ICT as an Enabler for Innovation Adoption A study in the Dutch installation sector within the building industry

In this paper we investigate how two online services (a portal and a digital library) may influence the adoption of an innovation. It is known from prior surveys that the installation services branch of the Dutch building industry has a relatively slow adoption rate for innovations. We examine if these two online services can influence the attitude towards the adoption of innovations. From the academic literature we have derived a list of factors that influence the attitude towards adoption by individuals. We limited this project to a number of factors that are commonly referred to as technological factors. Using an online digital library and a custom-built portal, we conducted a field experiment with a post-test only control group design for one particular innovative product (a gas-analysis device); the test was performed using a survey. Our main finding is that the portal has a significant and positive effect towards the adoption of the innovation by an individual. We did not find a significant impact for the use of the digital library. On the basis of this experiment, we propose that online services that offer a high degree of interaction amongst their users are more likely to induce an increase in the willingness of an individual to adopt an innovation.