Participation in digital social networking for women’s economic empowerment: only when it enhances social capital?

Cuong Hung Nguyen, Hung Vu Nguyen, Long Thanh Do and Minh Hoang Nguyen

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, 2025, vol. 20, issue 5, 1356-1371

Abstract: PurposeThis study aims to examine the impacts of participation in digital social networks on women’s economic empowerment at the individual level. Participation with different purposes was theorized to initially impact economic empowerment attitude, which in turn would influence empowerment behavior.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 249 women in three big cities of a developing country was collected to test the theoretical models. Measurement testing and regression analyses were implemented with SPSS software.FindingsAnalysis findings supported the hypotheses that social network participation in both Facebook and Zalo for different purposes indirectly influences empowerment behavior through empowerment attitude. More interestingly, no significant relationship existed between the frequency of using social networks or internet applications and attitude or behavior.Originality/valueUnlike previous research at the community or country level, the authors’ study sheds light on the impacts of participating in digital platforms in general and social networks in particular, which would help enhance women’s economic empowerment at the individual level. More importantly, only at the individual level could the mediating role of the empowerment attitude be elucidated. Theoretically, the study suggested that participation in digital platforms might only be valid if such participation could be used to enhance the social capital of women.

Keywords: Economic empowerment; Economic empowerment attitude; Economic empowerment behavior; Social network participation; Participation purposes; Networks; Networking; Behavior; Women entrepreneurs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:jecpps:jec-10-2024-0216

DOI: 10.1108/JEC-10-2024-0216

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