Benha University

Faculty of Commerce
Business Administration Department

THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IN EGYPT
_______________________

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for
the Degree of Master of Management

by
Mennatallah Mostafa Hasan Morsy
Teaching Assistant at Business Administration Department
Faculty of Commerce – Benha University

Prof. Dr. Fareed El-Naggar Prof. Dr. Osama Abd-Elmoniem

Professor of Business Administration Professor of Business Administration

Head of Business Administration Dep. Former Vice Dean
Faculty of Commerce – Benha University Faculty of Commerce – Benha University

2017
 ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research is to study Social Media adoption by SMEs from business
perspective. This research is targeting three main objectives. The first objective is to determine the
current features and status of Social Media tools adoption in the Egyptian small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) in accordance with business purposes. The second objective is to gain a deeper
understanding on the characteristics that drive or inhibit Social Media tools adoption and usage by
the Egyptian small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The third objective is about measuring the
effect of current adoption and the future intentions degree based on the decision toward the usage
of Social Media tools on Egyptian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) business development
efforts. Ten hypotheses were suggested to investigate which characteristics drive or inhibit Social
Media tools adoption based on Innovation Diffusion Theory and to measure the impact of Social
Media adoption on business development on the level of SMEs. The research adopted quantitative
methodology and was conducted by arranging paper-based questionnaire collected from 150 social
media actual and future adopters in Egyptian SMEs. The deductive logic was used to verify the
proposed ten hypotheses. The data were analyzed using multiple regression (Stepwise method) by
SPSS software.

The findings included firstly a general profile for Egyptian SMEs adopting the idea of
Social Media use in Benha City. Secondly, the hypotheses testing proved that firstly, social media
tools adoption on SMEs level is mainly supported by the innovation characteristics of business use
of Social Media by SMEs owners in both maturity and intention levels. Secondly, Social Media
adoption on both levels of maturity and intention has a great effect over business development
efforts. To sum it all, the conducted study added knowledge to the indicated information gap in
academic literature regarding the social media usage for business development from the SMEs
perspective. It identified the main characteristics that shape Social Media adoption on both levels
of Social Media Maturity and Social Media Intention and to what extend these levels affects
business development efforts.

Keywords – Social media, Web 2.0, SMEs, Business Development, Social Media
Maturity, Social Media Intention.
iii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank all the people who contributed in some way to the work described in
this thesis. First and foremost, i would like to express my special appreciation and thanks to my
supervisor, Professor Dr. Fareed El-Naggar, you have been a tremendous mentor for me. I would
like to thank you for encouraging my research and for allowing me to grow as a researcher by your
continuous support and patience. Your advice on both research as well as on my career have been
invaluable.

My special and heartily thanks go also to my supervisor, Professor Dr. Osama Abd-
Almoniem who encouraged and directed me. I am very grateful for his patience, motivation,
enthusiasm, and immense knowledge. It is with their supervision that this work came into existence
since they used to take time out of their busy schedule to provide valuable feedback and direction
on my work. For any faults, I take full responsibility.

I would also like to thank my committee members, Professor Dr. Yehya Mostafa Kamal
and Professor Dr. Mohsen Atef, for accepting to be members of the thesis committee even at
hardship. I also want to thank you for interesting in my work, letting my defense be an enjoyable
moment, and for your brilliant comments and academic suggestions, thanks to you.

I would like to extend my sincerest thanks and appreciation to my parents for their
emotional support no matter what path I choose. I am indebted to all my friends and family who
believed in me and encouraged me to follow my dreams.

iv
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract ................................................................................................................... iii

Acknowledgement ...................................................................................................iv
LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................ix
LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................. x
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................xi
CHAPTER ONE Introduction................................................................................ 1
1.1 Background ..........................................................................................1
1.2 Research Gap .......................................................................................1
1.3 Research Problem................................................................................2
1.4 Research Hypothesis ...........................................................................3
1.5 Research Objectives ............................................................................5
1.6 Research Importance ..........................................................................5
1.7 Research Methodology ........................................................................6
1.7.1 The research population.................................................................................... 7
1.7.2 The research sample ......................................................................................... 8
1.7.3 Data sources ...................................................................................................... 8
1.8 Research Limitations ..........................................................................8
1.9 Chapter Summary .................................................................................10
CHAPTER TWO Social Media in Business ........................................................ 11
2.1 Social Media definition .....................................................................11
2.1.1 Social Media from behavioral perspective ..................................................... 11
2.1.2 Social Media from media perspective ............................................................ 12
2.1.3 Social Media from conceptual perspective ..................................................... 12
2.1.4 Social Media from communication perspective ............................................. 14
2.1.5 Why should organizations understand the concept of Social Media .............. 15
2.2 Social Media Evolution .........................................................................16
v
 2.2.1 The historical evolution of Web 2.0 concept .................................................. 16
2.2.2 Web 2.0 definition .......................................................................................... 17
2.2.3 Differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 ................................................... 18
2.2.4 Web 2.0 applications in Business ................................................................... 19
2.3 Social Media Tools in Business .............................................................22
2.4 Social Commerce ...................................................................................30
2.4.1 Social Commerce definition ........................................................................... 31
2.4.2 Social Commerce nature ................................................................................. 32
2.4.3 Difference between e-commerce and social commerce ................................. 34
2.4.4 E-commerce status in Egypt ........................................................................... 35
2.4.5 Social commerce dimensions ......................................................................... 37
2.5 Advantages and disadvantages of Social Media involvement in
business....................................................................................................................41
2.5.1 Advantages of Social Media in Business ....................................................... 41
2.5.2 Disadvantages of Social Media in Business ................................................... 43
2.6 Chapter Summary .................................................................................45
CHAPTER THREE Business Development and SMEs ..................................... 46
3.1 Business Development ...........................................................................46
3.1.1 Defining the concept of Business Development ............................................. 47
3.1.2 Business Development Objectives ................................................................. 49
3.1.3 Business Development activities .................................................................... 51
3.1.4 New opportunities as a primary incentive for Business Development activities
....................................................................................................................................................... 53
3.2 Social Media tools adoption by SMEs .................................................56
3.2.1 Social Media tools adoption by SMEs through (IDT) .................................... 57
3.2.2 Social Media tools adoption by SMEs through (UTAUT) ............................. 61
3.2.3 Social Media tools adoption by SMEs through (ANT) .................................. 64
Social Media adoption by SMEs (Marketing perspective) ...................................... 65
3.2.4 Social Media tools adoption by SMEs through (AIDA) ................................ 65
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 3.2.5 Social Media tools adoption by SMEs through (TAM) ................................. 68
3.3 Suggested Research Model ...................................................................70
3.3.1 Organizational Characteristics: Firm Innovativeness and Firm Size. ............ 70
3.3.2 Manager Characteristics: Age, Gender and Education. .................................. 71
3.3.3 Environmental Characteristic: Firm Geographic Location. ........................... 72
3.3.4 Innovation Characteristics: Relative Advantage, Compatibility, Complexity,
Triability and Observability. ......................................................................................................... 72
Social Media Maturity and Social Media Intention: ............................................... 74
3.3.9 media maturity ................................................................................................ 74
3.3.10 Social media intention .................................................................................. 75
3.4 Chapter Summary .................................................................................76
CHAPTER FOUR Research methodology .......................................................... 77
4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................77
4.2 Research Methodology ..........................................................................77
4.2.1 Research Philosophy....................................................................................... 78
4.2.2 Research Paradigm ......................................................................................... 78
4.2.3 Deductive Research ........................................................................................ 79
4.3 Research Design .....................................................................................80
4.3.1 Quantitative Research ..................................................................................... 80
4.3.2 Quantitative Research Method ....................................................................... 80
4.3.3 Quantitative Research Method Selection ....................................................... 81
4.4 Sample Design and Sampling Procedures ...........................................82
4.4.1 Population of the study ................................................................................... 82
4.4.2 Sample Frame ................................................................................................. 83
4.4.3 Sample Size .................................................................................................... 85
4.5 Data collection ........................................................................................86
4.5.1 Primary Data ................................................................................................... 87
4.5.2 Secondary data ................................................................................................ 87
4.6 Data Analysis ..........................................................................................88
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 4.7 Questionnaire construction...................................................................88
4.7.1 Questionnaire Development Process: ............................................................. 89
4.7.2 Questionnaire Content .................................................................................... 90
4.8 Variables of the study ............................................................................93
4.9 Chapter Summary .................................................................................95
CHAPTER FIVE Results and Recommendations .............................................. 96
5.1 Research Results ....................................................................................96
5.1.1 Descriptive analysis ........................................................................................ 96
5.2 Hypothesis Analysis ........................................................................................ 118
5.3 Research Conclusions ..........................................................................157
5.4 Research Recommendations ...............................................................166
5.5 Areas for Further Research ................................................................167
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................... 168
APPENDIX A ....................................................................................................... 178
A.1 Social Media campaigns by large scale organizations in Egypt: .................... 178
Appendix B ........................................................................................................... 184
B.1 Cover Letter: ................................................................................................... 184
B.2 English Questionnaire: .................................................................................... 186
B.3 Acceptance letter to conduct the empirical study : ......................................... 193
B.4 Arabic cover letter: ......................................................................................... 194
B.5 Arabic Questionnaire: ..................................................................................... 195
Appendix C ........................................................................................................... 202
C.1 Arabic Abstract ............................................................................................... 202

viii
 LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Main differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 ...........................................................18
Table 2. The integration of Web 2.0 in business according to organization stockholders ...........21
Table 3. Different foundations for Social Media classifications: .................................................23
Table 4. Social commerce dimensions.........................................................................................37
Table 5. Social Media as a marketing tool in a small business through the AIDA model ...........67
Table 6. Variables of the study .....................................................................................................93
Table 7. Study participants flow-sheet..........................................................................................96
Table 8. Firm size of SMEs in SMM and SMI groups. ..............................................................106
Table 9. Firm size of SMEs (SMM and SMI groups) categorized according to mode of work of
its employees ................................................................................................................................107
Table 10. Distribution of SMEs according to answer of Q16-1 .................................................108
Table 11. Distribution of SME actual and future adopters according to answer of Q16-2 ........109
Table 12. Distribution of SME actual and future adopters according to answer of Q16-3 ........110
Table 13. Distribution of owners of SME in both SMM and SMI groups according to degree of
awareness and/or engagement with SM sites as indicators of Firm Innovativeness: ..................111
Table 14. SME actual and future adopters categorized according to the presence of other
geographical location ...................................................................................................................112
Table 15. Owners' age of SMEs in SMM and SMI groups ........................................................113
Table 16. Distribution of SME owners according to gender .....................................................114
Table 17. Distribution of SMEs according to highest education qualification of the owners ....115
Table 18. Mean (±SD) of owners' scoring for items of Q-18 .....................................................117

ix
 LIST OF FIGURES
Fig. 1. The integration of Web 2.0 in business ..............................................................................20
Fig. 2. Social Commerce ...............................................................................................................32
Fig. 3. Business development objective ........................................................................................50
Fig. 4. Suggested research model ..................................................................................................70
Fig. 5. Do you use Social Media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube? ........................97
Fig. 6. Do you planning to establish a small business on Social Media sites or actually your
business usually uses Social Media sites for performing its activities?.........................................98
Fig. 7. If your answer is (No), then what are the reasons behind not incorporating Social Media
sites in SME's management?..........................................................................................................99
Fig. 8. If your answer is (Yes), then in which Social Media sites is your company represented?
......................................................................................................................................................100
Fig. 9. What activities are more benefited by the representation participation of your company in
Social Media sites? ......................................................................................................................102
Fig. 10. What is the service or the product that your company present? .....................................103
Fig. 11. What are types of e-crime carried out on social media that have targeted your company?
......................................................................................................................................................103
Fig. 12. Do you consider Social Media sites as a tool for spying between companies? .............104
Fig. 13. Do Social Media sites offer opportunities for importing more than exporting? ............104
Fig. 14. Will you suggest Social Media sites usage to your colleagues and friends for more
managerial data? ..........................................................................................................................105
Fig. 15. SMEs employees' distribution between SMM and SMI groups. ...................................107
Fig. 16. Distribution of surveyed SMEs employees according to mode of work between SMM
and SMI groups. ...........................................................................................................................108
Fig. 17. Distribution of SMEs according to which SMEs are usually among the first to try out
new technology. ...........................................................................................................................109
Fig. 18. Distribution of SMEs according to which SMEs like to experiment with new
technology. ...................................................................................................................................110
Fig. 19. Distribution of SMEs according to which SMEs try to stay current with technological
trends. ...........................................................................................................................................111
Fig. 20. Distribution of SMEs according to degree of engagement with Social Media sites as
indicator of firm innovativeness. .................................................................................................112
Fig. 21. Distribution of surveyed SMEs according to geographical presence in other locations.
......................................................................................................................................................113
Fig. 22. Distribution of surveyed SMEs according to owners age groups. .................................114
Fig. 23. Distribution of surveyed SMEs according to owners' gender. .......................................115
Fig. 24. Distribution of surveyed SMEs according to owners' educational level. .......................116

x
 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

SM Social Media.
BD Business Development.
IDT Innovation Diffusion Theory.
UTAUT Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology.
ANT Actor Network Theory.
AIDA Attention, Interest, Desire, Action model.
TAM Technology Acceptance Model.
SMM Social Media Maturity.
SMI Social Media Intention.
CRM Customer Relation Management.
ROC Receiver Operating Characteristic.
ANOVA Analysis of Variance.

xi
 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background

The issue of social media usage in business inside Egypt is one of the remarkable trend that
has been noted by business experts for few years. Recently it has been done different contributions
by individuals who study the appearance of social media in the Egyptian atmosphere and discuss
how significant it is. But unfortunately, they focused mostly on the role of social media tools in
the Egyptian political reform, ignoring the other revolutionary uses of social media in every day
routine inside Egypt in different sectors. Statistics and indicators confirmed that it has been
generally accepted that social media is a significant tool for many companies’ business
development (on both levels SMEs and large scale organization) so the study of this phenomena
is an urgent need.

1.2 Research Gap

The use of social media by SMEs is an important but under-researched area and
accordingly this constitutes a research Gap. With the development and availability of Web 2.0
tools the capacity of SMEs to grow significantly has become a very real possibility. Social Media
tools, incorporating Web 2.0 technologies has been credited with the ability to increase social
contacts, hasten business operations, the betterment of customer relations, facilitation of
innovation and favorable pricing, and advantageous recruitment of highly competent staff
(Juusola, 2010). Accordingly, the research gap has been identified in two perspectives.

The first perspective is discussing the empirical gap where Social Media tools
incorporation in business activities (Advertising, recruitment, … etc.) has been practiced in Egypt
for the past decade only on the level of large scale organizations such as Social Media campaigns

1
by Chiclets, Cookdoor, Chipsy and CocaCola Egypt*1. Although, Social Media was started for
connecting people and businesses with their customers, all over the world, things took up pace and
even Egyptian SMEs could not hide from its effect. Additionally, despite the importance of Social
Media tools, it has not been witnessed a definitive laid out practices and policies that relate to the
use of social media by organizations on both levels in Egypt. Consequently, this is against the
background that the study hoped to understand which is the impact of social media on business
development of SMEs in Egypt.

From an academic perspective, in general there is very little research that has been done
on the impact and use of social media tools in the context of small and medium enterprises. Scarcity
in academic literature is reflected in many levels. From a general perspective, it has been indicated
by Meske and Stieglitz (2013, 62) that there is a growing body of academic literature on social
media use in corporate context. However, most of the studies focus on larger enterprises and there
is little research on social media in the context of SMEs explicitly. Additionally, the available
literature contributions regarding Social Media tools adoption by SMEs are also limited on the
international level and it has not been witnessed an Egyptian study concerning this research point.

Considering the previously discussed lacks and gaps on the empirical and academic levels,
it has been found that research done previously is much specific to a particular industry sector or
to the Social Media impact on business as a phenomenon but discussing the phenomena as well as
its relation to the overall situation of SMEs all over the world without mentioning the situation
precisely in Egypt as discussed before. Furthermore, it has been indicated that most of the literature
focused on qualitative study, with central focus on large scale organizations. There is a lack of
quantitative (empirical) studies regarding SME’s perspective about Social Media and its
incorporation into different business performance generally and on the Egyptian context.
1.3 Research Problem

Since the Internet provides leverage for SMEs because it has created mechanisms for
attaining sustainable competitive advantage. The report "Egypt at a crossroads" which produced

1 Social Media campaigns by large scale organization in Egypt are identified (Appendix A)
2
by the Boston Consulting Group in 2012, authors assured that "the internet can level the playing
field between SMEs, on the other, and larger companies on the other. It provides SMEs with cost-
effective advertising and distribution channels, which enable even the smallest companies or
entrepreneurs to expand geographically, more effectively market products to niche clients, and
increase collaboration with customers." Since, Social media is one of these new mechanisms and
there is need for research to understand the impact that it has on the business development of SMEs
in Egypt.

The power of Social Media tools cannot be ignored and yet in reference to the background
and research gaps, there is no clarity on the factors that shape the current adoption or future
adoption intention of Social Media tools in Egypt especially among SMEs, and whether or not it
is achieving its full potential while taking stakeholders’ interests into account, there is an urgent
need to answer the following question:

What impact have Social Media tools adoption done in the context of
Small and Medium Enterprises' business development efforts?

1- What is the current situation of Social Media tools adoption in the context of small and
medium enterprises in Egypt for business purposes?

2- What are the characteristics that drive or inhibit Social Media tools adoption and usage
by the Egyptian small and medium enterprises?

3- To what extend Social Media tools adoption (whether actual maturity or future adoption
intention) have affected business development efforts executed by SMEs in Egypt?

1.4 Research Hypothesis

The first group of hypothesis are experimenting the factors that drive Social Media tools
actual adoption in Egyptian SMEs as following:

3
 H1: Organizational characteristics of SMEs in Benha City - Egypt have an impact on Social
Media Maturity (SMM) for business development purposes.

H2: Manager characteristics of SMEs in Bneha City - Egypt have an impact on Social
Media Maturity (SMM) for business development purposes.

H3: Environmental characteristics of SMEs in Benha City - Egypt have an impact on

Social Media Maturity (SMM) for business development purposes.

H4: Innovation characteristics of SMEs in Benha City - Egypt have an impact on Social
Media Maturity (SMM) for business development purposes.

The Second group of hypothesis are experimenting the factors that drive Social Media
tools intention (future adoption) in Egyptian SMEs as following:

H5: Organizational characteristics of SMEs in Benha City - Egypt have an impact on Social
Media Intention (SMI) for business development purposes.

H6: Manager characteristics of SMEs in Benha City - Egypt have an impact on Social
Media Intention (SMI) for business development purposes.

H7: Environmental characteristics of SMEs in Benha City - Egypt have an impact on

Social Media Intention (SMI) for business development purposes.

H8: Innovation characteristics of SMEs in Benha City - Egypt have an impact on Social
Media Intention (SMI) for business development purposes.

The Third group of hypothesis are measuring the impact of Social Media Maturity
(SMM) and Social Media intention on business development efforts of SMEs as following:

H9: The degree of Social Media Maturity (SMM) by SMEs in Benha City - Egypt have an
impact on business development efforts by SMEs.

H10: The degree of Social Media Intention (SMI) by SMEs in Benha City - Egypt have an
impact on business development efforts by SMEs.
4
 1.5 Research Objectives

By considering the aforementioned reasoning and determining little awareness of the

current status of Social Media adoption and usage growth in Egypt, more specifically in addition
to the emerging necessity to academically document the role that Social Media tools play in
Egyptian SMEs, this research was motivated to seek further insight into this area at general.

Precisely, the aim of this research was formed to be: investigating Social Media tools
adoption by small and medium enterprises in Egypt (Benha City specifically) for business
development purposes in order to increase the knowledge concerning the factors that would raise
the usage and adoption level of Social Media tools in the context of the Egyptian small and medium
enterprises.

To achieve the previously defined research aim, three objectives were formed as follows:

1- Determining the current features and status of Social Media tools adoption in the Egyptian
small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in accordance with business purposes.
2- Gaining a deeper understanding on the characteristics that drive or inhibit Social Media
tools adoption and usage by the Egyptian small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
3- Measuring the effect of current adoption and the future intentions based on the decision
toward the usage of Social Media tools by Egyptian small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
on business development efforts by these SMEs.

1.6 Research Importance

Given the importance of small and medium enterprises in creating more job opportunities
and boosting the economy, studying the factors shaping their adoption of Social Media tools in
business will be of great importance. As indicated before, the core of the study will not focus on
the qualitative indications as studies earlier in literature, but rather on the most important factors
that researchers argued about organizational, manager and environmental characteristics and
innovation characteristics which are the most important characteristics that constitutes Social
Media adoption in SMEs. Also, the importance of Social Media tools has been appeared lately
since they become a cornerstone in different business activities. Since then it has become important
5
for business owners and marketers to understand how social media work as a communication and
marketing tool and how they can significantly grow their businesses.

• Academic Contribution:
1- This research will offer significant and valuable contributions to academia in terms of
SMEs and Social Media tools adoption in Egypt. It offers a rigorous review of literature
pertinent to SMEs from a standpoint of Social Media tools adoption. Totally, the thesis can
be considered as a central point from such research drawn from a wide-range of disciplines
over the last decade.
2- The research also contributes to knowledge by testing a model to identify those factors that
influence SMEs adoption of Social Media tools and explaining the situation of adoption in
Egypt particularly.
3- This research also empirically and statistically will offer a group of facts about the actual
state of Social Media adoption in Benha City which can be used as indicators for the actual
use of these tool.
• Practical Contribution:
1- From a country perspective, this is exploratory research which its purpose is to explore the
evolution that Social Media tools adoption have made on the Egyptian SMEs environment.
The research tracked the changes that have been cause using Social Media tools by
describing the actual status of Social Media experienced utilization in SMEs whether
Social Media tools represent for a better business performance in Egypt.
2- This study will guide managers to give more attention to effective adoption and usage of
Social Media tools in SMEs in Egypt. The study will also help managers of small and
medium enterprises to evaluate and measure their actual adoption of different Social Media
tools and encourage them to use these tools as one of the major tools used in their business
activities.

1.7 Research Methodology

There are several different means to conduct a research and the very first step is to decide
which research approach to use. A deductive approach has been chosen for this study. Deductive
approach is defined as “research approach involving the testing of a theoretical proposition by the
6
employment of a research Strategy specifically designed for the purpose of its testing.” Saunders
et al. (2009, 593)

The deductive approach attempts to figure the theory first and then moving from the theory,
the collected data is tested. Moreover, the deductive approach is valid for quantitative data and
since this study consists quantitative data, it is appropriate for this study.

Considering a deductive method of doing research is followed by a number of specific

relevant theories have been selected based on their scope, applicability and practical implications.
These theories are consequently employed in a theoretical discussion which are the Innovation
Diffusion Theory (IDT) by Rogers, 2003 for factors affecting Social Media adoption by SMEs and
the capability maturity model by Paulk et al., 1993 respectively IT Governance model by Becker
et al., 2009 for measuring the degree of Social Media Maturity (SMM) and Intention (SMI).

When the idea of the research is clear, it is time to start thinking of how to collect the data
needed and which methodology to use. The chosen research methodology is a quantitative research
approach. According to the method that have been chosen to accomplish the formulated objective
above and answering the research questions, quantitative data collection questionnaire is chosen
for observing and explaining the development of Social Media usage in the Egyptian SMEs
(specially in Benha city).

1.7.1 The research population

According to the population of the research which is SMEs community in Egypt, Peattie,
1987 described that the concept of an informal sector is “utterly fuzzy,” which unfortunately seems
to be the case in Egypt where most SMEs operate in a grey zone between formality and informality
as described by Ghanem (2013, 15). In order to be considered formal an Egyptian enterprise needs
to have a business license, be registered as a commercial or industrial establishment, obtain a tax
card and keep regular accounts. Then, the population of the study comprised of all formal mini,
small and medium enterprises in Benha City who are registered by Commercial Registry -
Qalyubia Chamber of Commerce (Benha – Egypt) and updated up to 19th may 2016.

7
 1.7.2 The research sample

The sample population for this research involved 150 participants chosen on the basis of
convenience sampling method. Participants in the research will include both types of SMEs
members who are adopting Social Media tools for business development purposes and others who
are intending to join Social Media tools for business development purposes too. Sample will be
mainly targeting SMEs average assets valued at LE 30,000 (some $5,000) since Ghanem (2013,
13) stated that "The vast majority of SMEs in Egypt are very small with average assets valued at
LE 30,000 (some $5,000) and average employment of 2.2 workers."

1.7.3 Data sources

The data sources for this research were the filled paper-based questionnaires collected from
the sample population. The questionnaire used in this research was relatively long and included 22
questions in total, some of the questions were combined of many elements.

The questionnaire is developed and pretested in order to describe social media usage in
terms of business purposes, characteristics shaping the adoption and measuring the actual or future
intention for adoption. The central constructs of the survey are derived from several models such
as the Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) (Rogers 2003) for factors affecting Social Media
adoption by SMEs and the capability maturity model (Paulk et al., 1993) respectively IT
Governance (Becker et al., 2009) for measuring the degree of Social Media Maturity and Intention
and finally business development efforts as indicated by literature review.

1.8 Research Limitations

There are many possible limitations that can face researchers while doing their work. These
limitations are defined as parameters that cannot be controlled by the researcher when undertaking
the research.

The first limitation is concerning diversity of sectors and industries that the research is
intended to examine. The research is not going to explore any single industry in depth.

8
 The second limitation is concerning the location which will be covered with the research.
This research is going to investigate SMEs adoption of Social Media tools in Benha City (which
is the capital of the Qalyubia Governorate in north-eastern Egypt) and this is due to the availability
of SMEs population framework and ease of the process of data collection.

The third limitation is that the research is limited to the population of SMEs in Benha
City who are operating in the formal sector and have a business license, be registered as a
commercial or industrial establishment, obtain a tax card and keep regular accounts as indicated
with accordance to Qalyubia Chamber of Commerce (Benha – Egypt).

The forth limitation is about the inconsistency in the classification and definition of SMEs
across different institutions, authorities and ministers makes it difficult and unable to indicate
specific criteria for the chosen sample. In order to come over this limitation, the research depended
upon the criteria of in-paid capital value in defining the population which represent as common
factor between most of definitions as stated in Ministry of Finance Report “Profile of M/SMEs in
Egypt” 20052.

The fifth limitation is concerning the lack of database regarding Social Media uses and
activities by SMEs in Egypt. In order to come over this limitation, the research is targeting both
categories of SMEs who are adoption Social Media tools in their business activities and other
category who are planning to adopt these tools in the future for the same purpose.

The sixth limitation is concerning the criticism towards convenient sampling is relevant.
However, in this research it is believed that the reasoning behind the decisions made are valid. The
aim of this thesis is not only to provide numerical data that could be generalized without a doubt
in the first case, but also the aim is to provide a deep look into the set characteristics and give

2 For more information regarding diversity in criteria defining M/SME in Egypt, page 57-58 Ministry of

Finance Report “Profile of M/SMEs in Egypt” 2005.

9
suggestions of how things can be done concerning the topic of SMEs usage and adoption of Social
Media tools for a better business development results.

1.9 Chapter Summary

The first chapter has identified one of the dominant and recent topics raised in Egypt
nowadays. The research topic outlines discussed in this chapter is about the effect that has been
provoked by Social Media tools in SMEs business environment in Egypt. The chapter introduced
the topic in shape of research gap with both empirical and academic evidences. After that the
research gap has been translated into a research problem followed by definite three research
questions. In order to answer these questions, it has been suggested a group of hypothesis which
testing them in turn will help accomplishing the research indicated objectives and finally reveal
the research significance in both academic and practical fields.

10
 CHAPTER TWO
SOCIAL MEDIA IN BUSINESS
This chapter reviews the literature concerning the contributions of social media as a new
revolutionary innovative in business. The main issues that will be addressed in this part are: 1)
what social media is from various perspectives, 2) Explanation of Web 2.0 as a key element in the
evolution of social media, 3) Reviewing different social media platforms used in business, 4) The
evolution of e-commerce to social commerce as a result of the emergence of Web 2.0 in business
world, 5) Advantages and disadvantages of Social Media involvement in business and finally, 6)
Social Media profile in Egypt.

2.1 Social Media definition

The concept of social media has been defined from different perspectives as indicated by
Brake, 2009, Lincoln, 2009, Wikstrom and Ellonen, 2012, Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010, Ahlqvist,
Back, Halonen and Heinonen, 2008, Hansen, Shneiderman, and Smith, 2011 and Wikstrom
and Ellonen, 2012. Each definition was originated according to the perspective from which the
study was organized. The following section will review various definitions concerning social
media and the basic standpoint from which each definition was created.

2.1.1 Social Media from behavioral perspective

Firstly, under a behavioral context, Social media was defined according to Safko and
Brake (2009, 6) as “activities, practices, and behaviors among communities of people who gather
online to share information, knowledge, and opinions using conversational media.” Furthermore,
in the same context for Lincoln (2009, 10), social media is more a behavior than a set of tools. In
other words, she explained that social media is more about the ideas that people share, collaborate
on, create and participate in rather than observe.

After defining social media from a behavioral point of view, Lincoln, 2009 concluded
some characteristics for individual use such as social media embraces the ‘architecture of
participation’, which means that users can actually add value to the applications they use. Social
media captures collective intelligence, so people can work seamlessly together in teams without
11
any geographical limits, shiftting easily between the role of audience and the role of author. Social
media is accessible and its tools are both versatile and flexible.

Also, Safko and Brake, 2009 stated that social media characteristics for business use are
as following: social media is all about enabling conversations. Nobody can control conversations,
but your business entity can influence them. Influence is the bedrock upon which all economically
viable relationships are built.

2.1.2 Social Media from media perspective

Secondly, Kung, 2008 adopted media context while defining social media as cited in
Wikstorm and Ellonen, 2012. Kung (2008, p.86) suggests that social media should be introduced
as the third content model of media emerging after the two older content models, mass media and
niche media. In relation to mass- and niche media, Kung (2008, p.86) stated that social media have
three specific characteristics: (1) the applications are interactive; (2) the most valuable content is
generated by amateurs rather than professionals; (3) and the emphasis is placed on content and
community elements rather than on information per se.

2.1.3 Social Media from conceptual perspective

Thirdly, in order to understand how social media is defined from conceptual context, two
remarkable contributions in the social media literature was done by Ahlqvist, Bäck, Halonen and
Heinonen, 2008 and Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010 to explain social media by concepts.

In 2008, Ahlqvist et al. published a paper in which they introduced social media as
“interaction of people and also to creating, sharing, exchanging and commenting contents in virtual
communities and networks” Ahlqvist et al. (2008, 13). They ascribed that this definition is built
on three key elements content, communities and Web 2.0 in accordance with the nature of social
media concept.

In accordance to the first key element, Ahlqvist et al. explained that Content is known as
user created content or user generated content (UGC) which is available in very different types; it
may be photos, videos or any input that users may create and share on the web. As for the second
12
key element communities, Ahlqvist et al. clarified that Social media created a new kind of
opportunities for communication which typically lets people communicate either directly or via
media objects. The term social is well motivated in the name of this phenomenon, because a lot of
value is seen in interpersonal communication. This is expressed in value proposals of different
services and seen in the large amount of person-to-person communication within services.

Lastly, without the technology, people and content could not interact to the same extent.
Ahlqvist et al. explained Web 2.0 as the digital technologies that developed for content creation
and sharing, together with web technologies and applications that let people easily participate on
the internet are the third corner stone.

Proceeding from the same context, another former contribution by Kaplan and Haenlein in
2010 stated a formal definition after drawing bridge between the two related concepts that are
frequently named in conjunction with social media concept: Web 2.0 and User Generated Content.

It is noticeable that both Ahlqvist et al. 2008 and Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010 depended
on two main concepts (Web 2.0 and User Generated Content) in defining Social Media.
Nevertheless, Ahlqvistet al. 2008 depended also in a third concept (social), which Kaplan and
Haenlein, 2010 dispensed with in their definition. The reason behind this is implicit in the
difference in defining User Generated Content. Ahlqvist et al. 2008 conceder User Generated
Content as only input that users may create and share on the web but Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010
consider User Generated Content as the sum of all ways in which people make use of Social Media.
The term is introduced to integrate between the various forms of media content that are publicly
available and end-users' communicative usage who represent the third corner (social concept).

Additionally, Kaplan and Haenlein (2010, 61) consider Web 2.0 as the platform for the
evolution of Social Media and also Web 2.0 represents the ideological and technological
foundation for Social Media.

Kaplan and Haenlein explained that Web 2.0 is a term that was first used in 2004 to
describe a new platform whereby content and applications are no longer created and published by

13
individuals, but instead are continuously modified by all users in a participatory and collaborative
fashion.

Hence, based on the previous clarifications of Web 2.0 and UGC, Kaplan and Haenlein
gave a more detailed definition of what we mean by Social Media as “a group of Internet-based
applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow
the creation and exchange of User Generated Content.”

