The influence of society’s perception, social networking and social impact measurement on access to finance of social enterprises: Perspective of eThekwini Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

The aim of this paper is to explore the influence of society’s perception, social networking and social impact measurement on access to finance for social enterprises’ activities. It broadens the theoretical understanding from the perspective of resource dependence theory. The study tested hypotheses to asertain the impact of society’s perception, social networking and social impact measurement on access to finance that enhances social enterprises’ activities. A quantitative research approach was adopted, using a snowball sampling technique to identify 90 owners/managers of social enterprises from three communities in the KwaZulu-Natal province. The data was examined with Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling. The study revealed that social impact measurement has a positive, but statistically insignificant impact on access to finance; there is a positive and statistically significant impact of social networking on access to finance; also, society’s perception has a positive and statistically significant impact on access to finance. The result does not support the moderation effect of society’s perception on social networking and access to finance. Therefore, this study recommends that government educate the society on the importance of social entreprise activities in KZN communities, which will enhance members of the societys’ willingness to provide financial assistance. In addition, there should be great emphasis on social networking among social enterprises as it provides crucial platforms to share relevant information on access to finance, which is essential in addressing sociatal challenges. Key Words:society’s perception, Social networking, Social impact measurement, Social enterprises, KwaZulu-Natal province