The effect of external social media utilization on business performance of SMEs in Saudi Arabia: the mediating role of market orientation

Figures & data

Figure 1. Conceptual framework of the study.

Table 1. Reliability analysis of pilot study (N = 42).

Variable	Number of items after validation	Cronbach’s Alpha	Remark
ESMU	18	0.902	Reliable
MO	10	0.851	Reliable
Profitability	5	0.882	Reliable
Customer Satisfaction	3	0.821	Reliable

Table 2. Result of normality and multicollinearity.

	Normality		Collinearity Statistics
	Skewness	Kurtosis	Tolerance	VIF
ESMU	−.668	−.897	.940	1.064
Market Orientation	−.744	−.804	.831	1.204
Profitability	−.635	−.751	–	–
Customer Satisfaction	−.610	−.471	–	–
Business Performance	−.801	−.732

^a Dependent Variable: SME Business Performance.

Table 3. Profile of the respondents.

Variable	Label	Frequency	Percent
Gender	Male	363	80.5
	Female	88	19.5
Position	CEO	165	36.6
	CMO	55	12.2
	SME manager	88	19.5
	Owner	143	31.7
Qualification	High school or less	50	11.1
	Diploma	121	26.8
	Bachelor	236	52.3
	Master	33	7.3
	Ph.D.	11	2.4
Experience	1–4 years	22	4.9
	5–9 years	165	36.6
	10–14 years	242	53.7
	15 years and above	22	4.9

Note: 451.

Table 4. Profile of SMEs.

Variable	Label	Frequency	Percent
Sector	Service sector	66	14.6
	Manufacturing sector	11	2.4
	Retail business	231	51.2
	Construction business	121	26.8
	Technological sector	22	4.9
Company Age	Less than 5 years	44	9.8
	5–10 years	143	31.7
	11–15 years	253	56.1
	More than 15 years	11	2.4
Number of employees	1–5 employees	77	17.1
	6–49 employees	220	48.8
	50–249 employees	154	34.1
SM usage	Yes	451	100.0
	No	0	0
External SM usage	Facebook	246	12.4
	Instagram	80	17.7
	YouTube	7	1.6
	Twitter	73	16.2
	TikTok	18	4.0
	WhatsApp	12	2.7
	Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat	53	11.8
	Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp	131	29.0
	Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat	21	4.7
SM use duration	1–2 hours per day	176	39.0
	3–4 hours per day	233	51.7
	Others	42	9.3

Table 5. Level of the variables.

Code	Statement	Mean	Std	Level
ESMU1	We use external social media to communicate with customers	3.93	1.00	High
ESMU2	We often use external social media to contact our customers	3.98	.67	High
ESMU3	We frequently use external social media to ask customers questions	3.87	.88	High
ESMU4	We frequently use external social media to answer customer questions	3.88	.80	High
ESMU5	Employees often socialize with customers on the social media platform	3.80	.72	High
ESMU6	We regularly use social media to maintain and strengthen communication with customers in my work.	3.89	.78	High
ESMU7	We use external social media to collaborate with customers	3.87	.87	High
ESMU8	Many customers respond to discussions on the social media platform	3.91	.79	High
ESMU9	We actively exchange ideas with customers on social media.	3.77	.80	High
ESMU10	We use external social media to share knowledge with customers	4.07	.82	High
ESMU11	We frequently use external social media to share pictures and videos with customers	3.81	1.00	High
ESMU12	We often use external social media to obtain work related information and knowledge	3.91	.86	High
ESMU13	New content and knowledge are shared or posted frequently on the platform	3.99	.95	High
ESMU14	Customers can obtain abundant content and knowledge from the social media platform.	3.90	.91	High
ESMU15	There are many people viewing discussions on the social media platform.	3.77	.86	High
ESMU16	We use social media for learning purposes.	3.88	.80	High
ESMU17	Employees learn from social media discussions.	3.90	.92	High
ESMU18	Discussions and posts on the social media platform assist employees in understanding customers’ needs and wants	4.12	.84	High
Overall mean of External SM Utilization		3.90	–	High
MO1	The staff in my company constantly monitor our level of commitment and orientation to serving customer needs	3.79	.58	High
MO2	The strategy of my company for competitive advantage is based on our understanding of customers expressed needs.	3.79	.75	High
MO3	The company measures customer satisfaction systematically and frequently.	3.73	.76	High
MO4	The company is more customer focused than our competitors	3.78	.75	High
MO5	The company periodically review our products/services development to ensure that they are in line with customers’ needs	3.79	.92	High
MO6	The company help our customers anticipate developments in their markets	3.64	1.03	Moderate
MO7	The company try to discover additional needs of our customers of which they are unaware	3.76	.80	High
MO8	The company use brainstorming technique to understand how customers use our products and services	3.95	.92	High
MO9	The company search for opportunities in areas where customers have a difficult time expressing their needs	4.01	.78	High
MO10	The company are aware that customers’ hidden, and future needs are important to growth business	3.94	.75	High
Overall mean score of market orientation		3.82		High
PR1	The company exceeded the minimum profitability target during the past three years in comparison to known competition	3.79	.96	High
PR2	The company exceeded the minimum profitability target average from total assets during the past three years	3.82	.98	High
PR3	The company exceeded the minimum profitability target during the past three years	3.96	.92	High
PR4	The company achieved average profitability target from ownership capital during the last three years	3.67	1.13	High
PR5	The company achieved average profitability target from total sales during the last three years	3.70	1.10	High
Mean of profitability		3.78	1.11	High
CS1	Overall, I feel that my customers are satisfied with my performance	3.93	1.04	High
CS2	My clients feel they have an extremely effective working relationship with me	3.91	.87	High
CS3	Overall, my clients feel our relationship is productive	3.90	1.03	High
Mean of customer satisfaction		3.91	1.02	High