2.1.4 Social Media from communication perspective

Fourthly, there are Hansen, Shneiderman, and Smith, 2011 efforts to define Social Media
from communication context which were supported by how the Social media transformed the
communication from monologue (one-to-many) into dialog (many-to-many).

Hansen et al. (2011, 12) explained the transformation by monitoring the shift that
happened after the pioneers of information age were interested in augmenting human intellect and
then turned to augmenting social experience and collective intelligence.

Hansen et al. mentioned that in the beginning pioneers of the information age were
interested in augmenting human intellect. In other words, they wanted to develop systems that
“increase the capacity of man to approach a complex problem situation, to gain comprehension to
suit his particular needs, and to derive solutions to problems” (as cited in Engelbart, 1963). These
goals have slowly been realized through remarkable developments in hypertext, human-computer
interaction, the World Wide Web, and mobile technologies (as cited in Shneiderman and
Plaisunt, 2010).

As the world has become increasingly connected, Hansen et al. explained that the focus
has shifted to augmenting social experience and collective intelligence. From this point Social
media appears and allow users to collaboratively create, find, share, evaluate, and make sense of
the mass of information available online. They also allow users to connect, inform, inspire, and
track other people. The new blend of social action and technological infrastructure allows entirely
new ways of collaborating.

14
 In short, Hansen et al. (2010, 12) defined Social Media as “a set of online tools that
supports social interaction between users”. Concluding that the term is often used to contrast with
more traditional media such as television and books that deliver content to mass populations but
do not facilitate the creation or sharing of content by users.

2.1.5 Why should organizations understand the concept of Social Media

These recent academic contributions in the field of Social Media have led to a renewed
interest by organizations in how to utilize Social Media tool in business and this is why the
researcher mentioned Social Media various definitions as shown previously.

This conclusion was brought up also by Klososky (2011, 6) who suggests that social
technologies is more than Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. From an organizational standpoint,
these applications are a tiny part of the overall picture. Hence, there is an organizational need for
its leaders to develop management skills to leverage social tools instead of being frustrated by
them.

Klososky (2011, 3) explained Social technologies as the umbrella term that encompasses
three discreet areas of the Web 2.0 era. There is actually a fourth catchall category that
encompasses all of the discreet tasks that people are putting the word “social” in front of, for
example, social CRM and social recruiting. For an organizational purpose, it is important to
understand the three major categories so any organization can invest resources into being
productive with all of them.

The first is social relevancy. Klososky described it as the concept of an online reputation
or credentials, and all the tools available in this area. These include the online reputations of an
organization and an individual. When a potential customer, partner, vendor, or investor looks
online to learn about your organization, the collection of links, user opinions, and content they can
access adds up to your online relevancy.

The second is Social Media which is a powerful source of information transmission on a

worldwide scale. Klososky defines Social Media as “any Web site or service that facilitates using
a piece of media to share an idea, advertise, promote, or deliver content. Media in this sense could
15
be documents (scribd.com), presentations (slideshare.com), photos (flickr.com), or videos
(youtube.com).”

The third part is social networking. Klososky mentioned that this describes any Web site
or service that facilitates people communicating one-toone, or one-to-many, in a conversation.
This includes MySpace, Facebook, Ning, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Twitter, Foursquare, blogging, etc.
Social networking includes everything from e-Communities to broadcasting communications
through text, audio, or video in a live format. Social networking is about connection through
conversation among people independently or through organizations speaking with an
organizational voice.

2.2 Social Media Evolution

After discussing the most significant key elements that define Social media, it is becoming
increasingly difficult to ignore the importance of Web 2.0. What we know about Web 2.0 is largely
based upon studies that investigate the historical evolution of Web 2.0 concept, how Web 2.0
technology are shifting the Web to turn it into a participatory platform (Social Media), in which
people not only consume content (via downloading) but also contribute and produce new content
(via uploading), the main differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 and finally Web 2.0
applications in business.

2.2.1 The historical evolution of Web 2.0 concept

Historically, Mata and Quesada (2014, 57) remarks that the term Web 2.0 was coined
firstly in 1999 as cited in Dinucci, 1999. After that it was used in the first Web 2.0 conference held
in 2004 by Dale Dougherty of O'Reilly Media who described it as ‘the business revolution in the
computer industry’ and defined it as a second generation of technology development and web
design as cited in O’Reilly, 2007.

Klososky (2011, 2) explained the term Web 2.0 and its debut shortly after the dotcom crash
of 2001. Klososky pointed out that People were searching for an answer to the question of where
the Web would go after its overheated rise in the late ’90s. The first signs of a new era of web 2.0

16
were appearing when instead of people just communicating with companies, they began to
communicate with each other.

Gradually, communities of interest began to form where people from around the world with
specific areas of commonality could find each other and share information, ideas, opinions, and
files. Then young entrepreneurs such as Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey began to create tools
that let us share content and opinions in various formats—for free. Klososky (2011,2) distinguish
that whereas Web 1.0 is all about e-commerce, Web 2.0 is about connection and social commerce.

2.2.2 Web 2.0 definition

In order to define Web 2.0, several studies have been produced by Creese, 2007, Darwish
and Lakhtaria, 2011 and Mata and Quesada, 2014 to state what Web 2.0 is precisely. Firstly, it
was notable that there is a diversity in describing Web 2.0, these descriptions were divergent and
ranged from considering Web 2.0 as a social and technological process (Second generation of
World Wide platform for interaction, participation and collaboration) and commercial and
business process (such as marketing).

Both Creese, 2007 and Darwish and Lakhtaria, 2011 described Web 2.0 as a collective
name given to the new generation of web technologies have certain elements in common that build
the core Web 2.0 elements. A more detailed definition is given by Creese (2007, 1) as cited in
JupiterMedia Corporation, 2007 “A second generation of world wide web…focused on the ability
for people to collaborate and share information online…a more dynamic web that is more
organized…with an emphasis on web based communities of users.”

Moreover, Darwish and Lakhtaria added there are four general types of processes within
Web 2.0 applications that reflect these ways of interacting in the virtual world that were
categorized by Howe, 2009 in his Time Magazine article as following:

1. To share user-contributed content;

2. for large sets of user contributed content;

3. for the development of content collections by the user community;

17
 4. To find not only objects but trends and overviews of contributions;

5. To create the worlds and artifacts within the worlds that they are simulating and then
interact within the virtual worlds.

Furthermore, Mata and Quesada (2014, 75) mentioned the following definitions to point
out some properties of Web 2.0 since Web 2.0 is not only related to social processes but also to
commercial processes such as marketing. The first definition is (as cited in Turban, King, Lee and
Viehland, 2004) referred Web 2.0 as "a popular term for advanced Internet technology and
applications including blogs, wikis, RSS and social references."

The second definition introduced by Mata and Quesada (as cited in Constantinides and
Fountain, 232-233) refers Web 2.0 as “a collection of open-source, interactive and user controlled
online applications expanding the experiences, knowledge and market power of the users and
participants in business and social processes. Web 2.0 applications support the creation of informal
users’ networks facilitating the flow of ideas and knowledge by allowing the efficient generation,
dissemination, sharing and editing/refining of informational content.”

2.2.3 Differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0

Concerning the characteristics that differs Web 1.0 from Wen 2.0, a considerable number
of studies have investigated this point such as Limcoln, 2009, Darwish and Lakhtaria, 2011, Mata
and Quesada, 2014 and Choudhury, 2014.

The main conclusion from differences that Web 1.0 is static and is more of a place to find
information than a forum for sharing ideas or creating new products together. Web 2.0 is a web in
which people can interact and participate rather than just read.

Table 1.
Main differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0

Web 1.0 Web 2.0

1. Concept founder Tim Berners Lee Tim O’Reilly, Dale
Dougherty
2. Time period 1989-2005 approximately 2004-2016 approximately

18
 3. Mode Read only. (One direction) Read, write and
contribution.
(Bi-Direction)
4. Primary unit of Page Post record
content
5. State Static content Dynamic content
6. Tools to be viewed • Web browser. • Browsers, RSS reader
through Oriented to display and and mobile
retrieve information stored applications.
on the internet. Designed to enable
collaboration and content
creation on the internet.
7. Major sites Information portals such as Online social networks,
google.com Blogs, Wikis and media
sharing.
8. Content created by Web coders Everyone
9. Metaphor for the Information superhighway Platform for interaction
internet
10. Metaphor for the Web of information Human web where what
WWW resources stored on a global matters in human contacts
network of servers where and relations between
what matters is retrieved and individuals.
display.
11. Strategy pursued Efficiency Effectiveness
12. Economies sought Economies of scale Network effects
13. Software used Software as a product Software as a service
14. Issues Technology Social
Source: Own elaboration, based on Limcoln, 2009, Darwish and Lakhtaria, 2011, Mata
and Quesada, 2014 and Choudhury, 2014.

2.2.4 Web 2.0 applications in Business

Nowadays information and communication technologies such as Web 2.0 are influenced
in many approaches where individuals need more knowledge, connections and better standards to
facilitate accomplishing their works particularly. One of these approaches discuss various trials of
integrating Web 2.0 in the business environment.

19
 Trials to
integrate Web
2.0 in business:

2- Organization
1- Managment 3- Web 2.0
elemnets
disciplines. applications.
"Stackholders"

Figure 1. The integration of Web 2.0 in business

2.2.4.1 The integration of Web 2.0 in business according to management

disciplines

Several studies have appeared in recent years documenting how Web 2.0 can play a vital
role in different management disciplines such as Information Management, Supply Chain
Management.
1- In terms of Information Management, Creese (2007, 2) indicates that current theories
are drawing a definite distinction between what is ‘information’ and what is
‘intelligence’ – “to qualify as intelligence, information must be both used and renewed”
(as cited in Delio, 2005). Static web information is just that – information, not
intelligence – and is not seen as fulfilling enterprise information needs anymore. The
connectivity, flexibility and instant outreach and communication features of Web 2.0
technologies appeal to today’s individual web users, the way they interact on a social
level and reflect the intelligence side.
2- In terms of Supply Chain Management, a recent contribution was developed by Im
and Kurnia, 2013 explored the potential use of web 2.0 in supporting key practices of
supply chain management based on literature analysis and synthesis. For each of the
key SCM practices such as supplier relationship management, integrated behavior,
information sharing, collaboration and others, Im and Kurnia analyze and synthesize
how web 2.0 supports each practice.

20
 2.2.4.2 The integration of Web 2.0 in business according to organization
stakeholders

Creese, 2007 explained that consumers and employees alike expect some sort of human
connection when dealing with the corporation through Web 2.0 as following:

Table 2.
The integration of Web 2.0 in business according to organization stockholders

Organization Web 2.0 benefits

stockholders
1- Customer The functionality in typical Web 2.0 technologies – tags, categories,
Perceptions: linking, and active bookmarking – means increased search-ability and use-
ability of the resource, and decreases the need for customers to spend time
phoning or emailing for help. Creese (2007, 2)

2- Employee One of the biggest drivers behind employee support for Web 2.0
Perceptions: technologies is the changing demographic of the workplace. Generation Y
employees are now entering the labor force – they’re at ease with and grew
up with web technologies, they’re passionate about change, input and
workplace democracy, and they welcome the use of new ideas and
applications.

Changes in workplaces and work patterns have led to increases in

telecommuting and part time work; Web 2.0 technologies allow out-of-
office employees to collaborate, contribute, network and retain a sense of
corporate culture and community. Creese (2007, 3)

3- Management From a management perspective, in addition to the benefits to

Perceptions: corporate culture discussed above, the big drivers in Web 2.0’s favor are
cost and status. Web 2.0 technologies are cheaper and more targeted than
traditional PR and advertising alternatives, and allow businesses to “have
the conversation [they] want to have with the people [they] want to have it
with at a level far higher than any of the mainstream media can manage.”
(Charman, 2006).

Web 2.0 functionalities like RSS feeds can also distribute content
to stakeholders faster and cheaper than can most alternative delivery
modes, even email. Creese (2007, 3)

21
2.3 Social Media Tools in Business

The issue of Social Media classification has received considerable critical attention in the
previous literature. Although extensive research has been carried out on Social Media, most of the
studies introduce controversial classifications for Social Media tools. This diversification in Social
Media classification illustrates Table 4. made by the writer which will be explained subsequently.

It was noticeable by Safko, Brake, 2009, Kaplan, Haenlein, 2010, and Smith, 2010 that
there is a sort of agreement around the idea of Social Media classifications diversification.
According to Safko and Brake (2009, 22), they intended to present relatively simple 15-category
classification system which is referred to be the Social Media Ecosystem since there is no
universally accepted classification system for social media tools and applications.

In the same context, Kaplan and Haenlein (2010, 61) urged that despite there are various
types of Social Media that need to be distinguished further, there is no systematic way in which
different Social Media applications can be categorized. Furthermore, Smith (2010, 17, 28) created
a table of the social media systems and categorizes examples of each to serve as an index for his
book and an indication for a much more comprehensive list of social media tools, see Go2Web202
and Wikipedia because there is no agreed-upon taxonomy of social media tools or characteristics.
Yet it is essential that practitioners spend time understanding which services match their personal
and professional needs.

For a mostly complete visibility concerning the previous literature about Social Media
classification, the Five W’s would be the suitable tools for information-gathering. It is noteworthy
that they are often mentioned in conducting a research and constitute as formula for getting the
complete data on a subject. The main discussed questions regarding Social Media classification
will be:

1- Who is behind each contribution in the topic of Social Media classification? (Authors of
each study)
2- When are each Social Media classifications formed? (Year of each study)

22
 3- Why are Social Media classifications needed to be formed? (The Reasons behind each
classification)
4- What are these Social Media classification? (Structures of each classification)

For the first four questions, they will be answered briefly in Table 3. (Different foundations
for Social Media classifications)

Table 3.
Different foundations for Social Media classifications:

No. Ref. Foundation for Social Media Social Media

(Who classification classification
and When) (Why) (What)
1. Constantinides Constantinides and Fountain are 1- Blogs.
and Fountain motivated to categorize Web 2.0 because it 2- Social Networks
(2008, 233)3 presents businesses with new challenges (Myspace and Facebook).
but also new opportunities for getting and 3- (Content) Communities:
staying in touch with their markets, - Video sharing
learning about the needs and opinions of (YouTube).
their customers as well as interacting with - Photos sharing (Flickr).
them in a direct and personalized way. - Social Bookmarking
From consumer point of view, (Digg).
authors observe that Web 2.0 applications - Publicity edited
offer new previously unknown Encyclopedia
possibilities and empowerment not only in (Wikipedia).
the form of information sourcing but also 4- Forums/ bulletin boards
as forums of dialogue and confrontation of (Opinions).
producers and vendors with their social, 5- Content aggregators (RSS).
ethical and commercial responsibilities.
Despite the positive perspectives there is
still skepticism surrounding Web 2.0.
Some of the arguments are such as
anonymous amateur videos and music
remixes posted to Web 2.0 sites that make
the viewer is not able to distinguish
between reality as well as fiction and
advertising and abuse of intellectual rights
from using copyrighted material, leading

3For more explanation, Constantinides, E., & Fountain, S. J. (2008). Web 2.0: Conceptual foundations and
marketing issues. Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice, 9(3), 231–244.
http://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.dddmp.4350098
23
 to the demise of professional artists and the
entertainment industry in general. Despite
these negative arguments, it is essential for
marketers to consider Web 2.0 as a
challenge rather than as a threat and
consider it as a new domain of commercial
strategy. It is also important to utilize the
consequence of customer empowerment
on Web 2.0 applications and the influence
of the emerging consumer behavior in
converting old-style marketing which was
used in traditional media.

2. Lehtimäki, While defining Web 2.0 and Social 1- Blogs and podcasts.
Salo, Hiltula Media, Lehtimäki at al. clarify that at the • Traditional blogs, vlogs,
and Lankinen core of web 2.0 is collective intelligence podcasts, video-casts
(2009, 14)4 and wisdom of crowds where users 2- Social Networks.
(private people, organizations) have the 3- Communities.
key role. since actions of users and UGC • Online communities.
have a significant impact on the value of • Content communities.
the service/application. Web 2.0 tools • Forums/ bulletin boards.
benefit from network effects; the more 4- Content aggregators.
people attend different communities and • RSS, widgets,
social networks and generate content into bookmarks, tagging
them, the more people are tempted to join services etc.
them. Thus, network effects and peer 5- Virtual worlds.
usage are important motives for customer
lock-in and loyalty. (as cited in
Constantinides and Fountain, 2008)
Businesses can utilize this by introducing
their own communities and
profiles/groups in social networks.
Lehtimäki at al. divided web 2.0 tools into
five main categories after depending upon
the classification by Constantinides and
5
Fountain, 2008 .
Lehtimäki at al. utilized these five main
categories in implementing Web 2.0 tools

4 For more explanation, Lehtimäki, T., Salo, J., Hiltula, H., & Lankinen, M. (2009, April). Harnessing web
2.0 for business-to-business marketing - Literature review and an empirical perspective from Finland, Working papers.
Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. University of Oulu (29), 1–75.

5 Social Media classification by Constantinides and Fountain (2008) is explained table 4. No. 1.
24
 for B2B marketing under planned five
steps: knowing the environment, creativity
and continuously available content,
committed personnel and support of the
management in maintaining the campaign,
setting up specified goals, measuring Web
2.0 tools activity and finally listening,
discussing and interacting with company’s
customers through these tools.
3. Zarrella Zarrella relies on this 1- Blogs,
6
(2009, 3) classification on his book to describe how 2- Microblogs (Twitter),
to organize Social Media campaign by 3- Social networks
deciding which tool to use and how to use (Facebook, LinkedIn),
them most effectively. 4- Media-sharing sites
New web technologies have made (YouTube, Flickr),
it easy for anyone to create—and, most 5- Social bookmarking and
importantly—distribute their own content. voting sites (Digg, Reddit),
A blog post, tweet, or YouTube video can 6- Review sites (Yelp),
be produced and viewed by millions 7- Forums, and
virtually for free. Advertisers don’t have to 8- Virtual worlds (Second
pay publishers or distributors huge sums of Life).
money to embed their messages; now they
can make their own interesting content that
viewers will flock to. Social media comes
in many forms, but for our purposes, The
author focus on the eight most popular
tools.
4. Safko and The main reason behind the 1- Social Networking
Brake creation of this ecosystem emerged after (Facebook and LinkedIn.).
(2009,26-32)7 the recent use of Social Media tools and 2- Publish (Blogger.com and
applications by several organizations as a Wikipedia).
part of Social Media strategy to reach and 3- Photo Sharing (Flicker and
influence their target audiences. Picasa).
Accordingly, this ecosystem will provide 4- Audio (iTunes and
an efficient use of these 15 categories as a Soundcloud).
functional overview of the Social Media 5- Video (YouTube).
ecosystem to achieve the goal of all Social 6- Microblogging (Twitter).
Media in the business context which is to 7- Live-casting (Live 365).
engage people.

6 For more explanation, Zarrella, D. (2009). The Social Media Marketing Book. O’Reilly Media, Inc.
7 For more explanation, Safko, L., & Brake, D. K. (2009). The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and
Strategies for Business Success, - (3rd Edition). John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from
http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118269748.html
25
 Generally, Safko and Brake 8- Virtual Worlds (Second
assured that each company must Life).
understand more about how each of Social 9- Gaming (World of
Media tools can be used, how each is Warcraft).
categorized and what tools are similar to 10- Productivity applications
understand also what tools are (Yahoo! and Google Docs).
complementary would be helpful as well. 11- Aggregators (Digg and My
Precisely, the core concept after Yahoo!).
categorizing Social Media is to understand 12- RSS (FeedBurner and RSS
how to satisfy customer needs and wants 2.0).
by delivering the appropriate product or 13- Search (Google Search).
service with the help of a Social Media 14- Mobile (SMS.ac and airG).
strategy and deep understanding of how 15- Interpersonal (Skype and
each tool can be used, how each is iChat.)
categorized, what tools are similar and
what tools are complementary.
5. Evans (2010, Evans, 2010 introduced Social 1- Social Platforms:
164- 169)8 Media channels and groupings for many • WIKIS.
reasons. In order to make sense of the • Social Networks.
Social Web, Evans, 2010 reorganized 2- Social Content:
Social Media channels into functional • Blogs.
groups: platforms, content, and • Microblogs.
interactions. This new organization of • Photos.
Social Media channels will help marketers • Audio (Podcast).
how social media components can be
• Video.
applied to the purchase funnel in the 3- Social Interactions:
consideration phase and then by extension
• Events and Calendars.
to the tactical point-of-purchase efforts
• SMS and Text.
within your marketing plan.
• Email.
• Status updates.
6. Hansen, According to Smith at al., Social 1- Asynchronous Threaded
Shneiderman media systems come in a variety of forms Conversation:
and Smith and support numerous genres of • Email (Gmail and
(2010, 18)9 interaction. Although they all connect Hotmail).
individuals, they do so in dramatically • BBS and discussion
different ways depending in part on the forums (Google groups
technical design choices that determine and Yahoo! Answers).
questions like these: Who can see what? 2- Synchronous
Who can reply to whom? How long is Conversations:

8 Evans, D. (2010). Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day. John Wiley & Sons.
9For more explanation, Hansen, D., Shneiderman, B., & Smith, M. A. (2010). Analyzing Social Media
Networks with NodeXL: Insights from a Connected World. Morgan Kaufmann.
26
content visible? What can link to what? • Chat and instant
Who can link to whom? messaging (MSN
Smith at al. briefly introduced Messenger and Google
some of the more popular social media Talk).
systems, which are outlined as shown. • Audio and
Reasons behind Social Media videoconferencing
classification can be explained as (Skype and Window’s
following. Live).
Firstly, Smith at al. indicated that 3- World Wide Web:
there is no agreed-upon taxonomy of social • Corporate, organizational
media tools or characteristics. Secondly, and governmental
yet it is essential that practitioners websites and documents.
understand which Social Media tool match • Homepages (Faculty
their personal and professional needs. member websites and
Also, the same concerning corporate and artists’ portfolio
government decision makers who are websites).
seeking to use social media for advertising 4- Collaborative Authoring:
and promoting their products and services • WIKI (Wikipedia).
will be more successful if they learn which • Shared documents
mechanism best reaches their desired (Google Docs).
audience, and what constitutes acceptable 5- Blogs and Podcasts:
etiquette in those communities.
• Blogs (WordPress).
Thirdly, although for every
• Microblogs (Twitter).
business success strategies that make good
use of the power of social networks have • Multimedia blogs and
podcasts:
been reported, there are numerous failed
❖ Vlogs (video
attempts suggesting the need for more
blogs such as
systematic methods for analyzing and
Qik),
understanding social media environments.
❖ photo blogs
Finally, Smith at al. highlighted
(Fotolog,
the types of networks each of them create,
FAILblog.org),
laying the groundwork for the rest of their
❖ moblog
book, which will answer how to gain
(mobile
actionable insights from the analysis and
blogging such as
visualization of those networks.
moblog.net).
6- Social Sharing:
• Video and TV
(YouTube).
• Photo and art (Flicker).
• Music (SoundCloud).
• Bookmarks, news, and
books (Goodreads).
7- Social Networking
Services:
27
 • Social and dating
(Facebook).
• Professional (LinkedIn).
• Niche networks (Ning
(e.g., classroom 2.0) and
Ravelry).
8- Online Markets and
Production:
• Financial transaction
(eBay and Amazon).
• User-generated products
(Threadless).
• Review sites (ePinions).
9- Idea Generation:
• Idea generation, selection,
and challenge sites
(IdeaConnection).
10- Virtual Worlds:
• Virtual reality worlds
(Second Life).
• Massively multiplayer
games (World of
Warcraft).
11- Mobile-base Services:
• Location sharing,
annotation, and games
(Foursquare).
7. Kaplan and The reason behind distinguishing 1- Collaborative projects
Haenlein between different Social Media categories (Wikipedia).
(2010, 62)10 is to illustrate the challenges and 2- Blogs.
opportunities that face firms. For this 3- Content communities
reason, Kaplan and Haenlein discussed (YouTube).
each category from different perspectives. 4- Social Networking sites
The first perspective is focusing on the (Facebook).
mechanism under which each tool is 5- Virtual game worlds
allowed to create and exchange a content (World of Warcraft).
and what are the features and functions 6- Virtual social worlds
will be available with the usability of this (Second Life).
tool. The second perspective is a corporate
perspective, where firms must be aware of
how to harness the mechanism of Social

10 For more explanation, Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges
and opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003
28
 Media tools for the benefit of the firms.
The final perspective is concerning the
risks and challenges confronting firms
through the incorporation of Social Media
tools in the firms.
Finally, Kaplan and Haenlein
utilized Social Media classification to
derive a set of 10 recommendations
companies should follow when thinking
about developing their own Social Media
strategy, be it with respect to these
aforementioned types or other applications
which might emerge in the future.
8. Weinberg and Weinberg and Pehlivan propose a 1- Blogs (WordPress).
Pehlivan Social Media mix to help in deciding how Long half-life of information
(2011, 278- to allocate effort to various types of social and shallow information depth.
279)11 media. The reasons behind proposing 2- Micro-blogs (Twitter).
Social Media mix is firstly that marketers Short half-life of information
have noted different purposes or ways in and shallow information depth.
which consumers respond to or use
different types of social media. Secondly, 3- Communities (HP
Indeed, not all social media are the same Communities).
(as cited in Bernoff & Li, 2008). From a Long half-life of information
technology perspective, the platforms vary and deep information depth.
and, along with that, so do the rules of 4- Social Networks
utilization and functionality (e.g., Twitter (Facebook).
tweets/posts can be no more than 140 Short half-life of information
characters). From another perspective, and deep information depth.
there is variation in how people use these
platforms and/or associated applications.
In order to support managerial and
strategic decision making, Weinberg and
Pehlivan looked to understand this
variation and searched for relationships
between the platform rules and how people
process and use social media to propose a
framework that can be used for tactical
decision making with respect to traditional
marketing objectives (Awareness,
Knowledge, Recall and Purchase).

11 For more explanation, Weinberg, B. D., & Pehlivan, E. (2011). Social spending: Managing the social
media mix. Business Horizons, 54(3), 275–282. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2011.01.008
29
 While social media may vary on a
variety of dimensions, Weinberg and
Pehlivan identified two factors that
explain well the variation in social media
and that can be used to guide decision
making with respect to marketing
objectives and purpose. These two factors
are the half-life of information and the
depth of information. The half-life of
information is a function of both the
medium and the content, and refers to the
longevity of the information in terms of
availability/appearance on the screen and
interest in a topic. Depth of information
refers to the richness of the content, and the
number and diversity of perspectives.

Source: Own elaboration, based on Constantinides and Fountain, 2008; Lehtimäki, Salo,
Hiltula and Lankinen, 2009; Zarrella, 2009; Safko and Brake, 2009; Evans, 2010; Hansen,
Shneiderman and Smith, 2010; Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010 and Weinberg and Pehlivan, 2011.

2.4 Social Commerce

In the arena of social commerce, there has been a recent surge in interest and research made
by Shadkam and O’Hara, 2013, Huang and Benyoucef, 2013 and Mata and Quesada, 2014.
This interest was brightened up with observation made by Shadkam and O’Hara (2013, 2) who
described that consumers today are becoming very digitally savvy, crossing generations and
cultures alike, and social is ingrained into their digital worlds.

Even so Shadkam and O’Hara pointed out that retailers gravitate to densely populated,
highly trafficked areas in the real world, they are also now following that model in the virtual
world. Rather than hoping for customers to come to them, they are going to where hundreds of
millions consumers are not only spending their time but sharing their opinions, recommendations
and (in some cases) purchases.

Moreover, Huang and Benyoucef (2013, 246) mentioned that the rapid development of
social media and Web 2.0 was the central reason behind the transformation of e-commerce from a
30
product-oriented environment to a social and customer-centred one (as cited in Wigand et al.
2008).

Within this environment, Huang and Benyoucef figured that customers have the
availability to access to social knowledge and experiences for a better support in understanding
their online purchase purposes, and in making more informed and accurate purchase decisions (as
cited in Dennison et al. 2009).

Consequently, Huang and Benyoucef (2013, 246) concluded that E-commerce is

undergoing a new evolution by adopting a variety of Web 2.0 features, functions and capabilities
in order to enhance customer participation (Kim and Srivastava, 2007), promote customer
relationships (Liang et al., 2011), and achieve greater economic value (Parise and Guinan, 2008).
This new phenomenon is referred to as “social commerce”.

2.4.1 Social Commerce definition

The official presentation of “social commerce” concept in the literature was in 2005 and
mostly majority of contributions concurred that it is sort of e-commerce new way of doing
commerce. While defining social commerce, Huang and Benyoucef (2013, 247) argued that the
concept involves multiple disciplines, including marketing, computer science, sociology and
psychology, for this reason the multi-disciplinary will lead to diversity of definitions. For instance,
in marketing, social commerce is about a noticeable trend in online marketplaces where businesses
leverage social media or Web 2.0 as a direct marketing tool to support customers’ decision making
processes and buying behavior (Constantinides and Fountain, 2008).

31
Figure 2. Social Commerce

Following the same context, Huang and Benyoucef (2013, 247) added that (as cited in
Wigand et al. 2008) capturing the alterations made by social commerce, the concept can be
described as “applying social media applications to shape business, hence transforming a market
for goods and services into a socially centered and user-driven marketplace.”

2.4.2 Social Commerce nature

Social commerce in literature was explained from two perspectives. The first perspective
is concerning the activities through which social commerce operates and the second is explaining
to what extend these activities would affect business. Shadkam and O’Hara (2013, 5) stated that
social commerce can be summarized in terms of two main activities; putting social media tools
in e-commerce website and/or putting e-commerce in social media platforms.

32
 1- Putting social media tools in e-commerce website: Helping people connect where
they buy by adding and linking social media tools and content (such as corporate blog,
social bookmarking, product reviews, chat functionality and forum/community) to e-
commerce sites. For example, Amazon invites customers to rate and review products
on its e-commerce site, and to discuss them in customer forums.
2- Putting e-commerce in social media platforms: Helping people buy where they
connect by embedding social media stores and storefronts to popular social media
platforms. For example, leading electronics retailer Best Buy's storefront in Facebook.

Both of these two social commerce solutions can enhance the purchase cycle experience in
three key areas; product discovery, product selection and product referral.

Since generally social commerce is referred to be the utilization of Web 2.0 in e-commerce,
Huang and Benyoucef (2013, 247) identified that the influence of Web 2.0 on e-commerce can
be noticed in both business outcomes and social interaction among consumers.

Firstly, Web 2.0 significantly influences business transactions and the reliability of
business reputation systems (Swamynathan et al. 2008). It can also strengthen business
relationships with customers, increase traffic to company websites, identify new business
opportunities, and support product and brand development (Michaelidou et al. 2011). It may as
well enable businesses to provide high quality products, place them in a better position to predict
market trends and maximize the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns (Constantinides et al.
2008). For customers, Web 2.0 can affect aspects such as customer control and value creation.
With Web 2.0, customers’ perceptions, preferences and decisions are not only based on
information presented on e-commerce websites, but are also influenced by content generated by
people on social networks (Constantinides and Fountain 2008).

Secondly, as indicated by Stephen and Toubia, 2009 in the e-commerce environment Web
2.0 shifts market power from companies to customers. Furthermore, since their needs are altered
by the increasing requirements for online services and applications, customers are looking for more
social and interactive ways to stimulate engagement. Web 2.0 provides customers with new

33
approaches to interact with marketers and peer communities at the same time (Constantinides and
Fountain 2008).

2.4.3 Difference between e-commerce and social commerce

Differences between e-commerce and social commerce were addressed generally by

Huang and Benyouef, 2013 and more precisely by Mata and Quesada, 2014. Huang and
Benyouef, 2013 highlighted the differences in terms of business goals, customer connection and
system interaction. On the other hand, Mata and Quesada, 2014 stated the differences in a
detailed manner between online social networks as one of Web 2.0 tools that used for social
commerce activities and e-commerce. The differences were highlighted in accordance to the
purpose, the criteria of success and the technological base for both each e-commerce and
social commerce.

1- With regard to business goals, Huang and Benyouef (2013, 247) stated that e-
commerce focuses on maximizing efficiency with strategies for sophisticated searches,
one-click buying, specification-driven virtual catalogs and recommendations based on
consumers’ past shopping behavior (as cited in Carroll, 2008). Social commerce,
however, is oriented toward social goals, such as networking, collaborating and
information sharing, with a secondary focus on shopping (as cited in Wang and Zhang
2012).
2- Regarding customer connection, Huang and Benyouef indicated that customers
usually interact with e-commerce platforms individually and independently from other
customers, while social commerce involves online communities that support social
connection to enhance conversation between customers (as cited in Kim and
Srivastava, 2007).
3- As for system interaction, Huang and Benyouef assured that e-commerce in its
classical form almost always provides one-way browsing, where information from
customers is rarely (if ever) sent back to businesses or other customers since it depends
on Web 1.0 applications. Social commerce, however, develops more social and
interactive approaches that let customers express themselves and share their

34
 information with other customers as well as with businesses since it depends on Web
2.0 applications (as cited in Parise and Guinan, 2008).

