Factors That Influence the Implementation of M-Commerce by Romanian SMEs During the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT

During the period affected by COVID-19, m-commerce has changed how business is carried out. However, the share of m-commerce among Romanian SMEs remains low. This study aims at investigating the influence of six groups of factors on the concrete actions of m-commerce implementation by SMEs. This study used two research methods: qualitative and quantitative research (1500 questionnaires). Within the qualitative research, Cronbach's alpha test, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with Bartlett and KMO tests, and linear equation model (OLS) were applied. The outcomes reveal that environmental and competitive pressure, employees' IT knowledge, and customer pressure positively affected the implementation of m-commerce by Romanian SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the findings also indicated that cost implementation, the nature of the industry, and the traditional way of doing business represent barrier factors that negatively affect the implementation of m-commerce by Romanian SMEs. The conclusion section offers concrete solutions for heightening the level of m-commerce implementation within Romanian SMEs along with certain political implications. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.