Keywords

1 Introduction

The emerging technologies integrated into people’s lives every day urged businesses to cope with the new digital market trends to be able to survive in the fast-changing world. Micro, Small, and medium enterprises (hereinafter MSMEs) in specific, are the ones who suffer several kinds of difficult challenges (Jean et al., 2010). One of these challenges considered to be “the digital disruption” which is defined as the impact on “business as usual” of new digital technologies (Information Technology Faculty (ICAW), 2016). To successfully survive and adapt to the fast-growing market, MSMEs have to adopt a digital transformation strategy within all its business model designs (Gough, 2016).

The way by which firms use digital technologies to improve and modify their digital business models and develop value for both themselves and their stakeholders is known by digital transformation (Verhoef et al., 2019). Digital transformation is about proactively managing the impact of digital disruption (Information Technology Faculty (ICAW), 2016). It is covering almost all business functions. In brief, there are mainly five domains of a strategy in which digital technologies are changing, namely “customers, competition, data management, innovation, and value proposition” (Rogers, 2016). Although all these domains are essential to business growth, this research is going to focus only on the customer domain. This is because, companies who make optimal use of current digital communication can gain access to new markets and understand their customers to provide better product design and offerings (Neirotti et al., 2008; Setia et al., 2013). In the digital age, businesses are moving toward “customer network,” where customers are dynamically connected and interacting in different ways which have become game-changing for businesses. Digital tools are influencing consumers’ purchasing behaviors and patterns (Rogers, 2016). Therefore, e-business solutions, including e-commerce technologies have become a market-dominant trend, but due to scarcity of resources, the implementation of digital technologies is still limited in MSMEs (Chen et al., 2016).

When the economy is down, the MSMEs are critical players and vital to the health of any economic system. Due to the prominence of entrepreneurs and the fact that they are leading the MSMEs in general, nowadays, many countries are challenging some market failures and surpassing any impediments to entrepreneurship (Carsrud & Cucculelli, 2014; Matthews et al., 2012). Technology has facilitated the path for entrepreneurs to compete at different levels. It has enhanced cost-saving and provided a wide audience base and better market trends’ data (Harrigan et al., 2011). However, the MSMEs might be struggling to adapt to technological changes because of the lack of technical and marketing experiences (Nguyen et al., 2013). Thus, it is crucial to study the factors that support the MSMEs performance in the digital era (Quinton & Simkin, 2016). In addition, there is a growing interest in the adoption of digital technologies, now more than the past time, to improve the economic wellbeing. Several nations around the world have shifted to the extensive use of digital platforms such as in remote learning, online health services, and digital payments. Having digital facilities and adopting effective digital marketing models will help MSME’s and business partners better achieve the intended outcomes for the society at large. Therefore, the shift toward digital technologies must be associated with technical support, skill building, and infrastructure combined with effective digital marketing models (ITC, 2020).

During the past year and a half of Covid-19 pandemic, numerous studies have been conducted to measure the impact of the crisis on entrepreneurs’ businesses and find ways to overcome obstacles (Zaazou & Abdou, 2020). Despite the dramatic shift to digital communication, there are limited studies about digital technology adoption models in the MSMEs (Ritz et al., 2019). Covid-19 health crisis affected the economies of all countries in varying ways. The Egyptian government has encouraged youth to initiate new businesses and innovate in their startups as a part of developing the economy in Egypt and achieving a sustainable society. This encouragement has started even before Covid-19 pandemic and is expected to grow in the future, especially after the pandemic, to restore MSMEs performances and implement the country’s vision for economic reform. The Egyptian government has given attention to developing and improving its technological infrastructure. It urged the MSMEs managers to apply digital transformation due to its important role in coping with the youth generation’s digital needs and having positive impact on both economy and society in creating, communicating, and delivering value (Kamel & Rizk, 2019; Zaazou & Abdou, 2020). However, those initiatives lack a measurement tool that can enable government to measure the effects of digital technology adoption. Therefore, based on the advantaged access to the Egyptian entrepreneurship ecosystem, this exploratory research seeks to contribute to the managerial body of knowledge by criticizing old models of digital technology adoption such as the models of Martin and Matlay (2001) and Burgess et al. (2011) in order to introduce a new assessment framework using a classical grounded theory approach.

