Key Success Factors (KSFs) Underlying the Adoption of Social Media Marketing Technology

Abstract

In developing world, most decisions by Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to adopt social media marketing technology (SMMT) rely heavily on study findings from the Western World without much recourse to cross-context differences in structure and managerial capabilities. Thus, the lack of inquiries that provide complete guideline on the adoption of SMMT in developing economies hinders the development of integrated framework(s) that explains MSMEs’ successful adoption. The study used technology–organization–environment (T-O-E) framework as the theoretical basis to examine the critical factors that stimulate MSMEs adoption of SMMT in Nigeria. The adopted methodological choice was qualitative, involving interviews with 20 participants selected from the online directories via purposive and snowball sampling techniques. However, thematic analysis was the data treatment technique; and the study extended the T-O-E framework to provide an understanding into the dominant factors that specifically influence MSMEs’ adoption, without losing sight of vendors who would rely on the extended framework to get audiences continually satisfied.