Factors affecting social media adoption in small and medium enterprises: evidence from the UAE

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the various determinants of social media adoption among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The study addresses the current dearth of literature on social media adoption within UAE-based SMEs. The data were collected through survey questionnaires from 107 SMEs listed at Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, a UAE-based entrepreneurial development entity, and correlation analysis was used to test the study hypotheses. The findings revealed that social media adoption within UAE-based SMEs is significantly associated with perceived relative advantage, perceived compatibility, manager's/owner's knowledge and expertise, management characteristics and pressure from customers and competitors. This study enhances understanding about the factors associated with social media adoption within SMEs, and particularly in the UAE. The study findings will help entrepreneurs to promote their businesses via social media, and provide insights that may be useful to policy-makers in designing social media adoption initiatives around technical training for SME owners/managers.