factors INFLUENCING THE ADOPTION OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (SMEs)
Amiruddin Ahamat1, Muhamad Sham Shahkat Ali2* and Norfaziela Hamid3*
1Dr., Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Malaysia, amiruddin@utem.edu.my
2Assoc. Prof. Dr., Abu Dhabi University, United Arab Emirates, muhamad.sham@adu.ac.ae
3Ms., Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Malaysia
*Corresponding author
Abstract
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) industry has developed rapidly and it has become one of the major contributors to the Malaysian economy. This research is focused on the food and beverage industry at Halal SMEs which were developed to become export-ready so that they will gradually become a global player. Social media can be described as a newly emerging phenomenon in which it has evolved the business operating environment in Malaysia. Additionally, social media allows businesses to communicate speedily and cheaply with customers. It is also a medium to build a strong customer and public relationship, market development and to gain information that can be used to generate business leads that may increase sales and thus grows the Halal SMEs. This research will also focus on the factors influencing the adoption of social media in Halal SMEs. The social media adoption models were developed from the theory of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by including the perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and perceived trust. The survey method was chosen in order to prove the factors influencing the adoption of social media among Halal SMEs. The result showed that all the three variables (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and perceived trust) in this study have their relationship with the dependent variables (adoption of social media). From the regression analysis result, perceived usefulness is the highest factor that influences the adoption of social media in food and beverage industry at Halal SMEs.
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