South Asian Journal of Social Studies and Economics

This study examines disaster-mitigation behaviour among creative economy small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a volcanic hazard-prone area and assesses the associations of demographic capacity, economic resources, technology access, and business-sector characteristics with preparedness. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2023 among 200 creative economy SMEs in Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Eligible respondents lived or operated within approximately 20 km of Mount Merapi or had experienced the 2010 eruption, temporary evacuation, or permanent displacement. Respondents were recruited purposively through community, stakeholder, and digital networks. The questionnaire covered respondent profiles, disaster-risk knowledge, information access, technology use, stakeholder networks, and reported mitigation actions. Binary logit estimation showed that 118 SMEs reported undertaking mitigation. Marital status (OR = 12.648; 95% CI: 3.295–48.545), education (OR = 3.221; 95% CI: 1.651–6.282), income (OR = 2.214; 95% CI: 1.555–3.154), technology access (OR = 2.639; 95% CI: 1.160–6.002), and the fashion sector (OR = 2.481; 95% CI: 1.206–5.103) were positively associated with mitigation. The likelihood-ratio test was significant (p < .001). The Hosmer–Lemeshow result indicated acceptable decile-based calibration (p = .3875), whereas the Andrews test indicated imperfect fit under an alternative grouping procedure (p = .0055). The findings support locally targeted policies that combine risk-information literacy, accessible digital communication, business-continuity support, and coordination among government agencies, communities, universities, and SME development organisations.