Social media, networking, and marketing performance : a study of social enterprises in Hong Kong

Over the past few years, the number of social enterprises has been increasing in Hong Kong. The marketing performance of these social enterprises, however, are found to be problematic. Although some studies have investigated the ways for improving marketing performance of social enterprises through launching various marketing activities, this is surprising that the roles of social media and networking are lacking attention in the literature. In this conceptual paper, we aim at investigating how the implementation of these cost-effective marketing activities, namely (i) social media and (ii) networking, may improve the marketing performance of social enterprises in Hong Kong

Identifying the benefits and challenges of using social media as a promotion tool for social enterprises

The lack of marketing expertise and resources among social enterprises is a well-noted problem. It has generated much attention from researchers, who have studied ways for improving the marketing performance of social enterprises. With the rise of social media channels for daily communication, an opportunity has surfaced for social enterprises to use such channels as a promotionaltool. This study aims to investigate how social enterprises may use social media for promotion to improve their marketing performancein Hong Kong. In-depth interviews were conducted with five social entrepreneurs or the relevant marketing staff. Interviewees generally agreed that social media is a low-cost channel thatis effective in increasing public awareness and stimulating customer interest. Further benefits of social media as a marketing tool for social enterprises include the relatively low cost of marketing, the quick-response platform for customer queries and the possibility to run low cost CRM. However, interviewees also reported that social enterprises have to compete with an enormous amount of channel-level competitors that are also conducting marketing activities through social media, which has diluted the effectiveness of the online advertising effort. Nevertheless, the benefits of using social media as a promotional tool are still significant to the business model of social enterprise and should be adopted

The opportunity recognition framework in the Hong Kong SMEs context

This paper presents a preliminary framework of opportunity recognition in the Hong Kong small and medium enterprises (SMEs) context. Guanxi and four trait variables, namely self-monitoring, extroversion, selfefficacy and creativity are the independent variables while the number of opportunity recognized by entrepreneurs is the dependent variable in the framework. The model indicates a mediation effect of guanxi between self-monitoring and the number of opportunities recognized, and between extroversion and the number of opportunities recognized. Meanwhile, SMEs marketing characteristics are determined by personalities and behaviour of the entrepreneurs as they do not conform to the traditional marketing theories (Gilmore et al., 2001). This paper provides new research directions to the field of SMEs marketing

Working from home under COVID-19 : the survey report

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the HKSAR Government and many organisations have adopted work from home (WFH) practice for months. A recent survey conducted by Lingnan University (LU) reveals that over 80 per cent of respondents prefer WFH for at least one day per week even after the pandemic. More than 70 per cent of respondents said WFH allowed them to have more time to rest while 64 per cent said the practice helped reduce work stress. Conducted by the School of Graduate Studies of LU from 8 to 26 April 2020, the online survey collected valid responses from 1,976 Hong Kong citizens. The objective of the survey was to understand people’s views and experiences regarding WFH

Interactive discussion on online learning experiences amid the COVID-19 pandemic

In this interactive discussion session, student participants will be invited to take a short survey on their online learning experiences during the pandemic. The survey results will be revealed immediately, and all participants will be invited to discuss the results and reflect on their own online learning and teaching experiences