On the other hand, Mata and Quesada, 2014 stated - in a more precise way - the major
differences that can be found between online social networks as a one of Web 2.0 applications that
can be used for performing social commerce and e-commerce sites.

1- Firstly, there is a clear distinction in the purpose of online social networks and e-commerce
sites as indicated by Mata and Quesada (2014, 63). On the one hand, the purpose of online
social networks is supporting and creating social networks, which ultimately favor the
development of the human web, as already explained before. On the other hand, e-
commerce pursues the use of electronic technologies to exchange goods and services. So,
while online social networks are aimed at communicating and maintaining social
relationships, i.e., social purposes, e-commerce has a commercial purpose.
2- Second, Mata and Quesada stated also that the criteria for success of online social
networks and e-commerce sites are different: number of contacts, in the case of online
social networks (effectiveness), versus quantity and volume of transactions (efficiency), in
the case of e-commerce. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of the online social networks may
contribute to the efficiency of e-commerce. This is because one of the most important
factors for the operation of an e-commerce site, particularly for small and medium
enterprises (SME), is the awareness of the site. Consequently, sites that already have many
users and high traffic, such as is the case with the major online social networks, provide
significant benefits to host or promote e-commerce sites, particularly for SMEs.
3- Finally, online social networks are based on software offered by intermediaries while e-
commerce sites are usually developed by the same firms as indicated by Mata and
Quesada (2014, 64).

2.4.4 E-commerce status in Egypt

Concerning the e-commerce state in Egypt, a statistical profile was released by the ministry
of communications and information technology in 2015 under the name of “Measuring the Digital
Society in Egypt: Internet at a Glance”. Since the Social commerce is considered as one of e-
35
commerce evolution, then it would be significant to explain e-commerce state in Egypt. Generally,
e-commerce usage is discussed under the fifth topic which investigates the adoption of e-solution
via the internet through e-commerce and e-government.

Businesses E-Commerce Usage:

Proportion of business enterprises using e-commerce increased between 2011 and 2012 by
3% to reach 13% of total private enterprises.

In 2012, e-commerce activities undertaken by business such as receiving financial and

technical offers was the most dominant e-commerce activity by (49.1%) rising from 38% in 2011,
followed by publishing bids and tenders (25.6%), declining from 28.2% in 2011. Some other
activities are also performed by private enterprises using e-commerce such as Advertising goods
and services, offering and getting services and selling and buying products.

During 2012, almost 53% of business enterprises that didn’t use e-commerce claimed that
they prefer direct transaction (face to face), while 40.3% claimed there was no need for e-purchase
and e-sales transactions.

36
 2.4.5 Social commerce dimensions

Table 4.
Social commerce dimensions

Main dimension Sub-dimension Description Example

1- Social Shopping: • Social Media enable people to buy where they connect Retailers and brands
Social shopping Stores: to millions of users into a social media platform. can have a storefront in
attempts to benefit " By bringing our store to where our customers Facebook. Facebook
from technology to spend the most time online, our goal is to storefront pages enable users
simulate the social provide them with the most convenient and to shop and complete purchase
interactions found in relevant shopping experience” (as cited in Sung, transactions without leaving
physical malls and 2010). the network.
stores. Social • Social allow social network users to bring their when consumers sign-
shopping tools allow Graphs: online social networks to e-commerce up retail site with their
people to share the act destinations and interact with their friends and Facebook account, they can
of online shopping followers directly whilst on the site. choose to grant the retailer
together. If retailers know what consumers who are access to their member profile
connected to the brand need, want or enjoy, the data and friend lists.
chances of getting the right product in front of
the right customer increases. The social graph
allows retailers to find target consumers and
personalized recommendations.
• Group allows people to use their collective Some companies such
Buying: buying power to buy together to get better deal, as Dell, Intel and Adidas
often by recruiting fellow buyers through social invite people to group together
37
 networks such as Facebook, and/or group- into an online social network
buying website such as Groupon. to buy products in bulk,
thereby obtaining a better
price.
• Social enable people to shop multiple stores
Shopping together using a range of different social
Portals: shopping tools such as ratings and reviews,
recommendations and referrals and social
bookmarking (e.g. Kaboodle.com and
Storeenvy.com).
2- Rating and Review: Ratings and Reviews are the original
social commerce toolset that allow people to
exchange product feedback and inform each
other's choices with independent views and
experiences.
3- Recommendations • Social refers to using social media to get and
and Referrals: Recommenda make recommendations on what to buy, read,
Since ratings and tion: eat, see and do. When consumers buy
reviews are generally something, they tend to tell friends about it and
visible to all, support the brand. Consumers may often do this
recommendations and unconditionally, such as by clicking a “Like”
referrals are usually button in a social network, which allows them to
personalized social media spread the word without spend many times.
endorsements for online Millions of users are being influenced by their
goods and services friends’ recommendations in social media when
designed to realize the making purchasing decisions (as cited in Liang,
Ho, Li, and Turban, 2011).

38
referral value of • Referral refers to providing some material and
customers and advocates. Programs: non-material rewards by retailer due to
consumer advocacy. Rewarding customers and
partners for referring new customers is a
powerful strategy in social commerce.
4- Forums and • Forums: are divided into two types:
Communities: 1- “Discussion forums” that are shaped in an
According to interactive area where people can offer each
consumer, forums are other support and solve each other's problems.
popular, useful and 2- “Q&A forums” that typically have a
effective social media searchable FAQ (frequently asked questions)
tools for social commerce structure. In these forums, users participate to
that assist product answer common questions (for example Yahoo
discovery, selection and question-and-answer).
referrals by providing a • Retail Blogs: provide news and discussion around e-
moderated environment commerce events, as well as capture customer
around a particular theme, feedback and suggestions on desired
task or category. For improvements.
retailers, forums and • Online Are linked to an e-commerce site,
communities help to Consumer usually with a loyalty, advisory or social CRM
provide user generated Communities (Social Customer Relationship Management)
content that can engage : purpose. Customer communities can be hosted
customers and drive sale. on social media platforms such as Facebook or
on website with dedicated community software.
5- Social Media It is designed, in the context of social
Optimization: commerce, to attract visitors to e-commerce
destinations by promoting and publicizing these
destinations and content through social media. It
39

6- Social Ads and • Social Ads:
Applications:
Advertising on
social media platforms or
promotional applications
is a useful strategy in
social commerce in order
to attract more consumers
among social media •
users.
Source: Own elaboration, with respect to Shadkam and O'Hara (2013, 6:8)
typically involves seeding marketing collateral
to major social media platforms and linking
them to e-commerce sites. Social media
optimization increases e-commerce traffic
volume through direct links and improvement in
search engine rankings (SEO) (Smith, 2011).
refers to placing advertisements in social in the case of
media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Facebook, retailers can order
Twitter, as well as on blogs and forums. It is ads based on consumers’
another effective traffic-driver to product pages demographics and/or interest.
and conversation points on an e-commerce site. This makes a great
Social advertising works for retailers partially opportunity for advertising
because of social media’s abilities. through millions potential
target consumers.
Social Apps: are a group of online application or widgets
offered by social media. They support social
interaction and user contributions (technically a
widget is a standalone program that can run on
any Internet site, whilst an application is
platform specific).
40
2.5 Advantages and disadvantages of Social Media involvement in business

2.5.1 Advantages of Social Media in Business

The advantages of Social Media usage for business purposes in organizations have been
discussed from various perspectives in researches by Haataja, 2010, Drobnjak, 2011, Stankovic-
Rice, 2011, Nekatibebe, 2012, King’ori, 2013 and Munro, 2014.

From marketing perspective

It has been stated by Stankovic – Rice, 2011 that Social Media tools can be used as a
contemporary marketing trend for organizations. Social Media can be used to deliver marketing
message in a contemporary way to a large audience efficiently in a cost-effective way, the
advantage that was assured by Nekatibebe, 2012 where it costs relatively low or no cost to start
marketing through Social Media. Due to its ease of implementation, Nekatibebe, 2012 stated that
Social Media enables organizations to perform the marketing tasks (such as advertising) without
the help of traditional media outlets.

On branding level, Stankovic-Rice, 2011 and King’ori, 2013 illustrated that navigation of
the organization’s brand through Social Media would increase electronic word-of-mouth effect
and consequently increase stuff motivation and sense of community through the accumulation of
a digital reputation.

On customer level, there was such a consensus by Haataja, 2010, Drobnjak, 2011,
Stankovic-Rice, 2011, Nekatibebe, 2012 and King’ori, 2013 concerning that Social Media is fast,
flexible and effective way to reach big audiences including actual and potential customers.
According to Haataja, 2010, Drobnjak, 2011 and Nekatibebe, 2012 Social Media can create a
long-term relationship between businesses and actual customers by enabling people to interact
without the need to meet up face to face any time. Also, Social Media enables the company to
target potential customers by building a network of supporters for a business who are described as
loyal followers who refer the product or service to others as mentioned by Nekatibebe, 2012.

41
 From human resources perspective

Generally, Stankovic-Rice, 2011 stated that Social Media can provide a platform for
human resources initiatives such as performance reviews and recruiting. On the level of
communication and interaction between team members, Munro, 2014 explained that Social Media
is promoting communication between employees (Having formal and informal online
conversations) and between management and employees (in shape of sharing project ideas and
interact to share ideas and get feedback) effectively whether the employees and management
together or away.

On employees' productivity level, King’ori, 2013 and Munro, 2014 concluded that
employees possess an increased productivity when using Social Networking tools through the
ability to communicate with coworkers as mentioned before and the ability to control and
organization of information that employees find when using such tools.

From knowledge management perspective

From informative stand point, Social Media could provide organizations with advantages
concerning knowledge sharing and management as indicated by King’ori, 2013 and Munro, 2014.
Social Media enables employees access resources (people skills and information), which in turn
leads to an increase in performance and productivity. Firstly, Social Media enables retention of
cumulative organizational knowledge and experience in a fully searchable format and in one place.
Secondly, based on the ability to access valuable knowledge, Social Media encourages
productivity by the provision of information related to work which directly improve one’s quality
of work (by enabling one to find solutions to complex problems) and the ability to Access
information which makes employees able to discover new opportunities and resources more
quickly.

According to Drobnjak, 2011and King’ori, 2013 Social Media increase the ability to meet
new business partners instead of attending events or exhibitions and identification of experts,
opportunities and potential business partners.

42
 Finally, Haataja, 2010, Drobnjak, 2011 and Stankovic-Rice, 2011 observed that Social
Media can develop a channel for soliciting consumer reviews and feedback in shape of two-way
discussion between company and consumer. Social Media instant feedback plays an important role
for two reasons. Firstly, feedbacks could support and motivate staff to alter behavior, improve
performance and increase employee morale. Secondly, customer reviews can be used to research
and develop new products effectively.

2.5.2 Disadvantages of Social Media in Business

Haataja, 2010, Drobnjak, 2011, Stankovic-Rice, 2011, Nekatibebe, 2012, King’ori, 2013 and
Munro, 2014 have discussed some pitfalls that could be caused through the usage of Social Media
for business purposes.
From marketing perspective

Haataja, 2010 and Nekatibebe, 2012 assured that Social Media is such a new marketing
channel and hard to measure and interpret since the matrices for measuring returns are still
relatively undeveloped, although they are evolving rapidly. Additionally, because of the
dynamicity of Social Media platforms and technology in general, there is a sort of lack of
consensuses on how to implement the use of Social Media in different activities such as launching
a Social Media campaign without clear strategic goal (setting objective).

On customer level, the misuse of Social Media in marketing could lead to rapidly changing
consumer behavior and expectations. Haataja, 2010 and King’ori, 2013 explained that unrealistic
customer expectations could be because of unreliable user generated content.

On reputation level, Haataja, 2010 and Stankovic-Rice, 2011 indicated that employees
who engage in social networking and blogging also can affect the reputation of the organization.
Employees might cause negative publicity through ignoring or not interacting with customer
demands and complains via Social Media tools.

43
 From human resources perspective

Stankovic-Rice, 2011 stated that the organization staff may experience sort of fear and
unfamiliarity with Social Media tools or inability in adopting the use of Social Media tools because
of employees’ lack of willingness to share information and manage more transparently. On the
contrary Stankovic-Rice, 2011 and King’ori, 2013 assured that also organization staff may cause
less productivity due to spending too much time networking and posting entries on blogs and
wiki’s or utilizing it for social purposes rather than work related postings.

On employees' productivity level, Munro, 2014 explained that enterprise social media
usage can act as a distraction to an employee and can decrease productivity. Some employees may
face difficulty in balancing work items because of constant connectivity and questions from other
employees.

On employees' communication level, also Munro, 2014 pointed out that Social Media
usage in organizations might cause breakdown in traditional communication methods and
traditional social interactions. Additionally, increase in openness of communities among team
members would lead to many differences in views and create sort of tension between employees.

From knowledge management perspective

Social Media usage by organization could cause some problems concerning knowledge
sharing and management. Munro, 2014 stated some of these problems such as the possibility of
bias by the group who are working on a certain content (Group Think), the questionable credibility
of the information in shared content, the misuse of open information by do not contributing to the
conversation, so there will be no organizational knowledge and finally the possibility of sensitive
information loss.

In the context of Social Media content, Haataja, 2010 and King’ori, 2013 stated that
some organizations may experience problems concerning lack of control over content and
complicated trademark and user right issues.

44
 Other problems that could be caused by lack of control over content such as Privacy
problems as stated by Drobnjak, 2011, Stankovic-Rice, 2011. Privacy problems are explained as
giving out too much sensitive information which can lead to identity theft, phishing attacks and
can help promote cybercrime. Privacy problems concerning Social Media from two perspectives:
classified or confidential information being shared online.the employees may feel uncomfortable
posting private information (managing privacy controls).

In the same context, Drobnjak, 2011 King’ori, 2013 explained other problems such as
viruses and malware and data leakage. Social Networks have been a main target for many hackers
because of the amount of user data which can be acquired upon a successful breach of the security
mechanism. Data Leakage is posting dates which is part of confidential road map or hand out
information about the current financial situation of the company.

2.6 Chapter Summary

The chapter objective was to establish a conceptual foundation for "Social Media" concept
since it constitutes the cornerstone for the research topic. The chapter reviewed Social Media
definitions from various perspectives (behavioral – media – conceptual and communication) and
why should organizations understand the meaning of Social Media concept. The following section
presented the historical evolution of Social Media concept including "Web 2.0" as a basic concept
behind the emergence of Social Media tools. The section included definitions of Web 2.0, the main
differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 and how this difference made by Web 2.0 affected
business and management world. The third section introduced various classifications of Social
Media tools or sites through which each business must understand and perform business activities
through it. The forth section discussed the birth of "Social Commerce" concept as a result of the
evolution of e-commerce in the era of Social Media. Finally, the fifth section reviewed what are
the advantages and disadvantages that Social Media introduces to business environment.

45
 CHAPTER THREE
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND SMES
This chapter reviews the literature concerning Business Development as an umbrella
concept for understanding why SMEs should adopt Social Media tools for business purposes. The
main issues that will be addressed in this part are: 1) General identification concerning Business
Development concept, 2) the theoretical base behind the adoption of Social Media tools by SMEs
and finally, 3) a developed research model to be tested with respect to the given literature
contributions.

3.1 Business Development

Several publications have appeared in recent years documenting efforts concerning the
term “Business Development” as a new approach in the management academia. Previous research
shown that despite Business Development is a well-known concept that business practitioners very
often use, it surprisingly received limited direct exposure and attention in the academic literature.
The lake of clear definition explaining what exactly is Business Development was discussed
practically by Davis and Sun, 2006; Kind and Knyphausen-Aufseß, 2007; Giglierano, Vitale and
McClatchy, 2011 and Lorenzi and Sorensen, 2014.

The first mention of uncertainty over the issue of clear Business Development definition
in the literature was by Davis and Sun (2005, 25). This was followed by Kind and Knyphausen-
Aufseß (2007, 177) trail to prove difficulty in exploring a possible range of activities that fall under
the category of business development by demonstrating that “in November of 2005 a search in
Google showed 59.300.000 results, but did not provide a precise definition of the term, which is
harder to find.” Moving from the academic side Giglierano, Vitale and McClatchy (2011, 29)
indicated that beside academic ambiguity, there is a practical variation in defining Business
Development. Giglierano et al. (2011, 29) stated that “In the practitioner world, many companies
now have parts of their organizational structure devoted to BD. While the definition varies from
company to company, BD has generally come to mean the development of new revenue for the
company.”

46
 However, recently the accumulation of Business Development academic contributions
leads to a series of attempts to define Business Development. This accumulation caused a change
in the previous perspective concerning the lack of precise Business Development definition.
Consequently, the literature attempts introduced eight convergent definitions where there are
subtle variations between definitions due to the difference of approaches from which the concept
was studied.

3.1.1 Defining the concept of Business Development

One of the first contributions concerning Business Development definition was

suggested by Davis and Sun (2005, 4) who studied Business Development as organizational
capability. Davis and Sun (2005, 4) stated that “business development as a capability comprised
of routines and skills that serves to enable growth by identifying opportunities and guiding the
deployment of resources to extend the firm’s value-creation activities into technological or market
areas that are relatively new to the firm.”

The second contribution was by Kind and Knyphausen-Aufseß (2007, 177) which was
more detailed definition with different approaches around the creation of sustainable competitive
advantages. Kind and Knyphausen-Aufseß (2007, 177) explained Business Development as “the
activity that increases, or is intended to increase, the profit, production, or service potential of an
enterprise; investment of capital and time that causes, or is intended to cause, the growth and
expansion of an enterprise; the process of moving a business towards the point where it can provide
its services and products to the entire outside group that wants them; the promotional side of
business networking; persuading, or intending to persuade, prospects that appear to have the
potential become customers, clients, or buyers; the process of promotion to build and sustain
working relationships that relate to the business purpose.”

The third definition was mentioned by Koppers and Klumpp (2009, 1) as cited in cp.
Eades (2003, 71) as cited by “Business Development is the creating of new opportunities through
new and different approaches.” The previous definition can be descried as a comprehensive
definition. The reason behind the adoption of this comprehensive definition by Koppers and
Klumpp (2009, 1) was that “Nowadays it seems like the term business development is spread
47
within most global corporations. While there might be individual definitions in the minds of
various practitioners and these definitions range from rather operational sales related objectives to
a more strategic and general approach of doing business."

The forth definition of Business Development was suggested by Duke (2011, 148) as
“Generally, business development describes the identification and exploitation of new business
opportunities by analyzing market trends and activities with a view to bringing in new customers,
while retaining or expanding transactional relationships with the existing ones. It is therefore a
process that involves prospection and development of a new products/services or technology. It
may also mean investing or even divesting corporate assets. Ultimately, it seeks to bring about
some discontinuity in the normal operations or scheme of things for a firm, under which it will
focus on doing or developing new things it had hitherto not been involved in.”

The definition was suggested based on Duke (2011) justify that “the importance of
identifying and analyzing business development needs for economic survival and sustainable
development will commence with an understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of the relevant
concepts.” Duke (2011) stated also that “Schumpeter’s (1936) theory of entrepreneurship arguably
addresses, and has a fit with, the business development concept more than any other. In seeking
new opportunities, firms become entrepreneurial and begin to innovate.”

The fifth contribution about Business Development by Giglierano et al. (2011) is

considered as a complementary interpretation and explanation for Business Development
definition mentioned by Davis and Sun (2005, 4). After demonstrating that Business Development
is one of the corporate entrepreneurial capabilities and the portfolio of business development
routines typically includes processes for recognition of opportunities and generation and
qualification of ideas by Davis and Sun (2005, 4), Giglierano et al. (2011, 31) added that “when
we think of BD, we have in mind activities aimed at finding and “developing” sources of new
revenue. In general, this could include new business or new revenue from new customers in
existing segments, new business from new segments, or new business from new industries. The
new business can come from new products, existing products, new versions of existing products,
or existing products offered with additional service features.” Simply both Davis and Sun (2005)

48
and Giglierano et al. (2011) concluded that Business Development is an entrepreneurial capability
aimed at finding and “developing” sources of new revenue.

The sixth definition was done by Sørensen (2012) who integrates different perspectives
such as discrete projects, specific modes of growth and organizational units, activities, and
practices with insights from business developers and venture capitalists to create growth
opportunities for enterprise. Finally, Sørensen (2012, 10) stated that business development is “the
tasks and processes concerning analytical preparation of potential growth opportunities, the
support and monitoring of the implementation of growth opportunities, but does not include
decisions on strategy and implementation of growth opportunities.”

The seventh contribution by Pollack (2012) indicated that Business development is “the
creation of long-term value for an organization from customers, markets, and relationships.” In
other words, Pollack (2012) explained that Business Development’s cornerstones are long-term
value, customers, markets, and relationships.

According to Pollack (2012) the focus concerning Business Development is about creating
opportunities for the value which is cash or money as he stated. This value will be created by
reaching new customers who would potentially pay for your products and services by entering new
markets and maintaining relationships with partners, customers, employees, the press, etc. Pollack
concluded that all the previous efforts are critical to the success of any business development effort
and as such they demand a bold-faced spot in any comprehensive definition of the term.

The final definition was presented by Lorenzi (2013, 1) stating that “While the definition
varies from company to company, Business Development has generally involved activities and
processes related to the identification and management of new business opportunities.”

3.1.2 Business Development Objectives

As reported by Koppers and Klumpp ,2009; Duke ,2011; Lorenzi and Sørensen 2014, it
was observed that Business Development objectives was discussed from different perspectives. In
general, Koppers et al. (2009, 2) stated that as a starting point, several business model
characteristics can be recognized as possible origins of new Business Development projects. In the
49
end these projects should lead to the overall objective of a growth perspective for the firm – growth
that can itself be divided up into the four subcategories sales, profit, product quality and service
i.e. image and customer perception.

Figure 3. Business development objective

Source: Koppers, C., & Klumpp, M. (2009). Integrated business development (ild Schriftenreihe
Logistikforschung No. 7). Institut für Logistik & Dienstleistungsmanagement (ild), FOM page, 2.

Since growth could be used by organizations as a wide objective approach for Business
Development, another studies are detailing Business Development objectives. One of perspectives
concerning Business Development objectives was stated by Koppers et al. (2009, 1) that Business
development aims at a change in the current portfolio that include any product or service which is
new within an enterprise. Another standpoint reveals that “Business Development’s objective is to
prepare and evaluate new opportunities that are in line with the overall corporate strategy. This
does not exclude the pursuit of business opportunities that may lead to the discovery of new
innovation streams that could impact on the overall future strategy.” )Lorenzi & Sørensen, 2014,
4)

To sum it all concerning this point Duke (2011, 150) indicated that Business development
objective is largely facilitated by cultivating or fostering new relationships with potential clients,
partners and other elements in the market, and maintaining currency with existing ones. These
relationships are targeted at exploiting perceived opportunities or creating totally new partnerships;
50
new markets; new ways of accessing the market; and, the delivery of new and more valuable
products or services. The overall goal or aim of business development is to help secure a wider
customer base and the delivery of the firm’s products or services in the most profitable way.

3.1.3 Business Development activities

The focus of recent research concerning the point of Business Development activities has
been on the companies’ efforts toward identification of potential opportunities as mentioned by
Davis and Sun ,2005; Duke ,2011; Giglieran et al. ,2011; Sørensen ,2012.

Despite this Agreement, the researchers also pointed out that “The tasks of business
development may vary from firm to firm and also needs to be customized according to the
individual market set-up” Koppers and Klumpp (2009, 4). Consequently, Ghorbani (2007, 20)
also indicated that Business development cannot be decreased to simple templates application to
most of situations faced by organizations. Creativity in solving new and unforeseen problems is
necessary to keep an organization on a path of sustainable growth as a Business development
objective. As a result of tasks variation, Davis and Sun (2005, 2) stated that because business
development capabilities are highly tacit and often relatively unstructured, they are difficult for
competitors to observe and copy.

Ghorbani (2007, 20) mentioned that Business development involves an ongoing process
of evaluating any potential business and then realizing its full potential, using such tools as
marketing, sales, information management and customer service, in order for a sound company to
be able to withstand competitors. The previous point was supported by two corresponding
approaches as at Tolis, 2005 and Sørensen, 2012 research. The first approach stated that Business
Development as a concern for the field of information management. Tolis (2005, 7) explained that
due to the importance of IT for organizations and organizational development, IT systems can
provide opportunities and possibilities that can be explored in business development and also give
rise to new capabilities and advantages for the organization.

The second approach stated that Business development activities are sharing similarities in
characteristics to the marketing, sales and strategic management activities of the business venture.

51
Sørensen (2012, 14-15) described the distinction of Business Development activities from other
business areas in its sole focus on activities concerning the identification, analysis and pursuit of
profitable growth opportunities. Many business functions claim to have this focus, but if all
business functions are responsible for focusing on profitable growth opportunities, nobody is. This
is one of the reasons why so much potential has yet to be realized in many business ventures.

According to the group of activities about business development routines, Davis and Sun
(2005, 4) stated briefly that Business Development typically includes processes for recognition of
opportunities, generation and qualification of ideas, articulation of business concepts,
product/service development, commercialization, licensing, internal or external venturing, or
acquisition.

Redundantly, Duke (2011, 151) discussed business development activities in sort of

sequenced tasks. Activities include the identification of the problem or opportunity that needs
change or intervention by the firm; review and evaluation of the firm’s mission, vision, objectives
and strategy; monitoring and collection of data/information from the market and external
environment; analysis and diagnosis of market place trends with the data collected and
development of actionable opportunities; examination of the firm’s strategic advantage factors by
objectively assessing its assets and capabilities; prioritization of the actionable opportunities; and,
actualization of the prioritized opportunities by negotiating and putting into action the programs
designed to realize them. All of the above actions require strong analytical skills, sound judgment
and good forecasting skills on the part of the business development person.

As mentioned before one of the most critical element required for Business Development
activities is strong analytical skills. Giglieran et al. 2011 conducted a sort of exploration interview
with a sample of entrepreneurs and marketers who were or had been responsible for BD. These
interview responses were focused on an analytic component to BD, involving market analysis.
Giglieran et al. (2011, 30) concluded that “BD starts with an environmental scan to start
identifying potential opportunities. This involves a sweep of the business press, trade press, and
third-party research. It may involve in-depth interviews with industry luminaries or insightful
customers.”

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 The business development activities that have received most attention are those that
involve relatively larger degrees of organizational change that entail initiatives with relatively
greater degrees of risk – venturing, strategic alliancing, and acquisition activities. Normal business
development activities in most IT firms involve lesser degrees of risk and organizational change
(but enough risk that deliberate risk management is part of the firm’s set of capabilities).

3.1.4 New opportunities as a primary incentive for Business Development

activities

The results of an exploration interview offered by Giglierano et al. 2011 suggested that
there was some agreement among the respondents on what BD includes. This result was similar to
the results obtained by Davis and Sun (2006). Giglierano et al. (2011, 30) stated that the key
elements that concluded out of the interviews were that BD focused on the following:

• discovering new opportunities;

• exploring the nature of opportunities and how to address them through direct contact with
potential customer and partners;
• constructing a business model for addressing an opportunity;
• working with partners to address the opportunity;
• launching the effort to address the opportunity and learning from the experience.

Accordingly, Duke (2011, 147) illustrated the importance of opportunity identification for
organizations survival and growth by claiming that a key agenda for organizational
competitiveness in sustainable way requires identifying new business opportunities or expansion
of the frontiers, scale and scope of the existing ones. Duke, 2011 following out that Identification
of new business opportunities typically involves creation of access to new markets; establishing
new supplier sources; innovating and delivery of new products and services to the market;
arranging new methods of exchange with third parties; cultivating new sources of financing; and,
establishing new operating partnerships.

Based on the previous illustration Duke (2011, 147) concluded that “All attempts aimed at
identifying and then actualizing new opportunities by a firm describe what business development
53
is. The process of establishing appropriate business objectives and/or assessing the firm’s current
position in its market becomes the starting point for identifying the business development needs.”

Resultantly Koppers and Klumpp, 2009 and Lorenzi, 2013 agreed that definition variation
concerning Business Development do not diminish the importance of opportunity identification as
a cornerstone for Business Development functionality. Lorenzi (2013, 1) stated that “While the
definition varies from company to company, BD has generally involved activities and processes
related to the identification and management of new business opportunities.” In addition to
Koppers and Klumpp (2009, 1) who explained that despite definitions variation from rather
operational sales related objectives to a more strategic and general approach of doing business,
they all imply in common that through business development functions opportunities for growth
are to be analyzed and realized.

Opportunities in Business Development were discussed from many points of view. Two
points of view were considered as main approaches for profitable opportunities from Business
Development perspective. These approaches were discussed by Davis and Sun, 2005 and Duke,
2011 varying from supporting new products or developing new markets and capturing a wider
share of customers within existing markets.

On one hand, Davis and Sun (2005, 1) described the principal business development
functions are finding profitable opportunities in business networks, developing and maintaining
partnerships, providing support for new product development, and recognizing and responding to
customer needs. The remarkable thing about Davis & Sun, 2005 study is that it supported the
recognition of new opportunities in Business Development function by providing support for new
product development.

On the other hand, Duke (2011, 151) Business development mainly helps firms identify
and take advantage of new opportunities in the market. More specifically, it facilitates firms’
ability to: develop new markets; capture a wider share of customers within existing markets; assess
the fit or match between the firm’s current assets with its need to maintain and/or expand the
business; and, build and manage relationships with third parties or partners.

54
 Tasks and processes stated by Kind and Zu Knyphausen-Aufseß also identified several
tasks, processes and human resources issues related to Business Development. In their case studies,
Business Development turns out to be a specific business function-performing the three following
activities:

1) the identification of new business opportunities, through a screening of market

information and networking activity;

2) evaluation of the most profitable opportunities, by analyzing potential partner profiles,

market and financial evaluation and strategic fit with the company;

3) negotiation of terms and conditions and adaptability of internal resources to enable

implementation.

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3.2 Social Media tools adoption by SMEs

A considerable amount of literature has been published around the new phenomena of
Social Media tools adoption by SME's as mentioned before. These studies reflected the
phenomenon with various perspectives. These perspectives varied with respect to the dominant
objective of each research and the theoretical background upon which the research was conducted.
Also the literature has shown up the different attempts to academically document the new
phenomena in different countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Kenya, United Kingdom, United
states, Germany, and India.

With respect to the existing literature, the adoption of Social Media tools in SME's has
been examined through different theories with various objectives. Some of these literatures
discussed Social Media tools as innovation and accordingly they depended upon theories such as
the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) in Mandal and McQueen,
2012; Verheyden and Goeman, 2013; Srinivasan, Bajaj and Bhanot, 2016, the Innovation
Diffusion Theory (IDT) by Wanyoike, Mukulu and Waititu, 2012; Verheyden and Goeman,
2013; Fosso and Carter, 2014 and the Actor Network Theory (ANT) by Sarosa, 2012.

Other literatures discussed the determinants of adopting Social Media as a marketing tool
from customer perspective in SMEs by using Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in Abdul
Razak and Md Latip, 2016 and the Attention, Interest, Desire and Action model (AIDA) by
Hassan, Nadzim and Shiratuddin, 2015. On the other hand, some literatures in the same line
studies Social Media adoption as a marketing tool from organization perspective in SMEs by using
two prominent market orientation scales by Narver and Slater (1990) and Kohli and Jaworski
(1990). This was explained in the research of Toker, Seraj, Kuscu, Yavuz, Koch, and Bisson, 2015
by conceptualizing and measuring two new constructs, namely "SM Maturity" and "SM Intention",
which can be utilized to measure SM adoption and future plans of SMEs.

56
 3.2.1 Social Media tools adoption by SMEs through (IDT12)

Firstly, one of the most prevalent theories that has been adopted in understanding the
adoption of Social Media tools by SME's was the Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT). An early
attempt revolving around the IDT model was done by Wanyoike, Mukulu and Waititu, 2012 in
urban Kenya. Wanyoike et al., 2012 stated that innovative use of Internet Social Networks is a
crucial intervention tool that has a catalytic effect on business performance. For this reason, the
purpose of the previously mentioned study was to gain a deeper understanding on the determinants
of Internet social networks adoption and usage by formal small enterprises in urban Kenya. The
study targeted the academic gap by investigating the relationship between Internet social networks
adoption as a dependent variable and perceived ICT attributes as an independent variable.

Accordingly, the research used the IDT model because it is recognized as the only theory
which has been used to evaluate the behavior of users in adopting new technological innovation
on the individual and organizational level Wanyoike et al, (2012, 50). In order to understand the
factors that derive the adoption of Internet Social Networks within SMEs, Wanyoike et al, 2012
used the five constructs that are applied by the IDT model to explain the dissemination of new
innovations through social systems over time. These constructs are relative advantage,
compatibility, complexity, triability and observability of technology in determining its
adoption/rejection by the user.

