From Intention to Implementation: Digital Marketing Challenges for Indonesian Seaweed SMEs

Andi Putri Tenriyola; Anis Anshari Masud; Tri Desi Lestari

doi:10.32535/ijabim.v11i2.4679

From Intention to Implementation: Digital Marketing Challenges for Indonesian Seaweed SMEs

Andi Putri Tenriyola, Anis Anshari Masud, Tri Desi Lestari

Abstract

This study examines how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) producing seaweed-based products in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, implement digital marketing strategies, and why a gap persists between their intention to adopt such strategies and their capacity to enact them effectively. Adopting a qualitative, multi-case design, data were gathered from owners and managers of twenty SMEs through in-depth interviews, observation, and documentation, and analyzed thematically along four dimensions of digital-marketing competence: accessibility, interactivity, credibility, and informativeness. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) serves as the interpretive lens. The findings reveal a consistent intention implementation gap: although most SMEs recognize the value of digital marketing and intend to use it, many struggle to translate this understanding into practice, particularly in producing accessible content, designing engaging visuals, leveraging marketing websites, and creating educational material. Interpreted through UTAUT, strong performance expectancy and social influence sustain adoption intentions, whereas effort expectancy and weak facilitating conditions constrain effective implementation. The study offers a context-specific account of SME digitalization in an under-researched agro-marine sector and highlights the need for targeted training and ecosystem support to close the implementation gap

Keywords

Digital Marketing; SMEs; UTAUT; Technology Adoption; Seaweed Industry; Developing Economies

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.32535/ijabim.v11i2.4679