Digitalization, Platform Dependence, and the Restructuring of Marketing Power in Small Enterprises
Keywords:
digitalization, platform dependence, pricing autonomy, marketing power, MSMEsAbstract
Objective: Marketing digitalization is increasingly viewed as a key strategy for strengthening the competitiveness of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). However, empirical evidence on how digitalization affects the marketing power of MSMEs still shows mixed results and often assumes a direct impact. This study aims to explain how marketing digitalization shapes MSME marketing power through a gradual mechanism involving dependence on digital platforms and the loss of pricing autonomy.
Methodology: This study uses a quantitative approach with a survey method on MSMEs in Kupang City, Indonesia, and is analyzed using Partial Least Squares–Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM).
Finding: The results show that marketing digitalization does not directly increase MSME marketing power. On the contrary, digitalization increases dependence on digital platforms, which further limits pricing autonomy and reshapes the marketing power of MSMEs.
Conclusion: This finding confirms that digitalization needs to be understood as a process inherent in the power relations of the platform economy, not simply an instrument of technological empowerment. In addition to practical implications for MSMEs and policy makers in creating sustainable digitization plans, this research offers theoretical contributions through a process-based approach.
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