Usability perspective on social media sites' adoption in the B2B context

Lacka, E. and Chong, A. (2016) Usability perspective on social media sites' adoption in the B2B context. Industrial Marketing Management, 54, pp. 80-91. (doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2016.01.001)

Abstract

While social media sites have been successfully adopted and used in the B2C context, they are perceived to be irrelevant in B2B marketing. This is due to marketers' perception of poor usability of these sites in the B2B sector. This study investigates the usability of social media sites when adopted for B2B marketing purposes in the one of world's largest social media market: China. Specifically, by extending the Technology Acceptance Model with Nielsen's Model of Attributes of System Acceptability, we assess the impact of usefulness, usability and utility on the adoption and use of these sites by B2B marketing professionals. The empirical investigation reveals that marketers' perception of the usefulness, usability and utility of social media sites drive their adoption and use in the B2B sector. The usefulness is subject to the assessment of whether social media sites are suitable means through which marketing activities can be conducted. The ability to use social media sites for B2B marketing purposes, in turn, is due to those sites learnability and memorability attributes.

• Item Type: Articles
• Keywords: social media sites, technology acceptance model, usability, technology adoption, B2B, Marketing. Distribution of products, Marketing
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Lacka, Dr Ewelina
• Authors: Lacka, E., and Chong, A.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management
• Journal Name: Industrial Marketing Management
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0019-8501
• ISSN (Online): 1873-2062
• Published Online: 11 January 2016
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc.
• First Published: First published in Industrial Marketing Management 54:80-91
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher