Influencer Marketing as an Approach to Promote Women-Owned Micro-, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs): Kuwaiti Women's Perspective

Abstract

The present study aims to explore how influencer marketing (resonance, reach, and relevance) can promote micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) that women in Kuwait own. Reaching that aim depended on a quantitative approach by distributing a self-administered questionnaire to a purposive sample of women who own their businesses in Kuwait. After the application, 133 women responded to the questionnaire, and SPSS was used to tackle the collected primary data. The study accepted the main hypothesis, which argued that influencer marketing impacts promoting women-owned MSMEs from Kuwaiti women's perspective with a correlation coefficient of 0.776. Sub-hypotheses were also accepted. The strongest variable was 'relevance,' which impacts promoting women-owned MSMEs from Kuwaiti women's perspective with a correlation coefficient of 0.766; resonance and reach appeared to be also influential with a correlation coefficient of 0.537 and 0.489, respectively. The study recommended paying attention to the idea of the owner of the advertising content (the advertiser or the influencer) because this controls the form of the content; if the influencer is the owner, the content, its publication dates, or the length of its stay on social networking sites cannot be controlled. Further recommendations were presented later. The scientific novelty in current research lies in its orientation towards focusing on the economy "Women-Owned MSMEs," as there has not been much attention given to this type of business. In addition, women-owned MSMEs might not be as apparent as other businesses; they still contribute to economic stability, decrease unemployment, and support women's contribution to society.