ABSTRACT
Today, the world is witnessing a massive transformation in all spheres of activity as a result of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognising opportunities is more crucial than ever. The purpose of this article is to analyse the impact of social capital (SC) on the opportunity recognition (OR) of micro-entrepreneurs through entrepreneurial self-efficacy. The study is in line with the social cognitive theory. Furthermore, the study analyses the influence of gender and type of business on SC, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and OR. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey among micro-entrepreneurs in Kerala, India. Independent sample Z-test and structural equation modeling were used to analyse the data. The results reveal that entrepreneurial self-efficacy mediates the relationship between SC and OR. Sobel test was used to reaffirm the mediation effect. This study provides suggestions for enhancing entrepreneurial self-efficacy to better identify opportunities in today's ever-changing global business environment. © 2023 The Association for Social Economics.
ABSTRACT
Pandemic COVID-19 has changed the business landscape dramatically. Many large business and corporate sectors are able to adapt to the change but the micro-entrepreneurs continue their struggling to adapt to the change. Due to the movement restrictions while battling with COVID-19, businesses are forced to switch from conventional brick-and-mortar business to digital business application involving developing their own e-commerce sites. The emerging social media in society provides opportunity for the micro-enterprises to virtually engage with their customers. The social media has now become one of the important business tools for marketing, branding, networking and developing the business strategy. Despite of the active social media involvement among the micro-entrepreneurs, the outcome of the social media activities is still at its infancy. Micro-entrepreneurs especially the Bumiputeras have still not fully utilized the social media as their business tool. Micro-entrepreneurs lack the knowledge on how to interpret the social media platform analysis tools such as site traffic, post engagement, post impressions and others. Therefore, it is necessary to further study of degree social media adoption among the Bumiputera micro-entrepreneurs and how it affects the business performance. A quantitative method is proposed for this study by considering the existing UTAUT variables like performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions. This paper proposes a conceptual research model based on the underpinning theory and aim to measure the outcome from adoption of social media on Bumiputera micro-entrepreneurs' business performance. © 2021 IEEE.