Although the importance of measuring MSMEs technology adoption, few studies have addressed the issue. Besides, most recent models with a marketing management scope were proposed in 2011, but technology is rapidly emerging, thus technology adoption models should be improved in measurements. This study addresses three main complementary research questions as follows: (1) What digital marketing technologies are used by the Egyptian MSMEs? (2) How are the MSMEs in Egypt adopting digital technology, what is their adoption pattern? and (3) What is the impact of digital technology adoption on MSMEs’ performance?

The implication of the study would give policymakers and MSMEs owners/managers in Egypt and elsewhere a powerful framework to assess and monitor the digital marketing technology tools and their impact on enterprise performance. Over nine months’ period, ten Egyptian MSMEs marketing activity and performance have been continuously observed; owners and entrepreneurs of the sample have been interviewed. Initial data analysis started after a short period of observations; the analysis emerged into a set of initial codes, which was compared to literature. This step resulted in the formulation of the semi-structured interview questions. Interview data analysis was conducted until saturation of themes and codes has been achieved. Therefore, another comparison to literature has been conducted to help in developing the final proposed digital marketing adoption model.

The next part highlights the insights found in the literature review, including views about the Egyptian MSMEs, digital technology adoption importance, and digital technology measurement models. Followed by the research methodology used to conduct the research, the findings, discussion of results, and limitations.

2 Literature Review

2.1 Overview of MSMEs in Egypt

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the keystones of economic development for several nations. Up to 95% of worldwide companies are classified as SMEs, they employ 60% of the global workforce (Taiminen & Karjaluoto, 2015). Today, when international organizations and governments set plans or policies, they emphasize a high appreciation for the role of MSMEs in developing the economy (Ayadi et al., 2017). In Egypt, over 95% of all establishments are SMEs (El Said, 2010). In 2017, the (MSMEs) volume reached 17,000 amounting to LE 19 billion ($1.1 billion) (Egypt Today, 2017).

The Law on Development of Small Enterprises in Egypt has defined the MSME as a small enterprise which encompasses every company or sole proprietorship that practices an economic activity (Service rendering, productive, commercial) (AmCham Research, 2021; El Said, 2010). For small businesses, the paid-up capital is between LE 50,000–5 million in the industrial sector and between LE 50,000–3 million in the non-industrial sector. The registered small business should not have more than 200 employees and the annual turnover should not exceed the LE 50 million. For Medium businesses, the paid-up capital is between LE 5–50 million in the industrial sector and LE three to five million in the non-industrial sector. The registered medium size business should not have more than 200 employees and the annual turnover should not exceed the LE 200 million (AmCham Research, 2021).

Input from several Egyptian government authorities such as the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Trade and Industry has been set to support the MSME’s operations. The MSME Development Act (Law 152 of 2020) involved some ramifications and improved the guiding principles to attract and encourage more MSMEs to join the official economy and participate in creating employment opportunities and enhancing production, income, and the economy welfare in general. The Egyptian legislation offered tax and non-tax incentives for MSMEs which are formally registered and gave more attention to firms operating in information technology services, industrial intelligence, and digital transformation (AmCham Research, 2021). Although the MSMEs are vital to the economy in Egypt, there are various challenges to their development and implementation, such as a weak level of technology adoption, financial and political risks, lack of skilled workforce. Regardless of the importance of MSMEs and entrepreneurship to develop and improve the economy, Egypt has focused on technical and economic difficulties hindering growth rather than on nonfinancial impediments (Ayadi et al., 2017), such as the overall marketing management and customer communication management concerning the emergent digital marketing technologies. The following paragraph will discuss the marketing management nature of MSMEs.