Table 6. Factor loading, reliability and validity.

Variable	Item	Factor loading	CA	CR	AVE
Profitability	PRO1	0.933	0.945	0.957	0.82
	PRO2	0.907
	PRO3	0.878
	PRO4	0.875
	PRO5	0.932
Customer satisfaction	CS1	0.913	0.92	0.924	0.862
	CS2	0.949
	CS3	0.924
External Social Media Utilization	ESMU2	0.8	0.958	0.961	0.6
	ESMU3	0.846
	ESMU4	0.832
	ESMU5	0.738
	ESMU6	0.718
	ESMU7	0.717
	ESMU8	0.762
	ESMU9	0.729
	ESMU10	0.715
	ESMU11	0.752
	ESMU12	0.735
	ESMU13	0.894
	ESMU14	0.757
	ESMU15	0.795
	ESMU16	0.78
	ESMU17	0.759
	ESMU18	0.807
Market orientation	MO1	0.832	0.919	0.929	0.609
	MO2	0.875
	MO3	0.824
	MO4	0.742
	MO5	0.769
	MO7	0.764
	MO8	0.709
	MO9	0.778
	MO10	0.717

Table 7. Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio (HTMT).

	Customer Satisfaction	External Social Media Utilization	Market Orientation	Profitability
Customer Satisfaction	–
ESMU	0.677
Market Orientation	0.679	0.729
Profitability	0.612	0.659	0.621	–
Second Order
	BP	ESMU	MO
BP	–
ESMU	0.699
MO	0.659	0.729	–

Figure 2. Structural model.

Figure 3. Structural model of second order.

Table 8. Result of hypotheses testing.

H	Path	β	Std	T	P	f^2
H1	ESMU -> Business Performance	0.460	0.067	6.861	0.000	0.191
H2	ESMU-> Profitability	0.439	0.067	6.591	0.000	0.180
H3	ESMU-> Customer Satisfaction	0.386	0.069	5.624	0.000	0.147
H4	ESMU-> Market Orientation	0.701	0.044	16.001	0.000	0.960
H5	Market Orientation -> Business Performance	0.311	0.063	4.964	0.000	0.133
H6	Market Orientation -> Profitability	0.288	0.061	4.691	0.000	0.077
H7	Market Orientation -> Customer Satisfaction	0.368	0.063	5.823	0.000	0.133
H8	ESMU -> Market Orientation -> Business Performance	0.218	0.05	4.353	0.000	–
H9	ESMU-> Market Orientation -> Profitability	0.201	0.049	4.105	0.000	–
H10	ESMU-> Market Orientation -> Customer Satisfaction	0.257	0.052	4.915	0.000	–

Note. H8, H9, H10 were derived from the ‘specific indirect effect’ in SmartPLS 4.