Title: The influences of social media on Chinese start-up stage entrepreneurship

Authors: Arun Sukumar; Vahid Jafari-Sadeghi; Zimu Xu

Addresses: International Centre for Transformational Entrepreneurship, Coventry University, Coventry, England, UK ' Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK ' International Centre for Transformational Entrepreneurship, Coventry University, Coventry, England, UK

Abstract: In today's digital era, information is increasingly shared and distributed through online social networks. Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube in the west and Weibo, WeChat in China have not only greatly extended the reach of traditional social networks but also facilitated the information distribution process within the networks. We aim to investigate the influences of online social networks on Chinese young people's perception of entrepreneurship and its impact on entrepreneurial activities for start-up companies. We collected 100 survey responses and conducted 25 interviews. The results revealed the current status-quo, opportunities and challenges on using social networks. For instance, Weibo and WeChat are the most popular choices for business activities in China. The main entrepreneurial activities on social networks include information collection and analysis as part of the decision-making process or facilitate sales and promotion activities. Challenges include such as overly populated false news and information.

Keywords: social networks; social media; entrepreneurship; start-ups; China.

DOI: 10.1504/WREMSD.2021.117442

World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, 2021 Vol.17 No.5, pp.559 - 578

Received: 16 Jan 2020
Accepted: 04 May 2020
Published online: 07 Sep 2021 *

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