Determinants of B2B Adoption in South Korean Fishery Wholesale Firms: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

The South Korean government regards information technology as a new tool to boost the economy and encourages all enterprises to use electronic commerce (EC). But the adoption of EC by fishery enterprises has been slow. To increase the adoption speed, an EC promotion policy needs to be formulated on the basis of business-to-business (B2B) determinants. But major factors to determine B2B adoption in the fishery industry have not as yet been identified. This study investigated significant determinants of B2B adoption in the fishery industry. To analyze the influence of the factors, a hierarchical research model was developed. The research model had three levels. The first level had four determinants. The second level had 10 factors, and the third level had 25 variables. In the first level of the model, the environmental determinant was identified as a relatively less influential one than determinants such as business, organization, and technology. In the second level of the model, technical usefulness turned out to be statistically more influential than technical burden. In the third level of the model, variables such as business benefits, market expansions, top management support, ease of use, B2B mind, technical change, security, and mutual beliefs of interfirms were statistically more influential than the other related ones. These results were different from those of previous research on other industries. They ascertained the fact that determinants of B2B adoption would be different depending on the kind of industry.