Factors that Influence the Utilization of Digital Transactions among the Micro-Business Enterprises in General Santos City

Abstract

This study investigated the factors that influence the utilization of digital transactions among micro-business enterprises in General Santos City. The application of e-commerce services has rapidly increased in response to the pandemic. Moving toward business recovery, different types of literature have stressed how important the shift to digital technology is for businesses to thrive in the new normal. This study sought to investigate the factors that influence users' preferences for switching from traditional cash-based transactions to electronic commerce systems. The Push-Pull-Mooring Framework was employed as the research model. A descriptive and correlational analysis was conducted using data from 65 retail and 35 wholesale micro-business enterprises in General Santos City. The results indicated that the respondents’ intention to utilize digital transactions is significantly influenced by one push factor which is the transaction inconvenience, also by pull factors which include economic benefit, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and critical mass, and by mooring factors including trust, perceived security and privacy, and switching costs. To achieve and sustain recovery, assistance, and support for relatively young and small companies might be prioritized in terms of utilizing e-commerce services as well as setting strong policies towards giving aid, especially to micro-business enterprises in developing digital infrastructures and complementing with these strategies is strengthening data privacy and security for these e-commerce services. This study concluded that the advantages that can be obtained from the utilization of e-commerce services, as well as external factors, impose significance on businesses.