An investigation into the antecedents of organizational participation in business-to-business electronic markets

Business-to-business electronic markets have a profound influence on the ma nner in which organizational buyers and sellers interact. As a result, it i s important to develop an understanding of the behaviors of firms that part icipate in these markets. The authors develop a typology for the nature of organizational participation to explain the behaviors of user firms in busi ness-to-business electronic markets. The proposed model hypothesizes that t he nature of participation depends on organizational motivation and ability . The authors conceptualize motivational factors in terms of efficiency and legitimacy motivations and theorize that ability results from the influenc e of organizational learning and information technology capabilities. They test the model using organizational-level survey data from jewelry traders that conduct business in an electronic market. The results indicate that bo th motivation and ability are important in determining the nature of partic ipation; however, the level of influence of motivation and ability varies w ith the nature of participation.