Individual based simulation for online marketplace diffusion among trading small medium enterprises: A conceptual framework

Abstract

The number of Indonesian SMEs and Indonesian Internet users are increasing. This situation is of concern to the Indonesian government. The government then launched a SME go online program with a target of 8 million SMEs using the online platform in 2019. One of the online platforms that SMEs may use in Indonesia is the online marketplace such as Tokopedia, Bukalapak and others. Previous research studied the factors that support or hinder the adoption of e-commerce in SMEs environment but had not explored how the interaction of those factors in the adoption of online marketplace. In a social system, the diffusion and adoption of online marketplaces in SMEs is influenced by socio-economic characteristics, personality variables and communication behaviours that exist and are acquired by individuals. This paper describes a conceptual framework for the development of an individual-based simulation commonly referred to as an agent-based simulation to understand the adoption by SMEs and the diffusion of online marketplace in SME environments.