An exploratory study of Internet adoption by SMEs in an emerging market economy

Abstract

This paper investigates the nature and extent of Internet use and the role of firm‐ and industry‐specific factors affecting Internet adoption by SMEs in an emerging market economy, Turkey. Based on the evidence from a sample of 237 manufacturing SMEs with Internet access in Turkey, the highest ranked Internet applications with the largest frequency of usage were found to be principally concerned with external communication and gathering information for market and product research. Of the five relevant firm‐ and industry‐specific subgroups, the most significant differences were found for two of the characteristics: amount of resources allocated for export development and international experience of the SME. In general, the SMEs have positive attitudes regarding Internet use. The SMEs are of the opinion that the Internet will become more attractive in future in terms of enhancing company image and being an important tool of doing business electronically.