Wanyoike et al, (2012, 58) stated that the results of the study indicated that small formal
enterprises in urban Kenya are positively influenced to adopt Internet social networks by improved
customer satisfaction and creation of new business opportunities. On the other hand, compatibility
with current business operations and its triability before full implementation negatively influences
its adoption. This implies that the full potential of Internet social networks is not being realized
due to fear that employees might misuse it by chatting online with friends thus lead to low

12 Innovation Diffusion Theory: A theory which is one of the most popular theories for studying adoption of
information technologies (IT) and understanding how IT innovations spread within and between communities by
Rogers (2003). According to this theory, innovation is an idea, process, or a technology that is perceived as new or
unfamiliar to individuals within a particular area or social system
57
productivity. The study concludes that small enterprises have not developed appropriate use of
Internet social networks in their business processes that’s why those who are not using it said it’s
inconsistent with their business needs. This is further confirmed by the negative association
between its adoption and its compatibility and triability.

In the same model context, a research was conducted by Verheyden and Goeman, 2013
detecting whether SMEs differ significantly from larger enterprises regarding the adoption of
social media for business purposes. Concerning the research gap, Verheyden and Goeman (2013,
3) addressed that regarding its digital Agenda communications and JRC reports, the E.U. expressed
high expectations regarding the expected positive impact of social media on employment, social
inclusion and economic growth. These observations imply that the E.U. needs to focus on social
media adoption if it wants to attain its targets as defined in the Europe 2020 strategy. In
consequence given the aforementioned urge, the study seeks to address how and why organizations
do adopt social media for business purposes and to what extend there are significant differences in
social media usage between large enterprises and SMEs.

Verheyden and Goeman, 2013 explained that the central constructs of the survey are
derived from several models on the adoption and diffusion of ICTs of which the Innovation
Diffusion Theory (IDT) (Rogers, 2003) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of
Technology (UTAUT) (Venkatesh, Thong, and Xu, 2012) are the most important ones.
Verheyden and Goeman, 2013 pointed out that specifically the Unified Theory of Acceptance and
Use of Technology (UTAUT) is used in the research for explaining user intentions and subsequent
usage behavior of information systems. the research depended on four key constructs which are
gender, age, experience, and voluntariness of use. These constructs in turn helped the authors to
answer the question concerning the determinants for differences in social media usage between
large enterprises and SMEs.

On the other hand, to explain how and why organizations do adopt social media for
business purposes, Verheyden and Goeman (2013, 8) explained that the adoption of social media
is often the result of ‘convenient implementation’, mostly focused on achieving quick gains (as
cited in Annabi and McGann 2013, 63). In SMEs, decisions on the adoption of new tools cannot

58
be detached from the entrepreneur’s perception of their use. According to Marcati et al. (Marcati,
Guido, and Peluso 2008, 1583) entrepreneurs tend to think of innovations as incremental and more
dealing with production than marketing or accounting. Consequently, this study is therefore to
focus on a number of fields in which the adoption of social media has most value-creating
potential. These fields are determined based on a McKinsey report (2012), authors have identified
four domains, which we have labeled “internal communication”, “external communication”,
“knowledge sharing” and “recruitment”.

Furthermore, Verheyden and Goeman (2013, 7) assured that the survey is designed to be
conducted at the organizational level in contrast to adoption at the personal level. This means that
adoption is only considered as such when it is accepted as an official communication tool within
the organization.

The main results can be summarized as follows: 1) overall, within the corporate sector
most popular social media tools are internal networks and social network services, which are
mainly deployed for internal and external communication purposes, 2) our data seem to confirm
the idea that larger companies do indeed have the advantage over SMEs when it comes to the
adoption of social media. These results add to previous research, and indicate that further, more
broad-scale research is needed to test differences in social media adoption between SMEs and
large companies. Implications for practice and theory are discussed.

Following the same theoretical background, Wamba and Carter, 2014 identified that the
rapid growth of social commerce is mainly due to the rapid diffusion of social media tools and
channels such as Facebook and Twitter. They also indicated that Social Media tools is enabling a
radical transform in traditional firm processes by enabling value co-creation in emerging important
areas of interest such as better customer shopping experience and innovative communication and
collaboration between the firm and its stakeholders. Despite of this dominant role that Social
Media tools play in SMEs, Wamba and Carter (2014, 2-3) remarked a knowledge gap summarized
as the emerging literature on social media-enabled organizational transformation has been
demonstrated through the adoption and use of these tools by big organizations and few studies
have explored the adoption and use of social media by SMEs.

59
 Subsequently, Wamba and Carter, 2014 adopted a research question to bridging the
existing knowledge gap in the literature by addressing what the roles are of organizational,
manager and environmental characteristics of SMEs in the adoption of the social media tools in
Australia, the U.S., th U.K. and India. To answer the previous question, Wamba and Carter (2014,
4) built their research around the following innovation definition which is “any idea, practice, or
material artifact perceived to be new by the relevant unit of adoption” (as cited in Zaltman,
Duncan, & Holbeck, 1973). In Consistent with this definition, Wamba and Carter, 2014
considered both social media tools and their adoption and use to support intra- and inter-
organizational operations as innovation, also they declared that the dominant paradigm to deal with
the adoption and use of an innovation which is the diffusion-of-innovation theory.

Despite that the main adopted paradigm is diffusion-of-innovation theory, when it comes
to Social Media tools Wamba and Carter (2014, 4) assured that it has been noticed that a growing
number of scholars criticize this dominant paradigm and suggest it would be inappropriate to study
all the types of innovations because of the fundamental differences between the different types of
innovations. Accordingly, Wamba and Carter, 2014 followed an approach similar to the one used
by Hadaya and Pellerin, 2007 and bound the research to a set of determinants related to the firm’s
organizational characteristics (e.g., firm innovativeness, firm size), manager characteristics (e.g.,
age, gender, education) and environmental characteristics (e.g., firm geographic location).

Finally, the research ended to results indicate that there are a statistically relationship
between firm innovativeness, firm size, manager's age and gender and industry sector and the
adoption of Social Media tools in SMEs. In contrary the firm’s geographic location and manager’
education did not have a significant impact on the adoption of social media tools. Also Wamba
and Carter (2014, 14) concluded the importance of both the organizational level and individual
level of adoption. At the organizational level, firm innovativeness and firm size have a significant
impact on the adoption of social media tools by SMEs. At the individual-level, manager’s age is a
salient predictor of adoption. The research also indicates that in addition to the organizational and
individual factors, industry sector has a significant impact on the adoption of social media tools by
SMEs. That is why it is important for organizations to understand that multiple factors at multiple
levels impact social media acceptance.

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 3.2.2 Social Media tools adoption by SMEs through (UTAUT13)

Two of the most important researches by Mandal and McQueen, 2012 and Talukder,
Quazi and Djatikusumo, 2013 have used the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology
(UTAUT) as a base theory in their research. Despite that both have targeted the same objective by
explaining factors affecting the adoption of Social Media tools by SMEs, authors have investigated
the objectives from two different point of views under the same theoretical background.

Firstly, the work of Mandal and McQueen (2012, 1) identified that micro publishing
feature introduced by Social Media tools has revolutionized some of the small businesses that have
adopted social media, in that they have been able to circumvent large and expensive media to bring
awareness of their products to the market, and sell their products and services. Since UTAUT is a
dominant popular technology adoption theory that explains almost seventy per cent of variance in
adoption behavior, Mandal and McQueen, 2012 indicated that there is a knowledge gap
represented in a limited investigation has been performed on Social Media tools adoption by
businesses using UTAUT. Consequently, the primary research question raised to be how can
microbusinesses take advantage of the micro publishing feature of the social media tools for their
businesses?

Since the research by Mandal and McQueen, 2012 is unique in providing knowledge on
the applicability of UTAUT in social media adoption by microbusinesses, extension of UTAUT
from an organizational context to an individual consumer context is adopted in the research. The
extension of UTAUT is proposed in UTAUT2 where habit, experience, hedonic motivation and
price value are added as new constructs. Based on the forgoing Mandal and McQueen (2012, 2
& 7) extracted from the literature "A suggested an extended UTAUT model for Social Media

13 Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology: is a technology acceptance model formulated by
Venkatesh and others (2003) in "User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view". The UTAUT
aims to explain user intentions to use an information system and subsequent usage behavior. The theory holds that
there are four key constructs: 1) performance expectancy, 2) effort expectancy, 3) social influence, and 4) facilitating
conditions.
61
adoption by microbusiness" to be examined through the observations, unstructured interviews and
semi-structured interviews implemented through the action research data collection efforts.

Finally, within the microbusiness literature on technology adoption, the technical ability of
the owner is identified as the primary requirement in successfully leveraging the technology [26].
The construct technical ability along with personality, habit and experience are grouped together
as microbusiness owner characteristics. Literature identifies the scarce resources of
microbusinesses as the primary problem blocking the use of networking and sharing to undertake
business processes [26]. Time, allocated by the owner for using the technology, is a scarce
resource. Time and codification effort are grouped under the UTAUT construct of effort
expectancy, and relative advantage is retained in the main construct of performance expectancy.

The investigation identified five main constructs, which influenced the capability of the
owner to adopt and use the Facebook page. The most dominant construct is the characteristic of
the owner, which is crucial for adoption of social media. Second, the effort required for using the
tool, in terms of developing engaging content and devoting time to update the page, restricted use
of the page. Third, the owners found that the utility of the Facebook page was limited in
comparison to email marketing. Fourth, when the owners were given the example of successful
Facebook use by other businesses they decided to make effort with the objective of gaining new
customers. Finally, the owners did not gain new customers, which lead to reduction in use of the
page.

It is found that the major constructs of performance and effort expectancy played an
insignificant role, and social influence and facilitating conditions did not influence the behavioral
and adoption intentions of social media by microbusiness owners. Owner characteristics and
codification effort dominated the use behavior. The goal of microbusiness owners in gaining
additional customers leads to behavioral modification resulting in replacing of behavioral intention
with goals as a superior method of predicting adoption behavior within the context of
microbusinesses.

Secondly, the research of Talukder, Quazi and Djatikusumo, 2013 revealed that Indonesia
is a developing country where technology plays an important role in its economic growth. In
62
addition, research on ICT adoption in SMEs context in Indonesia is limited, especially in the
context of social media that constitutes an important aspect of ICT innovation in business.
Therefore, this research is designed to fill the knowledge gap by unveiling the social factors that
driving Indonesian SMEs’ adoption of technological innovation in an emerging economy and its
implementation in the future with accordance to new technologies.

In order to indicate these factors, Talukder et al., 2013 used the unified theory of
acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) as a theoretical framework base for the research. The
reason behind adopting the (UTAUT) theory in that it posits that the behavioral intention to use
technological innovation is determined by performance expectancy, effort expectancy and social
influence. The theory is well known for testing the moderating effects of users’ demographics on
the relationship between determinants of ICT and users’ behavioral intention.

Accordingly, Talukder et al., 2013 developed research model based on the theoretical
underpinnings mentioned before. Three categories of dimensions have been developed and applied
to SMEs in Indonesia. These are: Social factors, social network perception and social network
adoption. A total of five boxes are developed to reflect these dimensions. Three of the boxes
represent the determinants of social media adoption. The fourth box is concerned with employees’
perceptions of social media innovation as a dependent variable in relation to determinants. At the
same time this box also serves as an independent variable to the fifth box which is concerned with
the dependent variable representing social media adoption behavior.

The main findings of the research were that virtual social networking is the most important
variable that significantly and positively affects all other variables. It means that virtual social
networks encourage the adoption of ICT innovations. ICT innovations, particularly Facebook used
for business purposes and economic activities, would be very useful for individuals and their
organizations because Facebook does not apply membership fees to its audiences. This virtual
network technology is an effective tool for communication and currently attracting many
companies to promote their products and services virtually using Facebook sites.

Although studies with the objective of Social Media tools adoption as innovation by SMEs
can be considered as mainly originating from the theoretical background of the innovation
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diffusion theory (IDT) and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT),
literature revealed a research which adopted Actor Network Theory (ANT) in the same goal
context mentioned previously.

3.2.3 Social Media tools adoption by SMEs through (ANT14)

In his case study, Sarosa, 2012 used Actor Network Theory (ANT) to explain the adoption
social media networks in Indonesia due to its ability to explain the adoption phenomenon as an
interactive process between organizations and its environment rather than focusing on individual
factors that may affecting the adoption. Sarosa, 2012 justified the choice of the theoretical
background as typically adoption of innovation study used diffusion of innovation theory (Rogers
1995) to explain the phenomenon. Such approach has been heavily criticized due to pro innovation
bias view and the tendency to focus more on factors (drivers and barriers) instead of the adoption
process itself (McMaster 2001; McMaster & Kautz 2002). So, Sarosa (2012, 245) used Actor
Network Theory or ANT to explain the use of social media networks into the organization to
support business is considered as an innovation.

In addition to that Sarosa (2012, 246) indicated that Actor Network Theory characterized
by interactive approach rather than individualist and structuralist approaches, in other words ANT
is one of the emerging theories that attempts to explain adoption of innovation as a result of
interaction process. Sarosa, 2012 explained that ANT offers a more comprehensive view which
covers the interactions. It can be said that interactive processes offer more comprehensive
perspective of innovation within organizations where individuals' actions and the structure of an
organization would determine the adoption of innovation.

The key feature of ANT is Translation Process. The translation process consists of four
stages (Callon 1986):

14 Actor Network Theory: is an ongoing project that seeks to radically transform how social scientists talk
about society’s relationship to technology and other nonhuman actors. There are three major authors that write under
the banner of Actor Network Theory: Bruno Latour, Michel Callon, and John Law.
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 1. Problematisation. Key actors attempt to define the problem and roles of other actors to fit
the proposed solution, which was made by the key actors.
2. Interresement. Processes that attempt to impose the identities and roles defined in
problematizing on other actors.
3. Enrolment. A process where one set of actors (key actors) imposes their will on others.
The other actors will be persuaded to follow the identities and roles defined by the key
actors.
4. Mobilisation. This is where the proposed solutions gain wider acceptance. The network
would grow larger with the involvement of other parties that were not involved previously.
This growth is due to the influence of actors.

Social Media adoption by SMEs (Marketing perspective)

Adopting Social Media tools in SMEs from a marketing point of view in the literature was
explained from customer and organization perspectives. The use of Social Media tools for
marketing was explained based on customer experience using two theoretical backgrounds, the
Attention, Interest, Desire and Action model (AIDA) by Hassan, Nadzim and Shiratuddin, 2015
and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in Abdul Razak and Md Latip, 2016. The other
perspective which explains the organizational adoption of Social Media tools for marketing was
mentioned by Toker, et al. 2015.

3.2.4 Social Media tools adoption by SMEs through (AIDA15)

In the beginning, the Malaysian contribution by Hassan, Nadzim and Shiratuddin (2015,
263) spotted a knowledge gap where in the earlier literature, social media has been used
extensively as a marketing tool by large business organizations. However, for SMEs, the use of
social media in business is still at its infancy. In addition, there are limited studies on the strategic
use of social media in marketing for small businesses. Accordingly, Development of a strategy for

15 Attention, Interest, Desire, Action model: helps to explain how an advertisement or marketing
communications message engages and involves consumers in brand choice. The AIDA model proposes that
advertising messages need to accomplish a number of tasks in order to move the consumer through a series of
sequential steps from brand awareness through to action (purchase and consumption).
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using social media as a marketing tool in a small business could potentially reduce this practical
gap. Based on the above discussion, the research aimed to answer the research question: “What is
the appropriate strategy in using social media as a marketing tool for small businesses?”

To address the research question, Hassan et al. 2015, mentioned that from a theoretical
aspect, the public knows that the AIDA model is widely applied in marketing activities such as
promotions, advertising, sponsorship, and business through websites. However, studies on how
the AIDA model can be applied to the use of social media are still scarce and worthy to be
researched. Additionally, as cited in (Ashcroft and Hoey, 2001) the AIDA model can be applied
to Internet services as it is applied on other products and services.

This marketing communication model focuses on the transaction and purchases performed
by individuals. The emphasis is given to the recognition of the existence of a product or service.
In the digital world, marketing communications stress three important steps which are creating the
existence of a product or service, building relationships, and creating mutual value with customers
(Rowley, 2002). In view of this, the AIDA model fits well in the context of digital marketing.

According to Ashcroft and Hoey (2001), the AIDA model can be applied to Internet
services as it is applied on other products and services. The AIDA model has different levels. The
cognitive level is when the user's attention can be drawn. It is the first step in the communication
process where the consumer needs to know about the existence of such a service. At the affective
level, consumers have an interest in the services offered and in finding out more about what is
being offered. This leads to the desire to acquire the product or service. At the level of behavior,
the action takes place. The consumer uses the service provided as a valued resource.

As this is an in-depth study on the use of social media as a marketing tool in a small
business, it is appropriate to use a methodology that is able to provide a text description of the
complex situations that involve people and their experiences (Keegan, 2009). In this study, the
researchers used a focus group method and obtained the following results.

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Table 5.
Social Media as a marketing tool in a small business through the AIDA model

Steps Strategy
Attention a) Advertise on social media sites through the social media gateways such as
nufnagg.com and banners.
b) Become a follower in other social media accounts to make yourself/business
known to others.
c) Use tagging in social media properly.
d) Create a controversy on your product so that people will talk about it.
e) Use search engines to locate potential customers.
f) Use referrals by existing customers or fans.
g) Use traditional marketing strategies such as billboards, flyers, stickers, road
shows, and newspapers.
h) Create cross linkages in all social media and websites to generate visitors.
i) Advertise on websites of suppliers and collaborators (affiliate marketing).
Interest a) Provide clear information about the products, which include a brief
description of their main features, price, and
pictures.
b) Pictures of products (if relevant) should be of different angles.
c) Provide clear information about the company (business owner), which
includes the name of the company (or owner),
contact number, and link to the website.
d) Provide timely and up-to-date information about products or service offered.
e) Once a new product is released, advertise (including tweeting) quickly in
social media.
Desire a) Give promotions – special discounts, buy one get one, early birds, etc.
b) Organize contest and free gifts.
c) Update social media “wall” regularly.
d) Provide catchy “wall” notes with attractive pictures of products of regularly.
e) Monitor the comments and feedback from followers and responding quickly.
f) Offer good pre-sales customer service.
Action a) Clear ordering process.
b) Clear information on payment options (e.g. bank in directly, via checks,
online payment via e-commerce website)
c) Delivery options (self-pickup/delivery)
Source: Hassan, S., Nadzim, S. Z. A., & Shiratuddin, N. (2015), page 268.

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 After that, also the Malaysian contribution by Abdul Razak and Md Latip, 2016 studied
the idea of Social Media tools adoption by SMEs in marketing by addressing the factors that
influence the usage of social media as a marketing tool among the Small Medium Enterprises
(SMEs) in Malaysia. The reason behind Abdul Razak and Md Latip (2016, 1) to adopt this
objective lies in monitoring that Although having advantages for marketing purposes, SME
Corporation Malaysia (2014) reported low usage of social media by Malaysian SMEs at only
12.1%. Research on the factors influencing the usage of social media among SMEs is still in its
early stages.

3.2.5 Social Media tools adoption by SMEs through (TAM16)

Concerning the theoretical background for addressing factors influencing social media
usage for marketing activities by SMEs, authors used Technology Acceptance Model's (TAM)
perspective. TAM has simple characteristics and is appropriate to predict the usage of new
technologies in many areas. TAM is applied in this study to analyze the significant factors that
affect social media usage. The factors can be categorized into three which are usefulness, ease of
use and enjoyment.

After adopting the document analysis of previous studies as the method to achieve the
purpose of Abdul Razak and Md Latip, 2016 research. This academic contribution will be a
guidance for new entrepreneurs and marketers to use social media in future. All documents of
previous studies related to social media, social media marketing and Technology Acceptance
Model were analyzed to conclude that usefulness, ease of use and enjoyment have a positive impact
related to the use of Social Media tools in SMEs.

The research resulted in defining each of the three factors usefulness, ease of use and
enjoyment Abdul Razak and Md Latip (2016, 3-4). Firstly, Usefulness refers to the degree of how
SMEs believe that using social media will enhance marketing performance. Social media is useful

16 Technology Acceptance Model: Based on the theory of reasoned Action, Davis (1986) developed the
Technology Acceptance Model which deals more specifically with the prediction of the acceptability of an information
system. The purpose of this model is to predict the acceptability of a tool and to identify the modifications which must
be brought to the system in order to make it acceptable to users.
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to promote SMEs‟ brands and increase brand popularity. Another study showed that social media
can enhance viral marketing and is also known as the electronic word of mouth. As the ability of
social media to reach beyond most countries in the world is high, social media is thus useful for
access to global markets to expand brands, products or services.

Secondly, ease of use in this study can be defined as the degree of how SMEs believe that
they do not have to put more effort in using social media for marketing activities. Previous studies
stated that social media is easy to use. Social media offers easy ways for SMEs to engage and
communicate with customers. Besides, it is easy to deliver brand information through social media
and update information at any time. Furthermore, with interactive features, social media enables
SMEs to display ads in a variety of creative ways.

Finally, enjoyment in this study refers to the enjoyment of using social media by SMEs in
marketing activities without compulsion by any party.

Most studies so far have investigated the consumer side of SM adoption, however little
research is available on company adoption, especially with respect to small and medium
enterprises (SMEs). A big proportion of the limited work is either qualitative, relying on case study
methodology, or SM adoption is measured based on usage of different platforms like Facebook or
Twitter with single-item statements. Thus, literature lacks comprehensive measures capturing
different aspects of SM usage by the SMEs. Consequently, the present paper by Toker, et al. 2015.
extends current literature by conceptualizing and measuring two new constructs, namely SM
Maturity and SM Intention.
This research established two new constructs, the SM Maturity construct which
encompasses the adoption levels of SM technology in SMEs and explains these levels by
investigating the dimensions of social customer relations, social stakeholder communication,
social intelligence, and social responsiveness. The SM Intention, on the other hand, indicates the
future plans for presence, engagement, and commitment of SMEs in SM practices.

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3.3 Suggested Research Model

Figure 4. Suggested research model

3.3.1 Organizational Characteristics: Firm Innovativeness and Firm Size.

Wamba and Carter, 2014 identified a set of organizational characteristics that can explain
why a firm will adopt or reject a given innovation such as Social Media tools. The first
characteristic was declared as firm innovativeness where was defined as "the capability of a firm
to be open to new ideas and work on new solutions" by Kunz, Schmitt and Meyer (2011, 4).
Wamba and Carter (2014, 5) explained that firm innovativeness is an indication of organizations
that are committed to continuous learning and improvement in addition to the ability to adapting
to new technologies such as Social Media tools.

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 The second characteristics is represented in firm size. According to Zhu, Dong, Xu and
Kraemer (2006, 605) firm size represents several important aspects of an organization such as
slack resources, organizational structure and decision-making flexibility and it is a critical
organizational factor to influence IT usage. Also, Wamba and Carter (2014, 6) pointed out that
compared to large organizations, SMEs have a simplified organizational structure and also lack a
close relationship between managers and consumers and that would be considered as a strong
enabler of firm innovativeness and would trigger SMEs willingness to explore innovations such
as Social Media tools.

3.3.2 Manager Characteristics: Age, Gender and Education.

Wamba and Carter (2014, 6) additionally asserted that previous studies on IT adoption
and use by SMEs suggest that manager characteristics such as age, gender and education help to
explain why SMEs decide to delay or move forward with an investment in any given innovation.
The Importance of the manager within SMEs organizational structure is that he/she is considered
as the main decision maker, drivers of the overall management style and finally plays a pivot role
in the adoption process of IT innovation.

When it comes to manager's age, researches indicated differentiation on its impact over IT
adoption and use as well as initiatives related to firm reengineering. On one hand, Damanpour
and Schneider (2009, 499) concluded that older managers have been socialized into accepting
prevailing organizational conditions and routines and have greater psychological commitment to
them; hence, they will be less willing to commit to changing them. On the other hand, Wamba and
Carter stated that younger managers usually have greater learning capabilities and more recent
education, and are therefore likely to be more risk-taking and flexible.

Regarding gender, prior studies indicate that gender plays “a critical role in influencing
behaviors in a wide variety of domains” Venkatesh and Morris, (2000, 116). According to Wamba
and Carter (2014, 7) most of studies concerning the relation between gender and internet adoption
and use indicate that men are likely to be associated with technology while women are often
considered to be somewhat passive users.

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 In addition to age and gender, Wamba and Carter (2014, 7) concluded that manager
education level is considered to be a key enabler of manager openness and receptivity to
innovations. Managers with higher levels of education also have the ability to create a favorable
atmosphere for the adoption and implementation of innovation.

3.3.3 Environmental Characteristic: Firm Geographic Location.

According to Wamba and Carter (2014, 7) prior studies on IT adoption have identified a
set of environmental characteristics that may have an impact on the decision of a firm to invest or
delay its investment in any given innovation. One of these characteristics is the firm geographic
location (e.g., metropolitan area vs. non-metropolitan area). Different studies indicated that firm's
place have an impact on the firm's decision to adopt or reject a new technology. In the context of
Technology adoption, Harland, Caldwell, Powell and Zheng (2007, 1238) stated that urban
clustered SMEs were more likely to use e-business tools than rural SMEs. Additionally, a study
by Wamba and Carter, 2013 showed that geographic location has a significant impact on Twitter
adoption by SMEs.

In the same context, Wanyoike, Wukulu and Waititu, 2012 tried to understand the
determinants of Internet Social Networks adoption and usage by formal small enterprises in urban
Kenya. In order to attain the research objective, authors examined the relationship between Internet
Social Networks adoption and perceived ICT attributes which is known in the domain of
innovation diffusion theory (IDT) as innovation characteristics. Innovation characteristics were
defined by Fichman (1990, 3) as " Innovations possess certain characteristics (relative
advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, observability) which, as perceived by
adopters, determine the ultimate rate and pattern of adoption."

3.3.4 Innovation Characteristics: Relative Advantage, Compatibility,

Complexity, Triability and Observability.

IDT applies five constructs: relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, triability and
observability of technology in determining its adoption/rejection by the user.

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 Relative Advantage

According to Wanyoike et al. (2012, 50) relative advantage is defined as " the degree to
which an innovation is perceived as being superior to its predecessor in terms of economic
profitability, low initial cost, a decrease in discomfort, savings in time and effort, and the
immediacy of the reward." Reviewed literature by Wanyoike et al. 2012, showed that the greater
the benefits perceived by the entrepreneur, the higher the possibility of ICT adoption. Thus
perceived benefits are some of the factors that could affect Internet social networks adoption in an
enterprise. Benefits according to literature range between improving business efficiency,
operational effectiveness and the ability to reach out new markets and opportunities. Additionally,
with respect to innovation literature it is often assumed that an innovation is either adopted or not
adopted by individuals or organizations depending on their motivations and beneficial expectations
as stated by Iyanda & Ojo ,2008.

Compatibility

Secondly, compatibility is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as being

compatible with existing beliefs, experience and needs of potential adopters as stated by Wanyoike
et al. (2012, 51). Wanyoike et al. 2012, explained that literature assured that idea of a faster rate
of adoption occurs when an adopter perceives an innovation as meeting the needs of the client.
From customer perspective, organizations should determine the needs of their customers and then
recommend innovations that fulfil those needs. Additionally, from an organizational perspective,
Wanyoike et al. 2012 affirmed that innovation is more likely to be adopted if it is compatible with
individual job responsibility and value system.
Complexity

Thirdly, Wanyoike et al. (2012, 51) defined complexity as " the degree to which an
innovation is perceived as being relatively difficult to understand and use." According to literature,
it has been reported that previous studies on the adoption of innovations indicated that the adoption
of complex technologies requires organizational personnel to possess sufficient technical
competencies.

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 Trialability

Fourthly, Trialability is understood to be the degree to which an innovation can be used on

a trial basis before confirmation of adoption occurs. According to literature Wanyoike et al. (2012,
51) suggested that trialability has become an important feature of innovation because it provides a
means for prospective adopters to reduce their uncertainties regarding unfamiliar technologies or
products.
Observability

Finally, Wanyoike et al. (2012, 52) defined observability as " the degree to which the
potential adopter perceives that the results of an innovation are visible to others."

Social Media Maturity and Social Media Intention:

3.3.9 media maturity

As explained by Toker, et al. 2015. ,the SM Maturity construct encompasses maturity in

social customer relations, social stakeholder communication (except for customers), social
intelligence, and social responsiveness. These dimensions turn out to be parallel to what prominent
literature depicts as the main factors supporting market orientation.

• Social customer relations. Social customer relations dimension is one of the vital dimensions
of SM initiatives.
1- The first item corresponding to this dimension is about enhancing customer experience.
Customer experience management is the sum of managing what a customer thinks about
all aspects of a company and its products.
2- The second item measures use of SM for consumer relationship management (CRM).
According to literature, SM is quite relevant for CRM activities.
3- The third item is about using SM for lead generation. Interactivity within SM turns the
medium into a primary tool for higher levels of engagement. Hence, this item covers
SMEs’ activities related to increasing interest; and therefore, engagement of the current
and prospect consumers (Sashi, 2012).
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 4- The fourth item measures marketing communications activities related to brand building
and brand management aspects of SM, such as communicating promotions and
information to increase awareness.
Thus, all activities captured in items of social customer relations are quite important for
SMEs’ strategic presence within SM channels. These items basically try to measure how close
companies are to their consumers.

• Social stakeholder communication, items regarding SMEs' SM based communication

channels with all these social and economic actors in their stakeholder networks were
investigated, and employees, vendors and suppliers, distributors and retailers, as well as all
other social enactors such as the media, government, regulators, and interest groups loaded as
a separate factor than customers highlighting the effectiveness of SM as a tool for stakeholder
communication.
• Social intelligence, refers to organization-wide information generation and dissemination and
accordingly responding to customer needs and preferences utilizing SM content and online
social networks.
• Social responsiveness, Customer-to-customer and customer-to-company interactions in this
fast, real-time, contagious, and uncontrollable media proved the need for a redefinition of
responsiveness for better relationship management.

3.3.10 Social media intention

Additionally, Toker, et al. 2015. Mentioned that SM Intention is a measure of what the company
plans to do in the future in terms of developing
its SM performance for business results. The intention items are centered around the
engagement, presence, and commitment dimensions, which reflect the headings of possible
future action plans for SMEs.
• Social engagement. The items forming the social engagement dimension reflect SMEs’
intention to use SM strategically for customer engagement. Following the literature
regarding engagement, this dimension is named as social engagement, referring to SMEs’
intention to employ customer related SM strategies that are believed to lead to engagement.
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 Engagement within SM is quite an important strategic tool to generate enhanced future
business performance, including sales growth, superior competitive advantage and
profitability.
• Social presence. Social Presence in our study emerges as an extension of marketing
communications, internal marketing and competitive intelligence domains. Basically,
social presence is defined as an intention to ensure effective usage of SM to develop and
nurture relationships with external and internal stakeholders and to maintain a superior
level of coordination between internal departments. It also includes the effective usage of
SM to gather competitive intelligence and act proactively on the intelligence gathered.
• Social commitment. Social Commitment refers to SMEs' intentions to implement
structural and strategic changes within the organization in order to benefit from SM in a
more effective and efficient manner.

3.4 Chapter Summary

This chapter objective was mainly to establish the theoretical base for the research and
draw the research model upon which the hypothesis will be tested. The chapter started with the
idea of revealing the concept "Business Development". The chapter introduced various definitions
concerning business development, the objectives and activities that are included under the concept
and finally, how new opportunities constitute as a primary incentive for business development
activities. The second section reviewed the literature concerning Social Media adoption by SMEs.
This section included different theories that have been used by researchers to understand the idea
of Social Media adoption by SMEs. Finally, the third section was a suggested research model
which has been drawn out of the previously mention literature in the second section with a detained
explanation of each research variable.

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 CHAPTER FOUR
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents an overview of the research philosophy, methodology, and design
used to undertake the study. It uses the conceptual framework discussed earlier in conjunction
with SMEs literature to examine the characteristic determinants of Social Media adoption in the
Egyptian SMEs and the effect of this adoption over business development efforts of these SMEs.

4.1 Introduction

The previous chapter provided a theoretical aspect to this research study by identifying and
discussing a selection of innovation and marketing theories that have been employed within
previous Social Media research in the context of SMEs and applied to this research. A selected
construct from these theories was used to form a conceptual framework by using Innovation
Diffusion Theory (IDT) dimensions that were used in the context of Social Media tools adoption
by SMEs. The formation of the conceptual framework allows the identification and explanation of
an appropriate research methodology for justifying the research study objectives and an empirical
validation of the theoretical conceptual framework.

