Chapter 3 – Methodology
3.6. Research methodology:
3.6.2. Theoretical framework for research activity B
The second study in the current research is designed to answer the following 6 research
questions:
RQ2a: Which factors affect SMEs adoption of social media in Saudi Arabia?
RQ2b: What are the objectives of using social media by SMEs in Saudi Arabia?
RQ2c: What are the benefits Saudi SMEs gained from using SM?
RQ2d: What are the obstacles to using SM successfully in Saudi SMEs?
RQ2e: What are the barriers to social media adoption in SMEs in Saudi Arabia?
RQ2f: How mature are the SMEs in Saudi Arabia and what factors are associated with the
The theoretical framework for this study is presented in figure 5. This study aims at collecting
primary data from Saudi SMEs in relation to 6 different aspects related to their social media
use. These areas are: Social media adoption factors, barriers to social media adoption, the
benefits SMEs gain from social media, the obstacles towards using social media successfully
by SMEs and finally how mature are these companies in their use of social media based on the
maturity model developed in research activity A. The first step towards answering these
research questions was to create the theoretical base for this study by identifying factors that
affect the adoption of social media, the benefit of using social media and the obstacles from the
literature which have been already discussed in the literature review chapter in this thesis. After
creating the theoretical framework of the study which defines what is to be investigated, the
variables and constructs for each part of the study will be discussed in the next sections.
• Social media adoption factors
As discussed in chapter 2 of this thesis, many studies focused on the adoption of different web
technologies by companies. However, there are limited studies that focused on Saudi SMEs
and their adoption of social media or the obstacles they face to use them. This study addresses
this gap by focusing on Saudi companies. The identified adoption factors belong to 3
dimensions as presented in table (15).
Research activity B
Theoritical framework
Socio-demographic variables
Social media adoption factors
social media usage (SM channels used, most effective, hours spent and years using SM)
Social media objectives, benefits & obstacles towards success
Social media maturity test based on the proposed maturity model
Investigating SMEs that don`t use social media
Organisational Dimension
Perceived usefulness of social media, perceived ease of use, top management commitment, corporate goals, Knowledge/skills & training, resources & budget.
Technological dimension
The availability of infrastructure.
Environmental dimension
Sector, external competitive pressure and consumers` readiness.
Table 15 Adoption factors • Social media objectives of companies
In chapter 2 of this thesis, the objectives of using social media were identified. Table 16
presents the social media objectives that companies mentioned in previous studies and which
will be used in the survey.
Social media objectives
To create exposure to the company`s website To engage with consumers
To generate leads
To create brand awareness To facilitate support of customers To reach target consumers
Table 16 Summary of social media objectives in research activity B • Benefits of using social media to businesses
Table 17 presents the benefits that companies gained through using social media in previous
studies and which will be used in the survey with Saudi SMEs.
Benefits
Increased exposure to the company Reduced marketing expenses Generated leads
Improved sales
Increased traffic to the main website Increased number of loyal customers Helped growing business partnerships
Provided the company with marketplace insights Improved the company`s ranking on search engines
• Obstacles to success in using social media
Table 18 shows the obstacles that companies face when working on social media from previous
studies which were identified in chapter 2 of this thesis and will be part of the survey with Saudi
SMEs.
Obstacles
Lack of time
No technological infrastructure that supports social media in the company Lack of skills and knowledge in using social media
No dedicated team to work on social media Saudi consumers are not ready
Lack of resources / budget to spend on social media activities Lack of management support
Social media is not useful for my business No external competition
No clear strategy to follow
No measurement to the social media activities and efforts
Table 18 Obstacles to success in using social media 3.6.2.1. Population and sampling – Research activity B
The survey targets owners and managers of small and medium companies located in Saudi
Arabia, whither they are users of social media in their business or non-users. This is the same
sample of SMEs which was identified in research activity A. The rationale behind targeting
this segment is because this study focuses only on SMEs located in Saudi Arabia. Companies
are affected by culture, economy, religion and geographical location that they operate in
(Marjanova and Stojanovski, 2012) which means that social media adoption factors in
companies for example in the UK, might be different than the adoption factors of companies in
Riyadh or Dubai. And since this study`s primary focus is to investigate the SMEs in Saudi
Arabia, the targeted population will be small and medium companies in Saudi Arabia. The
SMEs were selected based on the SMEs definition in Saudi Arabia which defines micro-small
medium business is the one with 50 to 249 employees (Ministry of Commerce and Investment,
2016).
A systematic random sample of 400 companies was drawn from a list of Saudi Arabian
companies' directory website (www.findsaudi.com) which lists Saudi businesses location and
contact information. Also, Google map searches were used to find companies located in
different cities in Saudi Arabia. Next, the companies were contacted via email where they were
provided with details about the study and a link to the online survey.
3.6.2.2. Instrument development – Research activity B survey
Cross-sectional survey was used as the instrument for the data collection in this study. A survey
was developed in the Arabic language online using Google forms. The online method proved
to be easier and more convenient to fill in as the respondents can fill it in at their convenience.
The survey has the following sections:
• Ten demographic questions. (City, position, gender, age, degree, number of employees, commercial activity, year established, do they have a website, do they use social media).
• If they use social media: (why they adopted it (Open-ended question), how many years they used it, how many hours they dedicate for social media per week, which social media
channels they use, which social media channel is the most useful for their business).
• Social media adoption factors using 5 points Likert scale type comprising 21 statements related to each social media adoption factor presented in table 15.
• Seven multiple responses questions for social media maturity related to 7 maturity criteria.
• Three multiple response questions about the objectives of using social media presented in table 16, social media benefits gained presented in table 17 and the obstacles they face to
use social media successfully shown in table 18.
• Four questions for companies that don`t use social media (1 open-ended question about why they don`t use social media, 1 multi-response question about what are the reasons for not
using them, 1 multi-response question about if they plan to use social media in the future,
and 1 open-ended question about why they plan to use social media.
The full survey of research activity B is presented in appendix 3 in English and appendix 4 in
Arabic.
3.6.2.3. Pilot study – Research activity B
As part of validating the survey before launching it and to test the consistency of the survey
that will be used for the primary data collection, a pilot study with 5 SMEs located in Saudi
Arabia was conducted after creating the survey. The companies were contacted using email
invitations. The participants were asked to fill in the survey and to answer the seven questions
presented in the validity section in this chapter. Minor changes were made to the survey
according to the feedback from the pilot study before starting the data collection process from
December 2016 to April 2017.