Adoption of country‐specific business websites: The case of UK small businesses entering the Chinese market

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate factors affecting small business owner/managers' adoption of country‐specific business websites.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey questionnaire was sent to a selected sample of 300 small businesses in the Northwest of England. In total, 55 responded with complete and usable answers, representing a response rate of 18.33 per cent.

Findings

The 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 the perceived usefulness of country‐specific business websites.

Research limitations/implications

The research sample is relatively small, and limited to small businesses located in the Northwest region of the UK. Emergent results are not necessarily representative of the wider small business population of the UK.

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

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.

Citation

Daryanto, A., Khan, H., Matlay, H. and Chakrabarti, R. (2013), "Adoption of country‐specific business websites: The case of UK small businesses entering the Chinese market", Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 650-660. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSBED-04-2013-0048