How Is Social Media Adopted by Entrepreneurial Teams?

Abstract

Research on social media and entrepreneurship highlights that entrepreneurs generally understand social media as a marketing and communication tool and have been using it to promote their businesses. The majority of studies that have analysed business use of social media have focused on entrepreneurs or new ventures, but there has been no research concerning how it is used by entrepreneurial teams (ETs). It has been agreed by many scholars that ETs are a relevant phenomenon and that a body of evidence exists to suggest that teams are more likely to enjoy high growth than firms founded by lone actors. Considering that an ET is a plural entity with two or more individuals involved in the entrepreneurial activity, it seems useful to explore a team’s motive for using social media. This research gap was addressed by investigating the research question regarding “how ETs use social media” and an analysis of their strategy for social media preparedness. This study identified several new insights regarding how and why ETs use social media and established that social media use by ETs offers greater market accessibility and better customer relationship management opportunities to further build brand. The research revealed that women team members were spearheading the social media activity for their businesses which enabled the enterprise to grow. The selection of platforms and role of content also plays a critical role in social media usage. Though ETs do face challenges in terms of producing content and technical understanding of platforms, social media channels provide significant opportunities for enterprises to grow. Finally, the study provides a useful basis for future research in the area of social media use by entrepreneurial teams (ETs).