Can AI Transform Small Businesses? Exploring the Realities of Generative AI Adoption among MSME Owners in Makassar
Keywords:
Generative Artificial Intelligence, MSMEs, Marketing Management, Phenomenology, Digital Marketing AdoptionAbstract
This study explores how owners of micro and small enterprises (MSMEs) in Makassar, South Sulawesi, experience and make sense of adopting generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools in their day-to-day marketing management. A growing body of quantitative literature has modeled AI adoption among Indonesian MSMEs through frameworks such as the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) model and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), yet comparatively little qualitative work has examined the lived experience of adoption from the vantage point of resource-constrained entrepreneurs operating outside Java's dominant economic centers. Using an interpretive phenomenological design, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine MSME owners across the culinary, fashion, and craft sectors in Makassar. Data were analyzed using the Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña interactive model of thematic analysis, comprising data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. Five interrelated themes emerged: (1) informal, trial-and-error entry points into AI tool use; (2) reconfiguration of everyday marketing tasks, particularly content creation, customer engagement, and demand sensing; (3) persistent barriers rooted in digital literacy, cost sensitivity, and platform trust; (4) ambivalent perceptions of AI's contribution to brand authenticity and customer relationships; and (5) an emerging, largely self-taught ethic of responsible AI use. The findings extend dynamic capabilities theory by illustrating how sensing and seizing capabilities in micro-enterprises develop informally and communally rather than through structured organizational routines typically assumed in large-firm models. The study offers practical implications for MSME policymakers, digital literacy program designers, and vocational trainers seeking to support inclusive, AI-enabled marketing transformation in secondary Indonesian cities.
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