical aspects, one is the technical conditions necessary for undertaking business activities, and the other is conditions necessary for developing the information technology. E-commerce and logistics are closely related. It is necessary to vigorously develop transportation, strengthen road construction, and promote the rapid development of logistics in poverty-stricken areas. Besides, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of the logistics market system, and classify the logistics area according to the scope of the region, and formulate the development plan for the logistics industry. According to different population size and economic development situation, areas are divided into high, medium and primary logistics service areas. The high-level logistics service area covers a number of low-level logistics service areas. It is necessary to establish a complete logistics network service system.

The development of e-commerce is based on high level development of information technology, and it is necessary to increase investment in network infrastructure. Firstly, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of rural networks, to achieve the accessibility of optic fiber in poverty stricken areas. Secondly, it is necessary to implement the project for promoting tri-networks-integration. Therefore, it is necessary to accelerate the optimization and upgrading of rural network facilities, realize optic fiber communication networks, and the digitalization and two-way transformation of cable television networks. Finally, it is necessary to implement the agricultural information application projects in poverty-stricken areas. It is recommended to accelerate the application of information technology in the agricultural industry, establish a "three-in-one" new rural information service system; develop and promote low-cost intelligent terminals according to demands of farmers; strengthen the in-depth development of various agricultural information resources and improve rural information business platform and service center, and improve the level of integrated network information services.

It is recommended to strengthen the training of rural e-commerce talents and establish a talent system. In the first place, it is recommended to incorporate the rural e-commerce training into the training of the government workers to provide regular, free and high-quality e-commerce skills training for farmers in poverty-stricken areas. In the second place, it is recommended to strengthen e-commerce training at the government leader level and raise their awareness of e-commerce. Finally, it is recommended to actively introduce high quality talents of e-commerce, and promote the construction of e-commerce talent system in poverty-stricken areas.

4.4 Product strategyAs a type of commercial behavior, e-commerce needs to have a product strategy to guide. Through correct product strategy guidance and adjustment according to the actual situation, e-commerce poverty alleviation will get successful. It is necessary to accurately locate the characteristic products for e-commerce sales in the region. E-commerce products should be selected according to the local folk customs and cultural characteristics. It is feasible to choose e-commerce products, such as local souvenirs or handicrafts, or special food snacks, to create landmark products according to local culture.

As for implementing brand strategy and product brand building, government should strengthen the ideological guidance of farmers, strengthen farmers’ awareness of brand building, and create a brand with high quality and good reputation, so as to realize the transformation of small household e-commerce to enterprise e-commerce. It is recommended to strengthen the originality awareness of farmers, create exclusive brands in terms of individualization, technology, customization,etc., enhance the added value of products, and promote publicity and promotion.

Various kinds of products sold in rural e-commerce should be improved in standardization. At present, the degree of standardization of rural e-commerce is not high. There is no national technical standard certification. If buyers can not see the authoritative certification or standards, they will not dare to buy, consequently leading to failure to sell good products. According to the quality standards of agricultural products, agricultural products of different quality can be classified and graded, to achieve the classification and standardization of agricultural product quality. Classification of agricultural products is the basis of the agricultural product futures market and the e-commerce operation of agricultural products. However, due to lack of quality grading standards for agricultural products, the quality of the same price agricultural products varies widely. Through unified quality grading standards of agricultural products, it is expected to express the appearance and intrinsic quality, and enhance consumer trust and recognition.

5 Conclusions

Through the literature research method and the actual situation of e-commerce poverty alleviation, we designed an evaluation indicator system for e-commerce poverty alleviation, and carried out factor analysis through questionnaires. The analysis results are consistent with the hypothesis made. Besides, using the quadrifid graph model, we analyzed the importance degree of all indicators and conformance degree of implementation. According to the analysis results, we found the problems in the present rural e-commerce poverty alleviation, and came up with pertinent recommendations.