Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the demographic characteristics of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with regards to their patterns of internet‐based information and communications technology (ICT) adoption, taking into account the dimensions of ICT benefits, barriers, and subsequently adoption intention. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire‐based survey is used to collect data from 406 managers or owners of SMEs in Malaysia. Findings The results reveal that the SMEs would adopt internet‐based ICT regardless of years of business start‐up and internet experience. Some significant differences are spotted between manufacturing and service SMEs in terms of their demographic characteristics and internet‐based ICT benefits, barriers, and adoption intention. Both the industry types express intention to adopt internet‐based ICT, with the service‐based SMEs demonstrating greater intention. Research limitations/implications The paper focuses only on the SMEs in the southern region of Malaysia. Practical implications The findings offer valuable insights to the SMEs – in particular promoting internet‐based ICT adoption for future business success. Originality/value This paper is perhaps one of the first to comprehensively investigate the relationship between demographic characteristics of SMEs and the various variables affecting their internet‐based ICT adoption intention.
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