2.2 Marketing Management in MSMEs and Digital Marketing

2.2.1 Marketing Management in MSMEs

Some firms remain to be traditional in conducting their businesses; however, the majority in today’s robust environment use digital transformation to improve their relationships with customers and develop their business models (Matarazzo et al., 2021). Marketing management in MSMEs is totally different than of larger businesses, as they cannot afford to manage their marketing activities as advised by theory (Harrigan et al., 2012); thus, they tend to adapt theory to what is relevant to their way of managing their business (Carson & Gilmore, 2000). Their main obstacles can be summarized into a lack of resources in terms of financial and human resources which were reflected in expertise and knowledge as well (Doole et al., 2006; O’Dwyer et al., 2009). Also, MSMEs are more sales-oriented (Hill, 2001; Reijonen, 2010), and their marketing activities tend to be unplanned and unorganized (Hill, 2001). Moreover, the study of Ritz et al. (2019) indicated that the founders and managers of MSMEs are encouraged to apply digital marketing transformation to reap economic benefits and attempt more than ever the “do-it-yourself” behaviors to achieve dominance over operations and have fun and self-improvement.

Previous research has proven that adopting and implementing digital technologies is positively linked to business growth. Digital marketing and social media give a better chance to MSMEs in customer communication along the customer journey, whether attracting new customers or reaching existing ones cost-effectively and efficiently, providing their customer with the better customer experience and thus businesses can improve their growth and competitiveness (Chong & Pervan, 2007; Galloway, 2007; Shideler & Badasyan, 2012). MSMEs managers and founders are increasingly appreciating the importance of digital transformation which will allow them to effectively participate with their customers while minimizing costs. They exert effort and appreciate the importance of the time factor in developing the business relationships and delivering personalized experiences to their stakeholders. Therefore, they started to give more attention to digital communication over the other offline communication tools (Ritz et al., 2019).

2.2.2 Digital Marketing as a Term

Over the past years, the term “digital marketing” has been developed to include not only the marketing of goods and services using digital channels but also the process of implementing digital technologies to attain customers and build customer preferences, communicate brands, retain customers, and improve sales (Chaffey et al., 2009). The study of Kannan and Li (2017) provided a systematic review of the literature of digital marketing research. The framework mainly highlighted the impact of the marketing strategy process on the 5C’s, which are namely: customers, collaborators, competitors, context, and company. Kannan and Li (2017) study indicated that customers are the most critical stakeholders in the firms’ operating environments. It presented the outcomes of the mutual interactions existing between stakeholders as a result of adopting the digital technology such as the user-generated content. Furthermore, the framework emphasized the need for marketing analytics and developing the marketing mix to update the firms’ strategies and create value for both the firms and their customers. Kannan and Li (2017) framework provides an excellent comprehensive conceptualization of what can the term of “digital marketing” includes.

The following paragraph will discuss how MSMEs are adopting technologies, and why there is a need to measure digital technology adoption.

2.3 Digital Communication Technology Adoption Models

SMEs are crucial players in any economic system (Carsrud & Cucculelli, 2014; Matthews et al., 2012) and digital technologies provided them with growing challenges and opportunities to rival at different business levels through reaching more audiences, enhancing cost reduction, and making market data available (Harrigan et al., 2011). According to Matarazzo et al. (2021), digital tools help MSME’s innovate their business models to better access their stakeholders and deliver value. Therefore, there is a need for understanding the MSME’s capabilities which induce digital transformation. Therefore, policymakers have a growing need to measure digital technology adoption in MSMEs. They believe that the adoption of digital technologies will improve the business’s productivity, and simultaneously it can increase business productivity and subsequently lead to a better economic impact on society (OECD, 2011).

The e-business has a sophisticated nature and is continuously changing (OECD, 2011). Practically, having an effective tool for measuring digital technology adoption will release several opportunities for understanding the behavior of the MSMEs industry and groups. In turn, this may help in designing the applicable solutions for the MSMEs market and support them to use a proper tool for measuring digital technology adoption in comparison to competitors. Also, previous research used models characterized by sequential stages to measure the degree of digital technology adoption in the MSMEs. These maturity models have various indicators to measure the progress of digital technology adoption in organizations in general (Putra et al., 2017).

