Technology Acceptance Model in U.S. Extension: CRM Adoption

QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION OF TAM

regarding complexity, relative advantage, security, customer pressure, and competitive pressure

were not moderating effects on CRM adoption based on firm size.

Cruz-Jesus et al. (2019) highlight that there are considerable benefits of CRM but observe

that there is limited research considering the CRM adoption stages, including evaluation,

adoption, and routinization. This research developed a conceptual framework to examine the

antecedents that affect CRM adoption stages in organizations (Cruz-Jesus et al., 2019). This

study highlights that there is a prominent assumption about CRM, either as exclusively

technological or a marketing tool, rather than a dynamic innovation that must be well managed to

maximize organizational efficiency and competitive agility. The framework developed looks at

three components that serve as antecedents to CRM adoption, including technological context

such as competence and data quality, organizational context such as top management support,

and environmental context such as competitive pressure. The hypotheses were that technology

competence positively influences CRM evaluation, adoption, and routinization; top management

support positively influences CRM evaluation, adoption, and routinization; and competitive

pressure positively influences CRM evaluation but negatively influences CRM routinization. A

questionnaire was developed and distributed to firms in multiple professional sectors, including

questions related to the hypotheses. A total of 277 responses were collected from these various

sectors, with a variety of individuals utilizing CRM across multiple components of the

organization. The results of this study highlight that data quality and integration, top

management support, and competitive pressure are the primary drivers of CRM evaluation and

adoption. Additionally, technology competence and CRM evaluation drive CRM adoption, while

competitive pressure and CRM adoption positively influence routinization. There was also a