The Diffusion of E-marketing in Tourism Businesses of Ethiopia: An Empirical Investigation of Organisational E-readiness Perspectives

The study aims to investigate the impact of organisational e-readiness on e-marketing diffusion in tourism businesses of Ethiopia. The research is based on a questionnaire survey and uses Structural Equation Modelling to test the conceptual model that extends technology diffusion theories. The study validates the conceptual model extended from Perceived Organisational E-readiness, Innovation Diffusion Theory and Technology Adoption Model to explain e-marketing diffusion. The findings indicated that perceived organisational e-readiness significantly affects e-marketing diffusion. The result implied that technology diffusion theories such as Technology Adoption Model and perceived organisational e-readiness were valid in demonstrating e-marketing diffusion. Though ease of use affected e-marketing diffusion, the impacts of compatibility and relative advantage were not significant; and thus, the indirect effect of organisational e-readiness on e-marketing diffusion was not significant. The finding also reinforces the necessity of a multilevel model to explain e-marketing diffusion in developing countries.