Investigating attitudes of entrepreneurs towards the use of information and communication technologies in Croatian SMEs in two Northern Adriatic counties

One of the strategic factors for stimulating the economic growth of each region, as well as wider areas, is investment in the development of the digital economy. In this respect, it is especially important for SME entrepreneurs to accept innovative technologies and new business models. Attitudes of SME entrepreneurs towards the introduction of innovation, point to their ways of thinking and affect the intention to use innovation in business. The aim of this paper is to explore the attitudes of entrepreneurs towards the use of ICT in small and medium-sized enterprises. For this purpose, a new survey questionnaire was developed and corresponding data collected from 118 of Croatian SME entrepreneurs in two Northern Adriatic counties. The results of the research have shown that SME entrepreneurs have a positive attitude towards the introduction of ICT in business. In relation to gender, age and work experience in entrepreneurship, the difference in attitude of entrepreneurs towards the use of ICT in business was not confirmed; however, there was a statistically significant difference in entrepreneurs' attitude towards the use of ICT in business in relation to county, degree of education, previous education in entrepreneurship, frequency of competency development for business purposes and frequency of use of different cloud apps for business.