This paper contributes to a growing body of research on the process by which small-and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) adopt social network sites (SNSs) as part of their business strategies. If SMBs make use of SNSs, they could potentially compete with big corporations, flattening the marketplace. Open-ended online survey questions were used to collect data from 24 different social media experts in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Jordan was selected for this study because 90% of its adult Internet users are active on SNSs, a percentage that surpasses many emerging and developed countries. This research project identifies (a) relative advantage, (b) community demand, and (c) interactivity as motivating factors for SNS adoption. The survey results also reveal that (a) top management belief, (b) firm readiness, (c) negative comments and reviews, and (d) a low level of awareness are barriers to SNS adoption by SMBs in Jordan. The present study should prove to be particularly valuable to academics and business managers to formulate their business strategies regarding SNS adoption, and to pave the way for more research to assess likely changes.

Online interactions pave the way for new streams of collaborations and support among connected users of social networking sites, and this collaboration is leveraged for business purposes. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a growing body of research on social commerce by studying individuals’ behavior from the consumer perspective of information technology innovations. By adopting “social support” and the technology acceptance model as a theoretical base, this study used a web-based questionnaire survey to collect data from 325 users of SNSs in Jordan. The data were then analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences regression. Jordan was selected because it is a country that has reported high SNS usage compared to other countries. The main factors that were identified as playing a significant role in individual adoption of social commerce were social commerce construct and perceived usefulness. This study did not find enough evidence that perceived ease of use and perceived information quality were a significant determinant of social commerce adoption. These findings have important implications and value for the academia, businesses managers, and social media specialists in terms of formulating better strategies for handling social commerce effects on businesses. For social media specialists, using the research model in this study can assist in increasing their understanding of why some individuals choose to adopt social commerce services. Additionally, business managers may need to improve their interaction with SNS users and develop a better understanding of how consumers use social commerce in the purchasing decision process. Based on our review of the existing scientific literature on social commerce, few empirical studies have been conducted to scientifically evaluate and explain the usage behavior of social commerce in Jordan. This paper contributes to the continuing research in social commerce adoption and diffusion in the individual context.

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