An effectual approach to online social networking in entrepreneurial marketing: an empirical research from small hospitality firms

Online social networking is considered a low-cost, effective and efficient approach for entrepreneurs to practice marketing. Using various types of the network has been established in the literature as crucial to the way in which entrepreneurs do business. It is suggested that small firms with limited sources can utilise the “affordable” marketing approach to enhance their competitive advantage through networking with customers which is essential for firms’ survival. While previous studies have explored how entrepreneurs use social media marketing, little evidence as to how they use effectual approach to utilise social media channels in their online networking activities. As such, our paper looks into entrepreneurial online social networks and how these networks are used among small firms to facilitate their marketing strategy. Our study has illustrated how entrepreneurs in small hospitality firms used social media as a tool to carrying out online networking activities from an effectual perspective. In doing so, we contribute to EM literature by enhancing our knowledge in entrepreneurs’ online networking activities from an effectual approach. As a working paper, we aim to further develop our work by conducting the main study stage with a more in-depth interview with entrepreneurs from a wider range of companies to explore more insightfully the effectual process toward online networking to facilitate entrepreneurial marketing.