A Model for E-Commerce Adoption by SMEs in Developing Countries

Abstract

AbstractSMEs; Small and Medium-sized Enterprises are the backbone of the development of the economy of any country. They had recently experienced rapid growth and improved their business activities in terms of customer numbers and revenue expansion when they began using e-commerce. Nevertheless, SMEs e-commerce adopting in developing countries is inefficient because of many factors as the lack of a clear model for adopting it. Consequently, some of the most widely used e-commerce adoption models in developing countries were emphasized, that were Theory Planned Behavior (TPB), Theory Reasoned Action (TRA), Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), Technology Organisation Environment (TOE), Integration of TOE and TAM, Perceived eReadiness Model (PERM). The exploratory research was used in this study. This paper is set as follows. The second section reviews the relevant literature and the models/theories used in the adoption of e-commerce in developing countries, with an indication of the strengths and weaknesses of each model/theory. Section 2 discusses researchers’ views on the weaknesses of the models/theories used and an explanation of ways to overcome them by proposing a model. Finally, Sect. 3 concludes the paper and recommendations for future research.KeywordsE-commerce adoptionTheories/modelsSMEsDeveloping countries