E-commerce adoption : an innovation-decision process among Indonesian small agribusiness entrepreneurs

Abstract

E-commerce adoption studies by small business in developing countries has received a significant attention in the past decade. However, most of the studies recorded in the literature were mainly focused on manufacturing, distribution and service sector. Limited attention had been given to agribusiness sector. Using Rogers` innovationdecision process model, this study attempts to understand the process of e-commerce adoption among Indonesian small agribusiness entrepreneurs. The aim is to determine the relationship between the entrepreneurs` prior condition, socioeconomic characteristics, personality behavior, communication behavior, the perceived characteristics of e-commerce as well as the communication channels and the stages of the innovation-decision process. A survey method was used and fifty face-to-face guided interviews and a number of in-depth interviews were conducted to collect the data. This study found that non-formal education and IT ownership have significantly influence the knowledge stage; and the perceived relative advantage, compatibility, and complexity of e-commerce have significant affect on the persuasion stage. For communication channels, this study found that information source variance on ecommerce from hybrid media significantly influenced all stages of e-commerce innovation-decision process, except for the confirmation stage. As for information source variance from interpersonal communication, this study found it to be negatively correlated with the persuasion and the decision stage, but positively influenced the confirmation stage. Finally, this study supports Rogers` theory that there are relationships between the stages of the innovation-decision process.