B2B e-marketplace adoption in China: From the perspective of innovation diffusion theory and network externalities

Based on innovation diffusion theory and network externalities, this paper explores the key factors affecting B2B e-marketplace adoption in China. First, we classify adoption process into two stages: pre-adoption stage and post-adoption stage. Then, based on relative theory, 4 factors are identified and 8 hypotheses are formulated, which are tested by the data collected from 379 Chinese enterprises. The result indicates that relative advantage and network externality have positive influence on adoption decision in both pre-adoption stage and post-adoption stage, complexity does not show influence on adoption decision in both two stages. However, although Compatibility has significant effect on decision in post-adoption stage, it does not show significant influence in pre-adoption stage.