پیش بینی پذیرش تجارت الکترونیک در SME ها در شیلی

The Theory of Planned Behavior is used to predict a variety of behaviors, but its use in dealing with predicting e-commerce intentions in small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and in developing countries is limited. We use the TPB to model intentions to adopt e-commerce among 212 managers/owners of SMEs in Chile. Hierarchical regression results show that the subjective norm and attitude constructs positively and significantly predict intentions, but the perceived behavioral control construct does not. Results can be used by developing countries, especially those in Latin America, to encourage the adoption of e-commerce among SMEs.

This study is intended to examine the applicability of the Theory of Planned Behavior to predict the intention to adopt e-commerce among Chilean firms. The TPB is extensively studied in American business, but relatively little research examines its propositions in a cultural setting other than the United States. Chile is chosen as the setting for this study due to its potential for e-commerce adoption and favorable business climate that should make the implementation of e-commerce a success for small- to medium-sized firms. In addition, the lack of research that centers on e-commerce adoption in developing countries triggers the need to conduct research in this under-studied domain. The proposed hypotheses are examined with a sample of 212 managers and owners of small and medium enterprises in Chile. Through a series of regression and correlation analyses, similarities are found between the TPB's ability to predict behavior in Chilean respondents and previous research testing the TPB in developed countries. However, distinct differences also emerge. In general, the three hypotheses are supported: results show that both the direct and indirect measures of the TPB constructs could significantly predict the intention to adopt e-commerce (H1 and H3) and the direct and indirect measures of the TPB are significantly correlated (H2) in this Chilean sample. Using direct measures of the TPB, the attitude and subjective norm constructs are significantly related to the intention to adopt e-commerce by managers/owners of SMEs in Chile. Managers who have positive attitudes toward e-commerce adoption intend to adopt e-commerce in the near future. These results from Chile are consistent with previous research that establishes a positive relationship between attitude and the intention to adopt information technology among top managers of SMEs in the US (c.f., Riemenschneider et al., 2003). Other research also finds a significant relationship between attitude and intention to adopt IT in the workplace (Venkatesh et al., 2003) and to purchase from a Web vendor (Pavlou and Fygenson, 2006). The subjective norm component of the TPB is highly predictive of e-commerce adoption in Chilean firms. Chilean managers who perceive social pressure from people and other firms to adopt e-commerce report higher intentions to adopt e-commerce in the future. TPB studies in American samples do not show this strong effect of subjective norm on intention (Pavlou and Fygenson 2006). In fact, Hausenblas et al.'s (1997) meta-analysis finds that subjective norms have only a moderate effect on intention. However, if one takes into account the cultural dimensions discussed by Hofstede (1997), these findings are consistent with Chile's collectivistic culture. Chileans emphasize the co-dependency between individuals and their groups, where “groups” often extend beyond the immediate family. Therefore, social referent groups (persons whose opinions the firm values, other firms, etc.) may influence Chilean managers when making the decision to adopt or not to adopt e-commerce in the future. No support is found for the sub-hypothesis (H1c) that predicts a positive linear relationship between perceived behavioral control over adopting e-commerce and the intention to adopt e-commerce by managers/owners of SMEs in Chile. Previous research does not establish a consistent relationship between PBC and intention. Whereas Chang (1998) finds that PBC is the strongest predictor of intention, Venkatesh et al. (2003) find that PBC is a significant predictor of intention only in some of the relationships, and Riemenschneider et al. (2003) find that PBC is not a significant predictor of intention in any of their hypothesized models. As Armitage and Conner (2001) point out, the PBC construct, as originally defined, may have conceptual and methodological ambiguities which may cause inconclusive results. Another possible explanation for the non-significant relationship between PBC and adoption intention in the present study is again rooted in cultural differences between Chile and the US. Specifically, the uncertainty avoidance dimension of Hofstede's (1997) cultural analysis may play a role in explaining the PBC result. Americans exhibit a low uncertainty avoidance index, which means that they are more prone to risk taking, whereas Chileans live in a culture that is less prone to risk taking and may avoid changes. The incorporation of e-commerce brings structural changes and redesign of organizations; thus, determining the required resources (financial, technological, human, etc.) that are associated with implementing e-commerce may be a difficult task. Although American managers of SMEs may not be