Study On The Adoption Of B2B E-Commerce In Agricultural Product Distribution Organizations

In recent years,the main issue in the circulation of agricultural products in China has shifted from channel construction to the supply-demand imbalance,specifically the conflict between the increasing demand of the people for quality agricultural products and efficient logistics,and the imperfect agricultural supply mechanism.The popularity of e-commerce has,to some extent,improved the problems of inefficient circulation and information blockage of agricultural products,thus alleviating the supply-demand imbalance.Therefore,both policy-level and industry-level departments or companies are striving to fully leverage the positive role of e-commerce in agricultural product circulation.However,the subject responsible for agricultural product e-commerce has not yet been unified in academia,and most existing studies focus on new agricultural management entities such as family farms and cooperatives.The circulation of agricultural products in China is still dominated by wholesale markets,and the long-standing problems of multiple links,high costs,severe price markups,and information asymmetry have long constrained the industry’s development.Moreover,given the size and uniqueness of the agricultural product circulation industry,it theoretically requires an informationization transformation.The author found in field research that individual businesses and small and microenterprises engaged in agricultural product circulation have a low willingness to accept information technology such as e-commerce,and lack initiative.This is contrary to the government’s vision of promoting the development of individual businesses and information construction.In addition,compared to the B2 C model,the B2 B model for agricultural products is still in the exploration phase,and effective applications are still a long way off.Therefore,analyzing why the role of B2 B e-commerce has not been effectively played in the traditional agricultural product circulation field,how to stimulate traditional practitioners to adopt the B2 B model to better promote the integration of the circulation industry with information and digital technologies,and how to improve the competitiveness of the B2 B model,are urgent problems that need to be solved now.This thesis adopts a top-down approach based on the Technology-OrganizationEnvironment(TOE)framework to investigate the adoption of B2 B e-commerce in the distribution of agricultural products.The study includes the following steps:(1)Using Cite Space software to summarize relevant literature,identify the main research directions and important concepts,and establish the TOE analysis framework.(2)Conducting an environmental analysis based on the TOE framework,which addresses the questions of whether existing consumer psychology models are applicable to organizational buyers and what the community environment of the organization is like.The results show that existing consumer models are not applicable to organizational buyers,and conflicts exist both within and between organizational communities,which constrain the development of channels.(3)Conducting an analysis of organizational purchasing intentions through network channels based on the TOE framework.This part of the study aims to identify the main "storylines" that shape organizational purchasing intentions through network channels by using grounded theory to code raw comments from relevant practitioners on short video platforms,and proposes four research hypotheses.(4)Conducting research on the factors that influence organizational adoption of B2 B e-commerce purchasing based on the TOE framework.This part of the study aims to nest the Technology Acceptance Model(TAM),Theory of Reasoned Action(TRA),and TOE model,propose specific research hypotheses based on the previous content,and establish an empirical structural model.A questionnaire is designed to obtain the necessary raw data for empirical analysis.Based on 357 questionnaires,this article uses a structural equation model to empirically analyze the adoption of e-commerce in agricultural product distribution organizations,including the impact of variables such as personal cognition,collective action,and perceived usefulness on the willingness to adopt e-commerce.Based on the empirical analysis results,feasible suggestions are proposed to provide useful references for the development of the agricultural product distribution industry.The main conclusions of the study include two levels: enterprise and government.Firstly,at the enterprise level:(1)Compared to "usefulness," the impact of "convenience" on the adoption of e-commerce by organizations is stronger.Therefore,B2 B companies need to provide a fast,secure,and efficient B2 B platform that matches the organization’s procurement cycle while maintaining product quality.(2)B2B companies can use the relatively stable and regular operation of agricultural product distribution organizations,the strong sense of trust and interaction between organizations,and other characteristics to carry out targeted publicity and promotion,better meet the needs of organizations,improve satisfaction,and increase the adoption rate of e-commerce.(3)The social attributes among agricultural product distribution organizations form the basis of the community environment.Different social relationships will affect the organization’s understanding of community attributes and thus influence the decision-making process.Therefore,in the long run,B2 B companies need to return to the market and organizational characteristics,provide personalized services or professional consulting services to establish a trusted and long-term cooperative mechanism.Secondly,at the government level:(1)To promote the adoption of e-commerce by agricultural product distribution organizations,the government needs to establish and improve the corresponding e-commerce infrastructure that matches the usability requirements of organizations.It can also rely on policies to promote the integration of ecommerce platforms and organizations.Additionally,the government can reduce the cost of e-commerce adoption for organizations through tax cuts and other measures to encourage more organizations to adopt the e-commerce model.(2)In response to the positive impact of "personal cognition" on "perceived ease of use" in the empirical research,the government can organize e-commerce training to provide necessary skills and knowledge for agricultural product distribution organizations to improve their e-commerce capabilities and confidence.(3)The government needs to strengthen its supervision of e-commerce platforms and enterprises to ensure the fairness and transparency of e-commerce transactions,maintain market order,and provide better services and protection for organizations.Additionally,the government and B2 B companies need to work together to create an environment that is conducive to e-commerce adoption,enhance the public’s understanding and awareness of ecommerce.