PERCEPTION AND ADOPTION INTENTION OF ONLINE MARKETING AND SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO) AMONG SME ENTREPRENEURS IN ANJUNG KINABALU: AN APPLICATION OF THE THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24191/VoA.v22i2.13439Keywords:
Online marketing Search Engine Optimization Small Medium Entreprise (SMEs) Theory of Planned Behavior Digital MarketingAbstract
The rapid advancement of digital technologies has transformed business operations, making online marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) essential for enhancing business visibility and competitiveness. Despite these benefits, the adoption of online marketing and SEO among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Sabah remains limited. This study aims to examine SMEs’ awareness of online marketing and SEO and investigate the influence of attitude, subjective norms, and Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC) on their intention to adopt these digital marketing strategies based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted among 100 SME entrepreneurs operating in Anjung Kinabalu, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, using purposive sampling. Data were collected through structured questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR). The findings indicate that SME entrepreneurs generally possess moderate to high awareness of online marketing, although knowledge of SEO remains limited. Regression analysis revealed that attitude, subjective norms, and PBC significantly and positively influence SMEs’ intention to adopt online marketing and SEO, with PBC emerging as the strongest predictor. The model explained 93.1% of the variance in behavioral intention (R² = 0.931). The findings support the applicability of the TPB in explaining digital marketing adoption among SMEs. This study contributes to the literature on SME digital transformation in Sabah. It provides policymakers and SME support agencies with practical insights for designing targeted digital capacity-building programs to enhance online marketing and SEO adoption
References
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision
Processes, 50(2), 179–211.
Ajzen, I. (2001). Nature and operation of attitudes. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 27–58.
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (2000). Attitudes and the attitude-behavior relation. European Review of Social
Psychology, 11(1), 1–33.
Bosnjak, M., Ajzen, I., & Schmidt, P. (2020). The theory of planned behavior: Selected recent advances
and applications. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 16(3), 352–356.
Bruce, M., Smith, J., & Lee, P. (2023). Digital marketing adoption among SMEs. Journal of Small Business Management, 61(4), 875–893.
Hoo, W. C., Lim, Y. S., & Tan, K. H. (2023). Digital marketing adoption and SME competitiveness in
Malaysia. International Journal of Business and Society, 24(2), 450–468.
Mohd Noor, H., Imang, U., Md Ramli, A., Abdul Rahman, R., & Afrizal, T. (2021). New norm for
traditional food business by SMEs entrepreneurs. Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal, 6(16), 13–19.
Nordin, N. M., Koe, W. L., Mohamed, N. A., & Rahman, S. A. A. (2023). Factors influencing the adoption
of online marketing among Malaysian SMEs. Business Management and Strategy, 14(1), 93–108.
Razali, F., Daud, D., Weng-Wai, C., & Jiram, W. R. A. (2020). Waste separation at source behaviour among Malaysian households. Journal of Cleaner Production, 271, 122025.
Zulu-Chisanga, S., Chabala, M., & Mandawa-Bray, B. (2021). The differential effects of government
support and firm resources on SME performance. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 13(2), 175–195.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Joshua Alfred, Viduriati Binti Sumin
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