uncomfortable with having to make a decision to adopt e-commerce in the face of incomplete information, Chilean managers may feel overwhelmed with the uncertainty of not knowing or having the necessary resources to implement e-commerce. Therefore, managers in Chile may not be able to determine how important these resources are to the adoption decision and may explain, to a certain extent, why PBC is not a significant predictor of the intention to adopt e-commerce among Chilean managers of SMEs. These findings illustrate more support for the Theory of Reasoned Action (which only includes the subjective norm and attitude constructs), rather than the TPB (which adds the perceived behavioral control construct to the TRA). Perhaps the PBC construct is not necessary in cultures with strong collectivist leanings; future research will have to test the TRA versus the TPB to validate the present results. 8.1. Indirect, belief-based measures of the TPB It is possible to explore the cognitive foundations underlying perceptions of behavior by breaking down the constituent elements of the direct determinants of intention into indirect, belief-based measures. The beliefs generated from the elicitation study provide important information about the kinds of considerations that influence the behavior of managers/owners of SMEs in Chile. Similar to previous TPB research (Hrubes et al., 2001 and Taylor and Todd, 1995), the indirect measures of the TPB constructs are significantly correlated with the direct measures of the constructs. Although all correlations in the study are significant, one should take note that the correlation between direct and indirect measures of PBC is low (.30) and might also demonstrate the difficulty of operationalizing this construct in developing countries; future research must address this PBC measurement issue. Although the indirect measures significantly predict adoption intention as a set and in addition to the demographic variables, once direct measures are added to the model, the significance of the indirect measures disappears. In addition, the amount of variance in intention accounted for by indirect measures is only 46.2%, substantially less than the 73% of variance that direct measures explain. Thus, indirect measures may provide insight into the beliefs underlying adoption intention, but direct measures still remain strongest in the ability to predict intentions. 8.2. Limitations and future research Even though precise theoretical and statistical procedures are used, this study is not without limitations. The actual behavior of adopting e-commerce by Chilean SME owners/managers is not measured. However, a longitudinal study of this nature is difficult to accomplish, due to anonymity offered to survey respondents; therefore, it is impossible to follow-up respondents' decisions regarding adoption. In addition, the regression analyses conducted in this project cannot control for measurement error; future research will utilize structural equation modeling to improve the measurement model, prior to estimating the structural model, as recommended by Anderson and Gerbing (1988). 8.3. Contributions of the study Results show that over 70% of the variance in the intention to adopt e-commerce among managers/owners of SMEs in Chile is explained by the TPB. These research findings contribute to academic research and theory development in a number of ways. First, this research enhances our understanding of the specific beliefs that may influence a manager/owner's decision to adopt e-commerce in a developing country. Attitudes and subjective norms strongly influence adoption intentions in this sample, suggesting that, in order to encourage managers in developing countries to adopt e-commerce, one must change managers' attitudes and emphasize the social referents surrounding the adoption decision. By incorporating e-commerce into their businesses, which involves not only new technology, but also changes the way business is carried out, SMEs can grow and help decrease the existing gap between developed and developing countries. Secondly, since Chile's culture is characteristic of other countries in Latin America, it is expected that the findings from this study can help other developing countries to determine managers/owners' beliefs toward e-commerce adoption. In addition, because such rigorous techniques are used in the elicitation study to develop the survey instrument (specifically, the indirect measures), the present questionnaire can be used in the assessment of e-commerce adoption by SMEs in other countries that share the collectivist and uncertainty avoidance cultural dimensions with Chile. Third, by focusing on SMEs, and considering that SMEs contribute greatly to the economy of developing countries, this research should create awareness among managers/owners of the beliefs that may stimulate the adoption of e-commerce. Adopting e-commerce may place SMEs in a better position to compete in the global market they face these days. Finally, by grounding the research in an established theory such as the TPB, the gap in IT research involving SMEs in other parts of the world can be bridged. Previous research that examines SMEs outside of the US is often descriptive only, and is not based on a strong theoretical foundation. This project is the first to apply the TPB to predict e-commerce adoption among managers/owners of SMEs in Chile.