SME entrepreneurship and digitalization – the potentialities and moderating role of demographic factors

Abstract

Entrepreneurship, across markets and organizational typologies has long attracted the attention of scholars and practitioners alike. Irrevocably associated with SMEs, entrepreneurship has been fueled and facilitated by emergence of digital technology platforms. By adopting digital technology platforms, SME entrepreneurs can establish direct links between suppliers and buyers and can engage closely with other stakeholders. In this context, the purpose of this research is to investigate the contemporary demography of SME entrepreneurship and the moderating roles and potentialities of entrepreneurs’ age, gender, and education in adopting digital platforms. Resting securely on extant literature, a theoretical model is first developed, and thereafter validated using SEM with a sample comprising 431 startup entrepreneurs in India. The findings expand and refine our understanding of relationship between moderators and entrepreneurial startups in a globally significant emerging market like India, and in parallel, profile the nature of the contemporary SME entrepreneur with regards to digitalization.