Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Digital Practices of Greek Small Entrepreneurship: Social Media and Self-Employment

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Economic and Financial Challenges for Eastern Europe

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics ((SPBE))

Abstract

The study explores the adoption of Information and Communication Technology and emerging digital marketing practices by microenterprises in Greece and, specifically, the perception of the self-employed and solo self-employed entrepreneurs for the social media as means/tools enhancing business resilience and performance in the current period of economic downturn. A sample of 418 usable questionnaires enabled exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses in order to validate the proposed constructs. The fit and predictive accuracy of the proposed model was estimated using AMOS software. Results on how Greek micro-entrepreneurs use digital marketing tools and, specifically, on whether they integrate social media into business practices illuminate important aspects of entrepreneurial motivation and perceptions and provide valuable information for both practitioners and policy makers. Interestingly, there is also a significant relation between social media usage, or lack thereof, and the industry/economic sector in which the self-employed engage.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aladwani, A. M. (2015). Facilitators, characteristics, and impacts of Twitter use: Theoretical analysis and empirical illustration. International Journal of Information Management, 35(1), 15–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Albacete-Sáez, C. A., Fuentes-Fuentes, M. M., & Bojica, A. M. (2011). Quality management, strategic priorities and performance: The role of quality leadership. Industrial Management and Data Systems, 111(8), 1173–1193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barker, V. (2009). Older adolescents’ motivations for social network site use: The influence of gender, group identity, and collective self-esteem. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 12(2), 219–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cesaroni, F. M., & Consoli, D. (2015). Are small businesses really able to take advantage of social media? The Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management, 13(4), 257–268.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan-Olmested, S. M., et al. (2013). User perceptions of social media: A comparative study of perceived characteristics and user profiles by social media. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 3(4), 149–172.

    Google Scholar 

  • Damanpour, F., & Schneider, M. (2009). Characteristics of innovation and innovation adoption in public organizations: Assessing the role of managers. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 19(3), 495–522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Derham, R., et al. (2011). Creating value: An SME and social media. In PACIS 2011 proceedings. Brisbane, Australia (pp. 1–9).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dosi, C., & Tzortzaki, A. M. (2016). Managing social media as a marketing tool in the Greek business environment. International Journal of Decision Sciences, Risk and Management, 7(1–2), 48–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dragan, I. M., & Isaic-Maniu, A. (2013). Snowball sampling completion. Journal of Studies in Social Sciences, 5(2), 160–177.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dutot, V., & Bergeron, F. (2016). From strategic orientation to social media orientation: Improving SMEs’ performance on social media. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 23(4), 1165–1190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ettlie, J., et al. (1990). The research agenda for the next decade proceedings of the joint industry. Ann Arbor, MI: University Conference on Manufacturing Strategy.

    Google Scholar 

  • EUROSTAT. (2013). Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics.

  • Gabrielsson, M., & Gabrielsson, P. (2011). Internet-based sales channel strategies of born global firms. International Business Review, 20(1), 88–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garrigos-Simon, F. J., et al. (2012). Social networks and web 3.0: Their impact on the management and marketing of organizations. Management Decision, 50(10), 1880–1890. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251741211279657.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groza, M., et al. (2012). Social media and the sales force: The importance of intra-organizational cooperation and training on performance. The Marketing Management Journal, 22(2), 118–130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Idota, H., et al. (2016). The effectiveness of social media use in Japanese firms. In International Social Networks Conference on Social Informatics. ACM, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jagongo, A., & Kinyua, C. (2013). The social media and entrepreneurship growth: A new business communication paradigm among SMEs in Nairobi. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 3(10), 213–227.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kadam, A., & Ayarekar, S. (2014). Impact of social media on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial performance: Special reference to small and medium scale enterprises. SIES Journal of Management, 10(1), 3–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ketokivi, M., & Schroeder, R. (2004). Manufacturing practices, strategic fit and performance: A routine-based view. International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 24(2), 171–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, V., et al. (2013). Creating a measurable social media marketing strategy: Increasing the value and ROI of intangibles and tangibles for Hokey Pokey. Marketing Science, 32(2), 194–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwok, L., & Yu, B. (2013). Spreading social media messages on Facebook an analysis of restaurant business-to-consumer communications. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 54(1), 84–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leung, X., et al. (2015). The marketing effectiveness of social Media in the Hotel Industry. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, 39(2), 147–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahmud, M. M. (2014). Social Media: A Boon or A Bane? In 9th Global Conference: Cybercultures. Exploring Critical Issues, Lisbon, Portugal. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329706544_Social_Media_A_Boon_or_A_Bane.

  • Mazman, S., & Usluel, Y. (2011). Gender differences in using social networks. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 10(2), 133–139.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCann, M., & Barlow, A. (2015). Use and measurement of social media for SMEs. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 22(2), 273–287.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mihalcea, A. D., & Savulescu, R. M. (2013). Social networking sites: Guidelines for creating new business opportunities through Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy Journal, 1(1), 39–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Misra, N., et al. (2015). Gender differences in usage of social networking sites and perceived online social support on psychological well being of youth. The International Journal of Indian Psychology, 1(2), 64–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Odoom, R., et al. (2017). Antecedents of social media usage and performance benefits in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 30(3), 383–399. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEIM-04-2016-0088.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, A., & Koenig-Lewis, N. (2009). An experiential, social network-based approach to direct marketing. Direct Marketing: An International Journal, 3(3), 162–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rugova, B., & Prenaj, B. (2016). Social media as marketing tool for SMEs: Opportunities and challenges. Academic Journal of Business, Administration, Law & Social Sciences, 2(3), 85–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • SEPE. (2015). http://www.sepe.gr.

  • Sharma, M., & Kalra, D. (2011). An empirical study of online social influence marketing with reference to Customer’s product purchase decision and product recommendation. Indian Journal of Marketing, 41(8), 68–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sim, M. A., & Pop, A. M. (2014). The impact of social media on vocabulary learning case study Facebook. Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Science Series, 23(2), 120–130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stelzner, M. A. (2011). Social media marketing industry report. How marketers are using social media to grow their businesses. Retrieved from http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/SocialMediaMarketingIndustryReport2012.pdf.

  • Vlachvei, A., & Notta, O. (2014). Social media adoption and managers’ perceptions. International Journal of Strategic Innovative Marketing, 1(2), 61–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, M., et al. (2013). Drivers and export performance impacts of IT capability in ‘born-global’ firms: A cross-national study. Information Systems Journal, 23(5), 419–443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business Administration, University of Patras, Patras, Greece

    Nancy Bouranta & Maria Tsampra

  2. School of Economics and Political Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Giannis Sklavos

Authors
  1. Nancy Bouranta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Maria Tsampra
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Giannis Sklavos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nancy Bouranta .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Piraeus University of Applied Sciences, Egaleo, Greece

    Nicos Sykianakis

  2. International Hellenic University, Serres, Greece

    Persefoni Polychronidou

  3. International Hellenic University, Kavala, Greece

    Anastasios Karasavvoglou

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Bouranta, N., Tsampra, M., Sklavos, G. (2019). Digital Practices of Greek Small Entrepreneurship: Social Media and Self-Employment. In: Sykianakis, N., Polychronidou, P., Karasavvoglou, A. (eds) Economic and Financial Challenges for Eastern Europe. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12169-3_19

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation