Social customer relationship management and organizational resilience of Brazilian microenterprises during the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Purpose:

To measure the impact of using social media as a management tool (social customer relationship management) on the organizational resilience of Brazilian microenterprises during the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.

Originality/value:

Organizational resilience has been a widely investigated topic during the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. In this context, the relationship with the customer via social media was paramount. However, the elements that explain the different results obtained with social media use are still unclear, especially in Brazil, a gap that the present study seeks to decrease.

Design/methodology/approach:

Quantitative research was carried out and operationalized by questionnaires made available through digital channels. The return of 100 respondents (non-probabilistic sample) was obtained. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics tools, non-parametric means test, and structural equation modeling by partial least squares method.

Findings:

The results corroborate the importance of developing organizational resilience in microenterprises in times of crisis. According to the hypothesis test, the model suggests that the mere use of social media is not enough to trigger positive developments in organizational resilience. However, when mediated by management tools, the relationship becomes significant. Therefore, an explanation is offered for the different results obtained by microenterprises using social media for strategic purposes.

Keywords:
microenterprises; social media; structural equation modeling; client management; digital technologies