Editor’s Introduction 30(2)
Vladimir Zwass
International Journal of Electronic Commerce,
Volume 30, Number 2, 2026, pp. 147-148.
We live in the times of heightened uncertainty, with impaired ability to predict future
events. The fundamental sources are the geopolitics and technological development, at
present primarily in the generative AI (GenAI). The two are interrelated, with the competitive
and arms-race like developments in GenAI and with the speed of events driven by the
ever-increasing speed of IT. We may date the inception of this state of affairs to the last
decade of the past century—and we have to manage these affairs now. The vastly increased
interconnectivity of the world, combined with its political fracturing, has consequences in
fostering pandemics, affecting the climate, unpredictably contesting the established orders,
challenging sovereign fiat currencies, and other major knock-on effects. There is no reason
these developments would abate.
Two papers opening this issue of the International Journal of Electronic Commerce
address explicitly coping with uncertainty. The first of them, by Kai-Yu Wang,
Andreawan Honora, and Wen-Hai Chih, presents the study of the role of social media
during the crises, such as a pandemic. As we know, and many of us experienced, the social
media shine during such long-term emergencies (and whenever the deleterious effects of
the use of such media are pointed out, we should remember this). The authors study the cocreation
of value through user-to-user interactions during the times of amplified uncertainty.
The examples of such value that are studied here are the psychological well-being and
social connectedness. Notably, this type of co-creation is complementary to the co-creation
of organizational value, studied heretofore [1]. The authors’ theoretically based and empirically
tested findings show the role of the contextual factors in the formation of the value cocreated
by the users. This is a worthy contribution to our understanding of value cocreation
as a whole and of the user collaboration in the process.
Cryptocurrencies have become an important component of the financial system of the
globe as a new type of asset. They are also highly volatile, which prevents them from
becoming a significant medium of exchange, one of the traditional roles of money. Insofar
as possible, the prediction of cryptocurrency prices can be of importance, particularly
during the events that heighten economic uncertainty. Here, Daniel González Cortés,
Monomita Nandy, Suman Lodh, PK Senyo, Jian Wu, and Enrique Onieva present an AIbased
method of selecting the appropriate model for forecasting the price of Bitcoin and
Ethereum based on the prices from the preceding days. Notably, the authors’ technique is
grounded in explainable AI, which enhances the transparency and trustworthiness of the
method, and can be transported to the prediction in other contexts of high uncertainty.
The fluctuating valuations of cryptocurrencies are the subject of the next paper, authored
by James L. Park, Gisu Kim, Young-Kyu Kim, Kyuhan Lee, and Dongwon Lee. The
researchers study to what degree and how sentiments expressed on social media affect the
future prices of cryptocurrencies, particularly in the volatile environments. The effects of
the social media signals are rivaled by the environmental events and by risk attitudes.
Beyond that, they are rivaled differentially with respect to the established cryptocurrencies
versus the more speculative meme ones. Taken together with the preceding paper, these works offer both a theoretical advance and a pragmatic help to the crypto-market participants.
Omnichannel commerce is the face of today’s retail. Consumer touchpoints for
access to the sellers may include websites, physical stores, and social media, with
others—such as livestreaming—emerging. The interactions among these in consumer
journeys require study, as the channels have been generally studied apart. Such study
is provided here by Angelina Klink and Bernhard Swoboda. The authors deploy
information-integration theory to empirically establish how these interactions affect
customer experience and repurchase intention. The findings surface the need for
reciprocity between and among the sales channels, and the differential effects of this
reciprocity on different types of consumers.
The returns of purchases are a bane of e-retail; they quite often make a difference
between the profit and loss. The means to limit them require research. Such a study
is provided here by Caterina Rauh, Eric Sucky, and Christian Straubert. The authors
study the effects of green nudging (arguments from the effects on the environment),
gamification, and monetary incentives on the mitigation of purchase returns. The
empirics also consider the effectiveness of the combinations of these measures. The
two papers closing the issue show the increased sophistication of the e-commerce
research, with the causative factors studied in their theoretically grounded
combinations.
In closing, it is my sad duty to acknowledge the passing of our Editorial Board member,
Benedict Dellaert, Professor and Director of the Department of Business Economics at
Erasmus University. Internationally acclaimed scholar and mentor, he was posthumously
awarded Umbra Erasmi, the University’s highest recognitions for his exceptional and lasting
contribution. I can say the same about his contribution to IJEC. We will miss Benedict
Dellaert.
Reference
[1] Zwass, V. Co-creation: Toward a taxonomy and an integrated research perspective.
International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 15, 1 (2010), 11–48. https://doi.org/10.2753/
JEC1086-4415150101