Small Business Owners and Social Media Behavior: How Entrepreneurs Use and are Used by New Digital Platforms

The main objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of social media applications on small business entrepreneurs. It also examines how small business owners are motivated to use social media applications. Social media has completely transformed the way businesses are done. Social media applications in the present time have become the most efficient and effective tool for small business entrepreneurs, and normally all small businesses use social media platforms for the advertising and publicity of their products and services. They make fan pages for their followers, and they warmly welcome their suggestions and opinions, which help in improving their businesses. However, based on literature review, we conclude that there is a positive impact of social media applications on small business entrepreneurs as well as they are highly motivated to use these platforms.

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Keep it Oakland: e-commerce meets social justice

Media Culture & Society ◽

10.1177/01634437211048342 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 016344372110483

Author(s):

Tamara Kneese

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Social Justice ◽

Small Business ◽

Business Owners ◽

Small Scale ◽

Small Business Owners ◽

Business Transactions ◽

Brick And Mortar ◽

Racial Hierarchies

This article examines the labor involved with the upkeep of social media accounts for Oakland-based brick-and-mortar boutiques and their digital storefronts, particularly as businesses move their wares online during shelter-in-place amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Focusing on independent shops in Oakland, California, particularly those which are part of Oakland’s Indie Alliance – a coalition of independent small business owners – this article explores the role of shop workers in producing the authentic aesthetics of themselves and store accounts as a replacement for brick-and-mortar shops. How do small-scale shop owners and clerks make platforms, which were not designed with their needs in mind, work for them? How does sellers’ performance of the local interface with a global digital marketplace and platform infrastructures? In what ways do existing racial hierarchies and structural inequalities affect shop personnel’s experiences of platforms and apps meant to facilitate business transactions? I focus on the Oakland Indie Alliance’s Covid Recovery and Repair funds, which employ social media and crowdfunding platforms or payment apps to provide assistance to local businesses, particularly those which are BIPOC and/or immigrant owned, connecting commercial and social justice oriented goals.

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Near, far, and online: small business owners’ advice-seeking from peers

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development ◽

10.1108/jsbed-03-2015-0037 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 189-206 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Kristine Kuhn ◽

Tera Galloway ◽

Maureen Collins-Williams

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Small Business ◽

Business Performance ◽

Local Community ◽

Business Owners ◽

Small Business Owners ◽

Local Networks ◽

Content Type ◽

Advice Seeking ◽

Peer Advisors

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine small business owners’ informal advice-seeking from peers, with a focus on the opportunities afforded by the internet for owners to acquire assistance from other owner-managers outside their local community. Design/methodology/approach – Over 600 owner-managers in a rural US state were surveyed about their advice-seeking during the previous year from peers in the same community, from non-local peers they had met in person, and from peers known only online. Mixed effects logistic regression analysis was used to test both main effects of business and owner characteristics on advice-seeking and interactions with type/location of peer advisors. Findings – Most owners had received advice from peers, and one-third had received advice online from a peer whom they had never met in person. Business performance was not associated with overall use of peer advice, but did interact significantly with source; the use of online-only advisors was associated with business growth, suggesting the possible benefit of weak ties. Over two-thirds of respondents reported having used social media and/or online forums to access advice or support from other owners (both those met in person and those not), with women and younger owners more likely to rely on such tools. Originality/value – This study shows that entrepreneurial research needs to consider peer advisors beyond local networks as potential resources for small business owners. While previous research has examined entrepreneurs’ use of social media for marketing, this study shows its utility for accessing advice.

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Impact of Social Media Applications on Small Business Entrepreneurs

Management and Economics Research Journal ◽

10.18639/merj.2016.02.200914 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 02 ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Malik Shahzad Shabbir ◽

Muhammad Saarim Ghazi ◽

Atta Rasool Mehmood ◽

◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Small Business ◽

Literature Review ◽

Small Businesses ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Business Owners ◽

Small Business Owners ◽

Social Media Platforms ◽

Media Applications ◽

The Impact

The main objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of social media applications on small business entrepreneurs. It also examines how small business owners are motivated to use social media applications. Social media has completely transformed the way businesses are done. Social media applications in the present time have become the most efficient and effective tool for small business entrepreneurs, and normally all small businesses use social media platforms for the advertising and publicity of their products and services. They make fan pages for their followers, and they warmly welcome their suggestions and opinions, which help in improving their businesses. However, based on literature review, we conclude that there is a positive impact of social media applications on small business entrepreneurs as well as they are highly motivated to use these platforms.

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Social Media Marketing Adoption Strategies: An Exploratory Multiple Case Study of Landscape Industry Small Businesses

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences ◽

10.5590/jsbhs.2020.14.1.15 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Crystal Lupo ◽

Jason R. Stroman

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Small Business ◽

Small Businesses ◽

Low Cost ◽

Business Owners ◽

Marketing Strategies ◽

Social Media Marketing ◽

Small Business Owners ◽

Multiple Case

Despite research contending that marketing is a pivotal factor in small business success, many small business owners continue to underutilize low-cost marketing options available to them. Of these options, social media marketing is a useful tool to maintain competitiveness in the larger marketplace. However, the adoption of social media best practices in small business remains deficient. The landscape industry is a large and growing field with small businesses making up a large and growing share of the industry. Yet some landscape industry small business owners lack strategies to adopt innovative social media marketing strategies to help ensure business viability. This study incorporated a qualitative, exploratory multiple-case study design to explore how landscape industry small business owners use social media marketing strategies to help ensure business viability. Results indicated that successful marketing strategies tended to incorporate Facebook as the primary social media tool and included content such as service, education, and holiday posts. Benefits of social media marketing primarily centered on low-cost marketing options for improved visibility, while challenges included a trial-and-error learning curve. Results of this study might help small businesses improve their long-term viability through social media marketing strategies.

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