Determining the factors affecting E-reverse auction technology acceptance

Elektronik-açık eksiltme (e-açık eksiltme), satın alma yapacak organizasyonla iki veya daha fazla tedarikçinin davet edilmesi ile gerçek zamanlı ve çevrim içi olarak gerçekleştirilen elektronik ihale türüdür. E-açık eksiltme ile ilgili yapılan literatür taraması bu teknolojinin kullanımının gerek satın alma yapan firmalara gerekse de tedarikçi firmalara çok önemli avantajlar sağladığını ortaya çıkarmıştır. E-açık eksiltme teknolojisinin birçok avantajına rağmen bazı kullanıcılar tarafından bu sistem kullanılmamaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı e-açık eksiltme teknolojisinin kullanımına etki edecek faktörlerin belirlenmesidir. Bu amaçla oluşturulan araştırma modelinde, Teknoloji Kabul Modeli’nden algılanan fayda ve algılanan kullanım kolaylığı, Planlı Davranış Teorisi’nden sübjektif normlar ve algılanan davranışsal kontrol ve Yenilik Yayılma Teorisi’nden uyumluluk değişkenleri bir araya gelerek entegre bir model oluşturulmuştur. Modeli test etmek için Yapısal Eşitlik Modellemesi kullanılmış ve 40 farklı ülkeden e-açık eksiltme teknolojisini kullanan kişilerden toplam 156 anket toplanmıştır. Sonuçlara göre e-açık eksiltme teknolojisi kullanım niyetini sübjektif normlar, algılanan fayda ve algılanan davranışsal kontrol değişkenleri etkilemektedir ve kullanım niyeti açıklanma yüzdesi %76 olarak bulunmuştur. Sübjektif normların algılanan fayda ve algılanan davranışsal kontrol değişkenlerine göre daha güçlü bir etkisi vardır. Gerçek kullanım ise sadece kullanım niyetinden etkilenmektedir. Algılanan kullanım kolaylığı hem algılanan davranışsal kontrol hem de uyumluluk değişkeninden etkilenmesine rağmen algılanan fayda sadece uyumluluk değişkeni tarafından açıklanmaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: E-açık eksiltme, teknoloji kabul modeli, planlı davranış teorisi, uyumluluk.E-reverse auction is an online- and real-time auction between a buying company and two or more suppliers (Carter et al., 2004). Use of the e-reverse auction tool was first offered by FreeMarkets in 1999 and has been progressively adopted more intensively by firms since then. Using electronic-reverse auction (e-reverse auction) offers many advantages to buyers and companies such as price reduction, decrease in cycle time, standardization, increase in buyer productivity, creation of a more competitive environment and transparency in purchasing process (Carter et al., 2004; Bartezzaghi and Ronchi, 2003). E-reverse auction has benefits not only for buyers but also for suppliers. These are growing markets, accessed by system users all over the world, who are enabled to compare their own competitiveness in the market and follow up auctions by potential customers on the Internet. Besides, they can estimate their customers' needs and market trends by checking the e-reverse auctions' specifications and conditions for the products and services. Thus, suppliers can see not only areas for improvement but also their own needs for improvement (Emiliani, 2000; Mullane et al., 2001). Despite its great advantages, some users do not want to use e-reverse auction technology for the procurement of products or services. This study aims to understand factors affecting e-reverse auction usage in companies by integrating important theories. Up to now, so many models have been developed to explain acceptance of a technology. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is one of the most effective and widely used model. Although TAM is a useful model to understand and explain user behavior in information technology use, it is recommended to be extended by including human and social factors. Theory of Planned behavior (TPB) takes into consideration these factors. Therefore, TAM is integrated with TPB to create an integrated model which includes subjective norms as a social factor. Several studies have integrated TAM with TPB successfully. Besides, studies in the literature show that compatibility in Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) is an important variable to explain human behavior in technology acceptance. Moreover, technology compatibleness may expand the rate of adoption. Therefore in this study, compatibility is also integrated with TAM and TPB to form an extended model. In conclusion, to explain behavioral intention and actual use of e-reverse auction technology, two factors (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use) from TAM, two factors (subjective norms, perceived behavioral control) from TPB and one factor (compatibility) from IDT are integrated to form an extended model. In this model, in addition to the current relations defined in TAM and TPB, new relations are added to the integrated model according to the literature. Data collected from 156 employees working in the procurement department of companies in 40 different countries were used to test the proposed research model. The model was tested using LISREL 8.54 with SIMPLIS project. According to the results, both measurement model and structural model fitted well to the data and all the model fit indices were within acceptable limits. In addition, convergent- and discriminant validities of the measurement model were also verified. The results of the structural model show that behavioral intention to use e-reverse auction is explained by subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and perceived usefulness with an explanation rate of 76%. Among them, subjective norms have the highest impact on behavioral intention to use this technology. However the effect of perceived ease of use on behavioral intention to use is found to be insignificant. Another result of our study was that actual use of e-reverse auction technology is directly affected by behavioral intention to use. The effect of perceived behavioral control on actual use is found to be insignificant. The explanation rate of actual use is 14%. The lower explanation rate of actual use with respect to behavioral intention to use shows that potential users do not act according to their intentions. In addition, 69% of perceived usefulness is explained by compatibility. However, the effects of subjective norms and perceived ease of use on perceived usefulness were found to be insignificant. Another finding of this study is that a high proportion of perceived ease of use is explained by perceived behavioral control and compatibility. Among them, perceived behavioral control is the strongest predictor. We conclude with managerial implications and recommendations for possible future research. Keywords: Technology acceptance, electronic-reverse auction, theory of planned behavior, compatibility