IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/rom/bemann/v15y2025i5p180-197.html

Social Media Use And Sme Performance In Nigeria: Do Digital Entrepreneurial Orientation, Digital Literacy, And Organizational Ambidexterity Moderate This Relationship?

Author

Listed:
  • Uzoma Heman ONONYE

    (Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba, Nigeria Author-Name Nwanne Beauty OKWECHIME
    Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba, Nigeria Author-Name Dumebi Ezar EHIGIATOR
    Hadassah Hall Group of Schools, Asaba, Nigeria)

Abstract

This study examines the effect of social media use on SME performance, focusing on the quasi-moderating roles of digital entrepreneurial orientation, digital literacy, and organizational ambidexterity. A total of 232 SME owners in the retail and wholesale industry in Lagos State, Nigeria, were purposively sampled. Using the partial least squares method (PLSM), the cross-sectional data obtained with a well-structured questionnaire were analyzed for hypothesis testing. Based on the PLSM results, the study found that social media use significantly elevated SME performance. At the same time, entrepreneurial orientation, digital literacy, and organizational ambidexterity enhanced SME performance. The study also found that entrepreneurial orientation and organizational ambidexterity significantly moderated the effect of social media use on SME performance. But this was not the case for digital literacy, whose effect was insignificant. The findings confirmed the quasi-moderating roles of digital entrepreneurial orientation and organizational ambidexterity because they interact significantly with social media use while directly enhancing SME performance. The study concluded that the utility of social media for performance improvement is contingent upon the degree to which SMEs perceive themselves as demonstrating strong digital entrepreneurial orientation and organizational ambidexterity.

