Investigating factors influencing the intention of social media adoption by a perspective of SMEs during COVID-19 pandemic

Main Article Content

Kritcha ํYawised
Darlin Apasrawirote

บทคัดย่อ

Using 412 respondents based on a questionnaire collected data from Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) located at lower Northern of Thailand with the aimed at to figure out the catalyst of Social Media (SM) adoption by SMEs owner-managers—could hopefully predict SM adoption intention. With the great advance of SM technologies coupled with the support of digital technologies can lead to the opportunity for SM to thrive by nascent entrepreneurs. As such, it could transform the business model where family-owned businesses; particularly, the second or third owner generation leverages the empowerment of SM tools by integrating such new technologies with its own legacy system.  The goal of this study was to identify and explore the elements that influence SMEs' decisions to use SM as a marketing platform in rural areas. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT-2) with the extension of three new factors, including personal innovativeness, perceived fear, and competitive pressure, was proposed along with the original constructs in the UTAUT-2 model. The empirical findings reveal that competitive pressure, performance expectations, perceived fear, pricing value, and personal innovativeness all have a significant impact on the intention to use and adopt SM, according to the research findings. Hedonic motivation, however, has not revealed a significant impact of such an intention. This research provides theoretical and practical guidance on how SME owners, managers, and policy makers may adopt and implement a strategic plan on SM adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Article Details

บท
บทความวิจัย
Author Biography

Kritcha ํYawised, Faculty of Business, Economics, and Communications, Naresuan University

Kritcha Yawised, Ph.D. Lecturer at Department of Business Administration Faculty of Business, Economics and Communications (BEC) Naresuan University.

References

Abed, S. S. (2020). Social commerce adoption using TOE framework: An empirical investigation of Saudi Arabian SMEs. International Journal of Information Management, 53, 102118.

Agarwal, R., & Prasad, J. (1998). A conceptual and operational definition of personal innovativeness in the domain of information technology. Information Systems Research, 9(2), 204-215.

Al-Maroof, R. S., Salloum, S. A., Hassanien, A. E., & Shaalan, K. F. (2020). Fear from COVID-19 and technology adoption: the impact of Google Meet during Coronavirus pandemic. Interactive Learning Environments, 1-16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/ 10494820.2020.1830121

Alalwan, A. A. (2018). Investigating the impact of social media advertising features on customer purchase intention. International Journal of Information Management, 42, 65-77.

Alalwan, A. A., Dwivedi, Y. K., Rana, N. P., & Algharabat, R. (2018). Examining factors influencing Jordanian customers’ intentions and adoption of internet banking: Extending UTAUT2 with risk. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 40, 125-138.

Bagozzi, R. P., Yi, Y., & Phillips, L. W. (1991). Assessing construct validity in organizational research. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36(3), 421-458.

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W H Freeman/Times Books/ Henry Holt & Co. https://www.academia.edu/28274869/Albert_Bandura_Self_Efficacy_ The_Exercise_of_Control_W_H_Freeman_and_Co_1997_pdf.

Bank of Thailand. (2020). Soft loan policy for Entrepreneurs and SMEs. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://www.bot.or.th/covid19/content/sme/Pages/fin-rehab.aspx

Bellalouna, F. (2021). The augmented reality technology as enabler for the digitization of industrial business processes: case studies. Procedia CIRP, 98, 400-405.

Bhatia, R. (2021). Telehealth and COVID-19: Using technology to accelerate the curve on access and quality healthcare for citizens in India. Technology in Society, 64, 101465.

Bhatnagar, A., & Syam, S. S. (2014). Allocating a hybrid retailer's assortment across retail stores: Bricks-and-mortar vs online. Journal of Business Research, 67(6), 1293-1302.

Cabrera-Sánchez, J.-P., Villarejo-Ramos, Á. F., Liébana-Cabanillas, F., & Shaikh, A. A. (2021). Identifying relevant segments of AI applications adopters – Expanding the UTAUT2’s variables. Telematics and Informatics, 58, 101529.

