A LONGITUDINAL QUALITATIVE CASE STUDY OF THE DRIVERS OF SAUDI WOMEN INSTAGRAM-BASED BUSINESSES

Abstract

Social Media Based Businesses (SMBBs) operate solely through social media platforms despite the payment method. In 2013, the SMBB phenomenon started to emerge in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government supports SMBBs in diversifying the economy, leading to a “Thriving Economy,” a pillar of the Saudi 2030 Vision. The studies around SMBB phenomenon are limited. These studies have addressed aspects of SMBBs phenomenon, such as challenges or motivations; however, these studies did not center the examination of Saudi women-run SMBBs. Accordingly, I formulated my research with 4 objectives. These objectives are: 1) to coin a definition of the SMBB phenomenon, 2) to unmask how Saudi women entrepreneurs run SMBBs thereby contributing to informed policy in relation to their needs, 3) to examine Saudi women-run SMBBs themselves, and 4) to explore the challenges and facilitating factors of Saudi women-run SMBBs, thereby informing policymakers. Women-run SMBBs in Saudi Arabia were studied, utilizing a longitudinal case study methodology, incorporating multiple data collection methods. Data was collected between 2015 and 2023 through three phases. In Phase 1, semi-structured exploratory interviews and observations from 13 participants were used to gather data. In Phase 2, Instagram content for 11 out of the same 13 participants was analyzed using the thematic analysis method. In Phase 3, six out of the same 13 participants were interviewed to capture the changes in the phenomenon between 2015 and 2023. This study identified three themes. The first theme addresses the operational aspect of Saudi women-run SMBBs. The second theme highlights challenges faced by Saudi women-run SMBBs. The third theme outlines both internal and external facilitating factors. This study contributed to both the academic and the practical fields. The scholarly contributions elaborate on the definitions of the four original constructs of the Uses and Gratifications Theory, while the practical contributions are translated into recommendations for both Saudi policymakers and new and current SMBB entrepreneurs in terms of providing some success measuring factors and other lessons learned in the marketing field.