IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i23p16150-d1284364.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Digitalization in Entrepreneurship: Unveiling the Motivational and Demographic Influences towards Sustainable Digital Sales Strategies

Author

Listed:
  • Samuel Plečko

    (Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor, Slomškov trg, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia)

  • Polona Tominc

    (Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor, Slomškov trg, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia)

  • Karin Širec

    (Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor, Slomškov trg, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia)

Abstract

Digitalization is incrementally transforming business practices, particularly in sales and digital marketing, although the factors motivating entrepreneurs to adopt digital technologies in sales strategies remain underexplored. Consequently, the aim of our research is to identify the factors that influence the use of digital technologies in sales. This research elucidates the interplay between demographics and entrepreneurial motivations, utilizing data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, involving 464 entrepreneurs in Slovenia and Croatia, analyzed through logistic regression. Notably, demographic factors, including gender, age, and education, do not significantly influence digitalization adoption in sales strategies. Among entrepreneurial motives, only the aspiration “to make a difference in the world” propels entrepreneurs towards considering digital sales approaches, while other motivations do not have a significant influence. Despite extensive studies on demographic factors influencing digital technology adoption, a consistent trend is conspicuously absent, necessitating an intricate examination of various dimensions of digital business transformation. Furthermore, our findings underscore that, while digitalization is acclaimed for enhancing companies’ profitability, entrepreneurs motivated by altruistic goals demonstrate a pronounced proclivity to integrate digitalization into sales, signifying that digitalization’s pragmatic utility extends beyond merely amplifying profitability and growth, insinuating a more integrative role in sculpting sustainable entrepreneurial practices and business models.

Suggested Citation

  • Samuel Plečko & Polona Tominc & Karin Širec, 2023. "Digitalization in Entrepreneurship: Unveiling the Motivational and Demographic Influences towards Sustainable Digital Sales Strategies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-19, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:23:p:16150-:d:1284364
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/23/16150/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/23/16150/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Radicic, Dragana & Petković, Saša, 2023. "Impact of digitalization on technological innovations in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    2. Andreas Rauch & Johan Wiklund & G.T. Lumpkin & Michael Frese, 2009. "Entrepreneurial Orientation and Business Performance: An Assessment of past Research and Suggestions for the Future," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(3), pages 761-787, May.
    3. Barbara J. Orser & Allan Riding, 2018. "The influence of gender on the adoption of technology among SMEs," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 33(4), pages 514-531.
    4. Alan Carsrud & Malin Brännback, 2011. "Entrepreneurial Motivations: What Do We Still Need to Know?," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(1), pages 9-26, January.
    5. Ferreira, João J.M. & Fernandes, Cristina I. & Ferreira, Fernando A.F., 2019. "To be or not to be digital, that is the question: Firm innovation and performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 583-590.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiao Wen Wang & Muhammad Umar & Nada Khaddage-Soboh & Adnan Safi, 2024. "From innovation to impact: unraveling the complexities of entrepreneurship in the digital age," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 3207-3221, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li, Ganglei & Shao, Yunfei, 2023. "How do top management team characteristics affect digital orientation? Exploring the internal driving forces of firm digitalization," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    2. Satı, Zümrüt Ecevit, 2024. "Comparison of the criteria affecting the digital innovation performance of the European Union (EU) member and candidate countries with the entropy weight-TOPSIS method and investigation of its importa," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    3. Kollmann, Tobias & Stöckmann, Christoph & Niemand, Thomas & Hensellek, Simon & de Cruppe, Katharina, 2021. "A configurational approach to entrepreneurial orientation and cooperation explaining product/service innovation in digital vs. non-digital startups," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 508-519.
    4. S. Arunachalam & Sridhar N. Ramaswami & Pol Herrmann & Doug Walker, 2018. "Innovation pathway to profitability: the role of entrepreneurial orientation and marketing capabilities," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 744-766, July.
    5. Insoo Cho & Peter F. Orazem, 2021. "How endogenous risk preferences and sample selection affect analysis of firm survival," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1309-1332, April.
    6. Gundula Glowka & Andreas Kallmünzer & Anita Zehrer, 2021. "Enterprise risk management in small and medium family enterprises: the role of family involvement and CEO tenure," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 1213-1231, September.
    7. Jonathan H. Reed, 2022. "Operational and strategic change during temporary turbulence: evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 589-608, June.
    8. Kusa, Rafał & Suder, Marcin & Duda, Joanna, 2023. "Impact of greening on performance in the hospitality industry: Moderating effect of flexibility and inter-organizational cooperation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    9. Francisco Javier Forcadell & Fernando Úbeda, 2022. "Individual entrepreneurial orientation and performance: the mediating role of international entrepreneurship," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 875-900, June.
    10. Hornyák, Miklós & Kruzslicz, Ferenc & Lányi, Beatrix, 2023. "A kis- és középvállalatok digitális transzformációja - az online jelenlét és a versenyképesség összefüggései [The relationships between the online presence of SMEs and competitiveness]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(5), pages 517-543.
    11. Michael Stuetzer & David B. Audretsch & Martin Obschonka & Samuel D. Gosling & Peter J. Rentfrow & Jeff Potter, 2018. "Entrepreneurship culture, knowledge spillovers and the growth of regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(5), pages 608-618, May.
    12. Groza, Mark D. & Groza, Mya Pronschinske, 2018. "Salesperson regulatory knowledge and sales performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 37-46.
    13. De Jong, Jeroen P. J. & Parker, Sharon K. & Wennekers, Sander & Wu, Chia-Huei, 2015. "Entrepreneurial behavior in organizations: does job design matter?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 53264, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Ratan J. S. Dheer & Aycan Kara, 2024. "Immigrants’ entrepreneurial intentions: acculturation-based socio-psychological lens," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 2979-2999, December.
    15. Manrique Hernández-Ramírez & Ronald Mora-Esquivel & Juan Carlos Leiva, 2022. "Orientación emprendedora y desempeno innovador en mipymes. El rol moderador de la orientación estratégica," Estudios Gerenciales, Universidad Icesi, vol. 38(162), pages 95-108, March.
    16. Ting Qian & Caoyuan Yang, 2023. "State-Owned Equity Participation and Corporations’ ESG Performance in China: The Mediating Role of Top Management Incentives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-21, July.
    17. Zhiyang Liu & Guixing Wu, 2022. "Gendered motives towards hybrid entrepreneurial intentions: Empirical evidence from China," International Studies of Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(1), pages 36-64, June.
    18. Justin R. Hall & Selen Savas-Hall & Eric H. Shaw, 2023. "A deductive approach to a systematic review of entrepreneurship literature," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 73(3), pages 987-1016, September.
    19. Rubio-Andrés, Mercedes & Ramos-González, Mª del Mar & Sastre-Castillo, Miguel Ángel & Gutiérrez-Broncano, Santiago, 2023. "Stakeholder pressure and innovation capacity of SMEs in the COVID-19 pandemic: Mediating and multigroup analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    20. Madison, Kristen & Runyan, Rodney C. & Swinney, Jane L., 2014. "Strategic posture and performance: Revealing differences between family and nonfamily firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 239-251.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:23:p:16150-:d:1284364. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.