{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,11]],"date-time":"2026-05-11T13:02:32Z","timestamp":1778504552699,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,4]],"date-time":"2025-12-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1764806400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012246","name":"Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012246","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Philosophy and Social Science Laboratories of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions"},{"name":"Intelligent Laboratory for Big Food Security Governance and Policy, Nanjing Agricultural University"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JTAER"],"abstract":"<jats:p>E-commerce for agricultural products serves as a critical link connecting smallholders with markets; however, technological barriers and market uncertainties during its transitional phase have led to low participation rates among farmers, creating a key bottleneck for industrial upgrading. The social learning mechanisms inherent in rural communities may influence farmers\u2019 decisions by reshaping risk attitudes\u2014a pathway that has not been sufficiently empirically examined. This study examines how rural social learning affects farmers\u2019 participation in agricultural e-commerce through the channel of risk attitude. Using survey data from 327 peach growers in Qingdao, Shandong, we construct an analytical framework of \u201csocial learning\u2013risk attitude\u2013e-commerce participation\u201d and identify the mechanisms with a Heckman two-step model, IV-Probit, and mediation analysis. The results show that both observational and reinforcement learning significantly increase farmers\u2019 probability and intensity of participation; risk attitude partially mediates this relationship, and contextual factors such as logistics accessibility also matter. The contribution lies in embedding social learning and risk attitude in a single empirical framework and providing evidence from a highly digitized yet agricultural Chinese context for tiered rural e-commerce training and risk education.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jtaer20040349","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,4]],"date-time":"2025-12-04T15:14:06Z","timestamp":1764861246000},"page":"349","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Research on the Effects of Social Learning and Risk Attitudes on Rural Households\u2019 Participation in Agricultural Product E-Commerce"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3580-3770","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jiaxiang","family":"Hu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"},{"name":"China Center for Food Security Studies, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jiayi","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-6493-9446","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yanghe","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1582","DOI":"10.1016\/j.eap.2023.10.024","article-title":"Unveiling the Impact of E-commerce on Smallholder Livestock Marketing: Insights on Egg Price Premiums and Mechanisms","volume":"80","author":"Yu","year":"2023","journal-title":"Econ. 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