Repositioning Technology Providers as Institutional Agents: A Strategic Approach to IT Adoption Pressures

Most information systems research explains technology adoption as a firm’s response to institutional pressures—coercive, mimetic, and normative (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983). However, this perspective largely treats such pressures as environmental givens. In contrast, idea of this study asks: “How do technology providers strategically construct institutional pressures to influence IT adoption?” Grounded in institutional theory and the STP (segmentation, targeting, positioning) framework, we argue that providers actively shape adoption environments by aligning product characteristics, organizational resources, and market conditions with specific institutional forces. For example, providers may amplify coercive pressure by collaborating with regulators, trigger mimetic effects by positioning early adopters, or reinforce normative legitimacy through training and certification schemes. Prior studies (e.g., Shahzad & Zhang, 2025; Jalo & Pirkkalainen, 2024) acknowledge institutional pressures but focus on how adopters respond, neglecting how providers construct these pressures as strategic tools. To examine these strategic configurations, we plan to adopt fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), which enables the identification of multiple, equifinal pathways through which providers influence institutional environments. This approach moves beyond linear assumptions and highlights how different configurations of provider strategy can activate adoption pressure. By shifting the unit of analysis from adopters to providers, this study contributes to institutional theory by emphasizing strategic agency. It also offers actionable insights for IT vendors seeking to accelerate adoption through deliberate institutional positioning.