B-B E-COMMERCE PLATFORM ADOPTION: A STUDY OF ONLINE AGRICULTURE TRADING PLATFORM IN INDIA

Abstract

The digitalization revolution is evident in many areas of the economy, for example, manufacturing, service, healthcare, and education. The same is true in agriculture, especially in adopting new digital marketing techniques. The varied agricultural ecosystem is filled with huge disparities. Therefore, the proper analysis of emerging issues among stakeholders must be done. For accurate analysis, academic research is needed and promoted. The digitalization and adoption of innovative marketing techniques in agriculture for better profit and value chain efficiency can be partly attributed to B-B e-commerce platforms. However, due to the system's complexity and many variables, the B-B e commerce implementation efforts face many challenges. These challenges can be tackled with proper measures suggested by research studies. There is a dearth of such academic research in India, particularly in the agricultural marketing context. A B-B e-commerce initiative is expected to first focus on building a critical number of users and quality. The high number of users (farmer/trader/corporate) and transactions are necessary for creating value at a large scale. As the number of users/transactions on the B-B e-commerce platform grows, the platform becomes more valuable to other stakeholders, e.g., application developers, exporters, transporters, logistics and value-add service providers. Thus, a practitioner must develop a holistic framework for B-B e-commerce adoption and use. The framework that takes care of the problems and challenges involved. This study proposes and validates the research-based framework to improve B-B e-commerce adoption in the agricultural sector in India from the perspective of farmers. In this research work, the significant variables identified to establish a holistic adoption framework are as follows: Cost, Facilitating Conditions, Perceived Ease of Use, Perceived Usefulness, Social Influence, and Trust. The research framework's latent variables (constructs) are linked together in a structure using the Total Interpretive Structural Modeling (TISM) method. The case study of the National Agricultural Market (eNAM), a field survey of five hundred farmers vii using eNAM, and interviews of seventeen B-B e-commerce start-up chief executive officers and experts provide a practical study context where variables and issues involved in the framework are analyzed comprehensively. The proposed adoption framework is validated. The framework validation is based on the analysis of field survey data using the Partial Least Square – Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method. The construct's manifestation in the respondent sample group of farmers differs from other Industry groups. The adoption framework developed in a B-B e-commerce context is distinct due to its applicability in the agriculture sector, characterized by a developing ecosystem. The framework is simple to understand. The variance (for the dependent variable ‘Adoption’) explained is better than most competing models. The variance explained for the dependent variable in the competing models are, Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) - 36 per cent, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) - 53 per cent, Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) - 36 per cent, and Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) - 40 per cent. In this study, the survey respondents are working farmers. The nearest competitor model, Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), explains about 70 per cent of the variance (adjusted R²) in usage intention with four direct determinants latent construct, that is, two less determinant latent constructs used in this study. Further, the constructs of the adoption framework are to be ranked so that ranking helps prioritize scarce resources and management attention. Therefore, the constructs in the adoption framework are sequenced for their importance in influencing post adoption usage of the B-B e-commerce system (eNAM). The ranking is derived using the Interpretive ranking process (IRP) method. The constructs are prioritized as Trust, Cost, Perceived Ease of Use, Facilitating Conditions, Perceived Usefulness and Social Influence, respectively. This study's significant research contributions are identifying the influence of behavioural and non-behavioural variables on the adoption of B-B e-commerce. The study addresses the ongoing academic debate and knowledge gap in the scholarly viii literature about the agricultural B-B e-commerce adoption in India. The Unified Theory of Adoption and Use of Technology is extended by defining and adding two new constructs. ‘Cost’ and ‘Trust’. The study extends the applicability of UTAUT in agricultural marketing and uses the mixed method approach to achieve research objectives. It is expected to pave the way for researchers to conduct further studies in the agricultural e-commerce adoption domain. The benefits associated with B-B e-commerce increase with growing familiarity and liquidity. Higher adoption is a prerequisite to higher liquidity, which is essential for the initiative's success. Thus, the root cause of adoption is successfully addressed in the study. Hopefully, the research-based recommendations will help realize better adoption of digital B-B eCommerce projects, e.g., eNAM. Similarly, the study's recommendations are expected to help practitioners effectively plan and deliver intended benefits, such as administrative ease, low transaction cost, quick cycle time, and better price realization.