Adoption of Social Media by Small and Medium Enterprises: Application of TOE Framework

Abstract

The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) has such a significant impact on a company's ability to remain competitive and increase its level of productivity in this age of broad digitalization, all types of organizational settings must mandate its usage. However, the level of productivity and competitiveness achieved by such industries may vary widely depending on the size of their businesses, the stage of development of the nation in which they are located, and the technology that is put to use. This particular research focuses on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the tourism and hospitality industries. These SMEs are the backbone of a developing country like Sri Lanka, where studies similar to this are very rare. The use of social media platforms by small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) was investigated for the purpose of this research. By considering the fact that the implementation of such apps is likely to result in operational changes at businesses, it is imperative that research be conducted into the variables that encourage SMEs in tourism and hospitality industries to use social media platforms, which is uncommon in the setting of this country. A Technology Organization Environment (TOE) and Diffusion of Innovation (DIT) design were developed in order to have a better understanding of the affecting factors. The study was conducted using a quantitative technique, which included both a questionnaire survey and statistical analysis of the responses. When used as a tool for data collection, an online survey generated 371 respondents that were considered to be genuine. Evaluation of the suggested model was carried out by use of partial least square structural equation modeling.