Adoption and use of e-commerce in SMEs

The results of probit and Logit models suggest that a lower level of the internet service costs, motivates firms to adopt e-commerce, and if the government provides free e- commerce facilities for SMEs, it can encourage SMEs to adopt E-commerce.

Abstract

In this study, nonlinear Logit and probit models are used to analyse the important factors that impact on the tendency of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to use electronic commerce in one of the industrial parks in Kermanshah province of Iran. Furthermore, it identifies the major barriers of e-commerce adoption in these SMEs. The Sample of the study includes 35 SMEs in this province. The results of probit and Logit models suggest that a lower level of the internet service costs, motivates firms to adopt e-commerce. In addition, if the government provides free e-commerce facilities for SMEs, it can encourage SMEs to adopt e-commerce. Furthermore, the results show that due to uncertainty in the e-commerce, producing high-quality products and traditional exports cannot raise the tendency of sample firms to adopt e-commerce.