LEVERAGING SOCIAL MEDIA KNOWLEDGE AFFORDANCES FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP: SOCIAL MEDIA USE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Social media is an increasingly prominent tool for knowledge sharing among individuals and businesses; however, empirical research has not fully examined its impact on entrepreneurship development in Nigeria. This study investigates the relationship between social media use and indicators of entrepreneurial development, including entrepreneurial motivation, orientation, opportunity recognition, and performance. The research also examines the indirect effect of social media on entrepreneurial performance as a primary outcome. Cross-sectional data were collected from 248 young entrepreneurs registered with the Delta State Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Agency in Nigeria. Data analysis and hypothesis testing were conducted using the partial least squares approach to structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings suggest that social media use has a positive and significant impact on entrepreneurial development, enhancing entrepreneurial motivation, orientation, opportunity recognition, and performance. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that entrepreneurial motivation and opportunity recognition serve as mechanisms through which social media use affects entrepreneurial performance. Mediation by entrepreneurial orientation was not supported. The main practical implication is that Nigerian entrepreneurs should reassess and strategically align their social media activities with their entrepreneurial processes to facilitate more effective development. Entrepreneurs should consider using social media for knowledge sharing to unlock the catalytic potential of knowledge-based opportunities, thereby enhancing their cognitive capacity by fostering motivation for entrepreneurial work, encouraging a shift towards innovation, proactive behaviours, and risk-taking, and improving opportunity recognition capabilities—elements critical for sustained entrepreneurial performance. This study fills a gap in entrepreneurship literature by exploring how social media use for knowledge sharing affects entrepreneurship development in Nigeria, providing theoretical insights through the stimulus-organism-response framework.