SOCIAL MEDIA ADOPTION AMONG FOOD & BEVERAGE MICROENTERPRISES IN NORTHERN MALAYSIA: AN EXTENDED UTAUT FRAMEWORK WITH TECHNOLOGY TRUST & PRIOR DIGITAL EXPERIENCE

Abstract

Social media has become an important entrepreneurial marketing resource, yet adoption remains uneven among food and beverage (F&B) microenterprises whose technology decisions are typically made by owner-managers operating under constraints of time, finance, skills, and support. This paper explains the factors influencing social media adoption among F&B microenterprises in Northern Malaysia by extending the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) with technology trust and prior digital experience. Although UTAUT captures performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions, its original formulation does not fully account for two features of social media adoption in resource-constrained microenterprises: dependence on external platforms whose security, reliability, privacy, credibility, and policies are beyond the firm's control, and heterogeneity in owner-managers' accumulated digital familiarity. To address these limitations, we introduce technology trust as a direct determinant, while conceptualizing prior digital experience as a selective moderator of the relationships between effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and technology trust and adoption. The moderation logic is that accumulated experience can reduce dependence on ease of use, social cues, and external support while also changing how platform risks and trust are evaluated. The framework's principal novelty therefore lies in combining the four original UTAUT determinants with technology trust and an experience-based boundary condition in an owner-managed microenterprise setting. Northern Malaysia, comprising Perak, Penang, Kedah, and Perlis, provides a relevant context because it spans urban and tourism-oriented centers as well as semi-urban and rural markets, where digital resources and market pressures may differ. The framework offers testable propositions and a diagnostic basis for targeted digitalization support. Future research should empirically validate the model and distinguish initial adoption from sustained and strategic social media use, as these represent conceptually distinct stages of digital engagement.