Service Quality, Ease of Use, and Trust in Agricultural Marketplace Adoption by Millennial Farmers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35791/jat.v7i3.70331Keywords:
Adoption intention, Agricultural e-commerce, Digital service quality, Perceived ease of use, TrustAbstract
Digital marketplaces can expand farmers access to agricultural inputs, yet intended use depends on more than platform availability. This study examined the associations of Digital Service Quality, Perceived Ease of Use, and Trust with millennial farmers' Adoption Intention toward agricultural-input marketplaces in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted in Minahasa, North Minahasa, and Tomohon. Respondents were farmers aged 19-39 years who actively managed farms and had accessed a marketplace to search for, compare, or purchase agricultural inputs within the previous six months; thus, Adoption Intention represented intended future or continued use among users with prior marketplace exposure. Purposive sampling with area-based quotas yielded 275 valid responses from 310 returned questionnaires. Data were analyzed using SPSS 26 and partial least squares structural equation modeling in SmartPLS 4.0.9 with 5,000 bootstrap subsamples. Digital Service Quality was positively associated with Trust (β = 0.385, p < .001) and Adoption Intention (β = 0.214, p = .003). Perceived Ease of Use was positively associated with Trust (β = 0.412, p < .001) and Adoption Intention (β = 0.198, p = .012). Trust showed the largest direct association with Adoption Intention (β = 0.456, p < .001). Significant indirect associations through Trust were also observed for Digital Service Quality (β = 0.175, p < .001) and Perceived Ease of Use (β = 0.187, p < .001). The findings indicate that Trust is an important mechanism within the tested marketplace-intention model. As practical implications rather than tested interventions, platform managers could combine usability improvements with reliable information, transaction security, seller verification, and mechanisms that strengthen confidence in product authenticity.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Cyndrika Rany Philipus, Melisa Maria Gosal, Sophia Claudia S. Tulenan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
