article · Hogskolan Ihalmstad (Halmstad University)
Understanding what drives small and medium enterprises to adopt electronic marketing is critical as internet use expands across various business sectors. An investigation involving primary data collected from 107 small and medium enterprises in Ghana examined the drivers of digital marketing uptake and their relationship with commercial results. Through exploratory factor analysis, four primary adoption drivers were identified: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, external pressure, and strategic intent. All four elements significantly drive the adoption of electronic marketing among the surveyed businesses. Nevertheless, the identified adoption factors did not demonstrate a significant impact on marketing performance. Although smaller enterprises are actively adopting digital marketing channels, the expected improvements in marketing outcomes were not clearly established, pointing to the need for deeper investigation into how adoption drivers influence ultimate marketing performance.
Small enterprises frequently invest in digital tools expecting immediate business gains. Demonstrating that standard adoption drivers like perceived ease of use and external pressure do not automatically translate into improved marketing performance helps enterprise managers, support agencies, and advisors recognise that simply deploying electronic marketing does not guarantee commercial success.
The findings reflect applied research examining digital marketing practices among small enterprise operators. While the insights are relevant to business support organisations and marketing consultants working with smaller firms, the abstract does not indicate a direct product development or commercialisation pathway, remaining an early-stage assessment of firm behaviour.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
Given the importance of the Internet in general and for the marketing function in particular there has been a growing focus on understanding the determinants of e-Marketing adoption within firms. The purpose of this study was to explore factors that influence adoption of e-Marketing by SMEs in Ghana, and to examine the relationship between e-Marketing adoption factors and marketing performance. Primary data was collected using a quantitative research approach from 107 SMEs. Exploratory factor analysis was employed to identify the main e-Marketing adoption factors: which consists of Perceived Usefulness (PU), Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU), External pressure and Strategic intent. The study revealed that all the four constructs significantly influence e-Marketing adoption among the SMEs, however factors identified in this study were found not to have significant impact on the SMEs marketing performance. An important implication of the study is that even though SMEs are using e-Marketing, the findings did show positive impact on SMEs marketing performance. A further study is needed to establish the relationship between e-Marketing adoption factors and marketing performance.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
