Moderating effect of social media on relationship between entrepreneurial networking and performance of youth owned agro-processing SMEs in Kenya

Abstract

This paper was anchored on a pragmatic research paradigm. The study used a cross-sectional survey where a self-semi structured questionnaire was administered to collect the primary data from the target population who were youth-owned SMEs. The study was limited to 135 youth-owned enterprises where 357 employees were selected randomly to form the study sample; the key respondents of the study were limited to owner-managers of small and micro enterprises and top management employees. The questionnaires were tested for reliability and validity. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study revealed that there is a significant relationship between youth-owned. The study revealed that entrepreneurship networking has a significant effect on the performance of the agro-processing SMEs owned by the youths. However, there is a need for SMEs to further establish networks outside their business circle and seek networks with other bigger firms in the market. The study, therefore, recommends that there is a need for SMEs to invest more in social media marketing and networking of the SMEs for improved performance.