Awareness of The Internet and Social Media Platform for Business Among Micro Entrepreneur of Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia Mukah Branch, Sarawak

Abstract

The study was designed to investigate the level of awareness of the internet & social media platform for business among micro entrepreneur of Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia Mukah branch. The study that has been conducted involves micro-entrepreneurs of Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia Mukah branch who run small businesses around Mukah, Igan, Dalat, Oya and Balingian in year 2021 during Covid 19-pandemic. A total of 339 respondents from 2691 micro-entrepreneur population were identified through a distributed questionnaire. All these micro-entrepreneurs are participants or Sahabat Ikhtiar Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) Mukah branch. The participants is referring to borrowers who obtain microcredit or financing from Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia. The data obtained were analyzed in terms of percentage, frequency, descriptive analysis and correlation between variables. The results of the study found that the awareness of entrepreneurs on the use of online applications is at a moderate level. The study also found that information and communication technology facilities as well as individual attitudes have a high significant relationship on the awareness of entrepreneurs on the use of internet and social media. The findings of this study can help micro-entrepreneurs who mostly have a moderate income level can be improved by mastering the needs of information technology in business. The effectiveness of this study also indirectly helps stakeholders as support in increasing the income of micro entrepreneurs better in terms of exploring business-marketing techniques in a more creative and innovative way especially during this Covid-19 pandemic which has affected income especially to micro entrepreneurs.