چگونگی تاثیر منافع مورد انتظار خریداران، خطرات و آمادگی کسب و کار الکترونیکی بر کاربرد بازار الکترونیکی آنها

The main objective of this study was to investigate how buyers' usage of electronic marketplaces was influenced by their perceived risks and expected benefits associated with such markets. A large scale survey involving 359 professional buyers was performed. Results indicated that buyers' perceived risks and expected benefits had an influence on their usage extent of electronic marketplaces. In addition, buyers' e-business readiness moderated the relationship between expected benefits and usage of electronic marketplaces. Managerial and theoretical implications of these results are discussed.

In the late 1990s and early 2000 electronic marketplaces (EMs) were foreseen as intermediaries that would revolutionize how organizations do business. Optimistic figures forecasted that over half of future business-to-business trading volume would involve EM (Forrester Research, 2000). EM creations grew very rapidly in these years. By mid-2000, there were 1900 public EMs (Deloitte Research, 2001). Since their creation only a limited number of EMs had sufficient trading volume to sustain their activities. About 400 have closed and further consolidation is expected (mySupplyChain, 2001 and Le, 2002). These facts clearly indicate that in many industries too many EMs were present and that many buyers and sellers did not jump on the EM bandwagon (Day, Fein, & Ruppersberger, 2003). On the one hand, it has been suggested that many suppliers do not use EMs because they perceive that the potential benefits do not overcome negative issues such as the ease of price comparison across suppliers and concerns about security and confidentiality (Day et al., 2003 and Granot and Sošić, 2005). On the other hand, many buyers also do not use EMs because the potential disadvantages outweigh the potential benefits. Among the reasons proposed to explain why buyers do not use EMs are their reluctance to disrupt their current way of doing business, the strategic importance or the complexity of their purchasing, and also security and confidentiality concerns (Day et al., 2003 and Skjøtt-Larsen et al., 2003). A recent survey conducted by the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) stated that in the first quarter of 2003, 88% of buyers bought indirect materials online and 75% bought direct materials online (ISM, 2003). However, only 33% used EMs to conduct their transactions (ISM, 2003). Similarly, a survey conducted by Line56 (2002) found that 39% of buyers that they would participate in EMs in the next 12 months. Despite the many advantages of EMs over traditional markets (Lucking-Reiley & Spulber, 2001), most buyers are still reluctant to use them when conducting online transactions. Thus, identifying determinants of EM usage is crucial in order to understand why buyers do not use EMs in greater numbers. The present study investigates two main constructs that should help explain buyers' usage extent of EMs, namely expected benefits from EMs, and perceived risks of EMs. Furthermore, this study examines the moderating role of e-business readiness in these relationships.

Electronic marketplaces (EMs) are not as popular as originally anticipated. Both buyers and sellers are not using EMs in important numbers for the moment. Thus, it becomes vital for EM promoters to investigate the determinants of EM usage in order to understand and identify what elements may influence buyers' and sellers' decision to use or not EMs. In order to better understand EMs usage, this study was performed and identified three constructs that influence buyers' usage EMs. It is a step in the right direction and we hope that it will engender additional studies in order to achieve a better understanding of this important phenomenon.