An Empirical Evaluation of Information Sharing's Impact on Profitability; Evidence from the Solar Sector

DOI 10.7160/aol.2023.150305
No 3/2023, September
pp. 45-56

Csordás, A. and Füzesi, I. (2023) "An Empirical Evaluation of Information Sharing's Impact on Profitability; Evidence from the Solar Sector", AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 45-56. ISSN 1804-1930. DOI 10.7160/aol.2023.150305.

Abstract

The role of online marketing is significant. Businesses strive to maximize their profit, and there are low-budget but efficient digital solutions for this aim. Social media sites are not just a connection point but also a great surface to collect information regarding products and/or companies. Even though these free opportunities are often used, websites are the „classical” standalone digital surfaces used for marketing purposes. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) provides various techniques to improve the companies' websites' SERP (Search Engine Result Page). In addition, it could provide even statistically proven financial benefits. The current study analyzes the SEO’s influence on the financial performance of SMEs in the solar sector. The nationwide study based on the Kruskal-Wallis test revealed the importance of connecting social media sites to the company's website. The proper Social SEO results in significantly higher after-tax profit. Regarding the first contentful paints (first feedback to the browser about the website loading), the Pearson correlation coefficients showed up moderately strong, positive, significant relationships with many financial indicators.

Keywords

SEO, financial impact, SME, renewable energy.

