Firm characteristics influencing the extent of electronic billing adoption: an empirical study in the US telecommunication industry

The recent moves toward both customer orientation and electronic commerce are placing a greater emphasis on a Web-based electronic billing system as a new customer service tool. In the meantime, understanding what kinds of firms are better doing business with their customers through an early adoption of electronic billing system has become more crucial. The objective of this paper is to examine several firm characteristics, including industry tenure, firm scope and firm size, influencing the extent of electronic billing adoption in the US telecommunication industry. The findings from a comprehensive content analysis of Web sites indicate that firm size has the most significant impact while industry tenure and geographic firm scope have also significant explanatory power. This paper concludes with implications of these findings for telecommunication scholars and practitioners.