Going global – going digital. Diaspora networks and female online entrepreneurship in Khartoum, Sudan

Steel, Griet

doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.01.003

Cited by 52 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…This is consistent with findings of other studies, which confirmed the cost effectiveness of social media as a communication channel (He et al, 2017;Ahmad et al, 2018;Ndiege, 2019;Ntshingila, 2020;Qalati et al, 2020;Qalati et al, 2021;Saleh, 2021). It was also concluded that this interactive ICT medium made it possible to reach potential customers outside their traditional trading footprint than would be possible with traditional communication media (Bocconcelli et al, 2017;Ahmad et al, 2018;Ntshingila, 2020;Steel, 2021). Given that half of the world's population are active social media users (Kemp, 2020), familiarity with the different social network platforms made it easier for the respondent retailers to engage and interact with customers on these platforms (Shaltoni et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…The prevalence of social media means that social network platforms have made it possible to reach a much wider audience (Jones et al, 2015;Valos et al, 2016;Duffett et al, 2020;Kemp, 2020;Steel, 2021). Its general use by customers and businesses means that it is an accessible online ICT medium through which to communicate with current and potential customers.…”

Section: Reachmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring social media usage as a communication channel among independent food retailer SMEs in South Africa

Santos

Duffett

2021

SBIR

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Social media has facilitated interaction between businesses and consumers, and consequently, has seen rapid growth as a communication channel by a number of smaller retailers in South Africa. Hence, the primary research objective of this study is to explore social media usage as a marketing communication strategy by independent food retailer small to medium enterprises (SMEs). The study used a qualitative data collection strategy and in-depth interviews were conducted among eleven independent food retailer SMEs in South Africa. The study revealed that the level of social media activity by the respondent retailers was influenced by enabling factors such as cost effectiveness, accessibility, reach and relationship building, whereas perceived risk and resources such as time, knowledge and human resources were inhibiting factors. The research contributes to the available literature exploring social media usage as customer contact points for promotional purposes, as well as provides insight for further studies on the use of social media conduits by independent food retailer SMEs or similar businesses in a developing country.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Reachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring social media usage as a communication channel among independent food retailer SMEs in South Africa

Santos

Duffett

2021

SBIR

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“…This article contributes to the literature on young women and upward social mobility through fashion in Africa (e.g. Cole 2010;Sylvanus 2019;Steel 2021), demonstrating that the circulation of virtual images of their digitally crafted styles allows my interlocutors to position themselves within matronage relations and advance economically and socially, however tenuously. More broadly, by pinpointing interdependencies as means of value creation, the concept of wealth-in-followers illuminates an alternative regime of valuation that informs digital influencer economies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Digital fashionistas: young women, wealth-in-followers and matronage in Yaoundé, Cameroon

Majczak

2023

Africa

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Against the background of post-Cold War trade and media liberalization, this article examines how young women living in Yaoundé, Cameroon, share digital images of their crafted styles via WhatsApp. Such sharing is an act of influence usually aimed at building the woman’s name as a digital ‘fashionista’, in that it constitutes a virtual potential for persuading others to copy one’s style. When this potential is actualized among women of status and rank, young women can fashion relations of matronage, opening up avenues of upward social mobility. To reach out to women of status and rank, young women circulate images of their styles to mobilize digital follower networks of peers, kin and strangers, drawing on their skills, status and knowledge. This mobilization in turn relies on the actual and potential benefits that sharing a fashionista image can bring to the follower. Thus, I argue, interdependencies between stylish leaders and their followers are key to making and maintaining a name as a digital fashionista. This article contributes to the literature on fashion and social mobility in West Africa by showing how the circulation of digital images over social media networks generates potentialities for young women living in Yaoundé to fashion matronage relations and social mobility. More broadly, the framing of followers as a form of wealth-in-people provides a critique of the neoliberal market valuation of social media influencers, illuminating alternative regimes of valuation that inform digital influencer economies.

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“…However, effective diasporic internationalization requires improving the mechanisms employed to close sales, perform money transactions, and deliver the products abroad. “Suitcase trade” (Steel, 2021 ), that is, using close network members to carry goods in their luggage, is not sufficient or practical anymore. In other Portuguese-speaking countries, new customers not related to the diaspora may eventually be reached via the social media platform.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anywhere in the World? The Internationalization of Small Entrepreneurial Ventures using a Social Media Platform

2023

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This study aimed at investigating the interplay between internationalization and digitalization using a social media platform during the early phases of the internationalization process of new ventures from an emerging economy. The research adopted the longitudinal multiple-case study method of investigation. All the firms that were studied had operated on a social media platform (Instagram) since their inception. Data collection was based on two rounds of in-depth interviews and secondary data. The research used thematic analysis, cross-case comparison and pattern-matching logic. The study contributes to the extant literature by (a) proposing a conceptualization of the interplay between digitalization and internationalization during the early phases of the internationalization trajectory of small new ventures from an emerging economy using a social media platform; (b) detailing the role of the diaspora during the outward internationalization of these ventures and outlining the theoretical implications of this phenomenon; and (c) providing a micro perspective on how entrepreneurs exploit platform resources and face platform-related risks during their enterprise’s early domestic and international phases. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11575-023-00510-8.

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Going global – going digital. Diaspora networks and female online entrepreneurship in Khartoum, Sudan

Cited by 52 publications

References 36 publications

Exploring social media usage as a communication channel among independent food retailer SMEs in South Africa

Exploring social media usage as a communication channel among independent food retailer SMEs in South Africa

Digital fashionistas: young women, wealth-in-followers and matronage in Yaoundé, Cameroon

Anywhere in the World? The Internationalization of Small Entrepreneurial Ventures using a Social Media Platform

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