An Exploratory Study: Understanding How Start-ups in Saudi Arabia Use Social Media to Gain Legitimacy

Abstract

Social Media (SM) has changed the way people interact and communicates, mainly in the business context. To further explores the use of SM for startups. Thus, that dissertation focuses on how startups in Saudi Arabia use SM. It mainly concentrates on the use of SM in enabling startups to gain legitimacy. The key methodology used is a combination of a literature review and qualitative data analysis. The researcher selected ten Saudi startups from different business incubators (BIs) in Saudi Arabia. All startups using SM for their businesses. The findings reveal that SM is an effective tool for legitimising businesses, although some Saudi Arabian entrepreneurs are unaware of these advantages. Also, there is a positive relationship between BIs and startups SM usage. SM helps startups through relationship building, brand identity enhancement, content sharing and information dissemination. Therefore, SM is a powerful tool for legitimising startups. Finally, Saudi Arabian entrepreneurs should strive to overcome key barriers to utilising different social websites if they need to leverage SM utilisation for business purposes.