The Influence of Social Media Usage, Capital, Creativity, and Number of Employees on The Improvement of Competitive Advantage of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises in North Sumatra

Abstract

Following the current globalization trend, the competition in the free market is getting tougher, coupled with the presence of imported products that suppress the progress of local products, one of which is Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). MSMEs have a direct role in the economic growth of Indonesia. Some of them compete by selling similar products or services. Therefore, various ways such as promotion are carried out to maintain the sustainability of these MSMEs. The purpose of this research is to determine the simultaneous effect of social media usage, capital, creativity, and number of employees on the competitive advantage of MSMEs in North Sumatra. This type of research is a quantitative descriptive study. The data collection technique is by using a questionnaire from Google form which will be distributed to MSMEs with a sample size of 50. The research method used is multiple linear regression analysis with the Eviews application software. The results showed that social media usage has a positive and significant effect on competitive advantage; the capital variable does not have a partial effect on competitive advantage; the creativity variable has a positive and significant effect on competitive advantage; and the number of employees variable does not affect competitive advantage.