The study used survey questionnaire to collect data in addition to Statistical Package for
Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel were used to analyze the collected data. Multivariable
statistical analyses were employed to find out the relationship between the independent and
dependent variables. The study used descriptive statistics, correlations and multiple regression
analysis to analyze the data. Therefore, this chapter explains in detail the statistical methods and
scientific approaches that have been considered appropriate for this research study.

4.2 Research Methodology

In order to conduct a research, research methods and methodology both are required.
Kumar (2008, 1) defined research as "an intensive and purposeful search for knowledge and
understanding and social and physical phenomena".

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 In the same context, the difference between research methods and research methodology
has been defined by Kothari, 2004. On one hand, research methods are described as the methods
or techniques the researcher employs in performing research operations e.g. field research:
questionnaires, surveys and interviews. On the other hand, research methodology is a way to
systematically solve the research problem, therefore research methodology pertains not only to the
research methods but also considers the logic and reasoning behind those methods used or not
used. Consequently, the scope of research methodology is wider than that of research methods.

4.2.1 Research Philosophy

Out of various research philosophies, epistemology is the branch of philosophy dealing

with knowledge and its justification Johnson and Christensen, 2012. In other words,
epistemology examines the theory of knowledge, including the nature, scope and limitations of it
Collins, 2010.

According to epistemology, the available research paradigms are positivism, interpretivism

and constructivism. Before developing a research methodology one of the critical decisions when
designing a research study is the paradigm (or paradigms) within which the research investigation
is situated Maxwell, 2005. A paradigm is way of thinking and conducting research, not strictly a
methodology, rather a philosophy that guides how the research might be conducted Gliner and
Morgan, 2009.

4.2.2 Research Paradigm

After consideration of the underlying research philosophies available generally in research,

this research study will examine the impact which Social Media tools have developed on Egyptian
SMEs business development efforts using a positivist standpoint. This is on the basis of Orlikowski
and Baroudi, 1991 who stated criteria of their interpretation of positivist research, which is as
follows: (a) Formal propositions, (b) Quantifiable measures of variables, (c) hypotheses testing,
(d) drawing of inferences about a phenomenon from the sample to a stated population.

Using Orlikowski and Baroudi’s classification, it was found that:

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 a. this research has quantifiable measures that arose in the form of the survey items emerging
from variables that are in the form of theoretical construct (Model).

b. This research also formed hypotheses in "chapter two" and then tested in the subsequent
chapters.

c. This then allowed the study to draw inferences from an Egyptian SMEs population drawn
from a hard copy questionnaire disseminated in Benha City. This allowed this research to
then draw inferences regarding the adoption and use of Social Media tools within SMEs
population. This also aligns with the view that ‘quantitative data, analysis and methods
are usually used with the positivist paradigm’ Morgan et al. (2008, 12).

4.2.3 Deductive Research

Having ascertained that there is a scientific element to this research study, the next step
involved exploring and identifying the reasoning used in this research. This research is scientific
in nature and such research can be undertaken using either through inductive or deductive
reasoning or through a combination of the two Lockstrom, 2007, these reasoning methods were
considered. The relationship between theory and research is viewed differently depending on
whether inductive or deductive research is undertaken.

‘Deductive research is more generally associated with positivist and quantitative research.
It involves the development of an idea, or hypothesis, from existing theory which can then be
tested through the collection of data’ Gratton & Jones, (2010, 36).

As this research study involves developing a hypothesis from existing innovation theories
(IDT), it is deemed that a deductive research methodology will be undertaken within this study.
Further support for a deductive approach is the development of a conceptual framework that
contained constructs from existing theory and then forming hypotheses derived from existing
theory and research findings. This conceptual theory is then empirically tested using quantitative
data in order to produce, through scientific methods, evidence to prove or disprove hypotheses.

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4.3 Research Design
The research design is explaining the nature of the research as a quantitative or qualitative
research.

4.3.1 Quantitative Research

In the context of research design, Creswell (1994) defined quantitative research as a

technique that leads to the systematic investigation of a certain phenomenon using statistical,
mathematical or computational techniques. Quantitative research is applied when developing or to
proving mathematical models, theories and hypotheses pertaining to a certain phenomenon
Neuman, (2000).

According to Jupp, (2006) quantitative research application involves the collection of data
in numerical form for quantitative analysis; numerical data are collected in shape of scores, ratings
or scales. Quantitative research results can be generalized to a specific population since it based
on statistical sampling of the target population Edmunds, (1999, 2).

This research applied quantitative research design. The methodology was developed
following the review of literature that are well established in the area of social media adoption in
business, innovation adoption, and business development research.

Data were collected using the survey method. Specifically, questionnaires were distributed
among the owners of SMEs, CEOs, and managers of SMEs in Benha City, Egypt. The data
collected in form of form of numbers that were interpreted using statistical measures to form an
understanding of the world.

4.3.2 Quantitative Research Method

Quantitative research methods were originally developed in the natural sciences to study
natural phenomena. As with qualitative research methods, there are various techniques and
instruments for acquiring quantitative data, such as laboratory experiments, paper-based surveys
and online surveys.

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 The research instrument in this research was developed in form of questionnaires (paper-
based surveys) which were used to collect primary data from the SMEs in Benha City, Egypt.

Paper-based survey is a method of social research with three defining characteristics: first,
the content is social. Then, the form of data is systematic, structured and based around variables,
and finally, the method of analysis relies on comparisons across groups Jupp, 2006. A paper based
survey is a survey in which paper is the medium by which questionnaires are administered to
participants. With a paper based self-completion questionnaire respondents have time to consider
their answers, where they can spend time to think about the issue and answer the questions fully
without any pressure Brace, 2008.

4.3.3 Quantitative Research Method Selection

Based on the previous review of quantitative research approaches employed within existing
literature about Social Media and technology adoption in SMEs research (chapter 2) and the
previous explanations, it is apparent that the survey questionnaire approach provides the best
research method for obtaining primary quantitative data. That is, a literature review allowed the
formation of a conceptual framework (research model), but testing its application in practice is
essential. For this, data in the form of numbers obtained from the survey questionnaire is verified
and validated in real life.

The reasons behind adopting the survey questionnaire approach in this research are as
following:

a. Quantitative survey approach allows for the representation of a group of society residing
in a defined geographic parameter.
b. Further reasoning for using survey instruments are due to them being amongst the more
popular research methods which are employed in business research. This is because they
are easy to administer, provide responses that can be generalized to other members of the
population and can be used to predict behavior.
c. Paper based surveys allow for a majority of individuals to participate as many people are
familiar with the concept and no technical knowledge is required.

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4.4 Sample Design and Sampling Procedures

4.4.1 Population of the study

The intent of this research is to examine the factors that derive Social Media tools adoption
and usage by Egyptian SMEs in Benha City and the degree of this adoption for a better business
development results. The first step was to identify the target population for the sampling process.
It includes SMEs whom its top-level management (Owners and general managers) actually
adopting Social Media sites and others who will intentionally adopt Social Media sites in the future
as highlighted in literature Toker et al., 2015. Hence, the study’s population of interest was the
Egyptian SMEs covering all sectors specifically in Benha City. The research was interested in
those who adopting the idea of Social Media usage for better business development results
including both SME s with actual and future adoption thus, it was important to define both terms
"Social Media Maturity" and "Social Media Intention" clearly in order to identify the correct
sample.

SM maturity 'encompasses the adoption levels of SM technology in SMEs and explains

these levels by investigating the dimensions of social customer relations, social stakeholder
communication, social intelligence, and social responsiveness.' Toker et al. (2015, 8)

SM Intention 'is a measure of what the company plans to do in the future in terms of
developing its SM performance for business results. The intention items are centered around the
engagement, presence, and commitment dimensions, which reflect the headings of possible future
action plans for SMEs.' Toker et al. (2015, 7)

Since it has not found any statistics concerning SMEs who adopt Social Media tools in
Egypt, there must be another criterion for defining the chosen population of SMEs under the
research.

The research of Hasan (2016, 104) indicated that literature has highlighted the lack of a
universal definition for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) worldwide as it varies from one
country to another. Although they share common features globally, each country defines their

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SMEs and classifies sectors differently. The size of firm could be measured using different
methods such as the annual sales, size of the assets, value of in-paid capital, annual gross, net
revenue, or by the number of employees.
According to this research, "Value of in-paid capital" was the quantitative criteria that defines the
targeted SMEs under this research. The reason behind this is the availability of in-paid capital
values in the sample frame that has been acquired from Qalyubia Chamber of Commerce (Benha
– Egypt).

In Egypt, small and medium-sized enterprises are defined by law no. 141 of 2004 on the
development of small enterprises as:

“Every company or sole proprietorship practicing an economic activity, whether

productive, service-rendering or commercial in which the in-paid capital shall not be less than
50 thousand Egyptian pounds and shall not exceed 1 million Egyptian pounds and in which the
number of employees shall not be more than 50 employees, while the micro enterprise in-paid
capital shall be less than 50 thousand Egyptian pounds”
(SFD, 2004).

These projects represent around 98% of all industrial facilities in Egypt, and employ around
47% of this sector's labor. With that, it is clear that SMEs are capable of playing a major role in
the overall development of the Egyptian economy.

4.4.2 Sample Frame

Any sample selection procedure will offer some individuals a chance to be included in the
sample while excluding others. ‘The sample frame is the set of people that has a chance to be
selected, given the sampling approach that is chosen’ Fowler, (2002, 11). According to De Vaus
(1996) a sampling frame is the complete list of elements of the population from which a sample
will be drawn (De Vaus, 1996).

For this research, a sample frame was drawn from the Qalyubia Chamber of Commerce
(Benha – Egypt), which is a governmental database that provides services to licensed firms in order
to support the continuity of their business. This database contains majority of formal firms in
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Qalyubia governorate. They are required to register in order to take advantages of the chamber
services and benefits as following:

- Organizing the operations of various sort of business and support the rights of the
chamber members such as merchants and businessmen who are engaged in business
in the region of Qalyubia governorate.
- Monitoring and solving the problems that may face the business in the region of
Qalyubia governorate.
- Issuing business practice licenses and helping in any modification that may occur
to the firm's commercial register.
- Introducing "One Shop Services" for its registered firms which help in issuing and
documenting the firm contract and issuing tax cards.

The database concerning "Qalyubia governorate" contains approximately 440,000

registered formal firm out of them Benha City was one of cities with the largest share of registered
formal firms. Since it was difficult to have access to all firms on the list and there is no indicator
on Social Media use by these firms, it was requested from the chamber to provide the researcher
with a representative sample of SMEs according to their distribution by paid-value capital as an
indicator available in the chamber database. A sample frame was handed to the researcher with a
list of 2960 SMEs in Benha City with in-paid capital ranging from 10,000 LE to 100,000 LE.

Due to the limited availability and accuracy of datasets in Egypt, this research relied on
this framework due to its accurate sample frame of SMEs.

The population meets all the following criteria:

- Small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) as those firms in-paid capital is less than 1 million
Egyptian pounds.
- All sectors are included.
- Cover the targeted geographical location of the research which is Benha City.
- The firm must be independent or privately owned.

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 - The business has been operating and renewing its registration at the chamber of commerce
recently.

One of the main barriers faced this research was the lack of compiled data. Egypt is
considered to be one of the countries that the response rate is low with no comprehensive data on
SMEs regarding their Social Media adoption. In designing the sample, it will be difficult to follow
an ideal probability sample design which consists of all SMEs with actual or future adoption of
the idea of Social Media usage for business development in Egypt and then select a random sample
from it.

4.4.3 Sample Size

In order to generalize from findings of a survey, the sample needs to be of an adequate size
(Denscombe, 2007). Of the many issues involved in sample design, a common question posed to
survey methodologists pertains to the size of a sample, in other words, how large a survey sample
should be (Fowler, 2002). ‘The sample size decision, however, like most other design decisions,
must be made on a case-by-case basis, with the researchers considering the variety of goals to be
achieved by a particular study and taking into account numerous other aspects of the research
design’ Fowler, (2002, 35).‘In practice, the complexity of the competing factors of resources and
accuracy means that the decision on sample tends to be based on experience and good judgment
rather than relying on strict mathematical formula Hoinville et al, (1985, 73). It has also been
found that ‘determining sample sizes is far more likely to be based on the amount of funds available
instead of on a strict calculation of the limits of sample sizes Dillman, (2007, 209). Points of
consideration for sample size should include the likely responses rate, resources available and the
accuracy of results (Denscombe, 2007). With these points in consideration the following sample
sizes were determined according to the research phase being undertaken.

According to the sampling method adopted to determine the sample size, the research
used Convenience sampling which is part of the non-probability sampling. ‘Convenience sampling
is defined as the sampling method that involves choosing the nearest and most convenient persons
to act as respondents. The process is continued until the required sample size has been reached’
Robson, (2002, 265).
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 For convenience sampling, the main idea is to pick sample of SMEs according to what is
convenient. In practical, the convenience usually is presented through location and existing
relationships. Saunders et.al., (2009, 509). Since the location addresses in the given SMEs sample
framework were not totally clear and specific in addition to the difficulty that faced the researcher
in identifying the address of various SMEs following the probability sampling method, following
non-probability sampling (convenience sampling method) was the optimal given choice under the
mentioned research circumstances.

Finally, the sample of the study is 150 participants taken from the owners or managers of
SMEs from various product and service sectors in Benha City.

In choosing the sample size (150 participant), the study used suggestion from Hair,
Anderson, Tatham and Black, 1998 who mentioned that at least twenty observations for the
analysis of variances test is recommended in a cell, although a larger size may be required for
acceptable and more emphatic statistical power. For the regression analysis, Hair, at al., 1998
suggest that for each independent variable, there should be five observations. Although the
minimum ratio is 5 to 1, the desired level is between fifteen to twenty observations for each
dependent and independent variable. When this level is reached, the results should be generalized
if the sample meets the criteria. Based on their suggestion that fifteen to twenty observations for
each dependent and independent variable should be used to determine the sample size, a sample
of 150 respondents was needed because this study uses seven variables - one dependent and six
independent. This number is considered to be sufficient as Hair et al., 1998 indicated that the
minimum sample size is 100 to 150 and considered a maximum of 500 will be sufficient.

4.5 Data collection

Data collection procedure is about screening and utilizing two types of data (Secondary
and Primary data). Primary data is data collected for the first time by the researcher for the specific
research project in hand which is called primary research, whereas, secondary data is data
originally gathered for some other purpose which is called secondary research Stevens et al, 2006.

For this research both primary and secondary research will be conducted. Primary data will
be used to produce data specifically for the aims of this research, and would have not previously
86
been interpreted by any other researchers. Secondary data for this research will be utilized in
applying source documents in the forms of archival documents, such as reports, journal articles,
datasets or web sites in order to fulfil the research aims and establish the research model.

The following sections provide further details of these data types, sources and applications
within this research study.

4.5.1 Primary Data

For this research, primary data was employed in the following way. The primary procedure
of the data collection was through paper-based survey questionnaire. The researcher first obtained
permission from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics to conduct the research
over the population of SMEs in Benha City - Egypt. Qalyubia Chamber of Commerce (Benha –
Egypt) provided the researcher with contact details of all potential respondents as explained
previously.

Questionnaires were then handed personally to the respondents. The questionnaire was
directed to the managers or owners of SMEs. Cover latter describing the research aim was attached
with the questionnaire. The respondents were given fifteen minutes to return the completed
questionnaire. All these activities took place in approximately one month. A total of 150
questionnaires were handed to the respondents. After dissemination, a total of 120 questionnaires
were received. Some questionnaires were incomplete and about 30 refused to cooperate in the
research. Finally, 90 completed questionnaires were taken for analysis.

4.5.2 Secondary data

This research also utilized secondary data. Secondary data (information) consists of
sources of data and other information collected by others and archived in some form. These include
government reports, industry studies, and syndicated information services as well as traditional
books and journals found in libraries (Stewert, 1984).

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 When selecting and evaluating secondary sources of data considerations include: what was
the purpose of the study, who was responsible for collecting the data, what information was
actually collected and when was the information collected (Stewert, 1984).

4.6 Data Analysis

To analyze the data, the study used SPSS software. The data were analyzed using
multivariate data analysis technique. The researcher conducted frequency analysis, correlation and
regression analysis. Descriptive analysis was used for frequency and percentages which described
general information about the respondents. The study examined the validity and the reliability of
the instruments.

The main analysis in this study was multiple regression analysis to examine all hypotheses.
Multiple regressions are used in order to examine the relationship between two or more
independent variables, or predictors, and the dependent variable. Multiple regression analysis
(MRA) was also used in this study because this study had two moderating variables. Before
running the multiple regression analysis, it is important to meet the assumptions of regression
analysis in order to ensure that the analysis can generate valid and reliable results. The data that
had already been collected was tested to investigate whether there were any violations of the
regression assumptions that should be detected and revised. Assumptions in multiple regressions
are normality, multicollinearity, homoscedasticity/heteroscedasticity, linearity, and independence
of residuals.

4.7 Questionnaire construction

A letter introducing the study and its purpose was printed on the front cover of the
questionnaire booklet. The letter explained why the study was being conducted, the importance of
each respondent’s response, and the procedure for returning the questionnaire. The respondents
were invited to voluntarily participate in the study. Respondents were also assured that their
responses to the survey were anonymous. The telephone number and email address of the
researcher were provided for those who might want more information about the study (Babbie,
2004).
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 It was important to develop clear, short and useful questions in order to avoid errors.
Therefore, the questionnaire was in simple language and tried to avoid negative questions by using
direct ones. The questionnaire adopted the general rule of thumb for designing it as Saunders et
al. (2009) recommended. It used easy questions at the beginning, sensitive ones later, and general
questions at the end. The questionnaire length is considered to be important in increasing the
response rate of participants. The smaller it is, the more likely will they participate and answer the
required questions. Saunders et al. (2009) pointed out that the length of a questionnaire should be
around six to eight A4 page which was taken into consideration.

The collected raw data was cleaned and formatted using Microsoft Excel. Printed copies
of the questionnaires were distributed to SMEs owners/ managers in Benha City. A total number
of one hundred and thirty (130) responses comprising of mixed gender, different ages, cultural,
and educational background were captured. From the returned questionnaires, only 90 (60%
response rate) were useful.

4.7.1 Questionnaire Development Process:

The process of a questionnaire development is a vital step to minimize possible mistakes

and increase the number of responses through collecting the required data. Before constructing a
questionnaire, it is important to understand and decide what information is to be collected and
from whom. In this study the questionnaire used the following question type:

• Closed questions: in these questions the respondents had to choose from a list of possible
answers. Such questions are useful when all the possible responses are considered. Five
types of closed questions were used in this study as identified by Saunders et al. (2009) as
follows:
- List: respondent choose from a list of possible answers;
- Category: respondents choose only one from a given set of categories;
- Rating: usually uses the Likert-style rating scale to choose from a range of
statements in which the respondents are asked to strongly agree or disagree with.
It is used to collect opinion data.
- Quantity: this gives number and amount to the question.
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 Parts of the questionnaire were designed using a five point Likert scale as adopted from
the previous literature. A five point Likert scale was used to present a series of statements in order
to determine the attitudes of the respondents towards the adoption of Social Media tools in different
SMEs ranging from actual usage (SM Maturity) to future usage (SM Intention) and the effect of
this adoption over business development efforts executed by SMEs owners.

Likert scale usually asks respondents the degree to which they agree or disagree with
statements. Similarly, a five point Likert scale looks attractive and efficient in conserving space,
and also allows researcher to ask several questions that have the same set of answers. The Likert
response categories, such as strongly agree (1), agree (2), neutral (3), disagree (4), and strongly
disagree (5) were used for the study (Babbie, 2004; Ruane, 2005).

4.7.2 Questionnaire Content

Each of the questionnaires consisted of three parts. Part one focused on general description
of features that constitute the current pattern of Social Media usage by SMEs in Benha City. Part
two is concerned with factors that drive or inhibit Social Media tools adoption and usage by the
Egyptian small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Part three is designed to measure the degree of
social media maturity and intention among SMEs owners and the impact of this adoption on
business development efforts of these SMEs. Part two and three were designed mainly for testing
the research hypothesis

a. Part One

The first part of the questionnaire was designed to capture a general description of the
nowadays idea about Social Media adoption in SMEs. Literature had discussed the adoption of
social media sites for the business performance of SMEs by describing the representation of SMEs
and the activities most potentiated Belo, Castela and Fernandes (2013). Accordingly, this
questionnaire incorporated part of these efforts to address the general theme of the Social Media
actual adoption in the Egyptian SMEs (specially in Benha City). Some questions were adopted
from the research of Belo, Castela and Fernandes (2013) in the design of the questionnaire such
as:

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 - If the owner or the manager of the SME is using Social Media or not (Q1).
- Whether the company is represented in Social Media or not (Q2).
- If not represented what are the reasons behind not incorporating Social Media sites in
SME's management? (Q3).
- If the SME is actually or expected to be represented on Social Media, in which Social
Media sites is your company represented? (Q4).
- The activities which are more benefited by the representation participation of the SMEs in
Social Media sites (Q5).
- the service or the product that your company present (Q6).
- And finally, a group of questions trying to document the current perception of SMEs
owners/ managers around the idea of Social Media adoption (from Q7 to Q10)

This part of the questionnaire used closed questions to collect such data by different
methods as explained previously.

b. Part Two

The second part of the questionnaire was designed to study the main characteristics that
derive Social Media adoption among Social Media Maturity and intention groups of SMEs.
Literature had discussed various types of characteristics that derive Social Media sites adoption
and usage by SMEs. Some of these characteristics was explained in the literature in accordance to
Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) such as organizational characteristics, manager characteristics,
environmental characteristics and innovation characteristics.

Hence, this questionnaire incorporated those variables' measurements into the design such
as: degree of the firm innovativeness, number of firm employees (firm size), owner's or manager's
age, education and gender, the geographical location of the firm and innovative characteristics
such as the related advantages, compatibility, complexity, triability and observability. Some
questions were adopted from the research of Fosso et al. (2014) and Wanyoike et al. (2012) in the
design of the questionnaire such as:

- Firm size (Q11).

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 - Firm geographical location (Q12).
- Firm owner/ manager age (Q13).
- Firm owner/ manager gender (Q14).
- Firm owner/ manager education (Q15).
- Firm innovativeness (Q16 and Q17)
- Firm innovation characteristics (Q18 and Q19)

This part of the questionnaire used closed questions to collect such data and also used
Likert scale.

c. Part Three

The third part of the questionnaire was designed to measure the effect of current adoption
and the future intentions based on the decision toward the usage of Social Media tools by Egyptian
small and medium enterprises (SMEs) on business development efforts by these SMEs. On one
hand, it has been discussed in the literature of Social Media how to measure two new constructs,
namely SM Maturity and SM Intention, which can be used by subsequent researchers to measure
SM adoption and future plans of SMEs. Accordingly, this questionnaire used the psychometric
properties of both constructs that were identified by the empirical study of Toker et al., 2015.

On the other hand, to measure business development efforts conducted by targeted SMEs,
these efforts have been identified in accordance with previously mentioned literature research. One
of the most collective and remarkable contributions in the topic of business development was done
by Kind and Knyphausen-Aufseß, 2007 who explained what is business development activities.
After that these activities have been explained in details by other contributions such as in Duke,
2011. With respect to the previously mention contributions, these efforts have been used in the
questionnaire to measure business development efforts being conducted by SMEs.

- Social Media Maturity (Q20)

- Social Media Intention (Q21)
- Business Development efforts (Q22)

This part of the questionnaire used Likert scale for collecting data.
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4.8 Variables of the study

The variables of the study were developed from the theoretical foundation of Innovation
Diffusion Theory (IDT) (Rogers 2003) for factors affecting Social Media adoption by SMEs and
the capability maturity model (Paulk et al., 1993) respectively IT Governance (Becker et al., 2009)
for measuring the degree of Social Media Maturity and Intention. Seven main categories of the
variables were used in this study: Organizational characteristics, manager characteristics,
environmental characteristics, innovation characteristics, social media maturity, social media
intention and business development.

There are two sub-factors in organizational characteristics: firm innovativeness and firm
size. There are also three sub-factors in manager characteristics: age, gender and education.
Furthermore, environmental characteristics consist of one sub-factor: Firm geographical location
and innovation characteristics which includes Relative advantages, compatibility, complexity,
triability and observability. The other variables in this research were: social media maturity, social
media intention and business development.

Table 6.
Variables of the study

Research Questions Independent variables Dependent variables

1- What is the current situation ----- -----
of Social Media tools
adoption in the context of
small and medium enterprises
in Egypt for business
purposes?
2- What are the factors that drive Organizational Social Media maturity:
or inhibit Social Media tools characteristics: •Social Customer Relations.
adoption and usage by the •Firm innovativeness. •Social Stakeholder
Egyptian small and medium •Firm size. Communication.
enterprises? Manager characteristics: •Social Intelligence.

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 •Age.
•Gender.
•Education.
Environmental
characteristics:
•Firm geographical location.
Innovative characteristics:
•Relative advantages.
•Compatibility.
•Complexity.
•Triability.
•Observability.
3- To what extend Social Media Social Media maturity:
tools adoption (whether •Social Customer Relations.
actual maturity or future •Social Stakeholder (profit).
adoption intention) by small Communication.
and medium enterprises in •Social Intelligence.
Egypt have affected business •Social Responsiveness
development? Social Media intention:
•Social Engagement.
•Social Presence.
•Social Commitment.
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•Social Responsiveness
Social Media intention:
•Social Engagement.
•Social Presence.
•Social Commitment.
Business Development:
•Sources of new revenues
•Production or service
potential.
•Investment of capital and
time.
•Promotional activities.
•Building and sustaining
working relationship.
•Creation of growth and
expansion opportunities of
enterprise.
4.9 Chapter Summary

This chapter objective was to introduce the methodology upon which the research was
conducted and by which results were presented. The following research methodology has been
planned with respect to the research objectives and problem. The research followed epistemology
research philosophy, positivistic research paradigm and deductive reasoning.
Concerning the research design, the research adopted a quantitative research method which
was "Paper-based questionnaire". Population of the study was chosen to be the Egyptian SMEs in
Benha City who are adopting the idea of Social Media use in business development. The sample
frame was obtained from the Qalyubia Chamber of Commerce (Benha – Egypt) with respect to
certain determinants which describe precisely what is the targeted sample for the next step. When
determining the sample size, the research used convenience sampling method and the chosen
sample size was 150 participants.
The research also depended on various sources in data collection since it adopted both
primary and secondary data. In data analysis, the research use both Microsoft Excel and SPSS
software from screening and analyzing data. The questionnaire data were analyzed with multiple
regression (Stepwise method) because of the large number of research model independent
variables. Finally, the chapter described the research questionnaire and how it has been crafted to
measure the research variables.

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 CHAPTER FIVE
RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter describes all the analyses gathered from a survey of 150 Egyptian SMEs.
Descriptive analysis is used to present a general profile of Egyptian SMEs adoption of Social
Media tools and the characteristics of the sample whist provide an adequate statistical support to
the findings. Moreover, multiple regression will be utilized to better understand which
characteristics that explain Social Media adoption among SMEs two groups and to which extend
Social Media adoption among SMEs two groups has affected business development efforts.

5.1 Research Results

5.1.1 Descriptive analysis

The study was intended to include 150 SMEs; 60 owners refused to participate and were
excluded from the study. Ninety owners accepted to participate and answered the questionnaire.
On verification of responses to questionnaire 24 owners were neither user nor intended to use
social media (SM) and were also excluded. Forty-eight owners were SM users and were considered
as SM maturity group (SMM) and 18 owners were intending to use SM and were considered as
SM intention group (SMI); thus, the responses of 66 owners were analyzed.

Table 7.
Study participants flow-sheet

Study Sample Number (%) Decision

1- Refused to participate in the study 60 40 Excluded
2- Accepted to - Social media maturity (SMM) 48 32 Included
participate - Social media intention (SMI) 18 12
in the study - Non-users or intentionally user 24 16 Excluded
Total 150 100

To achieve the research first objective and create a general description of the current profile
and pattern of Social Media use by SMEs in Benha City - Egypt, the answers to the questionnaire
were analyzed.

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 General Profile

This section of the questionnaire required respondents to give general information on the
current features and status of Social Media tools adoption in the Egyptian small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) in accordance with business purposes.

The first question was designed in order to find out SMEs owners' categorization according
to using Social Media (SM) from personal use perspective. As shown in Figure 5, the majority of
SMEs owners in the sample (77%) use Social Media tools from a personal perspective and the rest
of the sample (23%) do not use it even as a basic social tool personally.

No
23%

Yes
77%

Yes No

Figure 5. Do you use Social Media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube?

The second question was designed also to find out SMEs owners' categorization according
to the use of Social Media from business perspective. As it shown in Figure 6, the majority of
SMEs owners in the sample (73%) use Social Media tools as a business tool to stablish or manage
their SMEs and the rest of the sample (27%) do not accept the involvement of Social Media in
performing there SME's business activities.

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 No
27%

Yes
73%
Yes No

Figure 6. Are you planning to establish a small business on Social Media sites or actually your
business usually uses Social Media sites for performing its activities?

According to the previous two questions it has been concluded that the research explained
three groups. Firstly, Social Media Maturity group who are described as actual adopters of Social
Media tools in managing their SMEs. This group is represented by 48 owners (53%) who are
mutually use Social Media for personal and business purposes.

Secondly, Social Media Intention group who are described as future adopters of Social
Media tools in managing or establishing their SMEs. According to the research, this group majority
use Social Media tools actually for personal purposes and willing to use it in managing SMEs
activities by 14 owners (16%) and about 4 owners (4%) reported that they are not interested in the
personal use of Social Media tool but they are convinced with the idea of using these tools in
managing their businesses in the future.

Finally, non-adopters of Social Media tools group who are found to be some of them not
accepting the personal use of Social Media tools as reported by 17 owners' (19%) and about 7
owners (8%) are accepting the personal use but all of them refusing the adoption of these tools for
business purposes in the context of their SMEs.

The third question was designed to understand what are the obstacles that prevent the
research third group (non-adopter of Social Media tools) from incorporating these tools in
managing their SME's. As shown in figure 7, it can be seen that Social Media tools are not
applicable to SMEs' type of business as the most chosen obstacle by 79% of respondents. The

98
second obstacle is the believe of respondents that Social Media tools are only for socialization not
from performing business as indicated by 75% of respondents. The third obstacle is about the lack
of computer in the work place as indicated by 67% of respondents and in the fourth place was the
obstacle of lacking internet connection to the computer available in the work place as reported by
63% of respondents.

In the fifth place respondents indicated that Social Media incorporation in SME's is
expensive, in the sixth place it was mentioned that about half of respondents suffer from lack of
computer skills and finally 25% of respondents added not mentioned obstacles such as lack of time
enough time to follow customers and update information on Social Media concerning the SMEs,
lack of experience about how to use Social Media in business and what are the expected benefits
that could be gained from that use, SMEs' customers are not available in Social Media sites and
consequently cannot be targeted, Inability of presenting the SMEs business on Social Media sites
and finally fear of failure after experiencing unsuccessful experience.

Figure 7. If your answer is (No), then what are the reasons behind not incorporating Social Media
sites in SME's management?

The fourth question was designed to find out what are the most used Social Media sites
among Social Media Maturity and Social Media Intention groups (66 respondent). According to

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Figure (8) "Facebook" was on the first place where 100% of respondents use it or willing to use it
in both groups. "Instagram" was in the second place followed by "Twitter" and "Google +" as the
last two used tools while managing SMEs. It was noticed also that no respondents mentioned
"YouTube" and "LinkedIn". Finally, about half of both SMEs groups (SMM and SMI) indicated
that they are using other Social Media tools such as "WhatsApp".

100%
100%
100%
80% 44%
54%
SMEs

60% 38% 22%

40% 5% 0% 0% 0%
20% 5% 0% 2% 0%
0%
1- 2- Twitter. 3- 4- Google 5- 6- 7- Other.
Facebook. YouTube. + LinkedIn. Instagram

SMM SMI

Figure 8. If your answer is (Yes), then in which Social Media sites is your company represented?

The fifth question was designed to determine the business activities that are mostly
performed by SMEs through Social Media. Figure 9, shows that marketing as business activity
performed through Social Media was reported with the highest respond by 49% of both the SMM
group and SMI group. Promotional activities were reported to be also in the first place by 49% of
SMM group but in the second place by 72% of SMI group. The use of Social Media tools for
opinion search concerning the SMEs presented products and services was ranked second by 88%
of SMM group, however 61% of SMI group expecting to use social Media for opinion search
which brings this activity in the fourth place.

Concerning the use of Social Media by SMEs as a tool for communicating with customers,
this activity was ranked third by both SMM group (69%) and SMI group (67%). Also, the use of
Social Media for new product launching was ranked third by 69% of SMEs respondents in SMM
group but on the other hand this activity ranked fourth as reported by 61% of SMEs respondents
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in SMI group. The business activity of being closer to potential clients and accessing new markets
through Social Media tools was ranked fourth by 63% of SMM group and second by 72% of SMI
group.