CGD. (2021). Economical Report of Phitsanulok province. PLK CDG Evaluation Phitsanulok Economics in 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2021, from http://online.anyflip.com/kevcd/ fazy/mobile/index.html

Charmaraman, L., Lynch, A. D., Richer, A. M., & Grossman, J. M. (2022). Associations of early social media initiation on digital behaviors and the moderating role of limiting use. Computers in Human Behavior, 127, 107053.

Chatterjee, S., & Kumar Kar, A. (2020). Why do small and medium enterprises use social media marketing and what is the impact: Empirical insights from India. International Journal of Information Management, 53, 102103.

Chopdar, P. K., Korfiatis, N., Sivakumar, V. J., & Lytras, M. D. (2018). Mobile shopping apps adoption and perceived risks: A cross-country perspective utilizing the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. Computers in Human Behavior, 86, 109-128.

Cranmer, E. E., tom Dieck, M. C., & Fountoulaki, P. (2020). Exploring the value of augmented reality for tourism. Tourism Management Perspectives, 35, 100672.

Cronbach, L. J., & Shavelson, R. J. (2004). My current thoughts on coefficient alpha and successor procedures. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 64(3), 391-418.

Delacroix, E., Parguel, B., & Benoit-Moreau, F. (2019). Digital subsistence entrepreneurs on Facebook. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 146, 887-899.

Delbosc, A., & McCarthy, L. (2021). Pushed back, pulled forward: exploring the impact of COVID-19 on young adults’ life plans and future mobility. Transport Policy, 107, 43-51.

Dupuis, M., Khadeer, S., & Huang, J. (2017). I Got the Job!’: an exploratory study examining the psychological factors related to status updates on Facebook. Computers in Human Behavior, 73, 132-140.

Dutot, V., & Bergeron, F. (2016). From strategic orientation to social media orientation: Improving SMEs’ performance on social media. Journal of small business and enterprise development, 23(4), 1165-1190.

Faqih, K. M. S., & Jaradat, M.-I. R. M. (2021). Integrating TTF and UTAUT2 theories to investigate the adoption of augmented reality technology in education: Perspective from a developing country. Technology in Society, 67, 101787.

Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief, attitude, intention, and behavior: An introduction to theory and research. Reading: Addison-Wesley.

Fong, L. H. N., Lam, L. W., & Law, R. (2017). How locus of control shapes intention to reuse mobile apps for making hotel reservations: Evidence from chinese consumers. Tourism Management, 61, 331-342.

Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39-50.

García-Milon, A., Olarte-Pascual, C., & Juaneda-Ayensa, E. (2021). Assessing the moderating effect of COVID-19 on intention to use smartphones on the tourist shopping journey. Tourism Management, 87, 104361.

Gavino, M. C., Williams, D. E., Jacobson, D., & Smith, I. (2019). Latino entrepreneurs and social media adoption: personal and business social network platforms. Management Research Review, 42(4), 469-494.

Gefen, D., & Straub, D. W. (2005). A practical guide to factorial validity using PLS-graph: tutorial and annotated example. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 16(1), 91-109.

Gursoy, D., Chi, O. H., Lu, L., & Nunkoo, R. (2019). Consumers acceptance of artificially intelligent (AI) device use in service delivery. International Journal of Information Management, 49, 157-169.

Hair, J., Black, W., Babin, B., Anderson, R., & Tatham, R. (2006). Multivariate Data Analysis. (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Hair, J. F., Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C. M., & Mena, J. A. (2012). An assessment of the use of partial least squares structural equation modeling in marketing research. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 40(3), 414-433.

Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M. & Sarstedt, M. (2015), A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(1), 115-135.

Herrero, Á., San Martín, H., & Garcia-De los Salmones, M. d. M. (2017). Explaining the adoption of social networks sites for sharing user-generated content: A revision of the UTAUT2. Computers in Human Behavior, 71, 209-217.

