Information Technologies (IT) adoption by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): a meta-analysis
(A2020-64685)

AUTHORS

Celso de Matos, Unisinos University, Unisinos Business School; Fernando Santini, Unisinos University, Unisinos Business School; William Jardim, Unisinos University, Unisinos Business School; Wagner Ladeira, Unisinos

KEYWORDS

IT adoption; SMEs; antecedents

ABSTRACT

In the last decades, studies have analyzed the firm’s adoption of new technologies, including the small and medium enterprises (SMEs). However, despite the number of studies investigating IT adoption in SMEs context, conflicting results have been reported, e.g. the role of usefulness, ease of use and perceived costs. Hence, we conducted a meta-analysis of the empirical findings. Based on the review of 59 studies and a cumulative sample of 19,739 respondents, we developed and tested a theoretical model. Our main findings indicate that usefulness, perceived compatibility and ease of use were the main predictors of IT adoption. In addition, two of the three proposed antecedents (i.e., resources and market turbulence) were significantly associated with IT adoption. On the other hand, support service was not significant in explaining IT adoption. Moreover, IT adoption presented significant effect on the outcomes (i.e., relative advantage, efficiency, profit and revenues).

REFERENCES

Authors are thankful for CAPES PROEX 1636/2018.