Online Security and Sustainable SME Adoption of Digital Platforms
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.68050/JAMS.2026.708Keywords:
: Cybersecurity, Digital Platform Adoption,, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises; (SMEs), Online Security,, Transaction Trust, Digital EntrepreneurshipAbstract
Digital platforms increasingly provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with opportunities to access markets, conduct transactions, engage customers, and improve operational efficiency. However, sustained SME engagement with digital platforms is challenged by rising cybersecurity threats, particularly in developing economies where firms often face constraints in financial resources, digital infrastructure, and technical expertise. This conceptual study explores the influence of online security on the sustainable adoption of digital platforms by integrating trust and perceived risk perspectives with the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). An integrative conceptual review of academic literature, policy documents, and institutional reports was undertaken to identify, evaluate, and synthesise evidence on online security, technology acceptance, trust, perceived risk, and sustained digital-platform adoption. Online security is conceptualised as a fundamental platform-level and organisational requirement encompassing confidentiality, data integrity, authentication, availability, fraud prevention, and secure payment processing. It is positioned as an antecedent of trust and a negative antecedent of perceived risk, while perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use remain core TAM determinants of adoption. Trust and perceived risk are conceptualised as parallel mediating mechanisms through which online security may influence sustainable digital-platform adoption. The study further recognises that security requirements vary across e-commerce, fintech and digital-payment platforms, social commerce, cloud-based applications, and digital supply-chain platforms. The framework highlights security-enabled trust and reduced uncertainty in shaping entrepreneurs’ willingness to maintain routine, reliable, and confident engagement with digital platforms. By integrating technological, psychological, and security dimensions, the study extends understanding of secure digital entrepreneurship beyond cybersecurity as a technical risk-management concern to its potential role in sustaining SME participation in digital markets. It proposes theoretically grounded relationships for future empirical testing and provides implications for SMEs, platform providers, financial institutions, and policymakers seeking to promote secure, resilient, and inclusive digital economies.
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