{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,2]],"date-time":"2025-08-02T18:08:26Z","timestamp":1754158106613,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":64,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2005,12,1]],"date-time":"2005-12-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1133395200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2005,12,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Purpose<\/jats:title><jats:p>To provide a social\u2010theoretic framework which explains how e\u2010commerce affects social conditions, such as availability of information and equality of access to information, influences actors' behavior, shapes e\u2010commerce business models, and in turn impacts industry structure.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title><jats:p>Empirical investigation based on one\u2010hour interviews with owners\/managers of nine vehicle dealerships and six vehicle buyers in a large US metropolitan region. The hermeneutic method of understanding was used, involving a circular process from research design and attentiveness to data, to data collection and interpretation. This circular process exemplified the dialectic relationship between the theoretical framework (derived from Habermas's<jats:italic>Theory of Communicative Action<\/jats:italic>) and empirical data, through which interpretation and theoretical explanations grounded in the data emerged.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>Demonstrates that e\u2010commerce gives rise to increasing competition among the dealers, decreasing prices and migration of competition to price, decreasing profitability of the average dealer, and erosion of traditional sources of competitive advantage. Moreover, e\u2010commerce emancipates and empowers vehicle purchasers while reducing the power of automobile dealers.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Research limitations\/implications<\/jats:title><jats:p>The research findings focus on the effects of e\u2010commerce on the automobile distribution industry. However, one could argue that a number of the findings extend to other retailing\u2010based industries.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Practical implications<\/jats:title><jats:p>The paper illustrates a research methodology that may be useful to study other e\u2010commerce applications.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title><jats:p>This paper illustrates the application of Habermas's<jats:italic>Theory of Communicative Action<\/jats:italic>to studying the effect of e\u2010commerce.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/09593840510633301","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2007,1,15]],"date-time":"2007-01-15T17:56:55Z","timestamp":1168883815000},"page":"311-342","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":21,"title":["Making sense of e\u2010commerce as social action"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Marius","family":"Janson","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Dubravka","family":"Cecez\u2010Kecmanovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Alvesson, M. and Deetz, S. (2000), Doing Critical Management Research, Sage Publications, London.","DOI":"10.4135\/9781849208918"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b2","unstructured":"Axelsson, K., Melin, U. and Goldkuhl, G. (2002), \u201cUnderstanding B2B interaction: a model to accentuate inter\u2010organizational systems design issues\u201d, in Wrycza, S. (Ed.), Proceedings of the 10th European Conference on Information Systems, Gdansk, Poland, July, pp. 541\u201050."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bentz, V. and Shapiro, J. (1998), Mindful Inquiry in Social Research, Sage Publications, London.","DOI":"10.4135\/9781452243412"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Brynjolfsson, E. and Smith, M.D. (2000), \u201cFrictionless commerce? A comparison of internet and conventional retailers\u201d, Management Science, Vol. 46 No. 4, pp. 563\u201085.","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.46.4.563.12061"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b5","unstructured":"Cecez\u2010Kecmanovic, D. (2001), \u201cDoing critical IS research: the question of methodology\u201d, in Trauth, E. (Ed.), Qualitative Research in Information Systems: Issues and Trends, Idea Group Publishing, Hershey, PA, pp. 142\u201063."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b6","unstructured":"Cecez\u2010Kecmanovic, D. and Janson, M. (2000), \u201cCommunicative action theory: an approach to understanding the application of information systems\u201d, Proceedings of the 10th Australasian Conference on Information Systems, Wellington, pp. 183\u201095."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b7","unstructured":"Checkland, P.B. (1981), Systems Thinking, Systems Practice, Wiley, New York, NY."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b8","unstructured":"Cooke, M. (1998), On the Pragmatics of Communication, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b9","unstructured":"Cooper, M. (2001), \u201cA roadblock on the information superhighway: anticompetitive restrictions on automotive markets\u201d, Consumer Federation of America, Washington, DC, pp. 1\u201039."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b10","unstructured":"Edmunds Publications (2004), Edmunds New Cars and Trucks: Prices and Reviews, Edmunds Publications, Santa Monica, CA, available at: www.edmunds.com."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b11","unstructured":"Ezzy, D. (2002), Qualitative Analysis: Practice and Innovation, Allen & Unwin, Sydney."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b12","unstructured":"Gadamer, H. (1975), Truth and Method, Sheed & Ward, London (trans. by J. Weinsheimer and D. Marshall)."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b13","unstructured":"Geuss, R. (1981), The Idea of a Critical Theory: Habermas and the Frankfurt School, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Greenspan, R. (2003), \u201cAuto sales drive consumers to the web\u201d, available at: www.clikz.com\/stats\/big_picture\/traffic_patterns\/article.php\/306532\/(accessed August 19, 2003).","DOI":"10.1016\/S1353-4858(03)00911-5"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b15","unstructured":"Greywitt, M. and Tews, J. (2004), \u201cAutomotive internet users increasingly visit manufacturer websites first during the shopping process\u201d, available at: www.jdpa.com\/pdf\/2004101.pdf."