Antecedents of social media usage and performance benefits in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

Abstract

Purpose: Despite the blossoming nature of social media marketing, the nuances and implications among small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) appear to be under-researched in literature. The purpose of this paper is to progress knowledge and offer extended understanding of the motivations and performance benefits of social media accrued by SMEs with an empirical study from an emerging economy. Design/methodology/approach: Based on past research, the study hypothesizes that interactivity, compatibility and cost effectiveness are motivations germane to social media usage, which consequently offer performance benefits. Data from 210 SMEs (having Facebook and/or Twitter accounts) are employed to investigate the proposed conceptual model using structural equation modeling with sub-group analysis. Findings: Finding from this study demonstrate that the interdependencies of social media motivations, as well as effects of social media usage are positive but erratic across product-based and service-based SMEs. Moreover, SMEs who offer physical products are more likely to employ social media based on cost-effective motives while service SMEs are more likely to consider interactivity as a key motivation. Additionally, findings from the study data suggest that in a tale of two sites, Facebook proved to edge Twitter in terms of engendering performance benefits among SME users. Originality/value: The findings provide evidence to issues of potential research and managerial interest, offering insightful implications to the academic and practitioner communities. Evidently, irrespective of some usage bottlenecks, SMEs in emerging markets appears to be reaping enhanced social media benefits by deploying their marketing campaigns via multiple platforms.