UNDERSTANDING E-COMMERCE ADOPTION. LITERATURE REVIEW OF COMPETING MODELS

The present paper reviews the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991), the theory of reasoned action (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980) and the theory of technology acceptance model (Davis, 1989) in order to better perceive their possible future application in the marketing field, namely in the process of using electronic commerce at the organizational level. While previous empirical studies have focused primarily on one of the theories, in an attempt to rule the advantages and / or disadvantages which would support the findings and hypothesis presented, it is the authors’ belief that all three theories greatly contribute, each one in a unique way. However, several pitfalls in methodology may be encountered, therefore further empirical research is required.