Also Figure 9, reported that the use of Social Media tools to compare prices between
competitors by SMEs was ranked in the fifth place by 56% of SMM group but the activity was
prioritized to be ranked third by 67% of SMI group. Unlike expected, selling of products online
activities were ranked fifth as reported by both SMEs respondents on SMM level (56%) and SMI
level (56%). The exploration of new potential business ideas by Social Media was reported to be
in the sixth place by 54% of SMM group and in the third place by 67% of SMI group. The usage
of Social Media tools for building the brand name was ranked sixth by both SMM group (42%)
and SMI group (44%).

Additionally, SMEs respondents reported that the business activities of knowing new
trends and new businesses in markets through Social Media to be ranked seventh by SMM group
(38%) and sixth by SMI group (44%). The activity of analyzing clients' behavioral patterns was
ranked eight by 35% of SMM group and about 44% of SMI group respondents picked the activity
to be in the sixth place. Recruitment through Social Media tools was ranked ninth by 31% of SMM
group and was ranked eight as the last chosen activity by 22% of SMI group.

Twenty-nine percent of SMM group are using Social Media tools to collect data about
customers which made this business activity to be ranked tenth but on the other hand the activity
was ranked forth by 61% of SMI group who are willing to use Social Media tools for the same
business purpose. The use of Social Media tools to cooperate with other business partners such as
suppliers and competitors was ranked eleventh by 23% of SMM group, however 44% of the SMI
group believed to using Social Media tools for cooperate with other to be ranked sixth among other
business activities. The latest ranking chosen by SMM group was reported by 15% out of the group
respondents concerning project launching activity and almost at the same pace the activity was
ranked seventh by 39% of SMI group.

101
 18- Other 0%
0%
17- Collect data about customers 61%
29%
16- Comparing our prices with competitors 67%
56%
15- Selling of products online 56%
56%
44%
14- Building the brand name 42%
13- Communicating with customers 67%
69%
12- Cooperation with others 44%
23%
11- New ideas 67%
54%
10- Behavioural patterns analysis 44%
35%
9- New businesses 44%
38%
8- Opinion search 61%
88%
7- Promotion 72%
94%
6- New products launching 61%
69%
5- Being closer to potential clients and… 72%
63%
4- Knowing trends 44%
38%
3- Recruitment 22%
31%
2- Project Launching 39%
15%
1- Marketing 94%
94%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

SMI SMM
Figure 9. What activities are more benefited by the representation participation of your company
in Social Media sites?

The sixth question was designed to survey the products and services that are introduced by
SMEs participating in the research. As shown in Figure 10, SMEs introducing "Fashion products"
through Social Media tools are the dominant category by 21% of the research total respondents.
After that SMEs introducing "Fast food" and "E-commerce service" are in the second place by
17%. Other SMEs varied with limited rates such as "Home and living products" and "Beauty
products". Finally, it was noticed that 12% of participated SMEs are out of the suggested products
and services classification in the questionnaire and they varied between "Beauty center", "Training
center", "Flower shop", "Advertising services" and "Nursery".
102
 25%
21%
20%
17% 17%
15%
12%
10%
5% 6% 5% 5% 6%
5% 3% 2% 2% 2%
0%

SMEs

Figure 10. What is the service or the product that your company present?

The seventh question was designed to identify types of e-crime carried out on social media
that have targeted SMEs respondents. Through this question it was noted that SMI group seems to
not have any idea about the types of potential e-crimes that may threaten their SMEs business
activities on Social Media. Also, it was noted that none of SMM group admitted any cyber bullying
exposure which is unrealistic thing. As shown in Figure 11, the e-crime of "advance fee or romance
scams" is in the first place by 63% of SMM group, followed by "identity theft" by 44% of SMM
group and finally, "theft of personal information" in the third place by 25% of SMEs respondents
in SMM group.

80% 63%
60% 44%
40% 25%
20% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
0%
Identity theft Theft of personal Cyber bullying Advance fee /
information romance scams

SMM SMI

Figure 11. What are types of e-crime carried out on social media that have targeted your
company?
103
 The eighth question was designed to figure out if SMEs respondents consider Social Media
tools as spying method between SMEs or not. According to Figure 12, there is an agreement that
Social Media tools are spying methods firstly by 67% of SMM group and secondly by 72% of SMI
group.

72%
67%
80%
60% 33%
28%
40%
20%
0%
Yes No

SMM SMI

Figure 12. Do you consider Social Media sites as a tool for spying between companies?

The ninth question was designed to ask if Social Media sites offer opportunities for
importing more than exporting. According to Figure 13, the majority of SMEs respondents in both
groups agreed upon the idea that Social Media tools support more opportunities for importing than
exporting by 60% of SMM group and 67% of SMI group.

67%
80% 60%

60% 40%
33%
40%

20%

0%
Yes No

SMM SMI

Figure 13. Do Social Media sites offer opportunities for importing more than exporting?

104
 The tenth question was designed to understand if Social Media tools are recommended
between SMEs respondents as a source of managerial data. As shown in Figure 14, about 83% of
SMM group agreed about the idea of recommending Social Media tools to other SMEs owners
and managers. Additionally, 100% of SMI group totally agreed upon the same idea and believe in
the usefulness of Social Media tools for better updated managerial data.

83% 100%
100%
80%
60%
17%
40%
20% 0%
0%
Yes No

SMM SMI

Figure 14. Will you suggest Social Media sites usage to your colleagues and friends for more
managerial data?

105
 Characteristics of SMEs adopting Social Media tools

a. Organizational Characteristics:

• Firm size:
Firm size of SMEs in SMM group was significantly (p=0.0012) higher (293 employees)
compared to that of SMI group (83 employees) as shown in figure 15. the frequency of
employees/SME is 6.1 employee in actual adopters versus 4.6 employee in future adopters as
shown in table 8.

Table 8.
Firm size of SMEs in SMM and SMI groups.

Firm Size SMM (n=48) SMI (n=18)

(employee) No. of SMEs Percentage Total No. of SMEs Percentage Total
1 1 2% 1 1 6% 1
2 6 13% 12 4 22% 8
3 9 19% 27 6 33% 18
4 6 13% 24 1 6% 4
5 5 10% 25 1 6% 5
6 2 4% 12 1 6% 6
7 5 10% 35 0 0% 0
8 5 10% 40 1 6% 8
9 3 6% 27 0 0% 0
10 1 2% 10 1 6% 10
11 1 2% 11 1 6% 11
12 1 2% 12 1 6% 12
13 1 2% 13 0 0% 0
14 1 2% 14 0 0% 0
30 1 2% 30 0 0% 0
Total 48 100% 293 18 100% 83
Frequency 6.1/SME 4.6/SME
P value 0.0012

106
Figure 15. SMEs employees' distribution between SMM and SMI groups.

Distribution of employees according to mode of working showed non-significant (p>0.05)

difference between SME; in both SMM and SMI groups as shown in table 9 and figure 16.

Table 9.
Firm size of SMEs (SMM and SMI groups) categorized according to mode of work of its
employees

SMEs Firm Size

Full-time Part-time Causal
Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage
SMM (n=48) 48 100% 22 46% 7 15%
SMI (n=18) 18 100% 9 50% 1 6%
Total (n=66) 66 100% 31 47% 8 12%

107
Figure 16. Distribution of surveyed SMEs employees according to mode of work between SMM
and SMI groups.

• Firm innovativeness
Distribution of SMEs owners according to the answer of Q16-1 showed non-significant
(p>0.05) difference between SMEs respondents of SMM and SMI groups as shown in table 10 and
figure 17.

Table 10.
Distribution of SMEs according to answer of Q16-1

(My company is usually among the first to try out a new technology)
SMEs Strongly Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Total
owners disagree disagree or agree
agree
SMM 0 10 0 26 12 (25%) 48
(20.8%) (54.2%)
SMI 0 6 (33.3%) 0 7 (38.9%) 5 (26.8%) 18
Total 0 16 0 33 (50%) 17 66
(24.2%) (25.8%)

108
Figure 17. Distribution of SMEs according to which SMEs are usually among the first to try out
new technology.

Distribution of SME owners according to the answer of Q16-2 showed non-significant

(p>0.05) difference between SMM and SMI groups as shown in table 11 and figure 18.

Table 11.
Distribution of SME actual and future adopters according to answer of Q16-2

(My company likes to experiment with new technologies)

SMEs Strongly Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Total
owners disagree disagree or agree
agree
SMM 0 7 (14.5%) 8 (16.7%) 15 18 48
(31.3%) (37.5%)
SMI 0 6 (33.3%) 3 (16.7%) 5 (27.8%) 4 (22.2%) 18
Total 0 13 11 (16.7%) 20 22 66
(19.7%) (30.3%) (33.3%)

109
Figure 18. Distribution of SMEs according to which SMEs like to experiment with new
technology.

Distribution of SME owners according to the answer of Q16-3 showed significantly higher
scorings (p=0.003) by SMEs in SMM group than SMI group as shown in table 12 and figure 19.

Table 12.
Distribution of SME actual and future adopters according to answer of Q16-3

(My company tries to stay current with technological trends)

SMEs Strongly Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Total
disagree disagree or agree
agree
SMM 0 2 (4.3%) 7 (14.5%) 16 (33.3%) 23 (47.9%) 48
SMI 0 5 (27.8%) 6 (33.3%) 5 (27.8%) 2 (11.1%) 18
Total 0 7 (10.6%) 13 (19.7%) 21 (31.8%) 25 (37.9%) 66

110
Figure 19. Distribution of SMEs according to which SMEs try to stay current with technological
trends.

Distribution of SMEs owners according to awareness and/or engagement with SM sites

was significantly higher (p=0.00001) in SMEs respondents of SMM group than SMEs of SMI
group as shown in table 13 and figure 20.

Table 13.
Distribution of owners of SME in both SMM and SMI groups according to degree of awareness
and/or engagement with SM sites as indicators of Firm Innovativeness:

SME Owners SMM n=48 SMI n=18 Total n=66

Number (%) Number (%)
- Not aware of this. 0 0% 0 0% 0
- Do not engage, 0 0% 18 100% 18
but aware.
- Have but do not 21 44% 0 0% 21
regularly use.
- Have and 27 56% 0 0% 27
regularly use for
marketing
purposes.
Total 48 18 66
111
Figure 20. Distribution of SMEs according to degree of engagement with Social Media sites as
indicator of firm innovativeness.

b. Environmental Characteristics
• Firm another geographical location:
Only 19 SME (29%) had another geographical locations (branches); 15 SMEs respondents
of SMM group and 4 SME respondents of SMI group with non-significant (p>0.05) difference
between both categories of SMEs as shown in table 14 and figure 21.

Table 14.
SME actual and future adopters categorized according to the presence of other geographical
location

SMEs owners Yes Percentage No Percentage Total

SMM n=48 15 31% 33 69% 48
SMI n=18 4 22% 14 78% 18
Total n=66 19 29% 47 71% 66

112
Figure 21. Distribution of surveyed SMEs according to geographical presence in other locations.

c. Manager characteristics
• SMEs owner / manager age:
Distribution of SMEs owners according to owners' age showed non-significant difference
between SMEs in both groups. However, the frequency of owners in age group of 26-29 years was
significantly (p=0.007) higher in SMM group compared to SMI group. Moreover, the frequency
of owners in aged >40 years was significantly higher (p=0.019) in SMI group than in SMM group
as shown in table 15 and figure 22.

Table 15.
Owners' age of SMEs in SMM and SMI groups

Age of SMEs Owner SMM n=48 SMI n=18

No. Percentage No. Percentage
Less than 18. 0 0% 0 0%
From 18 to 21 0 0% 0 0%
From 22 to 25 9 19% 3 17%
From 26 to 29 12 25% 1 6%
From 30 to 34 7 15% 5 28%
113
 From 35 to 39 13 27% 4 22%
From 40 to 44 3 6% 2 11%
From 45 to 49 1 2% 2 11%
From 50 to 55 2 4% 1 6%
More than 55 1 2% 0 0%
Total n=66 48 73% 18 27%

Figure 22. Distribution of surveyed SMEs according to owners age groups.

• SMEs owner / manager gender:

Distribution of SME owners according to gender showed non-significant (p>0.05)
difference between SMEs both groups. However, the frequency of male owners was significantly
(p=0.023) higher in SMM group compared to SMI group as shown in table 16 and figure 23.

Table 16.
Distribution of SME owners according to gender

Gender Female Male Total

SME Number Percentage Number Percentage
SMM n=48 16 33% 32 67% 48
SMI n=18 10 56% 8 44% 18
Total n=66 26 39% 40 61% 66

114
Figure 23. Distribution of surveyed SMEs according to owners' gender.

• SMEs owner / manager education:

Distribution of SME owners according to highest education qualification showed non-
significant difference between SME actual and future adaptors as shown in table 17 and figure 24.

Table 17.
Distribution of SMEs according to highest education qualification of the owners

SMEs No formal Primary or Secondary College Under- Postgraduate Total

owners qualification Preparatory graduate degree
qualification. degree
SMM 4 6 10 22 4 2 48
n=48 (8.3%) (12.5%) (20.8%) (45.9%) (8.3%) (4.2%)

SMI 2 2 4 7 2 1 18
n=18 (11.1%) (11.1%) (22.2%) (39%) (11.1%) (5.5%)
Total 6 8 14 29 6 3 66
(9.1%) (12.1%) (21.3%) (43.9%) (9.1%) (4.5%)

115
Figure 24. Distribution of surveyed SMEs according to owners' educational level.

• Innovation Characteristics:

18- From your SME's perspective, what is your evaluation for the expected or actual
advantages from the actual or expected engagement in Social Media sites?

Mean scoring of owners' scoring for items of Q-18 was significantly higher for
items 1, 4 and 6 in answers of owners of actual SME adoption compared to future SME adoption;
while scorings for the other items showed non-significant difference between both actual and
future SME as shown in table 18 and figure 25.

116
Table 18.
Mean (±SD) of owners' scoring for items of Q-18

Question no. SMM (n=48) SMI (n=18) P value

1 4.1±0.9 3.6±0.7 =0.033
2 3.25±1.1 3.3±0.8 >0.05
3 3.4±1.2 2.7±1.4 >0.05
4 4±1 3.1±1 =0.003
5 4.2±0.6 4.3±0.7 >0.05
6 4±0.9 3.6±1.1 =0.031
7 3±1.1 2.3±1.2 >0.05
8 4.1±0.8 3.8±1 >0.05
Fig. (11): Mean of owners' scoring for items of Q-18

4.6
4.4
4.2
4
3.8
3.6
Score

3.4
3.2
3
2.8
2.6
2.4
2.2
2
Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 Item 4 Item 5 Item 6 Item 7 Item 8
Items of Q-18 Actual
Future

117
 5.2 Hypothesis Analysis

The first hypothesis group: Evaluation of Organizational, Manager, Environmental and

Innovative characteristics as predictors for adoption of SM by SMM group respondents of
surveyed SMEs (Q11-19 vs. Q 20)

As shown in table (12); Multiple regression analysis using Stepwise Method defined male
gender from the second hypothesis, relative advantages of innovative character and both of
compatibility, complexity, triability and observability of innovative characters from the forth
hypothesis as the significant predictors in increasing order of effect. However, age and bad
knowledge about advantages of innovative characters of SM adoption negatively affected adoption
of SM.

Table (12): Multiple regression analysis for predictors of SM adoption among SMM group
Model Variables Standardized t P value
No. coefficients
1 Total score of answers of Q19 (compatibility, 0.787 11.159 <0.001
complexity, triability and observability of
innovative characters)
Total score of answers of Q18 (relative advantages -0.286 4.064 <0.001
of innovative character)
Age of the owner (Q13) -0.172 2.502 0.016
2 Total score of answers of Q19 (compatibility, 0.770 10.385 <0.001
complexity, triability and observability of
innovative characters)
Total score of answers of Q18 (relative advantages -0.272 -3.667 =0.001
of innovative character)
3 Total score of answers of Q19 (compatibility, 0.834 10.266 <0.001
complexity, triability and observability of
innovative characters)

Using ANOVA analysis for effect of exclusion of the variable predicted by multiple
regression analysis as predictors for SM adoption by SMM group as a dependent variable defined
compatibility, complexity, triability and observability of innovative characteristics (Q19) as the
significant predictor which significance increased by exclusion of other variables as shown in table
(13).

118
 Table (13): ANOVA analysis for predictors of SMEs adoption of SM among SMM group
Dependent Predictors F P value
variable
SM Compatibility, complexity, triability and observability of 56.951 <0.001
adoption innovative characters (Q19); relative advantages of
by SMM innovative character (Q18) and owner's age (Q13)
group Compatibility, complexity, triability and observability of 73.679 <0.001
innovative characters (Q19) and relative advantages of
innovative character (Q18)
Compatibility, complexity, triability and observability of 105.394 <0.001
innovative characters (Q19).

ROC curve analysis defined Compatibility, complexity, triability and observability of

innovative characteristics (Q19) as the significant specific predictor among the studied variables
for SM adoption among SMM group of SMEs with AUC=0.838, p<0.001.

Table (14): ROC curve analysis for predictors of SM adoption among SMM group
Predictors AUC P value 95% confidence
interval
Owner's age (Q13) 0.583 >0.05 0.421-0.746
Compatibility, complexity, triability and observability of 0.838 <0.001 0.716-0.959
innovative characters (Q19)
Relative advantages of innovative character (Q18) 0.431 >0.05 0.256-0.605

Evaluation of Relative advantages of Innovative characteristics as predictors for adoption of

SM by SMM group (Q18 vs. Q 20)
119
 As shown in table (15); Multiple regression analysis defined provision of coordination
between department, increased productivity, reliable business communications and development
of new products and services as the significant benefits suspected by SM applicability and are the
motives of SMEs' owners of SMM group for SM adoption.

Table (15): Multiple regression analysis for varied benefits of SM applications as motives for
SM adoption among SMM group
Model Effect of SM Standardized t P value
No. coefficients
1 Efficient coordination among departments. 0.460 5.193 <0.001
Increased productivity 0.331 4.950 <0.001
Reliable business communications 0.232 4.064 0.004
Development of new product and services 0.104 2.282 0.027
2 Efficient coordination among departments. 0.442 5.042 <0.001
Increased productivity 0.350 4.785 <0.001
Reliable business communications 0.254 3.188 =0.003
3 Efficient coordination among departments. 0.638 8.388 <0.001
Increased productivity 0.364 4.790 <0.001
4 Efficient coordination among departments. 0.907 14.262 <0.001

Using ANOVA analysis for effect of exclusion of the variable predicted by multiple
regression analysis as motives for SM adoption as a dependent variable defined ability of SM
adoption for provision of coordination between department (Q18-3) as the significant predictor
which significance increased by exclusion of other variables as shown in table (16).

Table (16): ANOVA analysis for benefits of SM applications as motives for SM adoption
among SMM group
Dependent Predictors F P value
variable
SM Provision of coordination between department (Q18-3), 114.918 <0.001
Adoption increased productivity (Q18-8), reliable business
by SMM communications (Q18-2) and development of new products
group and services (Q18-6)
Provision of coordination between department (Q18-3), 138.263 <0.001
increased productivity (Q18-8), reliable business
communications (Q18-2)
Provision of coordination between department (Q18-3) and 168.087 <0.001
increased productivity (Q18-8)
Provision of coordination between department (Q18-3) 212.066 <0.001

120
 ROC curve analysis defined Provision of coordination between department (Q18-3),
development of new products and services (Q18-6) and reliable business communications (Q18-
2) as motives for SM adoption among SMM companies in decreasing order of significance.

Table (17): ROC curve analysis for benefits of SM applications as motives for SM adoption
among SMM group
Predictors AUC P value 95% confidence
interval
Reliable business communications (Q18-2) 0.672 =0.041 0.501-0.843
Provision of coordination between department (Q18-3) 0.771 =0.001 0.639-0.903
Development of new products and services (Q18-6) 0.750 =0.003 0.588-0.912
Increased productivity (Q18-8) 0.503 >0.05 0.333-0.674

121
Evaluation of compatibility, complexity, triability and observability of Innovative characters
as predictors for adoption of SM by SMM enterprises (Q19 vs. Q 20)

As shown in table (18); Multiple regression analysis defined complexity as the significant
innovative character suspected by SM applicability to inhibit SM adoption by owners of SMM
companies for SM adoption.

Table (18): Multiple regression analysis for compatibility, complexity, triability and
observability of SM innovation as motives for SM adoption among SMM group
Model Innovative character of SM Standardized t P value
No. coefficients
1 Complexity -0.775 8.321 <0.001

Using ANOVA analysis for effect of exclusion of the variables excluded by multiple
regression analysis showed that complexity is the significant predictor for discarding SM
innovation so it was a negative predictor for SM adoption as shown in table (19).

Table (19): ANOVA analysis for compatibility, complexity, triability and observability of
SM innovation as motives for SM adoption among SMM group
Dependent variable Predictors F P value
SM Adoption Complexity (Q19-2) 69.246 <0.001

ROC curve analysis defined complexity of SM innovation as a significant sensitive

predictor for discarding SM adoption among SMM companies.

Table (20): ROC curve analysis for compatibility, complexity, triability and observability of
SM innovation as motives for SM adoption among SMM group
Predictors AUC P value 95% confidence interval
Compatibility (Q19-1) 0.622 >0.05 0.463-0.780
Complexity (Q19-2) 0.292 =0.013 0.135-0.449
Triability (Q19-3) 0.597 >0.05 0.411-0.747
Observability (Q19-4) 0.485 >0.05 0.312-0.658

122
123
The second hypothesis group: Evaluation of Organizational, Manager, Environmental and
Innovative characteristics as predictors for adoption of SM by SMI group (Q11-19 vs. Q 21)

As shown in table (20); Multiple regression analysis using Stepwise Method defined
relative advantages of innovative characteristic as significant characteristic that affect the degree
of Social Media adoption by SMI group.

Table (20): Multiple regression analysis for predictors of SM adoption among SMI group
Model Variables Standardized t P value
no. coefficients
1 Total score of answers of Q18 (relative advantages 0.870 7.062 <0.001
of innovative characteristics)

Using ANOVA analysis for effect of exclusion of the variable predicted by multiple
regression analysis as predictor for SM adoption as a dependent variable defined relative
advantages of innovative character (Q18) as the significant predictor as shown in table (21).

Table (21): ANOVA analysis for predictors of SM adoption among SMI group
Dependent Predictors F P value
variable
SM Adoption by Relative advantages of innovative characteristics (Q18) 49.866 <0.001
SMI group

On contrary, ROC curve analysis defined Compatibility, complexity, triability and

observability of innovative characteristics (Q19) as the significant specific predictor among the
studied variables for SM adoption among SMEs respondents of SMI group with AUC=0.838,
p<0.001.

Table (22): ROC curve analysis for predictors of SM adoption among SMI group

Predictors AUC P value 95% confidence

interval
Compatibility, complexity, triability and observability 0.838 =0.019 0.643-1.032
of innovative characteristics (Q19)

124
Evaluation of Relative advantages of Innovative characteristics as predictors for adoption of
SM by SMEs respondents of SMI group (Q18 vs. Q 21)

As shown in table (23); Multiple regression analysis defined provision of coordination

between department, development of new products and services and simplification of work routine
as the significant benefits suspected by SM applicability and are the motives of owners of SMI
group for SM adoption.
Table (23): Multiple regression analysis for varied benefits of SM applications as motives for
SM adoption among SMI group
Model SM relative advantages Standardized t P value
No. coefficients
1 Efficient coordination among departments. 0.363 3.127 =0.007
Development of new product and services 0.319 2.671 =0.018
Simplification of work routines 0.303 2.488 =0.026
2 Efficient coordination among departments. 0.602 4.391 =0.001
Development of new product and services 0.394 2.876 =0.012
3 Efficient coordination among departments. 0.924 9.682 <0.001

Using ANOVA analysis for effect of exclusion of the variable predicted by multiple
regression analysis as motives for SM adoption as a dependent variable defined ability of SM
adoption for provision of coordination between department (Q18-3) as the significant predictor
which significance increased by exclusion of other variables as shown in table (24).

125
Table (24): ANOVA analysis for benefits of SM applications as motives for SM adoption
among SMI group

Dependent Predictors F P value

variable
SM Provision of coordination between department (Q18-3), 70.300 <0.001
Adoption development of new products and services (Q18-6) and
by SMI simplification of work routine (Q18-1)
group Provision of coordination between department (Q18-3), 72.314 <0.001
development of new products and services (Q18-6)
Provision of coordination between department (Q18-3) 93.744 <0.001

On contrary, ROC curve analysis defined provision of improved customer satisfaction

(Q18-4) as the only significant motive as sensitive predictor motivation of SMI companies for SM
adoption.
Table (25): ROC curve analysis for benefits of SM applications as motives for SM adoption
among SMM group

Predictors AUC P value 95% confidence interval

improved customer satisfaction (Q18-4) 0.162 =0.019 0.024-0.349

126
Evaluation of compatibility, complexity, triability and observability of Innovative characters
as predictors for adoption of SM by SMI enterprises (Q19 vs. Q 20)
As shown in table (26); Multiple regression analysis defined complexity, triability and
observability as the significant predictors for SM adoption by SMI companies. However,
complexity of innovative characters of SM adoption negatively affected adoption of SM.

Table (26): Multiple regression analysis for predictors of SM adoption among SMI group
Model No. Variables Standardized coefficients t P value
1 Observability 0.683 6.182 <0.001
Triability 0.450 4.056 =0.001
Complexity -0.259 2.377 0.016
2 Observability 0.694 5.497 <0.001
Triability 0.424 -3.354 =0.004
3 Observability 0.772 4.852 <0.001

Using ANOVA analysis for effect of exclusion of the variable predicted by multiple
regression analysis as predictors for SM adoption by SMI group as a dependent variable defined
observability of innovative characteristics (Q19-4) as the significant predictor which significance
increased by exclusion of other variables as shown in table (27).

Table (27): ANOVA analysis for predictors of SM adoption among SMI group
Dependent Predictors F P value
variable
SM Complexity, triability and observability of innovative 23.654 <0.001
Adoption characters
by SMI Triability and observability of innovative characters 24.932 <0.001
group Observability of innovative characters 23.540 <0.001

ROC curve analysis estimated the highest AUC for observability and triability and the
lowest AUC for compatibility as specific and significant predictors, respectively for SM adoption
among SMI group; despite the non-significant difference.

Table (28): ROC curve analysis for Compatibility, complexity, triability and observability of
innovative characteristics as predictors of SM adoption among SMI group
Predictors AUC P value 95% confidence interval
Compatibility 0.383 >0.05 0.119-0.648
Complexity 0.636 >0.05 0.378-894
Triability 0.701 >0.05 0.457-0.946
Observability 0.721 >0.05 0.465-0.976

127
128
Part Three: The third group of hypothesis:
Testing the ninth hypothesis by evaluation of answers of SMEs' owners of SMM group for
Q-20 as predictors for business development efforts Q-22.

Multiple regression analysis of answers of question no. 20 defined the use of SM to enhance
customer experience (Q20-1) and brand building (Q20-4) as the predictors of SM tools adoption
to induce sources of new revenues as a target on business development (Table I-a)

Table (I-a): Multiple regression analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by

SMM group to induce sources of new revenues as a target of business development
Model Items Standardized t P value
No. coefficients
1 For brand building (Q20-4) 1.349 2.647 =0.011
To enhance customer experience (Q20-1) 0.456 7.837 <0.001
2 For brand building (Q20-4) 0.918 15.664 <0.001

ROC curve analysis defined SM tools adoption by owners of SMM group to enhance customer
experience as the significant sensitive predictor for business development with AUC= 0.318,
p=0.033 (Table I-b, Fig. I).

Table (I-b): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMM companies
to induce sources of new revenues as a target of business development
Items AUC P value 95% confidence interval
For brand building (Q20-4) 0.318 =0.033 0.135-0.500
To enhance customer experience (Q20-1) 0.382 >0.05 0.180-0.584

Fig. (I): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMM group to induce
sources of new revenues as a target of business development.
129
 Multiple regression analysis of answers of question no. 20 defined the use of SM to enhance
customer experience (Q20-1), to manage the customer community (Q20-2) and to manage
relationship of the company with government, regulators and interest groups (Q20-8) as the
predictors of SM tools adoption to induce potential product or service as a target on business
development (Table II-a).

Table (II-a): Multiple regression analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by

SMM group to induce potential product or service as a target of business development
Model Items Standardized t P value
No. coefficients
1 To manage relationship of the company with 0.810 5.284 <0.001
government, regulators and interest groups (Q20-8)
To manage the customer community (Q20-2) 0.640 4.030 <0.001
To enhance customer experience (Q20-1) 0.582 3.983 <0.001
2 To manage relationship of the company with 1.034 6.291 =0.011
government, regulators and interest groups (Q20-8)
To manage the customer community (Q20-2) 0.456 0.361 =0.033
3 To manage relationship of the company with 0.740 7.472 <0.001
government, regulators and interest groups (Q20-8)

ROC curve analysis defined SM tools adoption by owners of SMM group to enhance
customer experience, manage relationship of the company with government, regulators and
interest groups, and to manage the customer community as the significant sensitive predictors for
business development with decreasing order of significance (Table II-b, Fig. II).

Table (II-b): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMM companies
to induce potential product or service as a target of business development
Items AUC P value 95% confidence
interval
To manage relationship of the company with 0.056 <0.001 0.005-0.116
government, regulators and interest groups (Q20-8)
To manage the customer community (Q20-2) 0.233 =0.003 0.096-0.371
To enhance customer experience (Q20-1) 0.015 <0.001 0.020-0.050

130
Fig. (II): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMM group to induce
potential product or service as a target of business development

131
 Multiple regression analysis of answers of question no. 20 defined the use of SM to manage
the customer community (Q20-2) and periodically circulate SM data (Twitter, Facebook
comments) that provide information on customers (Q20-9) as the predictors of SM tools adoption
to induce investment of capital and time as a target on business development (Table III-a)

Table (III-a): Multiple regression analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by

SMM companies to induce investment of capital and time as a target of business development
Model Items Standardized t P value
No. coefficients
2 To manage the customer community (Q20-2) 0.546 3.966 <0.001
To periodically circulate SM data that provide 0.353 2.563 =0.014
information on customers (Q20-9)
3 To manage the customer community (Q20-2) 0.841 10.555 <0.001

ROC curve analysis defined SM tools adoption by owners of SMM group to circulate SM
data that provide information on customers as a specific predictor for business development with
AUC= 0.608, despite being non-significant (Table III-b, Fig. III).

Table (III-b): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMM

companies to induce service potential as a target of business development
Items AUC P value 95% confidence
interval
To manage the customer community (Q20-2) 0.569 >0.05 0.293-0.844
To periodically circulate SM data that provide 0.015 >0.05 0.354-0.863
information on customers (Q20-9)

Fig. (III): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMM companies to induce
service potential as a target of business development
132
 Multiple regression analysis of question no. 20 defined the use of SM to enhance customer
experience (Q20-1) and brand building (Q20-4) as the predictors of SM tools adoption to be used
in promotional activities as a target on business development (Table IV-a)

Table (IV-a): Multiple regression analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by

SMM group to allow better promotional activities as a target of business development
Model Items Standardized t P value
No. coefficients
2 To allow brand building (Q20-4) 0.529 3.003 =0.004
To enhance customer experience (Q20-1) 0.409 2.321 =0.025
3 To allow brand building (Q20-4) 0.916 15.532 <0.001

ROC curve analysis defined SM tools adoption by owners of SMM group to enhance
customer experience and brand building as the significant sensitive predictors for business
development with decreasing order of significance (Table IV-b, Fig. IV).

Table (IV-b): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMM group to
allow better promotional activities as a target of business development
Items AUC P value 95% confidence interval
To enhance customer experience (Q20-1) 0.239 =0.002 0.061-0.418
To allow brand building (Q20-4) 0.261 =0.005 0.074-0.448

Fig. (IV-b): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMM group to allow
better promotional activities as a target of business development

133
 Multiple regression analysis of answers of question no. 20 defined the use of SM to enhance
customer experience (Q20-1), to know when something important happens to a major customer of
the market, the whole business unit within a short period (Q20-10) and to implement an immediate
response if a major competitor was to launch an intensive online campaign targeted at our
customers (Q20-11) as the predictors of SM tools adoption to build a sustainable working relations
as a target on business development (Table V-a).

Table (V-a): Multiple regression analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by

SMM companies to build sustainable working relations as a target of business development
Model Items Standardized t P value
No. coefficients
1 To know when something important happens to a 1.161 5.957 <0.001
major customer of the market, the whole business unit
within a short period (Q20-10)
To implement an immediate response if a major 0.926 5.086 <0.001
competitor was to launch an intensive online
campaign targeted at our customers (Q20-11)
To enhance customer experience (Q20-1) 0.505 3.718 =0.001
2 To know when something important happens to a 1.452 7.178 <0.001
major customer of the market, the whole business unit
within a short period (Q20-10)
To implement an immediate response if a major 0.791 3.912 <0.001
competitor was to launch an intensive online
campaign targeted at our customers (Q20-11)
3 To know when something important happens to a 0.738 7.407 <0.001
major customer of the market, the whole business unit
know about it within a short period (Q20-10)

ROC curve analysis defined SM tools adoption by owners of SMM group to enhance
customer experience (Q20-1) and to know when something important happens to a major customer
of the market, the whole business unit within a short period (Q20-10) as the significant sensitive
predictors for business development with decreasing order of significance (Table V-b, Fig. V).

