The role of entrepreneurs and firm characteristics to the level of innovativeness: A study of e-commerce adoption on traditional drink SMEs

This study aims to analyze the influence of entrepreneur and business characteristics on the innovativeness level in e-commerce adoption in traditional drink SMEs. It is a quantitative research with a survey technique. The number of samples was 330 owners of traditional drink SMEs in the Special Region of Yogyakarta taken proportionally. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics with multiple linear regression and SPSS as a tool analysis. The results show that simultaneously, all of the variables affect the innovativeness level in e-commerce adoption. Partially, business scale, education, and the number of IT staff have a positive effect on the level of innovativeness in e-commerce adoption. The business age has a negative and significant effect on the level of innovativeness. Meanwhile, the age of the entrepreneur did not have a significant effect on the innovativeness level. Stakeholder collaboration is needed to improve both formal and non-formal education for traditional drink SMEs. The development of e-commerce skills, knowledge, and investment in the number of IT staff is required to accelerate the adoption and e-commerce usage management continuously. Increasing business scale is also needed for the optimization and efficiency of e-commerce utilization to improve business performance.