The Moderating Influence of Government Support as the Major Environmental Context on SMEs’ Adoption of Social Media Systems—from the Technology-Organization-Environment Perspective

Isaac Kofi Mensah, Muhammad Khalil Khan () and Cornelius B. Pratt
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Isaac Kofi Mensah: Wuhan College
Muhammad Khalil Khan: NingboTech University
Cornelius B. Pratt: Lew Klein College of Media and Communication, Temple University

Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 2025, vol. 16, issue 3, No 55, 12567-12594

Abstract: Abstract Grounded in the technology-organization-environment (TOE) theoretical setting, this article investigates the moderating influences of government support, as an environmental context, on the relationships between both technological contexts (complexity and relative advantage) and organizational contexts (cost perception and top management support) on the adoption of social media systems (SMSs) by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It uses 432 valid responses collected through a purposive sampling of the SMEs. Results indicate that government support is a significant environmental context that moderates the influences of technology and organization on SMEs’ social media adoption. Additionally, technology is a significant predictor of SMEs’ adoption of SMS. Organizational context such as top management support also positively predicts the SMEs’ social media adoption. However, cost perception as an organizational dimension negatively influences social media adoption among SMEs. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings for the growth and development of SMEs are presented.

Keywords: China; Small and medium enterprises; Government support; Social media systems; Technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s13132-024-02440-8

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