Spain is among the largest producers of organic olive in the world. Yet the Spanish organic olive oil sector faces a major commercial problem due to an internal demand that is too small to match the volume of supply. Factors that explain this problem include the scarcity and scattered nature of points of sale, the lack of information available to consumers, and the very large gulf in the price between organic and nonorganic olive oil. To address these problems, the literature highlights the key commercial role of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The corporate website is a core element around which the company's e-commerce activity revolves. The goal of this study is to confirm the relationship between business efficiency, measured using data envelopment analysis (DEA), and the quality of the corporate website, measured using the extended Model of Internet Commerce Adoption (eMICA). Although this analysis did not identify a direct relationship between these two variables, fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) revealed that combinations of elements related to corporate website quality (interactivity and processing), organizational, and structural factors (size of firm and outsourcing of ICT management) can have a direct effect on organizational performance, measured in terms of economic efficiency.
Spanish agri-food producers, particularly organic producers, have faced commercial problems for years. Websites are able to combine informative, relational and transactional functions. This ability makes them attractive sales channels in sectors such as the organic agri-food sector, which has traditionally had major commercial shortcomings in these three areas. This study is built on this premise. The study explored whether organic agri-food producers and conventional producers differ in terms of their use of websites as a sales channel and their degree of interaction with users. The extended model of Internet commerce adoption (eMICA) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) were used. Other statistical techniques were also used. The fieldwork began with a sample of 998 producers (239 organic and 759 conventional). The results reveal differences between organic and conventional olive oil producers regarding website adoption and use. In terms of attracting website visits, the results also reveal the relevance of being an organic producer and having a capitalist or cooperative company structure.
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