One of the earliest introduced stage models was made by the United Kingdom’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) under the name of Adoption ladder by (Martin & Matlay, 2001). The model has a linear stage nature that suggests the technology adoption of any enterprise should have the following sequence: (1) email, (2) Website, (3) E-commerce, (4) E-business, (5) transformed business, and by reaching the final stage a company is considered digitally transformed. Moreover, several models have been introduced; SME e-business development model by Rao et al. (2003); eSME model by Kapurubandara (2009); extended model of Internet commerce adoption (eMICA) by Burgess et al. (2011) which has specific and sole emphasis only on marketing and online commerce. The Burgess et al. (2011) model is more comprehensive and has extended nature as it involves many stages and details. The model consists of three main stages. The first stage “Promotion”: in this stage the company is only using technology to promote itself. The promotion stage includes basic information promotion such as company name, contact and rich information promotion such as information on the company’s activities and annual report. The second stage “Provision”: in this stage, the company uses digital technology to communicate or engage with its customers’ whether through different levels of interactivity (low, medium, or high). The third and final stage is “Processing”: where the company starts using technology to create a complete business transaction. Most recent technology adoption models are information system pyramid transformation with the intelligence dimension by Zhang (2013); and “e-business triangle of trade and service industries’ SMEs” by Putra et al. (2017) which is the only non-stage model introduced in the literature. Those two models are measuring digital technology adoption to the whole enterprise functions, with little attention to the marketing management function.

Many criticisms have been appointed concerning measuring the digital marketing technology adoption models in the literature. Putra and Hasibuan (2015) claimed that the stage models concept considers the MSMEs as a homogeneous group and thus neglected their varied qualities. Moreover, Putra et al. (2017) stated that previous models used in literature were too linear and rigid in describing the MSMEs’ specific e-business applications. As a conclusion, MSMEs are not linear in nature and have heterogeneous qualities which will make the application of exciting technology adoption models in marketing management function irrelevant.

3 Methodology

Although digital marketing technologies adoption is important to MSMEs, literature has given low attention to how to measure this adoption in the marketing management function. As, it is crucial to study the supporting factors to MSMEs performance in the digital age (Quinton & Simkin, 2016), hence, this research aims to introduce a new digital adoption measuring model and to identify its key core variables and relationships. The following paragraphs present the research methodology and process used in this study.

3.1 Research Design

This study mainly aims to empirically identify the core components of a digital marketing adoption framework, articulated from the sample participants’ perspective, thus this research is using a classic grounded theory approach. It was based on a “Qualitative Method” with an inductive approach to be able to explore MSMEs digital marketing technology adoption against existing literature and theoretical frameworks. Semi-structured interviews were the most suitable method for data collection in order to explore issues mentioned in the research questions, especially regarding business professionals (Saunders et al., 2016). The researchers developed an interview guide that reflects the main research questions, and which emphasizes the following objectives as presented in Table 1.

Table 1 Research questions and their intended objectives
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3.2 Sampling

Researchers used non-probability sampling technique. The Egyptian MSMEs were the target samples. Candidates interviewed within the businesses were business owners who volunteered to participate. The study used convenience sampling of “Ten” case studies. And candidates have been reached through the snowball sampling technique (one participant referring to the other). They have been contacted through face to face, email, or mobile phones to offer participation in research.

3.3 Data Collection

Researchers conducted semi-structured interviews over around 300 minutes, took field notes, and wrote memos. Interviews were the most suitable method for data collection in order to be able to explore the issues mentioned in research questions due to the nature of research as a grounded theory approach. Data were collected through two main sources, semi-structured interviews and field notes. Semi-structured interviews have been made face to face or through phone calls using native country language (Arabic), depending on the participants’ choice for convenience. The eMICA digital technology stages model was used as a guide for the interview guide. Candidates were presented to a list of open-ended questions that have an exploratory nature and help in generating additional questions and information gathering about the topic. The questions were designed to extract information about their opinion, experience, and knowledge about digital marketing management tools and techniques and adoption patterns. However, some additional questions might be added or deducted during the interview, depending on the nature of each business case.

