The Shifting of Business Activities during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Does Social Media Marketing Matter?

Abstract

The implementation of physical or social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic has an implication on the shifting of conventional to online business activities. This study aims to explore how financial support, perceived benefits, external pressure determine social media marketing as well as understanding the role of internet and e-business technology (IEBT) that occurs in this relationship. This study adopted a quantitative study with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)-based variance Partial Least Square (PLS), which aims to enhance understanding of the relationship between variables. The surveyed population of this study came from 123 small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners in East Java of Indonesia, using an online survey and selected with the convenience random sampling method. The findings of this study indicated that the perceived benefits and external pressure have a positive effect on the adoption of IEBT. However, financial support failed in explaining SMEs' adoption of IEBT. This study confirmed that the adoption of IEBT has successfully mediated the influence of financial support, perceived benefits, and external pressure on social media marketing. Despite the samples solely collected from East Java, this study is the first step in research related to the social media marketing in SMEs in Indonesia.