Judul: “The Role of Digital Marketing in Improving SMEs’ Fashion Product Competitiveness in The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) (Comparative Study in Indonesia dan Malaysia)”.
Abstrak: Economic growth in Indonesia which is very inseparably significant from the role of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). SMEs contribute greatly to the economies of Indonesia, Malaysia and ASEAN. Currently it’s around 96% of the business forms in ASEAN are Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with contributions to gross domestic product (GDP) about 33.1% to 57.6%, and absorbing 46.8% to 96.9 % employment. Perspektively Indonesia and Malaysia while technological developments and increasing internet users in the world including Indonesia, it has an impact on the economy and business activities including SME players. Business activities that were initially carried out by meeting directly between sellers and buyers are now starting to switch to using the internet. Indonesia is in the midst of a digital trend but not only in Indonesia but also in Malaysia as allied country, in ASEAN and in international level. Internet users in Indonesian, Malaysian and ASEAN communities increase every year. The e-commerce growth in ASEAN with a percentage of 10-15%, namely Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand that are the three countries with the highest growth. This has changed business activities from direct meeting between sellers and buyers to internet media with indirect interaction that make no boundaries each countries. Not all SMEs realize the importance of digital marketing role in running their businesses so that not all SMEs managed these opportunities optimally. This study will focused on how the influence of digital marketing on improving the competitiveness of SME products by analyzing promotion strategies in digital marketing. This study specialy aims (i) to identify the characteristics of Indonesian and Malaysian SMEs, (ii) analyze the influence of digital marketing on the SMEs’ competitiveness in Indonesian and Malaysian at the MEA level, dan (iii) analyze the effectiveness of digital marketing in Indonesian and Malaysian SMEs. This research was conducted in two countries, namely in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia and in Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor Malaysia as collaboration between IPB and University Putra Malaysia in April - June 2018. The population in this study is SMEs in Little Bandung and SMEs in Malaysia. The sampling method uses the accidental sampling method, which is 100 SMEs in Indonesia and 110 SMEs in Malaysia over a period of three months by distributing questionnaires to all SMEs in there. The data that have been collected will be analyzed quantitatively and the descriptive approach. Quantitative analysis is carried out using a different test model and structural equation model (SEM) approach. The results showed that the characteristics of SMEs in Indonesia and Malaysia were basically not much different but there were some differences, namely the majority of female Indonesian SMEs as much as 58% while Malaysian SMEs were dominated by men as much as 75%, the respondent age from the two countries dominated 26-35 years old with a percentage of 67% in Indonesia and 75% in Malaysia. The highest educational background is diploma and bachelor level about 50% in Indonesia and 62.7% in Malaysia, SMEs have been running their businesses online for 1-5 years with a percentage of 74% in Indonesia and 62% in Malaysia and the highest
Keyword: Digital Marketing, Competitiveness, SMEs, Indonesia, Malaysia