Gen Zeo; An Exploration of social media's effect on the creation of new generation of entrepreneurs through social influencership in Ghana.

Abstract

Social media has a significant effect on our daily lives, and it is one of the places where information is distributed on a wide scale. Over the last few years, the importance and significance of social media has increased. There are more active users on social media who use this platform not to only keep themselves abreast with issues happening within the world but also to connect with friends and family. Social media also provides an avenue to generate revenue through various venture opportunities that can be established by an individual as well as through advertisement and the emerging influence of creative content. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp have introduced business features that enable an individual to promote, advertise, sell and connect with a larger base of customers globally. With these rising opportunities for entrepreneurs which were not available before, this in a sense has found a way to make accessing larger markets easier for first time entrepreneurs. The recent introductions to Instagram as well as Facebook business and WhatsApp business, have made it easier for entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and access millions of customers all over the world not just in Ghana. This research seeks to explore social medias effect on the creation of new generation of entrepreneurs through social influencership in Ghana. This thesis will explore the what are the factors that influence entrepreneurial surge of entrepreneurship among the youth of Gen Z? Evidence of the expansions of social influencership can even be found amongst big corporate brands in Ghana like Samsung Ghana and Ecobank Ghana who patronize the network of social influencers within Ghana to help them increase their own advertisement and branding. The use of "Diffusions of Technology Theory" and "Consumer Culture Theory" enables the researcher to explore phenomenon within this study. The study employs a qualitative approach with the use of online questionnaires. One of the key finding is that the connection of social influencership helps entrepreneurs increase their revenue. A limiting factor in this research was not interviewing individuals who were entrepreneurs but did not use social media.