Social media are an important growth opportunity for firms, especially small-sized ones operating in peripheral and lagging regions. In this paper, we investigate not only whether firms are able to take this opportunity, but also if they are able to face the challenge of adopting social media at a professional level to obtain a significant economic impact, measured in terms of exporting activities. Exploring the Italian case, our empirical study indicates that smaller firms in lagging areas are more likely to adopt social media but at the same time less likely to use them at a professional level. This reflects poor strategic targets of social media adoption and lower probabilities of entering international markets.

中文翻译：

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意大利公司采用社交媒体。落后地区的机遇和挑战

社交媒体是企业的重要增长机会，尤其是在外围和落后地区经营的小型企业。在本文中，我们不仅调查了公司是否能够抓住这个机会，而且还调查了他们是否能够面对在专业层面采用社交媒体以获得重大经济影响的挑战，以出口活动衡量。探索意大利的案例，我们的实证研究表明，落后地区的小公司更有可能采用社交媒体，但同时不太可能在专业层面使用它们。这反映了社交媒体采用的战略目标不佳以及进入国际市场的可能性较低。