Confronting the design and acceptance of electronic intermediaries: a case study in the maritime sector

Authors:
Erwin Fielt;Wil Janssen;Edward Faber;René Wagenaar
Affiliations:
Telematica Instituut, Enschede, the Netherlands;Telematica Instituut, Enschede, the Netherlands;Telematica Instituut, Enschede, the Netherlands;Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands
Venue:
ICEC '04 Proceedings of the 6th international conference on Electronic commerce
Year:
2004

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Abstract

Electronic business offers opportunities and threats for the firms in business networks, triggering established and new intermediaries to introduce their own electronic business initiatives. Despite their potential, successful designs of electronic intermediaries leading to acceptance by buyers and sellers are intricate and not well understood. The design of an electronic intermediary involves careful balancing of the interests of actors within a vertical business network.In this paper we analyze the design of an electronic intermediary in the maritime sector, and how this design relates to the voluntary acceptance of the intermediary by buyers and sellers. We discuss design choices and expected interests for all actors from the perspective of the intermediary. Acceptance approaches the electronic intermediary from the perspectives of buyers and sellers.The case study shows design choices for a limited role with restricted transparency and little novelty. These choices come mostly with positive expectations of the intermediary for buyers, sellers, and itself. Acceptance results confirm these expectations. Buyers and sellers are moderately positive and satisfied. However, there is the danger that the design has too little added value to convince users, especially buyers.