Analysing farmers’ intention to adopt web marketing under a technology-organisation-environment perspective: A case study in Italy

Abstract

This study explores the factors that affect the intention to adopt web marketing (WM) at farm level as an innovation for business purposes. Data were collected from a direct survey among Italian farmers. The paper applies the Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) framework. Among the variables considered, the results mainly show that a higher perceived usefulness of WM leads to a greater intention to adopt it from farmers. Similarly, the intention to adopt WM is positively influenced by the customers‘ readiness to use this technology and the perceived ease of use. Moreover, the intention to adopt is lower for the farms showing a greater size. Surprisingly, the perception of customers’ positive expectation about WM adoption by the farm shows a negative effect, suggesting that external pressures can inhibit farmers’ intention. Findings are valuable to understand how to develop policies to support WM adoption among farmers, that is important to gain access to the market especially for smallholders.