Digital inclusion in social media marketing adoption: the role of product suitability in the agriculture sector

Abstract

Information and communication technologies (ICT) are critical to leverage the digital divide among disadvantaged individuals, groups, and communities. Given the persistent urban–rural gap in technology adoption and usage, this study intends to understand factors motivating rural farmer’s adoption of social media marketing (SMM) tools in China. We contextualize and extend the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework to China’s agriculture sector. Specifically, we propose product SMM suitability as a new moderator based on the channel/product fit literature. The survey method is utilized to validate the proposed research model. Six follow-up interviews are analyzed to supplement the quantitative survey findings. While the result confirms UTAUT’s generalizability in China’s agriculture sector, it also demonstrates limited generational divide and gender divide in SMM adoption among Chinese farmers. More importantly, the newly proposed moderator, SMM product suitability, is empirically validated. Farmers consider non-grain products to be more suitable for SMM than grain products. SMM product suitability not only directly increases Chinese farmers’ SMM adoption intention, but also moderates the relationship between behavioral intention and use as well as the relationship between facilitating conditions and use.