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Factors influencing the utilization of Internet purchasing in small organizations
Author(s) -
Olson John R,
Boyer Kenneth K
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of operations management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.649
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1873-1317
pISSN - 0272-6963
DOI - 10.1016/s0272-6963(02)00089-x
Subject(s) - purchasing , business , the internet , marketing , bandwagon effect , customer base , viewpoints , profitability index , productivity , variety (cybernetics) , computer science , economics , world wide web , art , finance , artificial intelligence , political science , law , visual arts , macroeconomics
Many companies have jumped on the Internet bandwagon in an attempt to get rich quick in today’s marketplace. While there have been numerous success stories, the amount of reported failures has been extremely high. In spite of all the recent failures, a select few organizations have been able to use e‐commerce as a means to increase the overall profitability of their firm. An often‐overlooked factor in website effectiveness and development is the effect of individual user differences on the acceptance of the new technology. This exploratory study examines how individual user views and preferences affect the use of the Internet as a purchasing medium. This research presents an exploratory study of data gathered through a survey of 416 customers of a major Internet retailer of commodity office supplies. Cluster analysis is employed to develop a model that classifies users of Internet purchasing into six distinct groups. The clusters are developed using a variety of items that measure end users’ viewpoints and preferences regarding the Internet as a purchasing medium. These factors are based on the widely supported Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The classification system is then used to demonstrate how these groups vary on strategic items, cost issues and individual productivity measures. The findings provide important insights to companies seeking to capitalize on the Internet as a retailing channel by identifying factors that may lead to a loyal customer base rather than an opportunistic one that switches sites frequently solely to obtain lower prices.