| The application of Internet technologies for business transactions has given rise to a boom in electronic markets. Electronic marketplaces (EMs) are increasingly important to the organization for procurement and sales. As EMs become more pervasive, adoption or non-adoption becomes a less critical decision for the firm (Truman 2000) than the decision of which type of market structure to adopt.;This thesis, however, also posits that while TCT models based on fit with product/market characteristics offer explanatory value regarding marketers' judgments of an electronic marketplace choice performance, these characteristics are not explicit considerations in forming performance expectations a priori. The author suggests instead that formal and informal management expectations are most strongly driven by management perceptions of fit with the broad internal and external environments of the firm, as per Clark (2000) in the general marketing literature and Wang, Archer and Zheng (2005) and Christainaase and Markus (2003) in the EM literature.;Firstly, Confirmatory Factor Analysis demonstrated performance evaluation of Electronic Marketplace choice appears to be multi-dimensional in nature, revealing additional dimensions beyond those suggested by Clark (2000). Secondly, structural equation modeling showed that company size, prior experience and fit of product/market characteristics were found to directly impact marketers perceptions of performance of a given choice of electronic marketplace, although they did not influence a priori considerations in forming expectations. Thirdly, numerous constructs designed to capture both external and internal phenomena were shown to influence effectiveness judgments, which drive performance judgments. Effectiveness judgments are posited to form the basis of goal and expectation setting. Finally, the strength between performance judgments and satisfaction judgments is positively related to depth and specificity of performance expectations.;Transaction cost theory (TCT) has contributed to understanding of this problem via prescriptive models (Malone et al, 1987; Bakos, 1991 and Mahadevan, 2003) that suggest which types of electronic marketplaces that are optimal based on product/market characteristics. Recent literature has suggested that company size (Hadaya, 2004), prior experience (Hadaya, 2004; Corbitt, 2003), and role (buyer or seller) (Rask and Kragh, 2004; Wang, Archer and Zheng, 2005) all impact marketer's perceptions of performance for electronic marketplaces. |