4 Data Analysis

The qualitative data were transcript into a written script and analyzed by the researchers using themed analysis. Both field notes and interview transcripts were translated into the English language, proofread and rechecked to make sure intended meaning was exactly translated, and to ensure accuracy and clarity of the language. Two stages took place to develop the main research theme on field notes and interview scripts. The first initial coding was used to decide the repetitive keywords. The second detailed analysis based on the initial coding was conducted to analyze data and develop the qualitative research outcomes. With a continuous comparison with literature, the final proposed model was developed. A group of 10 micro and small business owners has participated in the research. Researchers have developed an interview guide covering the required research objectives and semi-structured interviews have been conducted through face-to-face meetings and over the phone for data collection. The characteristics of the sample are presented in the following paragraph.

4.1 Descriptive Characteristics of the Sample

The sample of 10 micro-businesses who participated in the research had diversified demographic characteristics. Table 2 represents the sample demographics.

Table 2 Descriptive characteristics of the sample
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As shown in Table 2, five out of 10 participants were micro and small businesses within the retail industry in different sectors, such as home accessories, beauty products, bookstore, apparel, and handmade products; while three out of 10 participants were providing professional services such as career, personal, or health coaching; and only one participant was working as a small business in the field of software development. Next, a coding process has been conducted in order to organize and categorize data set to answer the three main research questions. Thus, the following part will discuss the themed analysis in relation to each research question.

4.2 Findings of Themed Analysis

Researchers transcribed the interviews, conducted initial coding and developed themes to answer the research questions. The developed themes covered the following three key components:

4.2.1 Types of Technologies Used by MSMEs

Qualitative analysis generated the first theme which indicates that Facebook, Instagram, and Website are the most common types of digital marketing technologies used by MSMES in Egypt. Table 3 presents the frequency of most used digital tools mentioned by participants. It is obvious that “Facebook,” “Instagram,” and “website” are the most frequently used digital tools. While other tools such as LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp Business, YouTube, Google Business, and Telegram are less frequently used. But, paid advertising, Google advertising, mobile apps, and online stores were not mentioned by research participants.

Table 3 Codes and number of mentions
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Moreover, it is apparent that the “Facebook,” and “Instagram,” which are social media platforms are more frequently used than the company’s own “website.” That could be a result of a tight budget dedicated to marketing practices and marketing managers lack knowledge about digital marketing technologies potentials. This would be one interesting finding that proves the paradigm shift in digital technology adoption as many participants may have only social network presence with no website, which contradicts the stages model presented in the literature such as the Adoption ladder of Martin and Matlay (2001). The stages model suggested “website” as the first step in digital adoption, in contrary this research proves that social media might be the first step, in adoption, and in some cases website is no longer needed, as quoted from a participant: “Facebook is the most common social media network in Egypt, I do reach and engage with my customers effectively, as per my budget and my business size, I don’t need any other tools or channels besides Facebook.”

4.2.2 The Pattern of Digital Technology Usage and Adoption by MSMEs

The second theme generated from qualitative analysis shows that there is an inconsistent and dynamic pattern of technology adoption by MSMEs. Table 4 presents the main codes generated from data analysis to answer the second research question. It is obvious from the results that the pattern of digital technology adoption is neither consistent nor sequential. The codes were seasonal adoption, trial and error, inconsistent results that had a number of mentions between three and two among participants’ responses. Rather, it is dynamic and is used according to the current need of the business, which can vary over a long period.

