پذیرش نمایندگی فروش از ابزارهای کسب و کار الکترونیکی تولید کنندگان: تاثیر تقویت اجتماعی، تناسب روابط ـ تکنولوژی و نقش واسطه ای مزایای نمایندگی فروش

Manufacturer–reseller relationships are increasingly becoming technology-infused as distribution managers are employing e-business tools to streamline existing channels. This research examines the role of social enforcement, relationship–technology fit and the perceived reseller benefits in reseller adoption of manufacturers' e-business tools. The results of the empirical test involving a sample of 224 resellers suggest that social enforcement and technology–relationship factors impact reseller e-business adoption, while reseller benefits play a mediating role. Implications of these findings for researchers and managers are discussed.

When Renault wanted to share information with its network of more than 14,000 dealers in Europe they turned to Oracle's Siebel brand of Partner Relationship Management (PRM) software. Using this web-based software Renault was able to streamline its communications with dealerships, improve dealer sales lead-conversion rates by 30% for new cars and by 25% for used cars, and become more responsive to customer requests via web-site by following through with emails to dealers in the customer's area. In addition, Renault was able to provide the dealerships with automated self-service 24/7 technical support for dealers, and standardize business processes across its dealer network (Oracle, 2007). As this example illustrates, manufacturer–reseller relationships are undergoing a dramatic transformation as manufacturers attempt to capitalize on the proliferation of web-based business software, commonly referred to as e-business tools (Wu et al., 2002). The proliferation of similar web-based software packages has been surveyed in previous research (Lee et al., 2005, Bello et al., 2002 and Mirani et al., 2001). These studies suggest that information exchange between channel members may be becoming more sophisticated than e-mail and less expensive than traditional Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) systems. While the PRM benefits to manufacturers are well understood, there is little understanding on what drives the adoption of PRM and related tools by the downstream channel partners. Extant marketing research examines various antecedents of e-business adoption by a firm. For example, Srinivasan et al. (2002) study technological opportunism, institutional pressures and ownership of complementary assets and Wu et al. (2002) examine firm characteristics, customer power and normative pressures. However, e-business adoption has not been studied in the channel context, nor have supplier relationship variables been posited to influence e-business adoption by a firm. For instance, in the Wu et al. (2002) study only half an item is devoted to the influence of suppliers on the e-business adoption by a firm. The relational context in which the firms make e-business adoption decisions is very important, as e-business tools are becoming a de-facto interorganizational information sharing, communication and payment system in the channels of distribution. O'Callaghan et al. (1992, p. 45), in the context of EDI systems, note: “Interorganizational systems employing information technology may be the most important technological breakthrough in channels of distribution since air transport.” Given the superiority of e-business tools to traditional EDI in terms of cost, flexibility and openness, the dearth of empirical research on e-business in the channels context is surprising. Additionally, there are no previous marketing studies on e-business adoption that examine the mediating role of a firm's perceived benefits from technology, although information science literature paradigms suggest that technology usefulness is one of the primary drivers of adoption in an organizational setting (Venkatesh et al., 2003). This research attempts to contribute to the emerging literature on e-business technology (Srinivasan et al., 2002 and Wu et al., 2002) by extending the governance theory (Heide, 1994 and Heide and John, 1992) into the domain of technology adoption in buyer–seller relationships. The study develops and tests a theoretical model by drawing from marketing and information science literatures as well as insights gained from in-depth interviews with managers at reseller firms. First, the study examines e-business adoption in the channel context by incorporating social enforcement and relationship–technology fit as important factors contributing to reseller adoption of manufacturer's e-business tools. Second, it develops measures for reseller e-business adoption in demand and supply activities as well as reseller sales force and ordering benefits. Third, drawing from information science literature, the study explores the mediating role of reseller benefits, which has not been studied in marketing literature.

The main purpose of the present study was to examine e-business adoption in the channel context by incorporating relevant relationship variables of social enforcement and technology–relationship fit. In general, the findings support the thesis that both variables are important in determining the e-business adoption of manufacturer's e-tools by resellers. Social enforcement and technology–relationship fit affect the perceptions of resellers about the benefits from e-tools, and perceptions of these benefits affect their e-business adoption. This finding provides support for the general notion that new, technology enabled business processes and procedures do not function in isolation from ‘old’ organizational variables (Jap and Haruvy, 2008). It also underscores the importance of developing strong relationships with the channel members, as it affects their technology adoption decisions. Future research should examine other relationship variables, such as trust and commitment, various governance processes (Heide, 1994) as antecedents to adoption of technology by the downstream channel partners. Additionally, a general understanding of technology adoption within the channel context could be enriched if traditional adoption variables of relative advantage, compatibility etc., could be included in the model. It would be interesting to compare the explanatory power of the traditional adoption variables with that of the relationship variables. The study develops and validates the scales to measure the perceived sales force and ordering benefits that could be used in future research. Previous research has suggested that these particular channel processes be streamlined with the advent of e-business tools, and this study provides empirical evidence of such effect. The study finds that these perceived benefits drive the adoption of PRM tools. Future research could expand the list of the benefits by adding other interorganizational processes, such as logistics and even negotiation and execution tasks (Boyd and Spekman, 2004), as well as various promotional, including co-op advertising, planning joint trade show booths, etc. All these interorganizational processes are well within the scope of modern PRM technologies. The findings also support the notion that relationship–technology fit construct's impact on e-business adoption is fully mediated by the reseller benefit variables. This finding suggests that reseller benefits from e-business adoption play an intervening role between how well the technology fits a given relationship and resellers actual deployment of that technology. The impact of social enforcement on e-business adoption in supply activities is also fully mediated by reseller sales and ordering benefits. Again, this underscores the importance of the relational aspects of adoption of technology and consistent with previous research (e.g. Housman and Stock, 2003). If a relationship is not well suited to the technology, resellers are not likely to derive any benefits from it and therefore may not use it, no matter how sophisticated that technology may be. This suggests that a match between a relationship and technology may be an important consideration in the channel context. Future research should try to replicate the findings and possibly expand upon them by including other fit variables such as technology-firm fit, which could be used as a control variable. Some firms may have technophobe cultures that make them extra-resistant to using modern technology. A more surprising finding is that social enforcement also directly impacts on e-business adoption in demand activities. The study finds that it affects e-business adoption in demand activities both directly and indirectly through sales benefits. Social enforcement is by definition a bilateral norm (Heide, 1994) and parties in bilateral relationships tend to change their behavior for the sake of the relationship even in the absence of short-term gains for the individual party. But why does not social enforcement impact e-business adoption by reseller in supply activities? One possible explanation is that demand generation may require more interactions between manufacturer and reseller to coordinate various promotional and marketing activities. As manufacturers and resellers try to coordinate the timing and extent of joint marketing activities, it becomes a major part of their relationship. On the other hand, for supply activities, resellers often have large distributors as an alternative to deliver the same manufacturers' products to end customers, therefore making supply activities less important for the focal relationship with the manufacturer. Future research could explore this explanation by utilizing a network analysis approach to the study of e-business adoption in the channel of distribution by including a distributor–reseller relationship in the analysis.