In this paper we highlight how the use of internet has changed from 2004 to 2009 among
Hungarian companies, how their expectations about the role of e-commerce as a competitive
advantage has evolved and whether perceived benefits of e-commerce show a shift from 2004
to 2009.We investigate the role of environmental factors and market orientation as two
relevant types of critical success factors proposed by the management literature and measure
their impacts on Internet usage, expectations about e-commerce and perceived benefits of ecommerce.
Our findings suggest that market orientation has a positive effect on Internet usage and perceived benefits of e-commerce. Internet usage and expectations are dependent on the vulnerability of the company to its macroeconomic environment. The positive outcomes of joining the EU seem to influence whether a company is able to exploit e-commerce benefits