The intermediate role of information security awareness in the impact of SMEs' use of social media from digital marketing tools on the innovative competitive approach

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are critical to the development and job creation of cities, regions, and countries. Today's digital marketing tools and networking technologies have made long-distance communication less costly and easier than ever before, providing great opportunities for SMEs. In particular, the use of digital marketing tools such as social media (SM) channels has become indispensable for SMEs. Such digital communication channels, which show great interaction for consumers and businesses, have led to competitive business environments. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of using social media in SMEs' digital marketing tools on their competitive approach and the role of information security in this effect. The study sample consists of SMEs operating throughout Turkey. In the data of 780 people obtained by survey using the convenience sampling method, structural equation modeling with the AMOS program for the main hypotheses and difference analysis with the SPSS program for the sub-hypotheses were implemented. As a result of the analysis, it is observed that the use of social media, one of the digital marketing tools, has a significant and positive effect on information security awareness and innovative competitive approach. In addition, it is proved that information security awareness plays a role in the effect of social media use on competitive approaches. Finally, in the evaluation of the sub-hypotheses, it was determined that social media use, information security awareness, innovative competitive approach, and its sub-dimensions showed significant differences according to socio-demographic characteristics. Keywords: Social media, SME, Competition, Information security,