Factors influencing the adoption of social media marketing in small and medium-sized enterprises during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Business Studies at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
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Date
2021
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Massey University
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Abstract
The COVID-19 outbreak led to a global economic slowdown that affected many countries including Saudi Arabia where trade, investment, employment, and travel have all been impacted by the lockdown, especially on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The main purpose of the current study is to examine the factors that influence the adoption and use of social media marketing (SMM) in SMEs during the lockdown in Saudi Arabia. This study has used a combined developed model from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) to examine whether SMEs in Saudi Arabia accept and use SMM effectively in the case such as COVID-19 pandemic, and to test its impact on improving the business performance through attracting new customers, sales, improved communication with customers, identifying customers' needs, and utilizing employees' creativity. This model succeeded to explain the Impact On Business (IOB) to a degree of 81%, since the coefficient of determination (R²) is 0.81. This study used a quantitative method by applying the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique to validate the conceptual model. The data was collected by using an online questionnaire of 146 participants from small and medium-sized enterprises. The results highlight that perceived usefulness (PEU), low cost (LCOS), and compatibility (COM) had a significant positive impact on SMEs to adopt and use SMM. The facilitating conditions and perceived ease of use had a non-significant impact on the adoption and use of SMM by SMEs. This study also found that small enterprises have been affected by the factors more than medium-sized ones. Another finding is that enterprises that were forced to close were more significantly affected by the factors (Low Cost and Compatibility) than the non-closed ones during the first lockdown starting from March 2020. In the same context, Facilitating Conditions (FCO) was not significant as 63 % of the participated enterprises were closed during the lockdown and could not use their infrastructure.