Intermediary Support and Farmers' E‐Commerce Performance in Post‐Access Rural E‐Commerce: Digital Resource Conditions and Digital Transaction Barriers

Although digital platforms have expanded small‐scale farmers' access to rural e‐commerce, the role of intermediary support arrangements (ISA) in shaping farmers' realised e‐commerce performance in post‐access digital markets remains insufficiently understood. Drawing on resource dependence theory and the resource‐based view, this study examines the association between ISA participation and farmers' e‐commerce performance, how this association varies across ISA configurations and digital resource conditions, and whether digital transaction barriers explain this relationship. Using data from the 2020 China Rural Revitalisation Survey and propensity‐score‐weighted analyses, we find that ISA participation is positively associated with performance, with stronger associations observed for single‐actor and market‐oriented configurations. This positive association is also stronger under greater individual‐level digital readiness and more developed village‐level digital environments. Mediation analyses further suggest that external and internal digital transaction barriers partly explain the observed relationship. These findings contribute to IS research on rural e‐commerce and digital inclusion by foregrounding post‐access transaction coordination as an important dimension to understand variation in farmers' realised e‐commerce performance. The study also offers practical implications for aligning intermediary support arrangements with digital resource development to promote inclusive and sustainable rural e‐commerce ecosystems.