Success Factors for the Adoption of Digital Services on Online Platforms - An Empirical Analysis in the B2B Context

Abstract

The focus of the thesis is on online platforms providing digital services in the B2B context, because there is still little research available. Starting by defining basic terms, a concept matrix has been provided next, structuring existing papers according to the mentioned factors influencing a purchase or behavioral intentions. From literature research, the most frequently identified factors are trust, experience, and personal perception. Trust is detected to be the most important factor in an online context where levels of uncertainty and risk are often high due to its impersonal nature. Trust is defined as the belief in another party, that it will not engage in harmful or opportunistic behavior, but instead will increase welfare and benefits for all parties involved. Here, in the B2B platform setting, institutional trust explains a substantial part of trust in sellers, because it describes the perceived security due to data protection and privacy policies. Generally, their aim is to facilitate transaction success. Experience as a factor influencing purchase intentions can be made up of a positive buying experience and past purchase experience. Past online purchase experience creates additional knowledge for the user and can help to reduce uncertainty and subsequently increase trust. Thus, experience is not created in the short-run and not through one single event, but rather in the long-run or even through lifelong actions. The factor personal perception includes emotions and individual characteristics of every user. Positive emotions, e.g. happiness and satisfaction, can lead to a higher customer engagement, and being emotionally involved leads to purchase intentions. Strong negative emotions, on the other hand, e.g. anger or outrage, and negative WOM can lead to reduced demand. Individual characteristics are embedded in the personality allowing different motivations, skill, knowledge and perceptions of the business environment. Considering the empirical data analysis, the most influential factors for the adoption of digital services result to be trust, experience, and price. The higher these values, the more trustworthy or experienced and advanced the other party is perceived, which indicates that it is most likely safe to conduct business with them. Regarding the price factor, perceived price is an important factor describing the client’s or provider’s judgment about the average price of a digital service in comparison to its competitors. The personal perception factor as well as social influence could not be considered in the research model, because they are difficult to measure and therefore hard to quantify. There is a notable rapid change and development in IT affecting the digital service provision and research. Companies and researchers would benefit from acknowledging this current trend and adapt to changing situations with an open mind.