References

  1. Abhyankar, N., Mohanty, P., Deorah, S., Karali, N., Paliwal, U., Kersey, J. and Phadke, A. (2023) "India’s path towards energy independence and a clean future: Harnessing india’s renewable edge for cost-effective energy independence by 2047", The Electricity Journal, Vol. 36, No. 5, p. 107273. ISSN 1040619. DOI 10.1016/j.tej.2023.107273.
  2. Adnan, H. (2014) "An analysis of the factors affecting online purchasing behavior of Pakistani consumers", International Journal of Marketing Studies, Vol. 6, No. 5, 133 p. E-ISSN 1918-7203 DOI 10.5539/ijms.v6n5p133.
  3. Agichtein, E., Brill, E., Dumais, S. and Ragno, R. (2006) "Learning user interaction models for predicting web search result preferences", Proceedings of the 29th Annual International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval, pp. 3-10 DOI 10.1145/1148170.1148175.
  4. Ahmad, U. F., Mahdee, J. and Bakar, N. A. (2022) "Search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy as determinants to enhance the online brand positioning", F1000Research, F1000 Research Limited, Vol. 11, No. 714, p. 714 DOI 10.12688/f1000research.73382.1.
  5. Akar, E. and Nasir, V. A. (2015) "A review of literature on consumers’ online purchase intentions", Journal of Customer Behaviour, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 215-233. ISSN 1475-3928 DOI 10.1362/147539215X14441363630837.
  6. Al-Nasser, M., Yusoff, R. Z., Islam, R. and ALNasser, A. (2014) "Effects Of Consumers’ Trust And Attitude Toward Online Shopping", American Journal of Economics and Business Administration, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 58-71. E-ISSN 1945-5488, ISSN 1945-5496
  7. Al-Shahri, O. A., Ismail, F. B., Hannan, M. A., Lipu, M. S. H., Al-Shetwi, A. Q., Begum, R. A., Al-Muhsen, N. F. O. and Soujeri, E. (2021) "Solar photovoltaic energy optimization methods, challenges and issues: A comprehensive review", Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 284, p. 125465. E-ISSN 1879-1786, ISSN 0959-6526. DOI 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125465.
  8. Alanazi, A. O., Sanderson, M., Bao, Z. and Kim, J. (2020) "The impact of ad quality and position on Mobile SERPs", Proceedings of the 2020 Conference on Human Information Interaction and Retrieval, pp. 318-322. DOI 10.1002/asi.24410.
  9. Ansari, S., Ansari, G., Ghori, M. U. and Kazi, A. G. (2019) "Impact of brand awareness and social media content marketing on consumer purchase decision", Journal of Public Value and Administrative Insight, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 5-10. ISSN 2663-9181 DOI 10.31580/jpvai.v2i2.896.
  10. Aslam, M. (2019) "Introducing Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests under uncertainty: an application to radioactive data", ACS Omega, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 914-917. ISSN 2470-1343 DOI 10.1021/acsomega.9b03940.
  11. Aslam, M. (2021) "Analysing Gray Cast Iron Data using a New Shapiro-Wilks test for Normality under Indeterminacy", International Journal of Cast Metals Research, Vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 1-5. E-ISSN 1743-1336, ISSN 1364-0461 DOI 10.1080/13640461.2020.1846959.
  12. Athapaththu, J. C. and Kulathunga, K. (2018) "Factors affecting online purchase intention: Effects of technology and social commerce", Canadian Center of Science and Education DOI 10.5539/ibr.v11n10p111.
  13. Baurzhan, S. and Jenkins, G. P. (2016) "Off-grid solar PV: Is it an affordable or appropriate solution for rural electrification in Sub-Saharan African countries?", Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 60, pp. 1405-1418. ISSN 1364-0321 DOI 10.1016/j.rser.2016.03.016.
  14. Brunet, C., Savadogo, O., Baptiste, P., Bouchard, M. A., Cholez, C., Rosei, F., Gendron, C., SinclairDesgagné, B. and Merveille, N. (2022) "Does solar energy reduce poverty or increase energy security? A comparative analysis of sustainability impacts of on-grid power plants in Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa", Energy Research & Social Science, Vol. 87, p. 102212. E-ISSN 2214-6296, ISSN 2214-6326 DOI 10.1016/j.erss.2021.102212.
  15. Bugała, A., Bednarek, K., Kasprzyk, L. and Tomczewski, A. (2017) "Statistical analysis of the electric energy production from photovoltaic conversion using mobile and fixed constructions", E3S Web of Conferences, EDP Sciences, Vol. 19, p. 1002. DOI 10.1051/e3sconf/20171901002.