Table 4 Codes and number of mentions
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It is apparent that MSMEs use the type of technology suitable for the short-term situation, and then drop it later when it is no longer needed. As quoted from a participant: “We only use What’ app campaigns or Facebook paid ads when we encounter sales decrease, just for the sake of boosting our sales volume for a short period of time.” Old models of Martin and Matlay (2001) and Burgess et al. (2011) suggested the websites as the first stage of technology adoption because social media was not common at the time of introducing those models, now social media platforms are considered to be an efficient, effective, less expensive, and less complicated way to reach customers. Codes such as social media only and social media and website have been mentioned with a frequency between two and one. Some participants use only social media, others had mentioned a website and social media. One participant mentioned they had an online store at first beside the social media, later they canceled and deleted the website due to its cost compared to its desired outcomes. The failure of the online store could be due to the Egyptians’ culture that shows a lack of trust in e-commerce and negative perception of online accuracy and privacy in transactions. As a conclusion, there is an unspecified methodology in adopting digital technology or a lack of planned and consistent behavior for digital adoption. There is also no fixed budget for digital technology adoption. MSMEs do not follow a planned behavior for digital technology planning and execution, how they operate is reactive rather than proactive and especially reactive in initiating the digital technology to be used within a specific context.

4.2.3 The Impact of Technology Adoption on MSMEs Performance

The third theme generated from qualitative analysis indicates that sales growth, cost reduction, good customer reach, engagement, and lead generation are the major effects of technology adoption on MSMES. Table 5 presents the main codes generated from data analysis to answer the third research question. It is obvious from the results that participants are aware of the importance of technology adoption on their marketing performance. Driving sales and cost reduction had a mention of frequency between four and two, while customer reach, customer engagement, and lead generation had three times of mentions of three, and finally, branding had only one-time mention.

Table 5 Codes and number of mentions
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Although business owners admit that digital technology drives sales and boosts customer engagement and lead generation, they do not identify and track the key performance indicators to measure it. Therefore, it is difficult for them to exactly identify the benefits of the technology used and sometimes these benefits are underestimated. In participants’ opinion, benefits and impact of technology adoption are reflected in two major parts: firms and customer value. There is a misinterpretation of results which leads to a lack of confidence in adopting the suitable technology type. In addition, the firm value was mainly specified into two major components sales and cost reduction, and the customer value in the form of customer reach, engagement, and lead generation. The unforeseen benefit was about brand equity and this proves that those MSMEs are more sales-oriented rather than market- and customer-oriented according to Hill (2001) and Reijonen (2010). Furthermore, a discussion of the results concerning the research questions and a comparison with previously presented literature will be provided in the discussion part.

5 Discussion

Literature criticism of the digital adoption models and insights from this research lead to the conclusion that current adoption models lack the following aspects:

  • Currency: the models do not include emerging new technologies, channels, and tools that could benefit the process of marketing management planning and implementation and cannot include new technologies as it arises.

  • Dynamic nature: MSMEs marketing management process does not follow a specific theory or model, instead they adopt what is relevant to their current situation and their budget (Carson & Gilmore, 2000), thus they do not follow specific stage pattern, though they hop on—hop off on different strategies and techniques as required by the situation, hence measuring their technology adoption using a linear model is inconsistent, the model needs to be more dynamic.

  • Measurement: current models do not link digital adoption to MSMEs performance. They do not provide a clear link between the type of technology adopted and company performance.

  • Scope: most of the models in the literature focus on the overall technology adoption in all firm functions, few models had the focus on marketing management digital technologies although its growing importance (Harrigan et al., 2011, 2012).

Furthermore, this study suggests a new digital adoption model with a specific scope on marketing management that would cover all previously mentioned critics and take into consideration insights explored in data collection and analysis to add and build on the framework of Kannan and Li (2017). The following section would introduce the proposed model of this study with a detailed description of its components.

