Monday, June 20
2:25-2:45 PM
EDT
Liberty 5

Social Media as a Digital Tool Changing the Game Plan of Women Entrepreneurs - Case on the usage of Facebook in the Beauty Salon Sector of Sri Lanka

Live Virtual Full Paper: Research Based ID: 61309
  1. aaa
    Thilini De Silva
    NSBM Green University, Sri Lanka, Stockholm University, Sweden
  2. aaa
    Henrik Hansson
    Department of Computer and Systems Sciences, Stockholm University, Sweden

Abstract: The use and adaptation of digital tools such as social media to set up and develop a business is, a contemporary and a new dimension in women entrepreneurship. It is interesting to study how social media has improved the business of women entrepreneurs from how it was before the use of social media as digitalization has changed the game plan of many women entrepreneurs in different industries. The purpose of this study is to explore whether the use of social media has changed the business of women entrepreneurs in the beauty salon sector in any way especially concerning the marketing and communication activities of the business. The empirical context for the study is the beauty salon sector in Sri Lanka. This study analyzes the adaptation of Facebook use through electronic word of mouth theory using the data collected through 10 in-depth interviews conducted with 10 women entrepreneurs who own beauty salons and through the observations carried out using their Facebook business pages. As a medium to grow and advertise the business, as a medium of communication and customer care, as a medium of learning and skills sharing, and as a medium for collaborative work are the themes derived. The beauty salons of women have transformed after the use of Facebook in the aspects of communication, customer service, marketing and advertising, brand awareness and collaborative networking because of the positive electronic word of mouth the Facebook generated for their businesses.

Presider: Shilpa Sahay, City University of New York, Hunter College

Topic

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