ECONOMIC IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN SAUDI ARABIA

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN SAUDI ARABIA
Introduction
Social media is a new and powerful phenomenon that has transformed operation of the business environment. Through it, businesses are now able to access businesses that were initially not available to them or difficult to access. It has enabled businesses to cultivate strategic partnerships and markets by increasing contact with suppliers and customers, and to increase their worthiness. It has become crucial for marketers and business owners to understand how social media works as a marketing and communication tool and how it can be used to grow their businesses. Social media users have the ability share their views and encounters, which assists in creativity, sharing of knowledge and open communication among the users.
Entrepreneurship has for a long time been one of the key areas of interest for many business scholars, specialists, policy makers and governments. A major reason for this interest is that entrepreneurship is considered to be an instrument to a country’s economic development as it generates wealth for the country and employment to its citizens (Evans & McKee, 2010). Entrepreneurship is therefore viewed as the source of employment opportunities as well as source of development. Entrepreneurship results in higher income, higher individual savings and standards of living as well as higher revenue for the nation. Entrepreneurs all over the world have transformed the outlook of markets and trade through new services and commodities and by providing ways to creativeness and innovation (Chua et al. 2009).
According to Baines & Wheelock (2005), use of social network tools such as facebook, skype, and discussion forums is a key influential factor in the developmental process of entrepreneurship. Although entrepreneurs have ideas which they need to test, and some knowledge as well as competence to sell the products and run services, they also need complementary resources that will enable them to produce and deliver their products/services. They get access to distribution channels and markets, knowledge and support through social networks they form and which have been enhanced by social media. due to the flexibility of social networking tools, small businesses are able to realize different benefits including great access to different audiences (market), adoption of favourable pricing prices, improved products/services and improved customer service (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). All these factors are key to successful entrepreneurship. Based on this, this study seeks to examine the economic impact of social media in Saudi Arabia. To achieve this, the study will focus on determining the effect of social media on the growth and establishment of small businesses in Saudi Arabia. This will be done by establishing the effect of social media on innovativeness, market access, pricing of products or services, and customer relationship management. A mixed method descriptive study will be conducted.
Research Aim
The aim of this study is to determine how social media economically impacted entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia.
Research Objectives
1. To establish the motivations for entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia to use social media
2. To identify the effect of social media on market access by entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia
3. To establish the effect of the effect of social media on pricing of products /services by entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia
4. To determine the effect of the effect of social media on innovativeness of entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia
5. To identify any other ways through which social media contributes to growth of an entrepreneur in Saudi Arabia
Rationale
Entrepreneurs and small businesses and are recognized all over the world as the corner stone of productivity, creativity, flexibility, innovation and efficiency generating, generating wealth for the nation’s economy as well as creating employment for its citizens. The internet and social media technologies have led to a new breed of entrepreneurs in addition to enabling existing businesses to interact with their customers and suppliers and develop new products and services in a way never imagined before. Research that links social media to entrepreneurship particularly with the maturing of social networking cannot be denied. In Saudi Arabia, entrepreneurship is key and with the rise of use of internet and social media in the country, its adoption in business cannot be avoided. This is especially important for women entrepreneurs who face challenges particular in interacting with male customers and suppliers because of religion and custom limits. In addition, studies on the same in the country are scarce. There is limited literature on economic effects of social media on entrepreneurship. This study seeks to fill this gap by identifying the crucial economic elements of entrepreneurship are affected by social media. This study will therefore not only provide knowledge the economic impact of social media entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia but also fill the existing gap in literature on the topic. In addition, it will provide findings that can be used by both practitioners and policy makers to enhance adoption of social media and networking in business. Considering the rate at which businesses are now adopting social media and the shift of electronic commerce to social commerce as well as the importance of entrepreneurship, this research is of great importance and appropriate.
Methodology
Research Design
Research design refers to the plan and structure that will be used in investigation of a phenomenon so as achieve the research objectives and the overall aim of the study (Creswell, 2009). To achieve the purpose of this study, descriptive research design will be used. This design has been chosen because of its ability to provide data that presents the issue as it is without making alterations to it. It collects data from respondents who describe their experiences and knowledge of the issue under investigation and presents them as reported. In this study, this design will be used to report in the most possible accurate manner how social media has impacted entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia economically.
Sampling and Population
The target population for this study will small medium enterprises in Riyadh. The study will use the list of registered enterprises in the city as the sampling frame. From this list, clustered sampling will be used to select the firms to be used. The firms will be clustered based on their area of operation and then from this clusters, simple random sampling will be applied to obtain the final sample. This method will be adopted so as to increase the generalizability of the findings and ensure that the final sample is representative of the population being studied.
Data Collection and Analysis
The study will collect both qualitative and quantitative data. The plan is ensure that the data collected is as detailed as possible and that all the objectives are achieved. According to Borrego et al (2009), use of mixed method is desirable as it ensures that the limitations of one method are complemented by the strengths of the other. It is a way of triangulation which is a key strategy to achieving reliable and valid data (Saunders et al., 2009).
In this study, qualitative data will be collected using semi-structured interviews which will be administered to a few owners (target of five) of small enterprises in Saudi Arabia. These interviews will seek to establish the motivations for entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia to use social media and also to identify specific ways through which social media contributes to growth of the entrepreneurs and their businesses. Semi-structured will be used because of their ability to provide in-depth data due to use of secondary questions that seek to probe for further details and explanations (Eriksson & Kovalainen, 2008).
This data will be analyzed using thematic analysis which analyses data by grouping it based on the emerging meanings and themes which are then coded. The data obtained from the qualitative data will also assist in developing questionnaire and in validating the quantitative findings.
Quantitative data will be collected using a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire will be used to collect data on use of social media by small enterprises, why entrepreneurs use social media and what they use it for, as well as to collect data on the relationship between the independent variable (market access, pricing of products and innovation) and the dependent variable (growth of businesses (entrepreneurship)) . Correlation analysis will be conducted two-tailed analysis to establish significance at 0.05 level. In addition to correlation analysis, descriptive data will also be used to describe the firms used in the study and their areas of operation.
The results will then be discussed and recommendations for future research made.

Research Plan
TIME(Months)
ACTIVITY 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Preparation of proposal and presentation
Seeking consent from the various authorities
Literature Review and Design of Questionnaire and interview questions
Pilot study
Collection of Data
Analysis of Data
Final report writing and submission

References
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