The suggested model is presented in Fig. 1. It is inspired by Kannan and Li (2017) research framework which is presented in Fig. 1. The original framework was used to summarize the researches’ efforts conducted in digital marketing literature. However, the research in hand is extending the conceptual framework of Kannan and Li (2017) in a different context, by presenting it as a framework to measure digital marketing adoption in MSMEs. The following paragraph will discuss the newly suggested model in more detail. The model of this study recognizes the crucial interrelated points in the marketing process and strategies where digital technologies have a significant impact. The touch points are grouped into categories and blocks based on functionality. Each block does not directly identify the type of technology because they evolve over time, rather it is flexible to include or exclude different types of technologies depending on the context.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Suggested model: marketing management technology adoption model. Source: Authors’ own work adapted from Kannan and Li (2017)

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The suggested model in this study includes the following blocks: (1) Environment interaction: this box has the potential to include any current or future technology that has the main function of interacting with company’s external environment such as owned or paid media; (2) Marketing mix design: this has the potential to include any technology that is related to designing the company’s marketing mix, such as the mean of delivery or product design (e.g., Digital products); (3) Market research: has the potential to include any current or future technology that helps in acquiring market information, this could be in the form of market analytics, or any data collection software tool; and finally (4) Outcomes/Key performance indicators (KPIs): are mainly flexible to include any crucial factor or KPI in form of firm value, customer value, and value for customer. The model does involve not only the components specified but also the interfaces among those components, as shown by the arrows. As the model mainly tends to be flexible and dynamic to fit the nature of MSMEs, it does not state specific technology type in any of the categories, rather it is open for changes. The model can simply represent a snapshot of the company’ technology adoption and performance at a specific time, that can be compared over a specific period by comparing several snapshots.

From the above discussion, the newly suggested model in this study overcome the previously mentioned problems. It is more flexible and open for technology updates and has a hybrid nature (not linear) which allows MSMEs adopt certain technologies according to their needs. This study’s model has room to include the MSMEs’ key performance indicators which are related to the currently used technologies. Moreover, it has a specific focus on the marketing management function and encompasses all aspects of marketing planning. Thus, researchers here suggest that the proposed model title would be: “Marketing Management Technology Adoption model.”

6 Conclusion

The empirical examination of the current study is providing significant theoretical and managerial insights concerning digital marketing technology adoption in MSMEs. From a theoretical perspective, the study is contributing to the marketing management body of knowledge and technology management literature by suggesting a new dynamic model. The model was built upon the previous models’ criticisms with evidence from an empirical study using a classical grounded theory approach. The managerial implication of the suggested model will help release several opportunities for understanding the performance of the MSMEs in relation to digital marketing technologies. In turn, this may help in designing the applicable solutions for the MSMEs market, such as better training programs, better consultation solutions to optimize the digital marketing usage and results. Another implication may be in the form of enterprise performance monitoring tool over time, to compare their performance against competitors for benchmarking purposes.

Although this study provided some in-depth insights, the most critical limitation lies in the qualitative nature of this research in which results cannot be generalized, and bias is included. Also, as sampling size was small, and was depending on convenience, the respondents were all from micro and small businesses, and there was no representation of medium businesses. Thus, the outcome will relate to specific projects, or at best small clusters of case studies’ industries. Such that the results cannot be generalized to the entire sector of the MSMEs. Adding, the quality of data collected may be affected by the mean of the collection as the interviews made over the phone have not permitted to collect notes concerning interviewees’ body language, for example. On the other hand, participants have noted time limitation on their daily schedule, which has also affected the time given to the interview, and micro-business owners in most cases were the one and only person in his/her own business.

Therefore, due to the limitation of current qualitative research, considerable future research work should follow the positivist approach. Future research objectives could be pointed to empirically test and criticize the suggested model. Extend the model application upon certain MSMEs industries. Comparative research studies are also needed to compare the suggested model application with previous models, or across different business sizes, locations, and industries. Furthermore, in line with the International Trade Centre (ITC) (2020), future studies should include the role of business support firms (such as the chambers of commerce, specific sector associations, trade and investment promotion agencies, and cooperatives) in creating growth opportunities for MSME’s and delivering social and sustainable objectives to develop a healthy economy especially for recovering amid Coronavirus pandemic.