This paper aims to investigate the relationship between antecedents of trust in online shopping and purchase intention. Specifically, it examines the relationship between perceived service quality, perceived website quality, and perceived reputation, as well as the mediating role of trust in online shopping and the moderating role of perceived risk between trust and online purchase intention. An online survey was used to collect data (356 valid responses) and SmartPLS structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed to hypothesize a model. Data were collected from September to December 2019. Results suggest the moderating role of perceived risk over trust in online shopping and purchase intention. The slope for the relationship between trust in online shopping and purchase intention is moderated by perceived risk, showing that the relationship becomes stronger when perceived risk is high. Trust significantly mediates the relationship between perceived service quality, website quality reputation, and online purchase intention. This work furthers web-store decision makers' understanding of the significant influence of trust and its mediating impact on online shopping and demonstrates how an increase in trust decreases the intensity of the impact of perceived risk on online purchase intention. To increase the number of sales and decrease the intensity of risk, companies must increase the level of trust, which mitigates risk and increases customer bonding with companies. As there is no consensus on the Sikandar Ali Qalati ABOUT THE AUTHOR Biography to be mentioned as per cogent policy for two authors. Sikander Ali Qalati has received his MBA in Marketing from Sukkur, IBA University. He is currently pursuing PhD in management science and engineering from Jiangsu University P.R. China. He has several publications in well-reputed SSCI journals and many more either in reviews or in process of completion, before joining Jiangsu University. He has 5 years of diverse work experience. His areas of interest are social media, brand management, management, marketing and entrepreneurship.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have become a vibrant and dynamic sector of the world economy. Information technology plays a vital role in improving the productivity and competitiveness of SMEs. The dynamic business environment has brought fierce competition among SMEs and, therefore, requires the owners to interact with internal and external members actively. Hence, this study aims to investigate the impact of technology, organization, and environment as important factors in the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises. It also examines the mediating role of social media adoption. Items were developed to measure the various purposes of social media use in organizations, which contribute to increasing the measurement of social media usage. For the empirical investigation, this paper used a closed-ended questionnaire. Using a quantitative method, we observed 423 responses through structural equation modeling. The findings of the study indicate that technology, organization, and the environment play effective roles for SME performance. More importantly, social media adoption positively mediates the relationship between technology, organization, environment, and SME performance. The study also helps organizations realize the advantages of using social media and specifies the rationale behind an organization’s investment in social media.
Increasing globalization and rapid digitization across industries have led to greater international competition. Furthermore, the emergence of new innovation has created both challenges and opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs have recently been attracted to social media applications to reach a larger audience, improve their relationship with potential customers, and retain existing customers. However, the scant focus has been devoted to comprehensively understanding the adoption of social media in the SME context in developing countries. This study investigates the effects of technological-organizational-environmental (TOE) factors on social media adoption and its effect on SME performance. Data was collected by generating online survey link. SmartPLS 3.3 was used for the path analysis of 381 SMEs. The findings revealed a significant effect of relative advantage, cost-effectiveness, compatibility, interactivity (technological), entrepreneurial orientation (organizational), and customer pressure (environmental) factors, and an insignificant effect of top management support (organizational) and competitive pressure (environmental) determinants on social media adoption. The study found a significant influence of social media on SME performance. This paper offers several implications for decision-makers, policy-makers, and scholars interested in social media and its use. It builds an empirical, integrated framework for SMEs in developing countries.
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