The Effect of Website and E-Commerce Adoption on the Relationship between SMEs and Their Export Intermediaries

Whilst website adoption within UK SMEs is widespread, the number offering e-commerce activities is declining or static. This result is surprising given indications that the medium may be valuable to SMEs and to exporters in particular. Among the multitude of factors suggested to affect adoption, the link between export channel relationships and website/e-commerce adoption has mainly been the focus of normative writings or anecdotal evidence. By building on the rich literature on authoritative control (manifest conflict) and relationship marketing paradigm (trust and commitment), as well as in-depth interviews with exporters, the article proposes a conceptualization of the potential effects of website and/or e-commerce adoption on conflict and the mediating effect of trust and commitment. Evidence presented indicates that the Internet has the capability to be both a constructive and destructive influence on channel relationships. The findings presented here both support and challenge normative and anecdotal literature, which could explain the low adoption rate amongst exporting SMEs. Furthermore, our conceptualization demonstrates that a combination of authoritative control and relational paradigm constructs, (manifest conflict, trust and commitment) is useful in understanding channel relationship scenarios.

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