The Role of Digital Platforms in Women’s Entrepreneurial Opportunity Process: Does Online Social Capital Matter?

Abstract

In response to investigating the role of IT on entrepreneurs, this research increases the understanding of the impact of online social capital created and developed on social media platforms regarding the entrepreneurial opportunity process of nascent female entrepreneurs. To fulfill that, this research employed the mixed-method approach allowing two phases to complement and prevent unjustified findings. In the two phases, a multilevel model that incorporates entrepreneurial capacity and resource acquisition as mediating variables is created, justified, and investigated. In the first phase, the researchers use Natural Language Processing (NLP) by analyzing big data on social media communities, followed by a quantitative confirmatory study using SmartPLS 3.3 in the second phase. Results show that nascent female entrepreneurs use online social capital, especially bridging social capital, to develop their entrepreneurial capacity and to access resources, both necessary to recognize and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities.