From Social Media Use to Innovation Performance in MSMEs: The Asymmetric Mediating Roles of Internal and External Information Integration

Sanaji Sanaji, Andre Dwijanto Witjaksono, Yessy Artanti, Ulil Hartono, Syaifurrizal Wijaya Putra

Abstract


Purpose - This study explains how social media usage (SMU) is translated into innovation performance in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). It distinguishes internal information integration from external information integration and tests whether the two capabilities operate as equivalent mediating mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach - Survey data were obtained from 105 Indonesian MSME owner-managers who used social media for business purposes. The reflective measurement model and the parallel-mediation structural model were estimated with partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS 3. Significance was evaluated using 5,000 bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrap subsamples.

Findings - SMU strongly predicts internal integration (β = 0.692, p < 0.001) and external integration (β = 0.629, p < 0.001), and directly predicts innovation performance (β = 0.340, p = 0.003). Internal integration predicts innovation performance (β = 0.292, p = 0.023) and significantly mediates the SMU-innovation relationship (indirect effect = 0.202, p = 0.024). External integration has positive but statistically non-significant direct and indirect effects. The model explains 58.8% of the variance in innovation performance.

Originality/value - The study shows that internal and external information integration are empirically separable and theoretically non-equivalent. In resource-constrained firms, access to external information is not sufficient; innovation value is realised when information is organised, updated, retrieved and shared through internal routines.

Practical implications - MSME digitalisation programmes should move beyond platform adoption and promotional skills. Greater value is likely to come from lightweight information-management routines that convert social-media interactions into cumulative organisational learning and innovation decisions.

Keywords: social media usage; internal information integration; external information integration; absorptive capacity; innovation performance; MSMEs

Paper type: Research paper


Keywords


Social Media Usage; Internal Information Integration; External Information Integration; Absorptive Capacity; Innovation Performance; MSMEs

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18415/ijmmu.v13i9.7657

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