Table (V-b): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMM group to
build sustainable working relations as a target of business development
Items AUC P value 95% confidence
interval
To know when something important happens to a major 0.219 =0.003 0.024-0.414
customer of the market, the whole business unit know
about it within a short period (Q20-10)
134
To implement an immediate response if a major 0.403 >0.05 0.218-0.589
competitor was to launch an intensive online campaign
targeted at our customers (Q20-11)
To enhance customer experience (Q20-1) 0.210 0.002 0.022-0.398

Fig. (V-b): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMM group to
build sustainable working relations as a target of business development

135
 Multiple regression analysis of answers of question no. 20 defined the use of SM to enhance
customer experience (Q20-1), lead generation (Q20-3), brand building (Q20-4), to manage
relationship between the company and its employees (Q20-5) and to implement an immediate
response if a major competitor was to launch an intensive online campaign targeted at our
customers (Q20-11) as the predictors of SM tools adoption for presenting and selling the current
product or service to the current customer as a target on business development (Table VI-a).

Table (VI-a): Multiple regression analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by

SMM group to induce presenting and selling the current product or service to the current
customer as a target of business development
Model Items Standardized t P value
No. coefficients
1 To enhance lead generation (Q20-3) 1.043 7.246 <0.001
To enhance customer experience (Q20-1) 0.457 4.912 <0.001
To manage relationship with employees (Q20-5) 1.003 6.151 <0.001
To implement an immediate response if a major 0.642 3.825 <0.001
competitor was to launch an intensive online
campaign targeted at our customers (Q20-11)
To allow brand building (Q20-4) 0.577 2.028 =0.049
2 To enhance lead generation (Q20-3) 1.094 7.454 <0.001
To enhance customer experience (Q20-1) 0.458 3.199 =0.003
To manage relationship with employees (Q20-5) 0.676 4.225 <0.001
To implement an immediate response if a major 0.494 3.155 =0.003
competitor was to launch an intensive online
campaign targeted at our customers (Q20-11)
3 To enhance lead generation (Q20-3) 1.169 7.359 <0.001
To enhance customer experience (Q20-1) 0.616 4.183 <0.001
To manage relationship with employees (Q20-5) 0.286 2.566 =0.014
4 To enhance lead generation (Q20-3) 1.337 8.708 =0.011
To enhance customer experience (Q20-1) 0.547 3.562 =0.001
5 To enhance lead generation (Q20-3) 0.849 10.911 <0.001

ROC curve analysis defined SM tools adoption by owners of SMM companies to lead
generation (Q20-3), to manage relationship between the company and its employees (Q20-5),
enhance customer experience (Q20-1) and to implement an immediate response if a major
competitor was to launch an intensive online campaign targeted at our customers (Q20-11) as the
significant sensitive predictors for business development with decreasing order of significance
(Fig. VI).

136
Table (VI-b): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMM companies
to induce presenting and selling the current product or service to the current customer as a
target of business development
Items AUC P value 95% confidence
interval
To enhance lead generation (Q20-3) 0.038 <0.001 0.023-0.100
To enhance customer experience (Q20-1) 0.115 <0.001 0.013-0.218
To manage relationship with employees (Q20-5) 0.094 <0.001 0.007-0.181
To implement an immediate response if a major competitor 0.192 <0.001 0.066-0.319
was to launch an intensive online campaign targeted at our
customers (Q20-11)
To allow brand building (Q20-4) 0.094 <0.001 0.007-0.181

Fig. (VI): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMM companies to induce
presenting and selling the current product or service to the current customer as a target of business
development

137
 Multiple regression analysis of answers of question no. 20 defined the use of SM to enhance
customer experience (Q20-1), brand building (Q20-4), to manage relationship between the
company and its employees (Q20-5) and to implement an immediate response if a major
competitor was to launch an intensive online campaign targeted at our customers (Q20-11) as the
predictors of SM tools adoption for presenting and selling the current product or service to new
customer segment as a target on business development (Table VII-a).

Table (VII-a): Multiple regression analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by

SMM companies for presenting and selling the current product or service to new customer
segment as a target of business development
Model Items Standardized t P value
No. coefficients
1 For brand building (Q20-4) 0.993 5.438 <0.001
To implement an immediate response if a major 1.474 13.801 <0.001
competitor was to launch an intensive online
campaign targeted at our customers (Q20-11)
To manage relationship with employees (Q20-5) 1.728 12.855 <0.001
To enhance customer experience (Q20-1) 1.578 10.708 <0.001
2 For brand building (Q20-4) 0.780 5.356 <0.001
To implement an immediate response if a major 0.895 5.133 <0.001
competitor was to launch an intensive online
campaign targeted at our customers (Q20-11)
To manage relationship with employees (Q20-5) 0.864 0.864 <0.001
3 For brand building (Q20-4) 1.105 7.600 <0.001
To implement an immediate response if a major 0.374 2.572 =0.013
competitor was to launch an intensive online
campaign targeted at our customers (Q20-11)
4 For brand building (Q20-4) 0.799 9.021 <0.001

ROC curve analysis defined SM tools adoption by owners of SMM companies to manage
relationship between the company and its employees (Q20-5), for brand building (Q20-4), enhance
customer experience (Q20-1) and to implement an immediate response if a major competitor was
to launch an intensive online campaign targeted at our customers (Q20-11) as the significant
sensitive predictors for business development with decreasing order of significance (Fig. VII).

138
Table (VII-b): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMM
companies for presenting and selling the current product or service to new customer segment
as a target of business development

Items AUC P value 95% confidence

interval
For brand building (Q20-4) 0.056 <0.001 0.051-0.163
To implement an immediate response if a major 0.299 =0.022 0.147-0.451
competitor was to launch an intensive online campaign
targeted at our customers (Q20-11)
To manage relationship with employees (Q20-5) 0.052 <0.001 0.048-0.152
To enhance customer experience (Q20-1) 0.056 <0.001 0.051-0.163

Table (VII): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMM group for
presenting and selling the current product or service to new customer segment as a target of
business development

139
 Multiple regression analysis of answers of question no. 20 defined the use of SM to manage
the relationship with government, regulators, and interest groups (Q20-8) as the predictor of SM
tools adoption for presenting and selling new product or service to the current customer as a target
on business development (Table VIII-a).

Table (V-a): Multiple regression analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by

SMM companies for presenting and selling new product or service to the current customer
as a target of business development
Model Items Standardized t P value
No. coefficients
1 To manage relationship of the company with 0.719 7.019 <0.001
government, regulators and interest groups (Q20-8)

ROC curve analysis defined SM tools adoption by owners of SMM companies to manage
relationship between the company and government, regulators, and interest groups as a
significant sensitive predictor for business development with AUC=0.063, p<0.001 (Table VIII-
b, Fig. VIII).

Table (VIII-b): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMM

companies for presenting and selling new product or service to the current customer as a
target of business development
Items AUC P value 95% confidence
interval
To manage relationship of the company with 0.063 <0.001 0.001-0.127
government, regulators and interest groups (Q20-8)

Table (VIII): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMM companies
for presenting and selling new product or service to the current customer as a target of
business development

140
 Multiple regression analysis of answers of question no. 20 defined the use of SM to enhance
customer experience (Q20-1), to manage the customer community (Q20-2), to manage the
relationship of the company with its suppliers (Q20-6), to manage the relationship with
government, regulators, and interest groups (Q20-8), to periodically circulate SM data (Twitter,
Facebook comments) that provide information on customers (Q20-9) and to know when something
important happens to a major customer of the market, the whole business unit within a short period
(Q20-10) as the predictors of SM tools adoption for presenting or selling new product or service
to new customer segment as a target on business development (Table IX-a).

Table (IX-a): Multiple regression analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by

SMM companies for creation of its growth opportunities as a target of business development
Model Items Standardized t P value
No. coefficients
1 To manage the relationship of the company with its 1.358 10.101 <0.001
suppliers (Q20-6)
To manage the customer community (Q20-2) 0.526 7.929 <0.001
To know when something important happens to a 0.799 5.881 <0.001
major customer of the market, the whole business
unit within a short period (Q20-10)
To periodically circulate SM data that provide 0.910 5.765 <0.001
information on customers (Q20-9)
To enhance customer experience (Q20-1) 0.581 4.262 <0.001
To manage relationship of the company with 0.269 3.739 =0.001
government, regulators and interest groups (Q20-8)
2 To manage the relationship of the company with its 1.476 9.874 <0.001
suppliers (Q20-6)
To manage the customer community (Q20-2) 0.571 7.649 <0.001
To know when something important happens to a 0.834 5.378 <0.001
major customer of the market, the whole business
unit within a short period (Q20-10)
To periodically circulate SM data that provide 0.734 4.256 <0.001
information on customers (Q20-9)
To enhance customer experience (Q20-1) 0.529 3.411 =0.001
3 To manage the relationship of the company with its 1.103 9.690 <0.001
suppliers (Q20-6)
To manage the customer community (Q20-2) 0.540 6.521 <0.001
To know when something important happens to a 0.478 3.732 =0.001
major customer of the market, the whole business
unit within a short period (Q20-10)
To periodically circulate SM data that provide 0.196 2.512 0.016
information on customers (Q20-9)
141
4 To manage the relationship of the company with its 1.042 8.851 <0.001
suppliers (Q20-6)
To manage the customer community (Q20-2) 0.460 5.685 <0.001
To know when something important happens to a 0.516 3.838 <0.001
major customer of the market, the whole business
unit within a short period (Q20-10)
5 To manage the relationship of the company with its 0.681 8.427 <0.001
suppliers (Q20-6)
To manage the customer community (Q20-2) 0.309 3.827 <0.001
6 To manage the relationship of the company with its 0.936 18.097 <0.001
suppliers (Q20-6)

ROC curve analysis defined SM tools adoption by owners of SMM companies to manage
the relationship of the company with its suppliers (Q20-6), to know when something important
happens to a major customer of the market, the whole business unit within a short period (Q20-
10), to manage the relationship with government, regulators, and interest groups (Q20-8), to
periodically circulate SM data (Twitter, Facebook comments) that provide information on
customers (Q20-9), to enhance customer experience (Q20-1) and to manage the customer
community (Q20-2) as the significant specific predictors for business development with decreasing
order of significance (Table IX, Fig. IX).

Table (V-b): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMM companies
for creation of its growth opportunities as a target of business development
Items AUC P value 95% confidence
interval
To manage the relationship of the company with its 0.837 <0.001 0.702-0.973
suppliers (Q20-6)
To know when something important happens to a major 0.771 =0.001 0.626-0.917
customer of the market, the whole business unit within a
short period (Q20-10)
To manage relationship of the company with government, 0.761 =0.002 0.612-0.909
regulators and interest groups (Q20-8)
To periodically circulate SM data that provide information 0.757 =0.002 0.622-0.983
on customers (Q20-9)
To enhance customer experience (Q20-1) 0.719 =0.009 0.574-0.864
To manage the customer community (Q20-2) 0.660 >0.05 0.494-0.826

142
Table (IX): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMM companies for
creation of growth opportunities of an enterprise as a target of business development

143
Testing the tenth hypothesis by evaluation of answers of SMEs' owners of SMI group for Q-
21 as predictors for business development efforts Q-22.

Multiple regression analysis of answers of question no. 21 defined the plan to use SM to
further develop relationship with internal stakeholders (Q21-4) as a predictor of SM tools adoption
by SMI group to induce sources of new revenues as a target to achieve business development
(Table I-a).

Table (I-a): Multiple regression analysis of items of Q21 as predictors of planning for SM
adoption by SMI companies to achieve business development
Model Items Standardized t P value
No. coefficients
1 To further develop our relationship with our internal 0.866 6.921 <0.001
stakeholders (Q21-4)

However, ROC curve analysis found the planning of owners of SMI companies to develop
their relationship with their internal stakeholders (Q21-1) as predictor of SM tools adoption to
induce sources of new revenues as a target to achieve business development was non-specific
predictor with AUC= 0.531, p>0.05 (Table I-b, Fig. I).

Table (I-b): ROC analysis of Q21-4 as predictor of planning for SM adoption by SMI
companies to induce sources of new revenues as a target for business development
Items AUC P value 95% confidence
interval
To further develop our relationship with our internal 0.531 >0.05 0.209-0.853
stakeholders (Q21-4)

Fig. (I): ROC analysis of Q21-4 as predictor of planning for SM adoption by SMI companies
to achieve business development
144
 Multiple regression analysis of answers of question no. 21 defined the plan to use SM to
increase the company's presence in SM platforms (Q21-8) as a predictor of SM tools adoption to
induce potential product or service as a target to achieve business development (Table II-a).

Table (II-a): Multiple regression analysis of items of Q21 as predictors of SM adoption by

SMM companies to induce potential product or service as a target of business development
Model Items Standardized t P value
No. coefficients
3 To increase the company's presence in SM 1.000 0.00000
platforms (Q21-8)

ROC curve analysis assured that SM tools adoption by owners of SMI companies to
increase the company's presence in SM platforms (Q21-8) as the most significant sensitive
predictor to induce potential product or service for business development with AUC= 0 (Fig. II).

Fig. (II): ROC analysis of Q21-8 as predictor of planning for SM adoption by SMI group to
achieve business development

145
 Multiple regression analysis of answers of question no. 21 defined the plan to use SM to
further develop relationship with internal stakeholders (Q21-4) as a predictor of SM tools adoption
for investment of capital and time as a target to achieve business development (Table III-a).

Table (III-a): Multiple regression analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by

SMI companies to induce investment of capital and time as a target of business development
Model Items Standardized t P value
No. coefficients
1 to further develop our relationship with our 0.883 7.515 <0.001
internal stakeholders (Q21-4)

ROC curve analysis found the planning of owners of SMI companies for SM adoption so
as to further develop their relationship with their internal stakeholders to as a predictor for capital
and time investment as a target to achieve business development with AUC= 0.847, p= 0.019
(Table III-b, Fig. III).

Table (III-b): ROC analysis of Q21-4 as predictor of planning for SM adoption by SMI
companies to induce investment of capital and time as a target of business development
Items AUC P value 95% confidence
interval
To further develop our relationship with our 0.531 >0.05 0.209-0.853
internal stakeholders (Q21-4)

Fig. (III): ROC analysis of Q21-4 as predictor of planning for SM adoption by SMI
companies to induce investment of capital and time as a target of business development.

146
 Multiple regression analysis of answers of question no. 21 defined the use of SM to better
manage customer community (Q21-1), to further increase the inter-departmental coordination
(Q21-6) and to increase share and role of SM in the overall marketing strategy (Q20-10) as the
predictors of SM tools adoption to allow promotional activities as a target on business development
(Table IV-a).

Table (IV-a): Multiple regression analysis of items of Q21 as predictors of SM adoption by

SMI companies to allow promotional activities as a target of business development
Model Items Standardized t P value
No. coefficients
1 To better manage customer community (Q21-1) 0.743 10.762 <0.001
To increase share and role of SM in the overall 0.574 6.000 <0.001
marketing strategy (Q21-6)
To increase share and role of SM in the overall 0.279 2.952 =0.011
marketing strategy (Q20-10)
2 To better manage customer community (Q21-1) 0.700 8.441 <0.001
To increase share and role of SM in the overall 0.375 4.517 <0.001
marketing strategy (Q21-6)
3 To better manage customer community (Q21-1) 0.915 9.052 <0.001

ROC curve analysis defined SM tools adoption by owners of SMI companies to better
manage customer community as the significant sensitive predictor for business development
(Table IV-b, Fig. IV).

Table (IV-b): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMM companies
to allow promotional activities as a target of business development
Items AUC P value 95% confidence
interval
To better manage customer community (Q21-1) 0.071 =0.003 0.089-0.230
To increase share and role of SM in the overall 0.273 >0.05 0.002-0.544
marketing strategy (Q21-6)
To increase share and role of SM in the overall 0.299 >0.05 0.050-0.548
marketing strategy (Q20-10)

147
Fig. (IV-b): ROC analysis of items of Q21 as predictors of SM adoption by SMI companies
to allow promotional activities as a target of business development

148
 Multiple regression analysis of answers of question no. 21 defined the use of SM to develop
better customer experience (Q20-3) as the predictor of SM tools adoption to allow building and
sustaining working relationships as a target on business development (Table V-a).

Table (V-a): Multiple regression analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by

SMI group for building and sustaining working relationships as a target of business
development

Model Items Standardized t P value

No. coefficients
1 To develop better customer experience (Q20-3) 1 0.0000

ROC curve analysis defined SM tools adoption by owners of SMI group to develop better
customer experience (Q20-3) as the significant specific predictor for business development with
AUC=1 (Table V-b, Fig. V).

Table (V-b): ROC analysis of items of Q21 as predictors of SM adoption by SMI companies
for building and sustaining working relationships as a target of business development

Items AUC P value 95% confidence interval

To develop better customer experience (Q20-3) 1 0.00000 1

Fig. (V-b): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMM companies
for building and sustaining working relationships as a target of business development

149
 Multiple regression analysis of answers of question no. 21 defined the use of SM to increase
share and role of SM in the overall marketing strategy (Q20-10) as the significant predictor of SM
tools adoption for presenting and selling the current product or service to the current customer as
a target on business development (Table VI-a).

Table (VI-a): Multiple regression analysis of items of Q21 as predictors of SM adoption by

SMI group for selling the current product or service to the current customer as a target of
business development

Model Items Standardized t P value

No. coefficients
1 increase share and role of SM in the overall 1
marketing strategy (Q20-10)

ROC curve analysis defined SM tools adoption by owners of SMI companies to increase
share and role of SM in the overall marketing strategy (Q20-10) as the significant specific predictor
for business development with AUC=1 (Table VI-b, Fig. VI).

Table (VI-b): ROC analysis of items of Q21 as predictors of SM adoption by SMI group for
selling the current product or service to the current customer as a target of business
development

Items AUC P value 95% confidence

interval
To increase share and role of SM in the overall 1 0.000 1
marketing strategy (Q20-10)

150
Fig. (VI): ROC analysis of items of Q21 as predictors of SM adoption by SMI companies to
induce selling the current product or service to the current customer as a target of business
development

151
 Multiple regression analysis of answers of question no. 20 defined the use of SM to further
develop relationship with internal stakeholders (Q21-4), to further develop our relationship with
our external stakeholders (Q21-5), to further increase the inter-departmental coordination (Q21-
6), to increase the capacity of the workforce dedicated to SM efforts (Q21-7) as the predictors of
SM tools adoption for selling the current product or service new customer segment as a target on
business development (Table VII-a).

Table (VII-a): Multiple regression analysis of items of Q21 as predictors of SM adoption by

SMI companies for selling the current product or service new customer segment as a target
of business development

Model Items Standardized t P value

No. coefficients
1 To further develop relationship with internal 0.925 7.361 <0.001
stakeholders (Q21-4)
To increase the capacity of the workforce dedicated 1.170 6.474 <0.001
to SM efforts (Q21-7)
To further develop our relationship with our 1.502 5.556 <0.001
external stakeholders (Q21-5)
To further increase the inter-departmental 0.418 2.859 =0.013
coordination (Q21-6),
2 To further develop relationship with internal 0.905 5.866 <0.001
stakeholders (Q21-4)
to increase the capacity of the workforce dedicated 1.106 5.016 <0.001
to SM efforts (Q21-7)
To further develop our relationship with our 1.046 3.897 =0.002
external stakeholders (Q21-5)
3 To further develop relationship with internal 0.559 3.176 =0.006
stakeholders (Q21-4)
To increase the capacity of the workforce dedicated 0.401 2.279 =0.038
to SM efforts (Q21-7)
4 To further develop relationship with internal 0.881 7.454 <0.001
stakeholders (Q21-4)

ROC curve analysis defined SM tools adoption by owners of SMM companies to further
develop relationship with internal stakeholders (Q21-4), to further develop our relationship with
our external stakeholders (Q21-5) and to increase the capacity of the workforce dedicated to SM
efforts (Q21-7) as the significant specific predictors for business development with decreasing
order of significance (Table VII-b, Fig. VII).

152
Table (VII-b): ROC analysis of items of Q21 as predictors of SM adoption by SMI companies
for selling the current product or service new customer segment as a target of business
development

Items AUC P value 95% confidence

interval
To further develop relationship with internal 0.847 =0.019 0.572-1.123
stakeholders (Q21-4)
To further develop our relationship with our external 0.806 =0.039 0.531-1.080
stakeholders (Q21-5)
To increase the capacity of the workforce dedicated to 0.792 =0.049 0.496-1.087
SM efforts (Q21-7)
To further increase the inter-departmental coordination 0.785 >0.05 0.499-1.070
(Q21-6),

Table (VII): ROC analysis of items of Q21 as predictors of SM adoption by SMI companies
for selling the current product or service new customer segment as a target of business
development

153
 Multiple regression analysis of answers of question no. 21 defined the use of SM to further
develop our relationship with our internal stakeholders (Q21-4) as the predictor of SM tools
adoption for presenting and selling new product or service to the current customer as a target on
business development (Table VIII-a).

Table (VIII-a): Multiple regression analysis of items of Q21 as predictors of SM adoption by

SMM companies for presenting and selling new product or service to the current customer
as a target of business development

Model Items Standardized t P value

No. coefficients
1 To further develop our relationship with our 0.756 4.619 <0.001
internal stakeholders (Q21-4)

ROC curve analysis defined SM tools adoption by owners of SMM companies to further
develop relationship with internal stakeholders (Q21-4) as the most significant sensitive predictor
to induce production potential for business development with AUC= 0 (Fig. VIII).

Table (VIII): ROC analysis of items of Q20 as predictors of SM adoption by SMI companies
for presenting and selling new product or service to the current customer as a target of
business development

154
 Regression analysis of answers of question no. 21 defined the use of SM to increase share
and role of SM in the overall marketing strategy (Q20-10) and to increase the capacity of the
workforce dedicated to SM efforts (Q21-7) as the predictors of SM tools adoption for presenting
and selling new product or service to new customer segment as a target on business development
(Table IX-a).

Table (IX-a): Regression analysis of items of Q21 as predictors of SM adoption by SMI

companies for presenting and selling new product or service to new customer segment as a
target of business development

Model Items Standardized t P value

No. coefficients
1 To increase share and role of SM in the overall 0.647 4.827 <0.001
marketing strategy (Q20-10)
To increase the capacity of the workforce dedicated 0.349 2.603 =0.020
to SM efforts (Q21-7)
2 To increase share and role of SM in the overall 0.940 10.995 <0.001
marketing strategy (Q20-10)

ROC curve analysis defined SM tools adoption by owners of SMI companies to increase
share and role of SM in the overall marketing strategy (Q20-10) and to increase the capacity of the
workforce dedicated to SM efforts (Q21-7) as the significant specific predictors for business
development with decreasing order of significance (Table IX, Fig. IX).

Table (IX-b): ROC analysis of items of Q21 as predictors of SM adoption by SMI companies
for presenting and selling new product or service to new customer segment as a target of
business development

Items AUC P value 95% confidence

interval
To increase the capacity of the workforce dedicated to 1 =0.0000 1
SM efforts (Q21-7)
To increase share and role of SM in the overall 0.938 =0.002 0.798-1.077
marketing strategy (Q20-10)

155
Fig. (IX): ROC analysis of items of Q21 as predictors of SM adoption by SMI group for
presenting and selling new product or service to new customer segment of an enterprise as a
target of business development.

156
5.3 Research Conclusions
It was noticeable that this research was designed in association with a specific research
gap. This research gap was defined empirically and academically. Academically, it was stated that
little research has been conducted in the topic of Social Media and SMEs business development
and specifically a lack in the quantitative research in the same topic was noticed in the literature.
Empirically, it has been witnessed only a great growth in Social Media usage in large corporate as
proven through Social Media campaigns in large scale companies. On the other hand, Social Media
usage on the level of SMEs has not been noticed in the business world here in Egypt but in a very
unorganized and undocumented way.

Accordingly, this research gap has led to a research question and research objectives where
the research model has been established and tested to fill the discovered knowledge gap. By now,
the main research question of this study concerning what impact have Social Media tools adoption
done in the context of Small and Medium Enterprises' business development efforts, has been
indirectly answered. In sum, the study results suggest that

The first research sub-question, what is the current situation of Social Media tools
adoption in the context of small and medium enterprises in Egypt for business purposes, is
discussed next. To put it simply, the answer to this question was targeted through ten main
questions in order to fulfil the objective of determining the current features and status of Social
Media tools adoption in the Egyptian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in accordance with
business purposes.

The results concerning the research first objective indicate the following:

1. The majority of SMEs owners in the sample (77%) use Social Media tools from a
personal perspective and the rest of the sample (23%) do not use it even as a basic
social tool personally and they were excluded from the research.
2. The majority of SMEs owners in the sample (73%) use Social Media tools as a
business tool to stablish or manage their SMEs and the rest of the sample (27%) do
not accept the involvement of Social Media in performing there SME's business
activities.
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3. Concerning the obstacles that prevents (27%) of SMEs owners who do not accept
Social Media tools usage in business, the results indicate that the first reason is
Social Media tools are not applicable to SMEs' type of business, the second reason
is the believe of respondents that Social Media tools are only for socialization not
from performing business as indicated, the third reason is about the lack of
computer in the work place, the fourth reason is the obstacle of lacking internet
connection to the computer available in the work place.
The fifth reason is that Social Media incorporation in SME's is expensive, the sixth
reason is about half of respondents suffer from lack of computer skills and finally
not mentioned obstacles such as lack of time enough time to follow customers and
update information on Social Media concerning the SMEs, lack of experience about
how to use Social Media in business and what are the expected benefits that could
be gained from that use, SMEs' customers are not available in Social Media sites
and consequently cannot be targeted, Inability of presenting the SMEs business on
Social Media sites and finally fear of failure after experiencing unsuccessful
experience.
4. The most used Social Media sites among Social Media Maturity and Social Media
Intention groups (66 respondent of SMEs). "Facebook" was on the first place where
100% of respondents use it or willing to use it in both groups. "Instagram" was in
the second place followed by "Twitter" and "Google +" as the last two used tools
while managing SMEs. It was noticed also that no respondents mentioned
"YouTube" and "LinkedIn". Finally, about half of both SMEs groups (SMM and
SMI) indicated that they are using other Social Media tools such as "WhatsApp".
5. The business activities that are mostly performed by SMEs through Social Media
are marketing as business activity performed through Social Media was reported
with the highest respond by 49% of both the SMM group and SMI group.
Promotional activities were reported to be also in the first place by 49% of SMM
group but in the second place by 72% of SMI group. The use of Social Media tools
for opinion search concerning the SMEs presented products and services was

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ranked second by 88% of SMM group, however 61% of SMI group expecting to
use social Media for opinion search which brings this activity in the fourth place.
Concerning the use of Social Media by SMEs as a tool for communicating with
customers, this activity was ranked third by both SMM group (69%) and SMI group
(67%). Also the use of Social Media for new product launching was ranked third
by 69% of SMEs respondents in SMM group but on the other hand this activity
ranked fourth as reported by 61% of SMEs respondents in SMI group. The business
activity of being closer to potential clients and accessing new markets through
Social Media tools was ranked fourth by 63% of SMM group and second by 72%
of SMI group.
Also it is reported that the use of Social Media tools to compare prices between
competitors by SMEs was ranked in the fifth place by 56% of SMM group but the
activity was prioritized to be ranked third by 67% of SMI group. Unlike expected,
selling of products online activities were ranked fifth as reported by both SMEs
respondents on SMM level (56%) and SMI level (56%). The exploration of new
potential business ideas by Social Media was reported to be in the sixth place by
54% of SMM group and in the third place by 67% of SMI group. The usage of
Social Media tools for building the brand name was ranked sixth by both SMM
group (42%) and SMI group (44%).
Additionally, SMEs respondents reported that the business activities of knowing
new trends and new businesses in markets through Social Media to be ranked
seventh by SMM group (38%) and sixth by SMI group (44%). The activity of
analyzing clients' behavioral patterns was ranked eight by 35% of SMM group and
about 44% of SMI group respondents picked the activity to be in the sixth place.
Recruitment through Social Media tools was ranked ninth by 31% of SMM group
and was ranked eight as the last chosen activity by 22% of SMI group.
Twenty-nine percent of SMM group are using Social Media tools to collect data
about customers which made this business activity to be ranked tenth but on the
other hand the activity was ranked forth by 61% of SMI group who are willing to
use Social Media tools for the same business purpose. The use of Social Media

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 tools to cooperate with other business partners such as suppliers and competitors
was ranked eleventh by 23% of SMM group, however 44% of the SMI group
believed to using Social Media tools for cooperate with other to be ranked sixth
among other business activities. The latest ranking chosen by SMM group was
reported by 15% out of the group respondents concerning project launching activity
and almost at the same pace the activity was ranked seventh by 39% of SMI group.
6. By surveying the products and services that are introduced by SMEs, it has been
concluded that SMEs introducing "Fashion products" through Social Media tools
are the dominant category by 21% of the research total respondents. After that
SMEs introducing "Fast food" and "E-commerce service" are in the second place
by 17%. Other SMEs varied with limited rates such as "Home and living products"
and "Beauty products". Finally, it was noticed that 12% of participated SMEs are
out of the suggested products and services classification in the questionnaire and
they varied between "Beauty center", "Training center", "Flower shop",
"Advertising services" and "Nursery".
7. Types of e-crime carried out on social media that have threatened SMEs
respondents. Through this investigation it was noted that SMI group seems to not
have any idea about the types of potential e-crimes that may threaten their SMEs
business activities on Social Media. Also it was noted that none of SMM group
admitted any cyber bullying exposure which is unrealistic thing. As shown in
Figure 11, the e-crime of "advance fee or romance scams" is in the first place by
63% of SMM group, followed by "identity theft" by 44% of SMM group and
finally, "theft of personal information" in the third place by 25% of SMEs
respondents in SMM group.
8. there is an agreement that Social Media tools are spying methods firstly by 67% of
SMM group and secondly by 72% of SMI group.
9. By asking if Social Media sites offer opportunities for importing more than
exporting, the majority of SMEs respondents in both groups agreed upon the idea
that Social Media tools support more opportunities for importing than exporting by
60% of SMM group and 67% of SMI group.

160
 10. About 83% of SMM group agreed about the idea of recommending Social Media
tools to other SMEs owners and managers. Additionally, 100% of SMI group
totally agreed upon the same idea and believe in the usefulness of Social Media
tools for better updated managerial data.

The second research sub-question, what are the characteristics that drive or inhibit Social
Media tools adoption and usage by the Egyptian small and medium enterprises, is discussed next.
Indeed, answering this question was targeted through some questions about the suggested
characteristics that control SM adoption and SM adoption in two main SMEs groups (Social Media
Maturity and Social Media Intention) in order to fulfill the objective of gaining a deeper
understanding on the characteristics that drive or inhibit Social Media tools adoption and usage by
the Egyptian small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

According to testing the suggested two groups of hypothesis, the results concerning the
research second objective indicate as following:

1- On SMM group level, multiple regression analysis using Stepwise method revealed that
the only characteristic that supports Social Media adoption between SMEs respondents of
SMM group is innovation characteristics (relative advantages, compatibility, complexity,
triability and observability characteristics associated with Social Media adoption). This
result was concluded after the exclusion of other characteristics such as organizational,
manager and environmental characteristics.
a. Among the stated measures for relative advantages associated with Social Media
adoption, multiple regression analysis defined provision of coordination between
department, increased productivity, reliable business communications and
development of new products and services as the significant benefits suspected by SM
applicability and are the motives of SMEs' owners of SMM group for SM adoption.
b. Among the stated measures for other innovation characteristics associated with Social
Media adoption, multiple regression analysis defined complexity as the significant
innovative character suspected by SM applicability to inhibit SM adoption by owners
of SMM companies for SM adoption.

161
 2- On SMI group level, multiple regression analysis using Stepwise method revealed that the
only characteristic that supports Social Media adoption between SMEs respondents of SMI
group is innovation characteristics and specifically relative advantages associated with
Social Media adoption. On contrary, ROC curve analysis defined the rest of innovation
characteristics (Compatibility, complexity, triability and observability) as the significant
specific predictor among the studied variables for SM adoption among SMEs respondents
of SMI group.
a. Multiple regression analysis defined provision of coordination between
department, development of new products and services and simplification of work
routine as the significant related advantages suspected by SM applicability and are
the motives of owners of SMI group for SM adoption. On contrary, ROC curve
analysis defined provision of improved customer satisfaction as the only significant
motive as sensitive predictor motivation of SMI companies for SM adoption.
b. Multiple regression analysis defined complexity, triability and observability as the
significant predictors for SM adoption by SMI companies. However, complexity of
innovative characters of SM adoption negatively affected adoption of SM.

