Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the dynamics of the organizational buying process of radical software innovations. Acquisition of technology innovations by early adopting organizations has been studied previously with scant attention being given to the actual buying process and the risk mitigation mechanism. This paper addresses these gaps in the literature and this paper finds evidence to support that the organizational buying process of radical software innovations is different from the general models of organizational buying.
Design/methodology/approach
Methods from the grounded theory approach were used to conduct 20 in-depth interviews with senior industry practitioners. Purposive sampling was used to identify the participants.
Findings
A theoretical model of the organizational buying process of radical software innovations emerged with themes and concepts that explain the dynamics of the buying and adoption processes. The paper challenges the fundamental tenet of organizational buying that needs recognition triggers the buying process. An interesting nuance was found that risk is mitigated within the buying action itself.
Practical implications
An understanding of the buyer behaviour process will help marketers of radical software innovations to formulate the appropriate marketing response. Sales personnel can attune their customer interactions when helping customers to acquire a radical software innovation. Firms that want to be early adopters and innovate can tune their buying process in line with the findings.
Originality/value
This paper develops a typological buying model. It unravels the dynamics of the adoption process by discussing how early adopting organizations buy radical software innovations. New concepts with rich explanatory powers are discussed.
