The mediation-moderation effect on the nexus between social media adoption, customer satisfac-tion, social media competence and SMEs performance during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Numerous studies have been conducted on individual and organizational adoption of social media, and many of these studies were conducted in advanced economies by focusing on large corporations. This study addresses the gap by examining the use of social media by SMEs in West Africa, notably Nigeria. Using a structured questionnaire, 682 small business owners were questioned regarding their thoughts on social media adoption: cost, privacy, convenience, and quality of service. The PLS-SEM result reveals a structural relationship between social media adoption and SME perfor-mance. Due to the substantial change in operations induced by COVID-19, enterprises are increasing their involvement in social media marketing to improve performance, and the competence of social media strengthens the effect on customer satisfaction.