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Grover, V. and Ramanlal, P. (1999), \u201cSix myths of information and markets: information technology networks, electronic commerce, and the battle for consumer surplus\u201d, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp. 465\u201095.","DOI":"10.2307\/249486"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b17","unstructured":"Habermas, J. (1984), The Theory of Communicative Action, Vol. I, Reason and the Rationalization of Society, Beacon Press, Boston, MA (trans. by T. McCarthy)."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b18","unstructured":"Habermas, J. (1987), The Theory of Communicative Action, Vol. II, Lifeworld and Systems: A Critique of Functionalist Reason, Beacon Press, Boston, MA (trans. by T. McCarthy)."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b19","unstructured":"Habermas, J. (2001), On the Pragmatics of Social Interaction: Preliminary Studies in the Theory of Communicative Action, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA (trans. by B. Fultner)."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hirschheim, R. and Klein, H.K. (1989), \u201cFour paradigms of information systems development\u201d, Communications of the ACM, Vol. 32 No. 10, pp. 1199\u2010216.","DOI":"10.1145\/67933.67937"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hirschheim, R. and Klein, H.K. (1994), \u201cRealizing emancipatory principles in information systems research: the case for ETHICS\u201d, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 83\u2010109.","DOI":"10.2307\/249611"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Johnson, E.J., Moe, W.W., Fader, P.S., Bellman, S. and Lohse, G. (2004), \u201cOn the depth and dynamics of online behavior\u201d, Management Science, Vol. 50 No. 3, pp. 299\u2010309.","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.1040.0194"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kalakota, R. and Whinston, A. (1996), Frontiers of Electronic Commerce, Addison\u2010Wesley, Reading, MA.","DOI":"10.1109\/TCPMC.1996.507151"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b25","unstructured":"Kelley Blue Book (2004), Kelley Blue Book Company, Irvine, CA, available at: www.kbb.com."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Klein, H. and Myers, M. (1999), \u201cA set of principles for conducting and evaluating interpretive field studies in information systems\u201d, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 67\u201088.","DOI":"10.2307\/249410"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Koch, J.V. and Cebula, R.J. (2002), \u201cPrice, quality, and service on the internet: sense and nonsense\u201d, Contemporary Economic Policy, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 25\u201037.","DOI":"10.1093\/cep\/20.1.25"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b29","unstructured":"Koningsveld, H. and Mertens, J. (1992), Communicative and Strategic Action Coutinho, Muiderberg (in Dutch)."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b28","unstructured":"Ludwig, B. (1996), Computer Support for Group Argumentation, Der Deutsche Universit\u00e4ts\u2010Verlag, Wiesbaden (in German)."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b30","unstructured":"Lyytinen, K. (1986), \u201cInformation systems development as social action: framework and critical implications\u201d, Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4n Yliopisto, Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4, unpublished doctoral dissertation."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b31","unstructured":"Lyytinen, K. (1992), \u201cInformation systems and critical theory\u201d, in Alvesson, M. and Wilmott, H. (Eds) Critical Management Studies, Sage Publications, London, pp. 159\u201080."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lyytinen, K. and Hirschheim, R. (1988), \u201cInformation systems and rational discourse: an application of Habermas's Theory of Communicative Action\u201d, Scandinavian Journal of Management, Vol. 4, pp. 19\u201030.","DOI":"10.1016\/0956-5221(88)90013-9"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b33","unstructured":"Lyytinen, K. and Klein, H.K. (1985), \u201cThe critical theory of J\u00fcrgen Habermas as a basis for a theory of information systems\u201d, in Mumford, E., Hirschheim, R., Fitzgerald, G. and Wood\u2010Harper, A.T. (Eds), Research Methods in Information Systems, Elsevier Publishing, New York, NY, pp. 219\u201036."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Morton, F.S., Zettelmeyer, F. and Risso, J.S. (2001), \u201cInternet car retailing\u201d, Journal of Industrial Economics, Vol. 49 No. 4, pp. 501\u201019.","DOI":"10.1111\/1467-6451.00160"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b36","unstructured":"Mumford, E. (1981), \u201cParticipative system design: structure and method\u201d, Systems, Objectives, Solutions, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 5\u201019."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b37","unstructured":"Mumford, E. (1983), Designing Human Systems \u2013 the ETHICS Method, Manchester Business School Press, Manchester."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b38","unstructured":"Napier, H.A., Judd, P.J., Rivers, O.N. and Wagner, S.W. (2003), Creating a Winning E\u2010Business, Thomson Learning, Boston, MA."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b39","unstructured":"National Vehicle Dealers Association (2000), A Dealer Guide to the Internet, eCommerce, and Web\u2010Enabled Business, available at: www.nada.org."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ngwenyama, O. and Lee, A. (1997), \u201cCommunication richness in electronic mail: critical social theory and the contextuality of meaning\u201d, Management Information Systems Quarterly, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 145\u201067.","DOI":"10.2307\/249417"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"N\u00f6th, W. (1990), Handbook of Semiotics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.","DOI":"10.2307\/j.ctv14npk46"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b42","unstructured":"Outhwaite, W. (1996), The Habermas Reader, Polity Press, Cambridge."