Hu, L.-t., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1), 1-55.

Hung, S.-W., Chang, C.-W., & Ma, Y.-C. (2021). A new reality: Exploring continuance intention to use mobile augmented reality for entertainment purposes. Technology in Society, 67, 101757.

Hynes, W., Trump, B., Love, P., & Linkov, I. (2020). Bouncing forward: a resilience approach to dealing with COVID-19 and future systemic shocks. Environment systems & decisions, 40(2020), 174-184, DOI: 10.1007/s10669-020-09776-x.

Jadil, Y., Rana, N. P., & Dwivedi, Y. K. (2021). A meta-analysis of the UTAUT model in the mobile banking literature: The moderating role of sample size and culture. Journal of Business Research, 132, 354-372.

Kaplan, A., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! thechallenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons., 53(1), 59-68.

Kim, J. J., Kim, I., & Hwang, J. (2021). A change of perceived innovativeness for contactless food delivery services using drones after the outbreak of COVID-19. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 93, 102758.

Kim, M. J., & Hall, C. M. (2019). A hedonic motivation model in virtual reality tourism: Comparing visitors and non-visitors. International Journal of Information Management, 46, 236-249.

Kim, S., Connerton, T. P., & Park, C. (2022). Transforming the automotive retail: Drivers for customers' omnichannel BOPS (Buy Online & Pick up in Store) behavior. Journal of Business Research, 139, 411-425.

Kwon, W.-S., Woo, H., Sadachar, A., & Huang, X. (2021). External pressure or internal culture? An innovation diffusion theory account of small retail businesses’ social media use. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 62, 102616.

Lee, Y., Lee, S., & Kim, D.-Y. (2021). Exploring hotel guests' perceptions of using robot assistants. Tourism Management Perspectives, 37, 100781.

Magni, D., Scuotto, V., Pezzi, A., & Giudice, M. D. (2021). Employees’ acceptance of wearable devices: Towards a predictive model. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 172(2), 121022.

Mandić, A., & Kennell, J. (2021). Smart governance for heritage tourism destinations: Contextual factors and destination management organization perspectives. Tourism Management Perspectives, 39, 100862.

Mulier, L., Slabbinck, H., & Vermeir, I. (2021). This way up: the effectiveness of mobile vertical video marketing. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 55, 1-15.

Nugroho, M. A., Susilo, A. Z., Fajar, M. A., & Rahmawati, D. (2017). Exploratory study of SMEs technology adoption readiness factors. Procedia Computer Science, 124, 329-336.

Nunnally, J. C. (1978). Psychometric theory. (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Ogunjimi, A., Rahman, M., Islam, N., & Hasan, R. (2021). Smart mirror fashion technology for the retail chain transformation. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 173, 121118.

OSMP. (2021). Phitsanulok Master Plan: B.E. 2563 – 2582 (2020 - 2039). Retrieved September 25, 2021, from https://www.opsmoac.go.th/phitsanulok-strategic-files-421191791803.

Öztamur, D., & Karakadılar, İ. S. (2014). Exploring the role of social media for SMEs: as a new marketing strategy tool for the firm performance perspective. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 150, 511-520.

Patil, P., Tamilmani, K., Rana, N. P., & Raghavan, V. (2020). Understanding consumer adoption of mobile payment in India: Extending Meta-UTAUT model with personal innovativeness, anxiety, trust, and grievance redressal. International Journal of Information Management, 54, 102144.

Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. M., Lee, J., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method variance in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879-903.

Podsakoff, P. M., & Organ, D. W. (1986). Self reports in organizational research: Problems and prospects. Journal of Management, 12(4), 531-544.

Qalati, S. A., Yuan, L. W., Khan, M. A. S., & Anwar, F. (2021). A mediated model on the adoption of social media and SMEs’ performance in developing countries. Technology in Society, 64, 101513.

Qasem, Z. (2021). The effect of positive TRI traits on centennials adoption of try-on technology in the context of E-fashion retailing. International Journal of Information Management, 56, 102254.

