Role of trialability in B2B e-business adoption: theoretical insights from two case studies

Trialability has been conceptualised in prior research as a belief signifying opportunity to experiment with a technical innovation would facilitate its adoption. It has been found to be a weak predictor and though indications exist of possible significant impact in situations of high perceived risk, it has not received serious academic attention. In this research we argue that in situations of high perceived risk, the belief-based concept of trialability without actual evaluation of experimental outcomes is questionable. Based on the Theory of Trying, Expectancy Disconfirmation theory and prior research on risk and trust in e-business, we develop and validate propositions in the context of B2B e-market transactions by two small firms. Our findings indicate that due to high perceived risk of B2B e-market transactions, in contrast to the received notion of trialability as a belief-based factor, it was in the nature of an active post-intent recursive process of experimentation involving ‘Trying’ for trial transactions with controlled risk, execution of ‘Trial’ transactions and ‘Assessment of Trial Outcomes’. Also, in contrast to weak impacts observed in prior research, the trialability process was found to be a necessary condition for translation of initial intent to adoption. Other implications of the findings are discussed.