More and more leading-edge information technology has penetrated the market in conjunction with the arrival of information times. However, there is still a reluctance to adopt some of these best practices. Furthermore, the rate of diffusion has remained below expectations. Take for example the explosive growth of the adoption of e-mail marketing systems in Chinese business-to-consumer e-commerce startups whose target markets are overseas. At the same time there has been a relatively sluggish response to this commercial communication technology in those sectors of e-commerce startups that focus on local consumers and business-to-business segments. This disparity reveals the fact that the acceptance and diffusion of communication innovation are subject to many negative external factors and contexts. To e-mail marketing system providers in Chinese market, it is essential to understand the process and to identify and contrast the distinct barriers perceived by marketers across the types of e-commerce mentioned above in order to discuss the reasons behind adoption inconsistencies.The research in this thesis is conducted through a multi-method interpretive approach. The author uses prior theories in order to draw on a combination to build a new framework. A series of interviews with e-mail advertising system users is conducted and based on the results, the new framework is validated and external negative variables emerged. The nature of these negative factors are then discussed by a group of experts to account for their existence. Finally, different hindrances impacting the adoption across clusters of e-commerce marketers are identified.This thesis posits a theoretical framework, a combination of technology acceptance model and media choice factors. The key factors considered in this new framework include perceived usefulness, perceived ease-of-use, critical mass, perceived accessibility and social influences. This study contributes to the existing literature by creating a new streamlined technology acceptance model that can be used as a theoretical framework to analyze the adoption of the e-mail marketing system. Moreover, it also addresses explicitly the hindrances presenting different barriers that may affect e-commerce startups’ adoption of this technology.
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