engleski

Social Media as a Channel for Boosting Female Entrepreneurship in Retailing

The level of female participation among Croatian entrepreneurs has been growing steadily. The highest percentage of female-owned companies is evident in the retailing and service industry. Although there are many support systems available for Croatian women to start businesses today, they are still lagging behind their male colleagues. This paper focuses on social media as the fastest-growing global cultural phenomenon in strengthening the participation of women in business as entrepreneurs. Within the context of entrepreneurship among women, this article addresses the main characteristics of female entrepreneurship, such as motivations, personal characteristics, problems, expectations, etc. Moreover, social media as an innovative way of how entrepreneurs carry out their day-to-day activities is discussed. As the main goal of this paper is to answer the research question (RQ): How social media supports female entrepreneurship activities in Croatia, a two-phase research study was conducted. The research methodology consists of a qualitative and quantitative approach. The qualitative approach consists of four face-to-face interviews, where successful Croatian female entrepreneurs explain the positive aspects of their business, obstacles that they were faced with, as well as the benefits they have had using innovations in retailing (especially social networks, innovations, etc.). The quantitative approach includes a study of a sample of 62 female entrepreneurs – owners of companies operating in retailing. The results point out that social media has been recognized by female entrepreneurs as the best channel to market their products/services as well as to interact and network.

social media, women, female, entrepreneurship, retailing

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