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b43","unstructured":"Patton, M.Q. (1990), Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods, 2nd ed., Sage, Newbury Park, CA."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b44","unstructured":"Phillips, C. (2001), Confessions of a Car Salesman, available at: www.edmunds.com\/advice\/articles\/42962.html."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b45","unstructured":"Porter, M. (2001), \u201cStrategy and the internet\u201d, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 79 No. 3, pp. 63\u201078."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b46","unstructured":"Rasmussen, D.M. (1990), Reading Habermas, Basil Blackwell, Cambridge, MA."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b47","unstructured":"Reese\u2010Sch\u00e4fer, W. (2001), J\u00fcrgen Habermas (in German), Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b48","unstructured":"Riihimaa, J. (2004), Taxonomy of Information and Communication Technology System Innovations Adopted by Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, University of Tampere, Tampere."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b49","unstructured":"Roderick, R. (1986), Habermas and the Foundations of Critical Theory, St Martins Press, New York, NY."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b50","unstructured":"Roszak, T. (1997), The Cult of Information, University of California Press, Berkeley, CA."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b51","unstructured":"Siskos, C. (2002), \u201cDirect route to a fairer price\u201d, Kipplinger's Personal Finance, Vol. 56 No. 10, p. 34."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b52","unstructured":"Turban, E., Lee, J., King, D. and Chung, M. (2000), Electronic Commerce: A Managerial Perspective, Prentice\u2010Hall International, Upper Saddle River, NJ."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Varey, R.J., Wood\u2010Harper, T. and Wood, B. (2002), \u201cA theoretical review of management and information systems: using a critical communications theory\u201d, Journal of Information Technology, Vol. 17, pp. 229\u201039.","DOI":"10.1080\/0268396022000017725"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b54","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Verboven, F. (1999), \u201cProduct line rivalry and market segmentation\u201d, Journal of Industrial Economics, Vol. 47 No. 4, pp. 399\u2010427.","DOI":"10.1111\/1467-6451.00106"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b55","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Walsham, G. (1995), \u201cThe emergence of interpretivism in IS research\u201d, Information Systems Research, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 376\u201094.","DOI":"10.1287\/isre.6.4.376"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b56","unstructured":"Waring, T. (1999), \u201cThe challenge of emancipation in information systems implementation: a case study in an NHS Trust hospital\u201d, paper presented at Critical Management Studies Conference, Manchester."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b57","unstructured":"Weber, M. (1964), The Theory of Social and Economic Organization, The Free Press, New York, NY."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b58","unstructured":"Weber, M. (1978), in Roth, G. and Wittich, C. (Eds), Economy and Society, Vol. I and Vol. II, University of California Press, Berkeley, CA."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b59","unstructured":"Weill, P. and Broadbent, M. (1998), Leveraging the New Infrastructure, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b60","unstructured":"Weill, P. and Vitale, M. (2001), Place to Space, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b61","unstructured":"Wellmer, A. (1985), \u201cReason, utopia, and the dialectic of enlightenment\u201d, in Bernstein, J.R. (Ed.), Habermas and Modernity, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 35\u201066."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b62","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"White, S.K. (1988), The Recent Work of J\u00fcrgen Habermas, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY.","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511598265"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b63","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"White, S.K. (1995), The Cambridge Companion to Habermas, Cambridge Press, New York, NY.","DOI":"10.1017\/CCOL052144120X"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_b64","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wilson, F.A. (1997), \u201cThe truth is out there: the search for emancipatory principles in information systems design\u201d, Information Technology & People, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 187\u2010204.","DOI":"10.1108\/09593849710178207"},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_frg1","unstructured":"J.D. Power & Associates (2003), \u201cAmerican car buyers research online\u201d, available at: www.nua.ie\/surveys\/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905358450&rel=true (accessed October 14, 2003)."},{"key":"key2022012620093317500_frg2","unstructured":"Morton, F.S. and Zettelmeyer, F. (2003), \u201cConsumer information and discrimination: does the internet affect the pricing of new cars to women and minorities?\u201d, Quantitative Marketing and Economics, Vol. 1, pp. 65\u201092."}],"container-title":["Information Technology &amp; People"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emeraldinsight.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1108\/09593840510633301","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/09593840510633301\/full\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/09593840510633301\/full\/html","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,25]],"date-time":"2025-07-25T00:36:46Z","timestamp":1753403806000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emerald.com\/itp\/article\/18\/4\/311-342\/431164"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2005,12,1]]},"references-count":64,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2005,12,1]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1108\/09593840510633301"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/09593840510633301","relation":{},"ISSN":["0959-3845"],"issn-type":[{"type":"print","value":"0959-3845"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2005,12,1]]}}}