As redes sociais virtuais (RSV) como estratégia de sustentação dos empreendimentos de Manaus e Rio Preto da Eva, Amazonas, durante a pandemia de SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

The sars-cov-2 pandemic has motivated a significant number of entrepreneurs and retailers to use digital sales platforms to keep their businesses in operation. The present study aimed to identify how Virtual Social Networks (RSV) were used by entrepreneurs in the cities of Manaus and Rio Preto da Eva, in the State of Amazonas, during the sars-cov-2 pandemic. The central hypothesis is that RSV was used as a business support strategy, aiming to refrain the volume of

economic activity ́s reduction. This research is a descriptive-exploratory and qualitative- quantitative approach. To obtain the primary data, an online survey was applied to obtain

sociodemographic information about the enterprise and the use of RSV by entrepreneurs. Most entrepreneurs (89.5%) are female and are from the Commerce sector (55.6%). The majority's time in business is 47.7% and 63.2% of respondents declared that RSV helped the business during the pandemic. Instagram and WhatsApp are among the most used RSV by entrepreneurs. For the majority (73.7%), RSV contributed in an intermediary way (“more or less”) to the increase in revenue. This increase was in the range of 5% to 10%, which can be explained by the reduction in the population's income during the pandemic period. The study showed that RSV are an important tool for the entrepreneur, facilitating the emergence of new businesses due to the capillarity of this type of marketing or sales channel, regardless the location, educational level or another social variable.