A Multivariate Analysis of Agricultural Electronic Trading Adoption

Abstract

The study addresses the knowledge gap related to the scarce literature on digitalization in India's agricultural marketing. A field survey of five hundred National Agriculture Market users is undertaken to understand the theoretical constructs of wholesale electronic trading adoption in a realistic backdrop of a large digital project. The Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) methodology is used for the statistical analysis. It demonstrates the positive effect of variables: 'Trust', 'Cost', 'Social Influence', 'Perception-Ease of Use', 'Perception-Usefulness', and 'Facilitating Conditions' on the adoption. The study brings out a simple agricultural wholesale e-trading adoption framework. It extends the existing theoretical knowledge base concerning technology adoption in new contexts (wholesale electronic trading, agriculture, India). It expands the scope of the theory by adding new constructs, 'Trust' and 'Cost'. The study's recommendations are expected to help practitioners in decision-making. It shall help practitioners of developing countries prioritize using scarce resources to deliver the intended benefits to the farming community in terms of administrative ease, user convenience, expanded market reach, faster cycle time,