  16. Chen, K., Zhang, W. and Jiang, P. (2022) "Ratings or Sales? The Neural and Psychological Processes of Online Experience Product Purchase: Evidence from a Sample of Chinese University Students", Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 12, No. 12, p. 499. ISSN 2076-328X DOI 10.3390/bs12120499.
  17. Chopra, S. and Tandon, S. (2022) "Search Engine Optimization: A Tool for Innovation in Business Communication", Journal of Positive School Psychology, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 7365-7376. ISSN 2717-7564
  18. Clemes, M. D., Gan, C. and Zhang, J. (2014) "An empirical analysis of online shopping adoption in Beijing, China", Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 364-375. ISSN 0969-6989 DOI 10.1016/j.jretconser.2013.08.003.
  19. Dabbous, A. and Barakat, K. A. (2020) "Bridging the online offline gap: Assessing the impact of brands’ social network content quality on brand awareness and purchase intention", Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Vol. 53, p. 101966. ISSN 0969-6989 DOI 10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.101966.
  20. Desai, T., Shariff, A., Dhingra, V., Minhas, D., Eure, M. and Kats, M. (2013) "Is content really king? An objective analysis of the public’s response to medical videos on YouTube", PLOS One, Vol. 8, No. 12, p. e82469. E-ISSN 1545-7885, ISSN 1544-9173. DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0082469.
  21. El-Ansary, O. and Roushdy, A. (2013) "Factors Affecting Egyptian Consumers’ Intentions for Accepting Online Shopping", The Journal of American Academy of Business, pp. 191-201. ISSN 1540-7780
  22. Evans, M. P. (2007) "Analysing Google rankings through search engine optimization data", Internet Research, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 21-37. ISSN 1066-2243 DOI 10.1145/3436286.3436404.
  23. Gao, F. and Zhang, L. (2020) "Application of artificial intelligence and big data technology in digital marketing", Proceedings of the 2020 2nd International Conference on Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, pp. 270-272 DOI 10.1016/j.ijin.2022.08.005.
  24. Google (2013) [Online]. Available: google-search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf [Accessed: May 10, 2023]
  25. Guo, Y. and Xiang, Y. (2022) "Cost–benefit analysis of photovoltaic-storage investment in integrated energy systems", Energy Reports, Vol. 8, pp. 66-71. ISSN 2352-4847. DOI 10.1016/j.egyr.2022.02.158.
  26. Hu, Z. (2023) "Towards solar extractivism? A political ecology understanding of the solar energy and agriculture boom in rural China", Energy Research & Social Science, Vol. 98, p. 102988. E-ISSN 2214-6296 DOI 10.1016/j.erss.2023.102988.
  27. Ibrik, I. H. (2019) "An overview of electrification rural areas in Palestine by using microgrid solar energy", Cogent Engineering, Vol. 6, No. 1, p. 1638574. ISSN 2331-1916. DOI Ibrik, I. H. (2019) "An overview of electrification rural areas in Palestine by using microgrid solar energy", Cogent Engineering, Vol. 6, No. 1, p. 1638574. ISSN 2331-1916..
  28. Indumathi, R. (2018) "Influence of digital marketing on brand building", International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET), Vol. 9, No. 7, pp. 235-243. E-ISSN 0976-6359, ISSN 0976-6340
  29. Iqbal, M., Khalid, M. N., Manzoor, A., Abid, M. M. and Shaikh, N. A. (2022) "Search Engine Optimization (SEO): A Study of important key factors in achieving a better Search Engine Result Page (SERP) Position", Sukkur IBA Journal of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 1-15. E-ISSN 2522-3003, ISSN 2520-0755 DOI 0.30537/sjcms.v6i1.924.
  30. Kannan, P. K. (2017) "Digital marketing: A framework, review and research agenda", International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 22-45. ISSN 0167-8116. DOI 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2016.11.006.
  31. Kim, T. K. (2017) "Understanding one-way ANOVA using conceptual figures", Korean Journal of Anesthesiology, Vol. 70, No. 1, 22 p. E-ISSN 2005-7563. DOI 10.4097/kjae.2017.70.1.22.