Suggested Citation

  • Uzoma Heman ONONYE, 2025. "Social Media Use And Sme Performance In Nigeria: Do Digital Entrepreneurial Orientation, Digital Literacy, And Organizational Ambidexterity Moderate This Relationship?," Business Excellence and Management, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 15(5), pages 180-197, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:rom:bemann:v:15:y:2025:i:5:p:180-197
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://beman.ase.ro/special_issue_5/15.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Raya Sulistyowati, 2021. "Does Impact of Entrepreneurial Literacy and Digital Literacy on a Businessmen Who Influences the Strategy to Maintain SME in The Pandemic Era?," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 18(1), pages 83-94, April.
    2. Andreas Rauch & Johan Wiklund & G.T. Lumpkin & Michael Frese, 2009. "Entrepreneurial Orientation and Business Performance: An Assessment of past Research and Suggestions for the Future," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(3), pages 761-787, May.
    3. Yacob, Syahmardi & Sulistiyo, Urip & Marzal, Jefri & Perdana Siregar, Ade & Mukminin, Amirul, 2023. "An Investigation of Entrepreneurial Orientation, Social Media Adoption and E-commerce on MSME Business Performance: An Empirical Study in Indonesia," Revista Galega de Economía, University of Santiago de Compostela. Faculty of Economics and Business., vol. 32(3), pages 1-24.
    4. Arsalan Ahmed & Sara Rashid & Norizan Mat Saad & Muhammad Waqas Rana & Ikhtiar Ahmed Khoso & Zeshan Ahmed, 2025. "The tech advantage: exploring technological determinants of social media marketing adoption in Pakistani small and medium startups," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 1-20, December.
    5. Sang-Uk Jung & Valeriia Shegai, 2023. "The Impact of Digital Marketing Innovation on Firm Performance: Mediation by Marketing Capability and Moderation by Firm Size," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-16, March.
    6. Mpho Kgakatsi & Onthatile P. Galeboe & Kopo K. Molelekwa & Bonginkosi A. Thango, 2024. "The Impact of Big Data on SME Performance: A Systematic Review," Businesses, MDPI, vol. 4(4), pages 1-64, November.
    7. Peerayuth Charoensukmongkol, 2015. "Social Media Use and Job Performance: Moderating Roles of Workplace Factors," International Journal of Cyber Behavior, Psychology and Learning (IJCBPL), IGI Global Scientific Publishing, vol. 5(2), pages 59-74, April.
    8. Mingyue Fan & Sikandar Ali Qalati & Muhammad Aamir Shafique Khan & Syed Mir Muhammad Shah & Muhammad Ramzan & Raza Saleem Khan, 2021. "Effects of entrepreneurial orientation on social media adoption and SME performance: The moderating role of innovation capabilities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(4), pages 1-24, April.
    9. Shiyu Ji & Jincai Zhuang, 2023. "The Impact Path of Digital Literacy on Farmers’ Entrepreneurial Performance: Based on Survey Data in Jiangsu Province," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-17, July.
    10. Guo Ying, 2024. "Digital Entrepreneurial Orientation and Green Innovation in the VUCA Era: The Impact of Cross-organizational Improvisation and Social Ties," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(3), pages 21582440241, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. S. Arunachalam & Sridhar N. Ramaswami & Pol Herrmann & Doug Walker, 2018. "Innovation pathway to profitability: the role of entrepreneurial orientation and marketing capabilities," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 744-766, July.
    2. Insoo Cho & Peter F. Orazem, 2021. "How endogenous risk preferences and sample selection affect analysis of firm survival," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1309-1332, April.
    3. Gundula Glowka & Andreas Kallmünzer & Anita Zehrer, 2021. "Enterprise risk management in small and medium family enterprises: the role of family involvement and CEO tenure," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 1213-1231, September.
    4. Jonathan H. Reed, 2022. "Operational and strategic change during temporary turbulence: evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 589-608, June.
    5. Kusa, Rafał & Suder, Marcin & Duda, Joanna, 2023. "Impact of greening on performance in the hospitality industry: Moderating effect of flexibility and inter-organizational cooperation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    6. Francisco Javier Forcadell & Fernando Úbeda, 2022. "Individual entrepreneurial orientation and performance: the mediating role of international entrepreneurship," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 875-900, June.
    7. Michael Stuetzer & David B. Audretsch & Martin Obschonka & Samuel D. Gosling & Peter J. Rentfrow & Jeff Potter, 2018. "Entrepreneurship culture, knowledge spillovers and the growth of regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(5), pages 608-618, May.
    8. Groza, Mark D. & Groza, Mya Pronschinske, 2018. "Salesperson regulatory knowledge and sales performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 37-46.
    9. Blomkvist, Katarina & Engzell, Jeanette & Kappen, Philip & Zander, Ivo, 2024. "How organizational conditions affect employees’ intentions to engage in intrapreneurial new venturing," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    10. De Jong, Jeroen P. J. & Parker, Sharon K. & Wennekers, Sander & Wu, Chia-Huei, 2015. "Entrepreneurial behavior in organizations: does job design matter?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 53264, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Manrique Hernández-Ramírez & Ronald Mora-Esquivel & Juan Carlos Leiva, 2022. "Orientación emprendedora y desempeno innovador en mipymes. El rol moderador de la orientación estratégica," Estudios Gerenciales, Universidad Icesi, vol. 38(162), pages 95-108.
    12. Sikandar Ali Qalati & Dragana Ostic & Gu Shuibin & Fan Mingyue, 2022. "A mediated–moderated model for social media adoption and small and medium‐sized enterprise performance in emerging countries," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(3), pages 846-861, April.
    13. Mostafiz, Md Imtiaz & Ahmed, Farhad Uddin & Tardios, Janja & Hughes, Paul & Tarba, Shlomo Y., 2025. "Configuring international entrepreneurial orientation and dynamic internationalization capability to predict international performance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(2).
    14. Rubio-Andrés, Mercedes & Ramos-González, Mª del Mar & Sastre-Castillo, Miguel Ángel & Gutiérrez-Broncano, Santiago, 2023. "Stakeholder pressure and innovation capacity of SMEs in the COVID-19 pandemic: Mediating and multigroup analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    15. Madison, Kristen & Runyan, Rodney C. & Swinney, Jane L., 2014. "Strategic posture and performance: Revealing differences between family and nonfamily firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 239-251.
    16. Martín-Rojas, Rodrigo & Garrido-Moreno, Aurora & García-Morales, Víctor J., 2023. "Social media use, corporate entrepreneurship and organizational resilience: A recipe for SMEs success in a post-Covid scenario," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    17. Regmi, Rupesh & Zhang, Zhuo & Zhang, Hongpeng, 2023. "Entrepreneurship strategy, natural resources management and sustainable performance: A study of an emerging market," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PB).
    18. Jonas Hammerschmidt & Fabian Eggers & Sascha Kraus & Paul Jones & Matthias Filser, 2020. "Entrepreneurial orientation in sports entrepreneurship - a mixed methods analysis of professional soccer clubs in the German-speaking countries," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 839-857, September.
    19. Gonçalo Rodrigues Brás & Miguel Torres Preto, 2021. "The consequences of intrapreneurship in exporting firms: a structural-model approach," CeBER Working Papers 2021-06, Centre for Business and Economics Research (CeBER), University of Coimbra.
    20. UMRANI Waheed Ali & MAHMOOD Rosli & AHMED Umair, 2016. "Unveiling The Direct Effect Of Corporate Entrepreneurship’S Dimensions On The Business Performance: A Case Of Big Five Banks In Pakistan," Studies in Business and Economics, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 11(1), pages 181-195, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rom:bemann:v:15:y:2025:i:5:p:180-197. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Zamfir Andreea (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/mnasero.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.