Platform access alone does not explain why some agropreneurs convert digital activity into stronger business performance.
This study examines the relationships between adaptive content capability, platform capability utilisation, institutional alignment capability and agropreneurial performance in AMTTSE, a government-supported digital entrepreneurship programme implemented by FAMA. The quantitative, non-experimental and cross-sectional study uses programme data associated with 80 companies, 160 entrepreneurs, 425 stock-keeping units and 13 PWD-owned companies during June-December 2024.
PLS-SEM was used to assess the reported capability relationships, with the indirect effect evaluated through 5,000 bootstrap resamples. Adaptive content capability, platform capability utilisation and institutional alignment capability were significantly related to agropreneurial performance. Platform capability utilisation also significantly mediated the relationship between adaptive content capability and performance.
Keywords: Agromarketing Masterclass TikTok Shop Edition; digital transformation capability; agropreneurial performance; social commerce; resource-based view; dynamic capabilities theory; institutional theory.
Digital transformation and platform entrepreneurship
Digital transformation is an organisational change process in which digital technologies reshape value creation, operating routines and stakeholder relationships. For MSMEs, digital channels may lower entry barriers, yet commercial conversion still depends on market knowledge, content production, platform execution and operational discipline. Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 broaden this issue from technical adoption to human-centred capability and inclusion.
Social commerce and agropreneurship
TikTok Shop converges discovery, entertainment, interaction and transaction. Short video and livestreaming can communicate provenance, product use and seller credibility, but agropreneurs must also manage inventory, logistics, food-safety expectations and fulfilment. The entrepreneur therefore operates inside a wider platform ecosystem whose affordances and governance shape commercial opportunity.
Theoretical framework
The Resource-Based View explains why firm-specific combinations of product knowledge, content routines and customer insight may differentiate performance. Dynamic Capabilities Theory explains how these resources are sensed, seized and reconfigured as platform conditions change. Institutional Theory positions entrepreneur action within programme support, public-agency expectations and the wider organisational field.
Research gap
The study addresses theoretical, empirical, contextual, methodological and policy gaps. It links seller-side capability with programme performance in a Malaysian agropreneurial setting and distinguishes participation from activation, conversion and sustained commercial value.
Research design
The study uses a quantitative, non-experimental and cross-sectional design. Administrative records span June-December 2024, but the latent-capability model is not described as longitudinal because repeated capability measurement was not established. The design supports association and model-based prediction, not causal programme attribution.
Data and analysis
The programme records cover 80 companies, 160 entrepreneurs, 425 SKUs, seller activity, orders, sales channels and GMV. PLS-SEM assessed the conceptual model, and mediation was evaluated with 5,000 bootstrap resamples. The revised report distinguishes administrative indicators from latent capability measures and identifies the original instrument and complete output as necessary archival documentation.
Platform capability utilisation averaged 3.7 and institutional alignment capability averaged 3.9. All reported capability relationships were significant, and platform capability significantly mediated the adaptive-content-to-performance relationship. Effect magnitudes are not ranked because the numerical coefficients were unavailable.
| State | Companies | Share | State | Companies | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perlis | 1 | 1.3% | Kedah | 3 | 3.8% |
| Penang | 2 | 2.5% | Perak | 8 | 10.0% |
| Kuala Lumpur | 6 | 7.5% | Selangor | 33 | 41.3% |
| Negeri Sembilan | 5 | 6.3% | Melaka | 1 | 1.3% |
| Johor | 4 | 5.0% | Pahang | 3 | 3.8% |
| Kelantan | 8 | 10.0% | Terengganu | 4 | 5.0% |
| Sabah | 1 | 1.3% | Sarawak | 1 | 1.3% |
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Companies | 80 |
| Participants | 160 |
| SKUs marketed | 425 |
| PWD-owned companies | 13 |
| Cumulative sales | RM6,205,957.06 |
| Programme-reported ratio | 1:31 |
Adaptive content capability
Content adaptation was significantly related to performance, supporting the view that content is a strategic routine rather than a simple promotional output.
Platform capability utilisation
Effective use of discovery, interaction, product and transaction functions was significantly related to performance.
Institutional alignment
Entrepreneurs' ability to organise activity within the programme and wider institutional environment was significantly related to performance.
Mediating mechanism
Platform utilisation significantly mediated the relationship between adaptive content capability and performance, connecting market communication to commercial action.
Theoretical contributions
The study connects RBV, Dynamic Capabilities Theory and Institutional Theory to explain social-commerce performance as a configuration of content, platform and institutional capabilities. It extends seller-side social-commerce research and complements production-oriented digital-agriculture literature with a downstream market-conversion perspective.
Practical implications
Entrepreneurs should integrate content with product readiness, analytics, ordering and fulfilment. FAMA, SME Corp, MARDI, TikTok Shop, training providers and higher education institutions can use staged diagnostics to separate access, activation, conversion and scale. Performance dashboards should include active-seller rates, median outcomes, persistence and distribution rather than cumulative GMV alone.
Policy implications
The findings support the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint, National 4IR Policy and National Agrofood Policy by showing that infrastructure must be accompanied by firm-level capability formation. Future programmes should disclose cost definitions, protect participant data and provide differentiated support for firms with uneven readiness.
Limitations and future research
The cross-sectional design, bounded programme sample, single-country and single-platform context, incomplete measurement archive and limitations of secondary programme data constrain inference. Longitudinal, cross-country and multilevel studies should examine AI-assisted content, livestream analytics, platform governance, consumer behaviour, seller resilience and performance persistence.
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