Abstract
Purpose - Purpose – This paper investigates factors affecting small business owner/managers’ adoption of country specific business websites.Design/methodology/approach - Design/methodology/approach - A survey questionnaire was sent to a selected sample of 300 small businesses in the North West of England. In total, 55 responded with complete and usable answers, representing a response rate of 18.33%.Findings - Findings - Results indicate that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use positively affect the adoption of country specific business websites. Furthermore, perceived company image in a foreign market and perceived transaction benefits were found to be significant antecedents of perceived usefulness of country specific business websites.Research limitations/implications - Research limitations – The research sample is relatively small and limited to small businesses located in the North-West region of the UK. Emergent results are not necessarily representative of the wider small business population of the UK. Practical implications - Practical implications – The results of this research study would be of benefit to owner/managers who intend to expand into international niche markets by adopting country specific business websites.Originality/value - Originality/value – This paper extends the theoretical framework of the website acceptance model (WAM) in the context of small businesses, by distinguishing two factors that influence the perceived usefulness of having a country-specific website.
Purpose - Purpose – This paper investigates factors affecting small business owner/managers’ adoption of country specific business websites.Design/methodology/approach - Design/methodology/approach - A survey questionnaire was sent to a selected sample of 300 small businesses in the North West of England. In total, 55 responded with complete and usable answers, representing a response rate of 18.33%.Findings - Findings - Results indicate that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use positively affect the adoption of country specific business websites. Furthermore, perceived company image in a foreign market and perceived transaction benefits were found to be significant antecedents of perceived usefulness of country specific business websites.Research limitations/implications - Research limitations – The research sample is relatively small and limited to small businesses located in the North-West region of the UK. Emergent results are not necessarily representative of the wider small business population of the UK. Practical implications - Practical implications – The results of this research study would be of benefit to owner/managers who intend to expand into international niche markets by adopting country specific business websites.Originality/value - Originality/value – This paper extends the theoretical framework of the website acceptance model (WAM) in the context of small businesses, by distinguishing two factors that influence the perceived usefulness of having a country-specific website.