A Marketing Executives’ Empirical Survey on Social Media Adoption

Efthimios Dragotis (), Despina A. Karayanni, Yannis Stamatiou and Irene Giannopoulou
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Efthimios Dragotis: University of Patras
Despina A. Karayanni: University of Patras
Yannis Stamatiou: University of Patras
Irene Giannopoulou: University of Patras

A chapter in Strategic Innovative Marketing and Tourism, 2026, pp 627-634 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract The adoption of social media (SM) by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has become a necessity in the challenging business environment nowadays. It’s an increasingly significant phenomenon, offering firms opportunities to enhance interorganizational relationships, market intelligence, and value creation. Drawing on the diffusion of innovation theory, this study investigates how perceived obstacles, customer feedback, and evaluation of the role of the SM and their usefulness may influence strategies, such as the level of investment on SM use among SMEs. The study offers both theoretical insights and practical implications for SME managers seeking to navigate the challenges and opportunities of SM integration. In this exploratory study, we base upon quantitative data extracted from a convenience sample of 107 social media marketing executives from respective SME enterprises located in Greece. Results show that SMEs facing greater barriers tend to allocate more resources to SM adoption, which is consistent with the strategic investment perspective in innovation diffusion literature. Such findings contribute to the growing body of literature on digital transformation in SMEs, highlighting the complex interplay between resource commitment, engagement strategies, and relational mechanisms in driving successful SM adoption in business to customer contexts.

Keywords: Social media marketing; SM barriers; Perceived usefulness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:prbchp:978-3-032-12968-0_68

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-12968-0_68

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