Exploring the Pathways of Agricultural Product E-commerce Transformation--A Case Study of the Longjing Tea Industry in Zhejiang Province, China

Department of Economics and Management, Chang’an University, 710064 Shaanxi, China

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

Premium agricultural products often face a tricky problem: producers struggle to sell, and consumers struggle to trust. The root cause is the information gap between production and sales. This study looks at Longjing tea in Zhejiang Province, focusing on how “short video + live streaming” content strategies work in agricultural e‑ commerce. The idea is to see how visual scenes and storytelling build consumer trust and make people more willing to pay a premium. Based on the S‑ O‑ R theory, the study builds a mediation model where content strategy perception is the independent variable, consumer trust is the mediator, and willingness to pay a premium is the outcome. Data came from a questionnaire and were analyzed with structural equation modeling. The results show that content strategies have a clear positive effect on willingness to pay a premium, with consumer trust playing a partial mediating role. In addition, the perceived capability of “New Farmers” strengthens the link between content strategy and trust. Overall, the study reveals how content marketing can rebuild trust between producers and consumers, offering both theoretical support and practical direction for high‑ value agricultural products going digital.