Investigating the resilience of micro, small and medium enterprises in entering the digital market us-ing social media: Evidence from Aceh province, Indonesia

International Journal of Data and Network Science 7 (2023) 2041–2052 Contents lists available at GrowingScience International Journal of Data and Network Science homepage: www.GrowingScience.com/ijds Investigating the resilience of micro, small and medium enterprises in entering the digital market using social media: Evidence from Aceh province, Indonesia Srinita Srinitaa* and Jumadil Saputrab a Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh, Indonesia Department of Economics, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Development, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia b CHRONICLE Article history: Received: April 5, 2023 Received in revised format: July 26, 2023 Accepted: August 21, 2023 Available online: August 21, 2023 Keywords: Digital Market Resilience MSMEs Social Media COVID-19 Pandemic ABSTRACT Technological developments are increasingly sophisticated, so micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) must maintain their business through digital markets. The main problem faced by MSMEs in Aceh province is the lack of use of social media as a medium for promoting or selling products online. Thus, this study analyzes the MSMEs' product marketing model, determines the factors that influence MSME labor productivity, and determines MSMEs' resilience strategies in entering the digital market. The research location is Aceh Province which consists of 23 districts/cities. The population in this study were all MSME actors in Aceh Province who were spread across districts/cities, using a purposive random sampling technique. The samples in the study were related agencies and MSMEs actors in Aceh Province, which are spread across 13 regencies/cities, namely Banda Aceh, Sabang, Lhokseumawe, Subulussalam, Langsa, Aceh Tamiang, East Aceh, North Aceh, Central Aceh, West Aceh, Aceh Singkil, Aceh Besar and Aceh Jaya. The results of the study show that (1) the marketing model that is used effectively is the marketing mix, namely the marketing mix, (2) the productivity of MSME workers is influenced by the level of education, age, work experience, gender and expertise or skills possessed by the workforce, (3) The MSMEs resilience strategy is dealing with the digital market can be pursued through government policies by providing training or assistance to business actors to increase product innovation and increase promotion or product sales online through various types of social media, such as Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and market places other. © 2023 by the authors; licensee Growing Science, Canada. 1. Introduction The world is currently still faced with the disastrous spread of the COVID-19 disease. Since it was first discovered in Wuhan, China, at the end of December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO), on March 12, 2020, declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic (Zhang et al., 2020). In Indonesia, the first positive case of COVID-19 was announced on Monday, March 2, 2020. The government has carried out strategies to suppress the spread of COVID-19 in Indonesia. However, until May 2022, there were 6,429,987 positive patients with COVID-19, 6,429,987 who recovered, and as many as 159,676 victims of COVID-19 who died. As one of the global pandemics, the spread of COVID-19 is so fast that it has become the main topic of conversation in every country. COVID-19 has had an impact not only on human health but also on a country's people's social and economic aspects. To prevent the COVID-19 infections, various efforts and policies has been made by government, such as imposing large-scale restrictions such as those carried out in several regions in Indonesia and working from home. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: (S. Srinita) ISSN 2561-8156 (Online) - ISSN 2561-8148 (Print) © 2023 by the authors; licensee Growing Science, Canada. doi: 10.5267/j.ijdns.2023.8.018 2042 The consequences of Working from Home (WFH) policies or large-scale restrictions impact changes in the social life order and decrease economic performance. The decline in Indonesia's economic performance due to the COVID-19 pandemic was most felt during the second quarter of 2020, where the economy contracted by 5.32 percent (y-o-y); that is, there was a decrease compared to the achievements in the first quarter of 2020 of 2.97 percent (yoy). One of the effects of economic growth in Indonesia is through Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), where the role of MSMEs can provide employment opportunities (Yudiansyah et al., 2022), especially in the informal sector. Besides that, the expansion of employment absorption is also very dependent on productivity and policies regarding employment absorption. Opportunities and employment opportunities can be pursued through industrial development, especially in labor-intensive industries. Industrial development (MSMEs) will cause production capacity to increase to create job opportunities (Yudiansyah et al., 2022). The main problem faced by most Developing Countries (NSB), including Indonesia, until now is how to take advantage of the abundant and mostly unskilled human factor for their development so that a large population is not a burden for development; instead, it becomes development capital. Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are vital in driving the people's economy and impacting the national economy. In their daily lives, MSMEs are integrated with the community by fulfilling daily life's needs and goods that are affordable and easy to find. MSMEs are very important in Indonesia (Achmad, 2023; Tambunan, 2018). Based on data from the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, the number of businesses in Indonesia is 64,199,606 units. Of these, 64,194,056 units or 99.99 percent of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The rest, around 0.01 percent or 5,550 units, are big businesses. In addition to the increasingly rapid development of the number of MSMEs, in 2022, MSMEs will have a very large contribution to reducing the number of unemployed, namely absorbing 96.9 percent of the total workforce in the business world, being able to create jobs in 99.9 percent and being able to collect up to 60 percent of total investment, and able to contribute to the economic growth of 60.5 percent. MSMEs appear saviors of the national economy, especially during a national recession, monetary crisis, or even the current COVID-19 pandemic (Istiqomah et al., 2022; Zenrif & Mustofa, 2022). MSMEs are a people-based economy where the government shows seriousness in supporting this potential by providing various assistance, training and assistance for MSME actors. The government, in this case, the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, has launched MSMEs in the national vision and mission. During the COVID-19 pandemic, aspects of economic life weakened and slowed down, including the slowdown in the MSME economic sector (Rasul et al., 2021; Sahoo & Ashwani, 2020). In Indonesia, some MSM (...truncated)