The third research sub-question, to what extend Social Media tools adoption (whether
actual maturity or future adoption intention) have affected business development efforts executed by
SMEs in Egypt. In order to answering this question, some questions were designed about the SM
adoption in two main SMEs groups (Social Media Maturity and Social Media Intention) and
business development efforts as suggested in the literature. in order to fulfill the objective of
Measuring the effect of current adoption and the future intentions based on the decision toward
the usage of Social Media tools by Egyptian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) on business
development efforts by these SMEs.

162
 According to testing the suggested last groups of hypothesis, the results concerning the
research third objective indicate as following:

1- Firstly, measuring the effect of current adoption based on the decision toward the usage of
Social Media tools by SMEs of SMM group on business development efforts by these
SMEs has been concluded the following:
a. Multiple regression analysis defined the actual adoption of SM to enhance customer
experience and brand building as the predictors of SM tools adoption by SMM group
to induce sources of new revenues as a target on business development
b. Multiple regression analysis defined the use of SM to enhance customer experience, to
manage the customer community and to manage relationship of the company with
government, regulators and interest groups as the predictors of SM tools adoption by
SMM group to induce potential product or service as a target on business development.
c. Multiple regression analysis defined the use of SM to manage the customer community
and periodically circulate SM data (Twitter, Facebook comments) that provide
information on customers as the predictors of SM tools adoption by SMM group to
induce investment of capital and time as a target on business development.
d. Multiple regression analysis defined the use of SM to enhance customer experience
and brand building as the predictors of SM tools adoption by SMM group to be used in
promotional activities as a target on business development.
e. Multiple regression analysis defined the use of SM to enhance customer experience, to
know when something important happens to a major customer of the market, the whole
business unit within a short period and to implement an immediate response if a major
competitor was to launch an intensive online campaign targeted at our customers as the
predictors of SM tools adoption by SMM group to build a sustainable working relations
as a target on business development.
f. Multiple regression analysis defined the use of SM to enhance customer experience,
lead generation, brand building, to manage relationship between the company and its
employees and to implement an immediate response if a major competitor was to
launch an intensive online campaign targeted at our customers as the predictors of SM

163
 tools adoption for presenting and selling the current product or service to the current
customer as a target on business development.
g. Multiple regression analysis defined the use of SM to enhance customer experience,
brand building, to manage relationship between the company and its employees and to
implement an immediate response if a major competitor was to launch an intensive
online campaign targeted at our customers as the predictors of SM tools adoption for
presenting and selling the current product or service to new customer segment as a
target on business development.
h. Multiple regression analysis defined the use of SM to manage the relationship with
government, regulators, and interest groups as the predictor of SM tools adoption for
presenting and selling new product or service to the current customer as a target on
business development.
i. Multiple regression analysis defined the use of SM to enhance customer experience, to
manage the customer community, to manage the relationship of the company with its
suppliers, to manage the relationship with government, regulators, and interest groups,
to periodically circulate SM data (Twitter, Facebook comments) that provide
information on customers and to know when something important happens to a major
customer of the market, the whole business unit within a short period as the predictors
of SM tools adoption for presenting or selling new product or service to new customer
segment as a target on business development.

2- Secondly, measuring the effect of future adoption based on the decision toward the usage
of Social Media tools by SMEs of SMI group on business development efforts by these SMEs has
been concluded the following:

a. Multiple regression analysis defined the plan to use SM to further develop relationship
with internal stakeholders as a predictor of SM tools adoption by SMI group to induce
sources of new revenues as a target to achieve business development.
b. Multiple regression analysis defined the plan to use SM to increase the company's
presence in SM platforms as a predictor of SM tools adoption to induce potential
product or service as a target to achieve business development.

164
c. Multiple regression analysis defined the plan to use SM to further develop relationship
with internal stakeholders as a predictor of SM tools adoption for investment of capital
and time as a target to achieve business development.
d. Multiple regression analysis defined the use of SM to better manage customer
community, to further increase the inter-departmental coordination and to increase
share and role of SM in the overall marketing strategy as the predictors of SM tools
adoption to allow promotional activities as a target on business development.
e. Multiple regression analysis defined the use of SM to develop better customer
experience as the predictor of SM tools adoption to allow building and sustaining
working relationships as a target on business development.
f. Multiple regression analysis defined the use of SM to increase share and role of SM in
the overall marketing strategy as the significant predictor of SM tools adoption for
presenting and selling the current product or service to the current customer as a target
on business development.
g. Multiple regression analysis defined the use of SM to further develop relationship with
internal stakeholders, to further develop our relationship with our external stakeholders,
to further increase the inter-departmental coordination, to increase the capacity of the
workforce dedicated to SM efforts as the predictors of SM tools adoption for selling
the current product or service new customer segment as a target on business
development.
h. Multiple regression analysis defined the use of SM to further develop our relationship
with our internal stakeholders as the predictor of SM tools adoption for presenting and
selling new product or service to the current customer as a target on business
development.
i. Regression analysis defined the use of SM to increase share and role of SM in the
overall marketing strategy and to increase the capacity of the workforce dedicated to
SM efforts as the predictors of SM tools adoption for presenting and selling new
product or service to new customer segment as a target on business development.

165
5.4 Research Recommendations
The findings of this study have a number of important implications for future practice.

The Recommendation Action Steps Executive Authority

1- Statistical reports on • Using quantitative research methods Faculty of
Social Media usage under a well-defined research project Commerce – Benha
by SMEs in Egypt. targeting to document statically SMEs University and
business performance through Social Qalyubia Chamber
Media tools. of Commerce
(Benha – Egypt).
2- Governmental • By stating some laws and regulations to The Egyptian
support for SMEs that protect SMEs owners and managers from government.
adopt the idea of e-crimes.
using Social Media in
business
development.
3- Training courses in • Understanding the obstacles and fears the Faculty of
the research topic stop some SMEs owners and managers Commerce – Benha
from using Social Media as indicated in University and
the findings of the research. Qalyubia Chamber
• Creating a supporting training material of Commerce
including both theoretical and empirical (Benha – Egypt).
backgrounds.
• Introducing the service to SMEs owners
and managers through well-equipped
classes and trainers.
4- Conferences around • Establishing conferences in educational Faculty of
the idea of Social institutes and chambers of commerce to Commerce – Benha
Media adoption by disseminate the idea of Social Media University and
SMEs usage among SMEs owners and Qalyubia Chamber
managers through: of Commerce
1. Introducing the advantages of (Benha – Egypt).
Social Media usage in business.
2. Heling owners and manager to
understand usages of Social
Media tools in various
management disciplines.
3. Defining the innovation
characteristics that will encourage
SMEs to incorporate SM tools in
business development efforts.

166
5.5 Areas for Further Research
However, more research on this topic needs to be undertaken before the association
between Social Media and SMEs is more clearly understood specially in Egypt under the umbrella
concept of Business Development. Accordingly, it is recommended that further research be
undertaken in the following areas:

1- Further research should be done to investigate the same topic but by using qualitative
research methods. The reason behind this suggest is a notable number of successful SMEs
cases was detected by the researcher which have adopted Social Media tools in managing
their businesses in different rewarding ways varied between marketing, recruiting and
Social Commerce activities.
2- Since the research was limited to Benha City, future studies on the current topic are
therefore recommended on other geographical locations and cities since there is a great
need for documenting Social Media adoption phenomena among SMEs in whole Egypt.
3- Additionally, in future investigations it might be possible to conduct the same research but
in depth through a specific service or production sector since this research was not limited
to one sector in SMEs community.
4- A further study with more focus on "Business Development" is therefore suggested since
the research has proven scarce in the research investigating what is specifically business
development and how it could be measured as a variable.

167
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 APPENDIX A

A.1 Social Media campaigns by large scale organizations in Egypt:

Date Brand Used Description

Social
Media
April Chiclets Chiclets • Campaign name: Nothingness. 17
2014 Facebook • Campaign target:
page The marketing campaign is targeting new customer segment
mainly. has 12 to 13 years old at its core. It also aims to repositioning
a brand with a strong heritage, one which enjoyed a great
affinity to older customers who had grown up with it.
• Campaign Idea: Proposing unusual illogical flavors of
Chiclets gum.
• Results:
1- Sales growth is estimated by 33 per cent since the launch
of the campaign after the brand’s market share had dropped to
around 22 percent, down from the over 50 percent of
yesteryears and 34 per cent in 2010-11.
2- Several thousand videos came in, and these are helping re-
assert the ‘Nothing is everything’ premise. The ‘illogical’
flavor combos are currently being promoted through the
advertising.
May Cookdoor Cookdoor • Campaign name: #‫ وجبات_االمتحانات‬18
2014 Instagram • Campaign target: The marketing campaign is offering free
account. combos immediately for the first 30 students who take a photo
of themselves while studying, and put it on Instagram, tagging
@CookDoorEg and using #‫ وجبات_االمتحانات‬every day during
May 2014.
• Campaign Idea: The object of the campaign is to decrease
the time wasting stress of deciding what to eat during final
exams season.

17 Campaign Staff. (2014, October 28). Buoyed by response, Chiclets extends “Nothingness” to launch
“illogical” flavours in Egypt. Retrieved from http://campaignme.com/2014/10/28/15904/buoyed-response-chiclets-
extends-nothing-everything-illogical-flavours-egypt/
18 CAIROSCENE TEAM. (2014, May 23). Cook Door Improves Exam Grades. Retrieved December 7,
2015, from http://www.cairoscene.com/Buzz/Cook-Door-Improves-Exam-Grades
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 2015 Chipsy Any social • Campaign name: ‫ماتوقفش_الضحكه_عندك‬#
media “ Don’t let the smile stoop when it reaches you” 19 & 20 & 21
platform & 22
where • Campaign target:
people can 1- The marketing campaign whose main target is to restore the
share their 90 million smile of the Egyptians using the brand packs.
photos 3- The campaign also aims to increase the income because
with they now sell the pack for 1.5 L.E. instead of 1 L.E.
chipsy • Campaign Idea:
smiley 1- Usage of the packs is very easy, you simply place the pack
on your mouth and use the right angle to make it appear
package.
realistic and then you take a picture.
Such as:
2- After that the picture should be uploaded to any social
Facebook,
media platform, Instagram for instance, under the hashtag
Twitter
#‫ ماتوقفش_الضحكة_عندك‬which means Don’t Let the Smile Stop
and
When It Reaches You.
Instagram
Results:
1- This campaign show the best attitude of Egyptians” Egyptian
Smile” which was famous round world and this consequently
add values for customers and help to achieve chipsy’s
marketing goals.
2- During the “Effie MENA 2015 Awards”, the “90 million
smiles” campaign for chipsy was one of the gold award winners
in the brand experience category between twenty-three gold
winners.
3- In a rare event to see a brand using another brand’s national
campaign, ‘Closeup’ has posted an edited picture of ‘Chipsy’s’
ad featuring a super clean and white teeth and sharing the
picture with both fans of both brands to highlight that 90million
will continue to smile only because of Closeup.

19 ElGhonemy, M. G. (n.d.). Community Post: Chipsy Launches A Campaign To Restore The 90MM
Egyptian Smile. Retrieved December 7, 2015, from http://www.buzzfeed.com/maryamgamalelghonemy/chipsy-
launches-a-campaign-to-restore-the-90mm-egy-1mciy
20 Sleem, A. (2015, April 18). Chipsy Learn from 2013 campaign to spread smiles for 90 Million
Egyptians. Retrieved from http://www.imfnd.com/chipsy-learn-from-2013-campaign-to-spread-smiles-for-90-
million-egyptians/
21 Lakhpatwala, Z. (2015, November 19). Effie MENA 2015 Awards winners. Retrieved from
http://communicateonline.me/events-awards/effie-mena-2015-awards-winners/
22 Creative Marketing or Stealing Attention from Chipsy? (2015, May 20). Retrieved from
http://www.roknaraby.com/creative-marketing-or-stealing-eyes-from-chipsy/
179
 2013 Coca- Any Coca- • Campaign name: #Etgann (go crazy)
Cola Cola social ‫اتجنن‬# 23 & 24
media • Campaign target:
platform #Etganen is a marketing campaign urges people to be good
where citizens and do good things even if they seem a bit crazy.
people can • Campaign Idea:
share their The campaign started by calling for Twitter users to use the
experience. #Etganen hashtag to announce what they will be doing. The
Arabic word written in English letters allowed users to
express their creative ideas in both languages.
Results:
1- After two days from rolling out the hashtag
by @CocaColaEgypt, #Etganen has been mentioned 1,123
times.
2- 112 New follower on Twitter in less than 24 hrs.
3- 261,781 views on YouTube in less than 24 hrs.
4- 4,009 likes on YouTube in less than 24 hrs.
5- 51 Favorites on YouTube in less than 24 hrs.
6- 643 comments on YouTube in less than 24 hrs.

23 Shata, H. (n.d.). Coca Cola Egypt Campaign Boom on Social Media #etganen. Retrieved from
http://thinkmarketingmagazine.com/index.php/coca-cola-egypt-campaign-boom-on-social-media-etganen/
24 Coca-Cola’s #Etganen Picks up on Social Media. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.digibuzzme.com/coca-colas-etganen-picks-up-on-social-media/
180
 2012 Coca- Any social • Campaign name: #share_a_coke
Cola media #names_campaign25
platform “Coke is better with” campaign
where • Campaign target:
people can 1- Coca-Cola depended on social media to spread the
share their campaign targeting Egyptian youth below the age of 35 in
photos of order to increase the company’s Facebook page traffic.
Coca-Cola 2- The whole experience the consumer goes through in
searching for a product that has his own name and buying it is
cans with
generally fun and attractive.
their
3- Selfies and virtual simulation of products on social media
names. as a part of promotional campaigns are a way to go along with
the social media fads that are popular among young adults.
• Campaign Idea: Coca-Cola has printed the most common
Egyptian names on its beverage cans. The use of names has
initiated a two-way conversation between Coca Cola and its
customers in Egypt.
• Results:
1- the campaign has dramatically changed Coca-Cola’s sales
around the globe, especially among teenagers and young
adults in Egypt.
2- The campaign has increased customer loyalty since
everyone now is searching for cans printed with his/her
names.

25 Morgan, M. (2014, August 5). Advertisers appeal to “egocentric” youth culture. Retrieved December 7,
2015, from http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/08/05/advertisers-appeal-egocentric-youth-culture/
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Objectives: Variables: Questionnaire:
22 Questions.
1- Determining the current features and Part One:
status of Social Media tools adoption in
the Egyptian small and medium Question no.1
enterprises (SMEs) in accordance with Question no.2
business purposes. Question no.3
Question no.4
Question no.5
Question no.6
Question no.7
Question no.8
Question no.9
Question no.10
2- Gaining a deeper understanding on the 1- Organizational Part Two:
factors that drive or inhibit Social characteristics.
Media tools adoption and usage by the • Firm Question no.11
Egyptian small and medium Question no.16
innovativeness.
Question no.17
enterprises (SMEs). • Firm size.
2- Manager Question no.13
characteristics. Question no.14
• Age. Question no.15
• Gender.
• Education.
3- Environmental Question no.12
characteristics.
• Firm geographical
location.
4- Innovative Question no.18
characteristics.
• Relative
Question no.19
advantages.
(1)
• Compatibility.
• Complexity. Question no.19
• Triability. (2)
• Observability.
Question no.19
(3)
Question no.19
(4)

182
3- Measuring the effect of current 5- Social Media Question no.20
adoption and the future intentions maturity.
based on the decision toward the usage • Social Customer
of Social Media tools by Egyptian Relations.
small and medium enterprises (SMEs) • Social Stakeholder
on business development efforts by Communication.
these SMEs. • Social Intelligence.
• Social
Responsiveness
6- Social Media Question no.21
intention.
• Social Engagement.
• Social Presence.
• Social
Commitment.
7- Business Question no.22
Development.
• Sources of new
revenues (profit).
• Production or
service potential.
• Investment of
capital and time.
• Promotional
activities.
• Building and
sustaining working
relationship.
• Creation of growth
and expansion
opportunities of an
enterprise.

183
 APPENDIX B

B.1 Cover Letter:

Faculty of Commerce

Combined Letter of Introduction and Informed Consent

Department of Business Administration

Title of the study:

The Impact of Social Media on Business Development in Egypt.

Dear Respondent,

You are being asked to participate as a volunteer to complete a survey questionnaire

conducted by Mennatallah Mostafa Hasan Morsy, a Master student at Benha University. This
questionnaire is designed as a partial fulfillment of one of the requirements for the attainment of
the master degree in business administration from Benha University.The research is being
conducted under the supervision of Dr. Fareed El-Nagaar and Dr. Osama Abdel-Moneim.
Your company will represent as a one from a chosen sample from the small and medium
enterprises population in Benha City – Elqaliubia – Egypt that is needed to participate in this study.
Each company will be presented as sample unit. The questionnaire is designed to gather
information about the potential adoption of Social Media as a tools for small and medium
enterprises development, the determinants of Social Media tools actual adoption and usage by
small and medium enterprises in Benha and the measurements of the current adoption and the
future intention based on the decision toward the usage of Social Media tools. The purpose of this
research is to investigate Social Media tools adoption by small and medium enterprises in Benha.
It is expected that the results of the questionnaire will assist in understanding and evaluating the
variables that control the diffusion and use of Social Media tools in performing small and medium
enterprises activities.
There are no known risks associated with completing the questionnaire. Your responses
will remain confidential and anonymous. Data from this research will be kept under lock and key
and reported only as a collective combined total. No one other than the researchers will know your
individual answers to this questionnaire. The researcher will not identify you by name in any report
using information obtained from your questionnaire; your confidentiality as a participant in this
study will remain secure.

184
 For research-related problems or questions regarding the questionnaire, please contact the
faculty of commerce – Benha University.
Completing the questionnaire will require approximately fifteen minutes. We recognize the
value of your time and your assistant and co-operation will be highly appreciated.

Yours sincerely,
For further information, including a copy of the results of this study, please contact:

Mennatallah Mostafa Hasan Morsy

Demonstrator at Business Administration department
Faculty of Commerce
Benha University
<mentallah.morsy@fcom.bu.edu.eg>

185
 B.2 English Questionnaire:

Faculty of Commerce
Business Administration

Questionnaire
For Masters of Management:
" The Impact of Social Media on Business Development in Egypt"
Part One: General features about Social Media usage:
1- Do you use Social Media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube?
 Yes  No

2- Do you planning to establish a small business on Social Media sites or actually your business
usually uses Social Media sites for performing its activities?
 Yes (Question no. 4)  No (Question no. 3)

3- If your answer is (No), then what are the reasons behind not incorporating Social Media sites in
SME's management?
 Lack of computer skills.  Lack of computer connected to the internet
at work.
 Social Media tools are not applicable for my  Social Media tools are only used by young
business. people to chat with friends.
 Social Media incorporation in SME's is  Lack of computer in the work place.
expensive.
 Other reasons …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

4- If your answer is (Yes), then in which Social Media sites is your company represented?
 Facebook  Twitter
 YouTube  Google +
 LinkedIn  Instagram
 Other ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

5- What activities are more benefited by the representation participation of your company in
Social Media sites?
 Marketing.  Project Launching.
 Recruitment.  Knowing trends.
 Being closer to potential clients and  New products launching.
accessing new markets.
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  Promotion.  Opinion search.
 New businesses.  Behavioural patterns analysis.
 New ideas.  Cooperation with others
 Communicating with customers.  Building the brand name.
 Selling of products online.  Comparing our prices with competitors.
 Collect data about customers.
 Other ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

6- What is the service or the product that your company present?

 Auto and cars products.  Telecom services.
 Beauty products.  Airlines and travel services.
 Electronics products.  Healthcare services.
 Retail food.  Finance and banking services.
 Fashion products.  E-commerce services.
 Industrial products.  Accommodation services.
 Beverage products.  Different services such as transportation
and shipping & delivery.
 Software products.  Real estate services.
 Fast food.  Home and living products.
 Other ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

7- What are types of e-crime carried out on social media that have targeted your company?
 Identity theft.  Theft of personal information.
 Cyber bullying.  Advance fee / romance scams.

8- Do you consider Social Media sites as a tool for spying between companies?
 Yes  No

9- Do Social Media sites offer opportunities for importing more than exporting?
 Yes  No

10- Will you suggest Social Media sites usage to your colleagues and friends for more managerial
data?
 Yes  No

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Part Two: factors that drive or inhibit Social Media tools adoption and usage by the Egyptian
small and medium enterprises (SMEs):
11- How many employees do you have in your company?
Employees: Numbers:
1- Full-time: …………………………………………………………………….
2- Part-time: …………………………………………………………………….
3- Casual: …………………………………………………………………….

12- Does your business have other branches in another geographical location?
 Yes  No

13- What is the age of the Owner / CEO?

 Less than 18.  18 : 21
 22 : 25  26: 29
 30 : 34  35 : 39
 40 : 44  45 : 49
 50 : 55  More than 55.

14- What is the gender of the Owner / CEO?

 Male  Female

15- What is the highest education qualification of the Owner / CEO?

 No formal qualification.
 Primary or Preparatory qualification.
 Secondary qualification.
 College qualification (diploma/certificate).
 Undergraduate degree.
 Postgraduate degree (Master/Ph.D.).
 CAN’T SAY.

16- How would you describe your company based on its relationship with new technologies?
Strongly Disagree Neither Strongly Agree
disagree disagree agree
or agree
1- My company is usually among the first to
try out a new technology.
2- My company likes to experiment with new
technologies.
3- My company tries to stay current with
technological trends.

188
 17- Recent technological developments have brought about new innovative tools that companies
can use to promote products and engage with customers and suppliers. How does your
company engage with Social Media sites?
 Not aware of this.
 Do not engaged, but aware.
 Have but do not regularly use.
 Have and regularly use for marketing purposes.

18- From your SME's perspective, what is your evaluation for the expected or actual advantages
from the actual or expected engagement in Social Media sites?
Strongly Disagree Neither Strongly Agree
disagree disagree agree
or agree
1- Social Media has led to simplification of
work routines.
2- Social Media has led to reliable business
communications.
3- Social Media has led to efficient
coordination among departments.
4- Social Media has improved customer
satisfaction.
5- Social Media has provided new business
opportunities.
6- Social Media has led to development of
new product and services.
7- Social Media has led to reduction in
operation costs.
8- Social Media has led to increased
productivity.

19- Please, evaluate each of the following sentences:

Strongly Disagree Neither Strongly Agree
disagree disagree agree
or agree
1- Social Media is compatible with business
needs.
2- It is easy to implement Social Media.
3- It is easy to test Social Media sites before
full implementation.
4- Positive results of using Social Media are
clearly visible.

189
Part Three: Measuring the degree of Social Media Maturity and Social Media Intention and
their effect on business development efforts by SMEs:
20- Social Media Maturity
Strongly Disagree Neither Strongly Agree
disagree disagree agree
or agree
1- We use Social Media to enhance
customer experience.
2- We use Social Media to manage
the customer community.
3- We use Social Media for lead
generation.
4- We use Social Media for brand
building.
5- We use Social Media to manage
our relationship with our
employees.
6- We use Social Media to manage
our relationship with our
suppliers.
7- We use Social Media to manage
our relationship with our
distributors.
8- We use Social Media to manage
our relationship with government,
regulators, interest groups.
9- Our company periodically
circulates Social Media data
(Twitter, Facebook comments)
that provide information on our
customers.
10- When something important
happens to a major customer of
the market, the whole business
unit knows about it within a short
period thanks to Social Media.
11- If a major competitor were to
launch an intensive online
campaign targeted at our
customers, we would implement a
response immediately.
12- We use Social Media as an early
warning system to detect early
signs of crisis.

190
 13- We use Social Media to
understand what products or
services our customers will and
what changes or enhancements
are needed for current product /
service offerings.
14- We use Social Media to enable our
customers to communicate their
complaints easily.
15- We use Social Media analysis tools
to collect customer complaints
and respond effectively and
quickly.
16- We use Social Media to trace
whether our customers are
satisfied with the quality of our
products and services and take
corrective action immediately.

21- Social Media intention

Strongly Disagree Neither Strongly Agree
disagree disagree agree
or agree
1- We plan to enhance our use of SM to
better manage our customer community.
2- We plan to enhance our use of SM to
implement better marketing strategies.
3- We plan to enhance our use of SM to
develop better customer experience.
4- We plan to enhance our use of SM to
further develop our relationship with our
internal stakeholders.

5- We plan to enhance our use of SM to

further develop our relationship with our
external stakeholders.
6- We plan to enhance our use of SM to
further increase interdepartmental
coordination.
7- We intend to increase the capacity of the
workforce dedicated to SM efforts.
8- We intend to increase the company's
presence in SM platforms.
9- We intend to increase our budget
allocation to SM.

191
 10- We intend to increase share and role of SM
in our overall marketing strategy.

22- Does the actual or the future adoption of Social Media sites affect business development efforts
by your company:
Strongly Disagree Neither Strongly Agree
disagree disagree agree
or agree
1- Social Media sites help in
increasing the company profits
and consider as a new source of
revenue.
2- Social Media sites help in
introducing and testing new
potential service or product to
customers
3- Social Media sites help in investing
company capital and time.
4- Social Media sites help in
improving different promotional
activities.

5- Social Media sites help in building

and sustaining strong working
relationships with different
parties such as suppliers,
customers and competitors.
6- Social Media sites help in
presenting and selling the current
product or service to the current
customer.
7- Social Media sites help in
presenting and selling the current
product or service to new
customer segment.
8- Social Media sites help in
presenting and selling new or
potential product or service to the
current customer.
9- Social Media sites help in
presenting and selling new
product or service to a new
customer segment.

192
B.3 Acceptance letter to conduct the empirical study:

193
B.4 Arabic cover letter:

194
B.5 Arabic Questionnaire:

195
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197
198
199
200
201
 ‫‪APPENDIX C‬‬

‫‪C.1 Arabic Abstract‬‬

‫عنوان الرسالة‪ :‬تأثير مواقع التواصل اإلجتماعي على تطوير األعمال في مصر‪.‬‬
‫إعـــــداد‪ :‬منة هللا مصطفى حسن مرسي (معيدة بقسم إدارة األعمال بكلية التجارة – جامعة بنها)‪.‬‬

‫األستاذ الدكتور‬
‫أسامة محمد عبد المنعم‬
‫أستاذ إدارة األعمال المتفرغ‬
‫ووكيل الكلية للدراسات العليا سابقا‬
‫كلية التجارة – جامعة بنها‬
‫إشــراف‪:‬‬
‫األستاذ الدكتور‬
‫فريد راغب النجار‬
‫أستاذ إدارة األعمال المتفرغ‬
‫ورئيس قسم إدارة األعمال بالكلية‬
‫كلية التجارة – جامعة بنها‬

‫ملخص الرسالة‬

‫الهدف من هذه البحث هو دراسة تبني المشروعات الصغيرة والمتوسطة الستخدام مواقع التواصل‬
‫االجتماعي وتأثيرها على األعمال من وجهة نظر إدارية‪ .‬تمحور البحث حول ثالثة أهداف رئيسية‪ .‬الهدف‬
‫األول تحرى بنظرة شمولية عن أبعاد الوضع الحالي لحالة تبني المشروعات الصغيرة والمتوسطة قيد الدراسة‬
‫لإلستخدامات اإلداراية لمواقع التواصل اإلجتماعي‪ .‬تطرق الهدف الثاني إلى دراسة وإدراك اهم الخصائص‬
‫التي تسهم في تبني إستخدام المشروعات الصغيرة والمتوسطة في مصر لمواقع التواصل اإلجتماعي‪ .‬أخيرا ً‬
‫الهدف الثالث وهو قياس مدى تأثير التبني الحالي أو المستقبلي لمواقع التواصل اإلجتماعي على تطوير األعمال‬
‫في المشروعات الصغيرة والمتوسطة بمصر‪.‬‬

‫تم إستنباط عشرة فروض أوالً من اجل تحديد ما هي الخصائص التي تحفز المشروعات الصغيرة‬
‫والمتوسطة بمصر الستخدام وتبني مواقع التواصل اإلجتماعي وذلك بناء على مجموعة الخصائص المذكورة‬
‫في نظرية "انتشار المبتكرات"‪ .‬ثانيا ً من اجل قياس مدى تأثير التبني سواء الحالي أو المستقبلي لمواقع التواصل‬
‫اإلجتماعي على تطوير األعمال على مستوى المشروعات الصغيرة والمتوسطة في مصر‪.‬‬

‫البحث قام على المنهجية الكمية وتم إستخدام اإلستبيانات الورقية في جمع البيانات من العينة المكونة‬
‫من عدد ‪ 150‬مفردة من أصحاب ومديرين المشروعات الصغيرة والمتوسطة في مدينة بنها بجمهورية مصر‬
‫العربية‪ ،‬علما ً بأن تم إستهداف المفردات التي تتبني استخدام مواقع التواصل اإلجتماعي فعليا ً أو مستقبلياً‪ .‬تم‬
‫إستخدام المنهج اإلستنباطي لطرح فروض الدراسة وتم تحليل البيانات المجمعة بإستخدام اإلسلوب اإلحصائي‬
‫"اإلنحدار المتعدد" وذلك عن طريق برنامج ‪SPSS‬‬
‫‪202‬‬
 ‫خلصت الدراسة إلى مجموعة من النتائج‪:‬‬

‫أوالً‪ ،‬تكوين صورة عامة حول ما هو ابعاد الشكل الحالي لتبني إستخدام مواقع التواصل اإلجتماعي‬
‫على مستوى المشروعات الصغيرة والمتوسطة في مدينة بنها بجمهورية مصر العربية وذلك بالتطرق الي عدد‬
‫عشرة أسئلة شملت معلومات عن ما هي أنواع المواقع المستخدمة و ما هي األنشطة اإلدارية التي يمارسها‬
‫أصحاب و مديرين المشورعات على هذه المواقع و ما هي المنتجات او الخدمات المقدمة عبر تلك المواقع‬
‫وغيرها من المعلومات‪.‬‬

‫ثانيا‪ ،‬إختبارات الفروض أثبتت أن من ناحية مجموعة الخصائص التي تم افتراضها تم التوصل إلى‬
‫أن الخصائص اإلبداعية التي توفرها مواقع التواصل اإلجتماعي إلدارة المشروعات الصغيرة والمتوسطة من‬
‫وجهة نظر المديرينو اصحاب المشروعات هي الخصائص الوحيدة التي تدفعهم لالستخدام على المستويين‬
‫الحالي والمستقبلي‪ .‬ايضا ً أوضحت إختبارات الفروض مدي تأثير التبني الفعلي لمواقع التواصل االجتماعي‬
‫وأيضا ا لنية المستقبلية في التبني إلستخدام هذه المواقع على أبعاد تطوير األعمال على مستوى المشروعات‬
‫الصغيرة والمتوسطة قيد الدراسة في مدينة بنها بجمهورية مصر العربية‪.‬‬

‫انتهت الدراسة إلى محاولة لسد الفجوة المعرفية التي تم رصدها في مشكلة البحث من خالل التعرف‬
‫على ابعاد االستخدام الحالي لمواقع التواصل االجتماعي من الناحية اإلدارية على مستوى المشروعات الصغيرة‬
‫والمتوسطة وايضا ً أن الخصائص اإلبداعية هي الوحيدة التي تدفع المستخدمين الحاليين والمستقبليين من‬
‫أصحاب و مديرين المشروعات الصغيرة إلى تبني استخدام مواقع التواصل االجتماعي وأخيرا ً ما هو مدى‬
‫تأثير هذا التبني على أنشطة تطوير أعمال المشروعات الصغيرة والمتوسطة قيد الدراسة في مدينة بنها‬
‫بجمهورية مصر العربية‪.‬‬

‫‪203‬‬
 ‫كلية التجارة‬
‫جامعة بنها‬

‫تأثير مواقع التواصل اإلجتماعي على تطوير األعمال في مصر‬

‫رسالة مقدمة للحصول على درجة الماجستير في إدارة األعمال‬

‫إعـداد الباحثة‬
‫منة هللا مصطفى حسن مرسي‬
‫معيدة بقسم إدارة األعمال بالكلية‬

‫إشـراف‬

‫األستاذ الدكتور‬ ‫األستاذ الدكتور‬

‫أسامة محمد عبد المنعم‬ ‫فريد راغب النجار‬
‫أستاذ إدارة األعمال المتفرغ‬ ‫أستاذ إدارة األعمال المتفرغ‬
‫ووكيل الكلية للدراسات العليا سابقا ً‬ ‫ورئيس قسم إدارة األعمال بالكلية‬
‫كلية التجارة – جامعة بنها‬ ‫كلية التجارة – جامعة بنها‬

‫‪2017‬‬
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