Factors Influencing e-commerce Adoption and Use by Small and Medium Businesses

The literature provides an extensive list of incentives and barriers to adoption and use of e-business and e-commerce information technology (EEIT) by small and medium businesses (SMEs). The objective of this current research was to consolidate these factors and determine their level of influence, either positively or negatively from the adopter’s perspective, on the adoption decision. A set of 26 factors, used as variables in various adoption models from the literature, were presented in a neutral manner, without pre-classifying them as barriers or incentives, through a survey sent to SMEs. Respondents were asked to rate the effect of these factors on their EEIT adoption decisions. In addition to examining all respondents, the analysis compares perceived differences among factors for SMEs that have adopted a business website, those that intend to adopt and those that will not adopt. Sixteen of the factors were found significant, ten as incentives and six as barriers. The only consistent factor across all groups was cost – perceived as a barrier. The study concluded that factors are perceived differently by adopters, intended adopters and those not intending to adopt. These results should serve as a basis for more accurate use of these factors in