عوامل موثر بر اتخاذ رسانه های اجتماعی توسط سازمان های بنگاه به بنگاه (B2B)

ABSTRACT Determinants of social media adoption by B2B organizations

Technological developments have introduced significant changes to the way in which organizations interact with existing and prospective customers. The advent of Web 2.0 technologies and the increased popularity of social media have allowed for a more direct and interactive form of communication, where users can easily share and digest information on the Internet (Akrimi & Khemakhem, 2012). Individuals tend to spend more time on social networking sites than any other category of site, while 17% of users’ PC time is spent on Facebook alone (Nielsen, 2012).

Appreciating the popularity of social media, organizations are increasing their presence on multiple social media platforms (Michaelidou, Siamagka, & Christodoulides, 2011). With 26% of US consumers suggesting that they can accept social networking ads that are based on their profile information (Nielsen, 2012) and consistent with evidence that illustrates the significant benefit of increased reach through brand engagement (Lipsman, Mudd, Rich, & Bruich, 2012), social networking sites are perceived as a vital marketing tool.

Academic research has largely focused on social media marketing in B2C contexts and has provided insightful evidence regarding the impact of such platforms on consumer purchase decisions (Wang, Yu, & Wei, 2012), their potential to support brands and collect customer feedback (Breslauer & Smith, 2009; Christodoulides, 2009) or to provide useful market research data (Nunan & Yenicioglu, 2013) and generate word-of-mouth (Trusov, Bucklin, & Pauwels, 2009). Despite their increasing relevance and perceived value in B2B (e-Marketer, 2013) research on the adoption and use of social media channels by B2B organizations is still in its embryonic stage, with only a handful of studies exploring the marketing potential of social media in industrial settings. Although there is some literature on the usage levels, barriers and metrics of social media marketing in B2B contexts (e.g. Järvinen et al., 2012; Michaelidou et al., 2011) little is known regarding the factors that determine social media adoption by B2B organizations. The study draws on previous theory and particularly the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM and TAM2) to investigate social media adoption by B2B firms. However, our study goes beyond the confines of the TAM, which has been criticised by Benbasat and Barki (2007); Bagozzi (2007), and uses the resourcebased theory to identify additional determinants of social media adoption in B2B organisations, such as organizational innovativeness and perceived barriers. Our study contributes to theory in three ways. First, it develops and tests a model to explain social media adoption and appreciate the factors that encourage B2B organizations to utilize social media as part of their marketing activities.

Second, it identifies and empirically tests new predictors of adoption, beyond the rubric of the TAM; and, third, it triangulates quantitative findings, with qualitative data from interviews with B2B marketing managers and social media specialists, enhancing understanding of the main determinants of adoption.

The paper opens with a review of existing literature on social media and augments the extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM2) to identify the key determinants of social media adoption and to develop a model. Following this, the methodology is discussed and results of the quantitative study are presented. The paper then discusses the main findings from the post hoc qualitative study and concludes with research limitations and avenues for future research.