Comparison of Consumer and Service Provider Perception of E- Invoicing

Abstract

The constant low adoption rate of e-invoicing in the B2C area has raised questions and concens from some researchers lately. The purpose of this thesis is to determine the reasons behind the low adoption rate by gaining an understanding of consumer perceptions and experiences about e-invoicing. The thesis focuses on consumers as potential adopters in Finland. This study aims to understand how much consumers know and what they think about e-invoicing. The reasearch also tries to find out how well services providers know their customers.

Available literature related to the topic is scarce. For this reason, the qualitative research method was chosen as the research methodology for this research. Face-to-face interviews were used for gathering primary data.

The results revealed that consumers on the one hand have rather limited knowledge and have uncertainties towards e-invoicing. On the other hand, consumers have positive feelings in general and possibly start to use e-invoicing later. The results also showed that service providers do not fully understand their customers. There are some common beliefs between consumers and service providers, but there are also disagreements on certain issues.