A study of business-to-business electronic marketplace usage from the buyer perspective

Business-to-Business (B2B) Electronic Marketplaces (EMs) have emerged in different industries, supporting the exchange of goods and services of different kinds and promising a huge market potential. However, the rapid rise and sharp fall of EMs within a few short years raises the question about EM usage. Although EMs represent a fast growing segment, firms are still reluctant to utilize them for purchasing.; This research represents one of the first large-scale empirical efforts to explore the EM usage from the buyer perspective. Based upon a comprehensive literature review, a research model was developed proposing four primary factors that have significant impacts on extent of EM usage: expected benefits of EMs, perceived risks of EMs, purchasing situations, and e-business readiness.; Valid and reliable measures of the constructs were developed and the instrument development process involved structured interviews, a pilot study, and a large-scale survey. The large-scale survey yielded 359 responses from purchasing professionals. Rigorous statistical methods were used to assess and validate the constructs. The methods used were: confirmatory factor analysis and reliability analysis.; The research findings supported the hypotheses that there is a positive relationship between expected benefits and extent of EM usage, a negative relationship between perceived risks and extent of EM usage, and a positive relationship between purchasing situations and extent of EM usage. In addition, the findings also supported the moderating effect of e-business readiness.; This research has some important implications for practitioners. This research provided companies a clear understanding about the expected benefits and perceived risks of EMs, the role of purchasing situations, and the moderating effect of e-business readiness. Moreover, the planned comparison enables the buyers to choose an appropriate type of EMs to participate in based upon their own expectations, risk perception, and purchasing situations.