Ramon, P.-S. (2019). User acceptance of mobile apps for restaurants: an expanded and extended UTAUT-2. Sustainability, 11(4), 1-24.

Rauschnabel, P. A., Felix, R., & Hinsch, C. (2019). Augmented reality marketing: How mobile AR-apps can improve brands through inspiration. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 49, 43-53.

Kim, Connerton, T. P., & Park, C. (2022). Transforming the automotive retail: Drivers for customers' omnichannel BOPS (Buy Online & Pick up in Store) behavior. Journal of Business Research, 139, 411-425.

Saad, M. H., Hagelaar, G., van der Velde, G., & Omta, S. W. F. (2021). Conceptualization of SMEs’ business resilience: A systematic literature review. Cogent Business & Management, 8(1), 1-33.

Sánchez, M. R., Palos-Sánchez, P. R., & Velicia-Martin, F. (2021). Eco-friendly performance as a determining factor of the Adoption of Virtual Reality Applications in National Parks. Science of The Total Environment, 798, 148990.

Shahzad, M. F., Khan, K. I., Saleem, S., & Rashid, T. (2021). What factors affect the entrepreneurial Intention to start-ups? The role of entrepreneurial Skills, propensity to take Risks, and innovativeness in open business models. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 7(3), 173, 1-23.

Sharma, A., Sharma, S., & Chaudhary, M. (2020). Are small travel agencies ready for digital marketing? Views of travel agency managers. Tourism Management, 79, 104078.

Shaw, N., & Sergueeva, K. (2019). The non-monetary benefits of mobile commerce: Extending UTAUT2 with perceived value. International Journal of Information Management, 45, 44-55.

Sigley, I. (2020). It has touched us all: Commentary on the social implications of touch during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 2(1), 100051.

Thorgren, S., Sirén, C., Nordström, C., & Wincent, J. (2016). Hybrid entrepreneurs' second-step choice: The nonlinear relationship between age and intention to enter full-time entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 5, 14-18.

Tussyadiah, I. P., Wang, D., Jung, T. H., & tom Dieck, M. C. (2018). Virtual reality, presence, and attitude change: Empirical evidence from tourism. Tourism Management, 66, 140-154.

Urbach, N., & Ahlemann, F. (2010). Structural equation modeling in information systems research using partial least squares. The Journal of Information Technology Theory and Application, 11(2), 5-40.

Venkatesh, V., Thong, J. Y. L., & Xu, X. (2012). Consumer acceptance and use of infor-mation technology: extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. MIS Quarterly, 36(1), 157-178.

Wielgos, D. M., Homburg, C., & Kuehnl, C. (2021). Digital business capability: its impact on firm and customer performance. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 49(4), 762-789.

Wnuk, A., Oleksy, T., & Maison, D. (2020). The acceptance of Covid-19 tracking technologies: The role of perceived threat, lack of control, and ideological beliefs. PLOS ONE, 15(9), 1-16.

Yawised, K., & Apasarawirote, D. (2021). Social media overcoming impediments for successful strategy formulation by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The 8th Business Economics and Communications International Conferences, (pp.126-135). Faculty of Business, Economics and Communications, Naresuan University.

Yawised, K., Torugsa, N., & O'Donoghue, W. (2017). Exploring social customer relationship management in Australian small and medium enterprises. International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business, 9(4), 222-251.

Zanetta, L. D. A., Hakim, M. P., Gastaldi, G. B., Seabra, L. M. A. J., Rolim, P. M., Nascimento, L. G. P., et al. (2021). The use of food delivery apps during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil: The role of solidarity, perceived risk, and regional aspects. Food Research International, 149, 110671.

Zhou, M., Huang, J., Wu, K., Huang, X., Kong, N., & Campy, K. S. (2021). Characterizing Chinese consumers’ intention to use live e-commerce shopping. Technology in Society, 67, 101767.