  32. Kuşkaya, S., Bilgili, F., Muğaloğlu, E., Khan, K., Hoque, M. E. and Toguç, N. (2023) "The role of solar energy usage in environmental sustainability: Fresh evidence through timefrequency analyses", Renewable Energy, Vol. 206, pp. 858-871. ISSN 0960-1481. DOI 10.1016/j.renene.2023.02.063.
  33. Langan, R., Cowley, S. and Nguyen, C. (2019) "The state of digital marketing in academia: An examination of marketing curriculum’s response to digital disruption", Journal of Marketing Education, Vol. 41 No. 1, pp. 32-46. ISSN 0273-4753. DOI 10.1177/0273475318823849.
  34. Lestari, S., Sabur, A. and Maulidiah, L. A. (2022) "Online Purchase Decision: do Price Perception, Product Knowledge, and Ease of Shopping Affect Consumption?", EKUITAS: Jurnal Pendidikan Ekonomi, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 169-175. E-ISSN 2549-2292, ISSN 2354-6107 DOI 10.22225/jj.9.2.2022.115-124.
  35. Lewandowski, D., Kerkmann, F., Rümmele, S. and Sünkler, S. (2018) "An empirical investigation on search engine ad disclosure", Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, Vol. 69, No. 3, pp. 420-437. ISSN 2330-1635. E-ISSN 2330-1643 DOI 10.1002/asi.23963.
  36. Lewandowski, D. and Schultheiß, S. (2022) "Public awareness and attitudes towards search engine optimization", Behaviour & Information Technology, pp. 1-20. ISSN 1362-3001. DOI 10.1080/0144929X.2022.2056507.
  37. Lian, J.-W. and Yen, D. C. (2014) "Online shopping drivers and barriers for older adults: Age and gender differences", Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 37, pp. 133-143. ISSN 0747-5632 DOI 10.1016/j.chb.2014.04.028.
  38. Ly, A., Marsman, M. and Wagenmakers, E. (2018) "Analytic posteriors for Pearson’s correlation coefficient", Statistica Neerlandica, Vol. 72, No. 1, pp. 4-13. ISSN 0039-0402 DOI 10.1080/00031305.2018.1562983.
  39. Madsen, D. N. and Hansen, J. P. (2019) "Outlook of solar energy in Europe based on economic growth characteristics", Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 114, p. 109306. ISSN 1364-0321 DOI Madsen, D. N. and Hansen, J. P. (2019) "Outlook of solar energy in Europe based on economic growth characteristics", Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 114, p. 109306. ISSN 1364-0321.
  40. Malaga, R. A. (2007) "The value of search engine optimization: An action research project at a new e-commerce site", Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations (JECO), Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 68-82. E-ISSN 1539-2929, ISSN 1539-2937 DOI 10.4018/jeco.2007070105.
  41. Malaga, R. A. (2008) "Worst practices in search engine optimization", Online Information Review, Vol. 51, No. 12, pp. 147-150. ISSN 0001-0782 DOI 10.1108/OIR-04-2012-0063.
  42. Mazaheri, E., Richard, M. and Laroche, M. (2012) "The role of emotions in online consumer behavior: a comparison of search, experience, and credence services", Journal of Services Marketing. Vol. 26, No. 7, pp. 535-550. ISSN 0887-6045 DOI 10.1108/JSTP-01-2015-0013.
  43. Mishra, P., Singh, U., Pandey, C. M., Mishra, P. and Pandey, G. (2019) "Application of student’s t-test, analysis of variance, and covariance", Annals of Cardiac Anaesthesia, Vol. 22 No. 4, 407 p. E-ISSN 0974-5181, ISSN 0971-9784. DOI 10.4103/aca.ACA_94_19.
  44. O’Neill, S. and Curran, K. (2011) "The core aspects of search engine optimisation necessary to move up the ranking", International Journal of Ambient Computing and Intelligence (IJACI), Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 62-70. E-ISSN 1941-6245, ISSN 1941-6237 DOI 10.4018/jaci.2011100105.
  45. Pal, P. and Mukherjee, V. (2021) "Off-grid solar photovoltaic/hydrogen fuel cell system for renewable energy generation: An investigation based on techno-economic feasibility assessment for the application of end-user load demand in North-East India", Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 149, p. 111421, ISSN 1364-0321 DOI 10.1016/j.rser.2021.111421.
  46. Palit, D. (2013) "Solar energy programs for rural electrification: Experiences and lessons from South Asia", Energy for Sustainable Development, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 270-279. ISSN 0973-0826 DOI 10.1016/j.esd.2013.01.002.
