EMBEDDED SOCIAL MEDIA AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE READINESS OF SME’S IN ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY FREE TRADE

Abstract

AEC (ASEAN Economic Community) is an agreement between ASEAN (Association of South East Asia Nations) countries to establish a free trade area of cooperation with the goal of improving the economic competitiveness of the ASEAN region. AEC forces ASEAN countries to compete openly, moreover, a critical attitude appears on the readiness of Indonesia to face free competition. The experience shows that SMEs are the cutting edge defense of the Indonesian economy. In general, the main problem of the small and medium scale of businesses is that they do not yet have a strong and weak brand in marketing communications. In line with technological advances, smartphones now have features that can be used as a marketing communication tools. Communication technology makes the smartphone attached (embedded) in the life of the individual users. This study aims to determine Embedded Social Media, Publish Word Of Mouth And Its Implications For The Readiness of SME‟s In ASEAN Economic Community Free Trade. Quantitative approach with survey method was conducted. Questionnaire delivered to 207 respondents at four cities in Banten province. The result of this research shows that phenomenon of embedded social media has been significantly changed smartphone user attitude. Publish word of mouth connected to each other through smartphones so, in perspective of entrepreneurs the network of conversations groups in social media is an asset that can be marketed for their products. This condition makes SMEs ready to face the challenges of global competition.
 
Keywords: ASEAN Economic Community Free Trade, Marketing Communication, Publish Word of Mouth, Social Media.