Predicting the organisational adoption of B2C e‐commerce: an empirical study
| Published date | 01 October 2006 |
| Pages | 1133-1147 |
| Date | 01 October 2006 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02635570610710791 |
| Author | March L. To,E.W.T. Ngai |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
Predicting the organisational
adoption of B2C e-commerce: an
empirical study
March L. To and E.W.T. Ngai
Department of Management and Marketing,
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon,
Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China
Abstract
Purpose – Using the literature on innovationresearch, this paper proposes to establishand empirically
test a prediction model which consists of four major factors in the adoption of online retailing by
organisations,namely relative advantage, competitive pressure, channel conflict and technical resource
competence.
Design/methodology/approach – Data collected from 140 different companies indicate strong
empirical support for the model. Relevant hypotheses were derived and tested by logistic regression
analysis.
Findings – The results revealed that relative advantage, competitive pressure and technical resource
competence have positive effects on the adoption of online retailing.
Research limitations/implications – The research was conducted in Hong Kong, which may limit
the generalisability of the findings.
Practical implications – While many studies contribute to an understanding of behaviours of the
online market from a consumer perspective, there are few concrete investigations of the organisational
viewpoint. With data obtained from practitioners in 140 companies, the major factors of online
retailing adoption are addressed, providing strategic directions for managers to evaluate its adoption.
Originality/value – Although many conceptual papers and case studies have identified different
potential factors affecting the adoption of online retailing, there are few empirical studies which
establish prediction models for its adoption. In fact, during the past decade, in spite of growing interest
in B2C transactions, organisations have not necessarily rushed towards adopting online sales. It is
critical to have more empirical evidence of the factors affecting the adoption of online sales to help
managers further access the benefits of its continuous and potential development. This study attempts
to fill the research gap.
Keywords Electronic commerce,Innovation, Online operations,Retailing
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Online retailing is a typical application of business-to-customer (B2C) e-commerce.
The online direct-to-consumer transactions have been recognized as one of the major
technological innovations altering market channels in this information age. The
expansion of online sales is predicted to continue in the long term (Doherty and
Ellis-Chadwick, 2003). It is estimated that by 2010 home penetration of online access
technologies (e.g. mobile devices or broadband channels) will rise to an average of
72.4 per cent of all homes in different major regions and the use of digital subscriber
lines (DSL) and cable modems in e-commerce transactions is predicted to rise to about
50 per cent of (Hammond, 2001). According to a survey of the New York Times,
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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Organisational
adoption of B2C
e-commerce
1133
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 106 No. 8, 2006
pp. 1133-1147
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/02635570610710791
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