  47. Pascaris, A. S., Schelly, C., Burnham, L. and Pearce, J. M. (2021) "Integrating solar energy with agriculture: Industry perspectives on the market, community, and socio-political dimensions of agrivoltaics", Energy Research & Social Science, Vol. 75, p. 102023, E-ISSN 2214-6296 DOI 10.1016/j.erss.2021.102023.
  48. Poturak, M., Keco, D. and Tutnic, E. (2022) "Influence of search engine optimization (SEO) on business performance: Case study of private university in Sarajevo", International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 59-68. ISSN 2147-4478. DOI 10.20525/ijrbs.v11i4.1865.
  49. Rezaei, J. (2015) "Best-worst multi-criteria decision-making method", Omega (United Kingdom), Vol. 53, pp. 49-57. E-ISSN 1873-5274 DOI 10.1016/j.omega.2014.11.009.
  50. Saprikis, V. (2013) "A longitudinal investigation on Greek university students’ perceptions towards online shopping", Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations (JECO), Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 43-62. E-ISSN 1539-2929, ISSN 1539-2937 DOI 10.4018/jeco.2013010103.
  51. Sattich, T., Morgan, R. and Moe, E. (2022) "Searching for energy independence, finding renewables? Energy security perceptions and renewable energy policy in Lithuania", Political Geography, Vol. 96, p. 102656. ISSN 0962-6298 DOI 10.1016/j.polgeo.2022.102656.
  52. Sellamuthu, K., Ranjithkumar, S., Kavitha, K. and Gowtham, S. (2022) "On Page SEO Techniques for Better Ranking in Search Engines", 2022 8th International Conference on Smart Structures and Systems (ICSSS), IEEE, pp. 1-6. ISBN 978-1-6654-9762-6 DOI 10.1109/ICSSS54381.2022.9782182.
  53. SEO MOZ (2016) "The Beginners Guide to Seo". [Online]. Available: https://moz.com/beginnersguide-to-seo [Accessed: May 15, 2023].
  54. SEOptimer (2022) "SEO Audit & Reporting Tool", [Online]. Available: www.seoptimer.com. [Accessed: May 15, 2023].
  55. Sharma, H., Haque, A. and Jaffery, Z. A. (2019) "Maximization of wireless sensor network lifetime using solar energy harvesting for smart agriculture monitoring", Ad Hoc Networks, Vol. 94, p. 101966. ISSN 1570-8705 DOI 10.1016/j.adhoc.2019.101966.
  56. Sheffield, J. P. (2020) "Search engine optimization and business communication instruction: interviews with experts", Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, Vol. 83, No. 2, pp. 153-183. E-ISSN 2329-4922. ISSN 2329-4906 DOI 10.1177/2329490619890335.
  57. Tănasie, A. V., Năstase, L. L., Vochița, L. L., Manda, A. M., Boțoteanu, G. I. and Sitnikov, C. S. (2022) "Green Economy—Green Jobs in the Context of Sustainable Development", Sustainability, Vol. 14, No. 8, p. 4796. ISSN 2071-1050. DOI 10.3390/su14084796.
  58. Tomasi, S. and Li, X. (2015) "Influences of search engine optimization on performance of SMEs: A qualitative perceptive", Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations (JECO), Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 27-49. E-ISSN 1539-2929, ISSN 1539-2937. DOI 10.4018/jeco.2015010103.
  59. Wahba, W. Z. and Barhoom, T. S. (2019) "SEO: Improve website ranking based on competitors analysis", International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET), Vol. 6, No. 8. E-ISSN 2395-0056.
  60. Wu, W.-C., Kelly, D. and Sud, A. (2014) "Using information scent and need for cognition to understand online search behavior", Proceedings of the 37th International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research & Development in Information Retrieval, Gold Coast Queensland Australia July 6 - 11, 2014, pp. 557-566. ISBN 978-1-4503-2257-7. DOI 10.1145/2600428.2609626.
  61. Xia, Y. (2020) "Correlation and association analyses in microbiome study integrating multiomics in health and disease", Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science, Vol. 171, pp. 309-491. ISSN 1877-1173. DOI 10.1016/bs.pmbts.2020.04.003.
  62. Yasmeen, R., Yao, X., Ul Haq Padda, I., Shah, W. U. H. and Jie, W. (2022) "Exploring the role of solar energy and foreign direct investment for clean environment: Evidence from top 10 solar energy consuming countries", Renewable Energy, Vol. 185, pp. 147-158. ISSN 0960-1481 DOI 10.1016/j.renene.2021.12.048.
  63. Zhang, S. and Cabage, N. (2017) "Search engine optimization: Comparison of link building and social sharing", Journal of Computer Information Systems, Vol. 57, No. 2, pp. 148-159. ISSN 0887-4417 DOI 10.1080/08874417.2016.1183447.

Full paper

  Full paper (.pdf, 510.88 KB).