Negócios online e o comércio informal nas redes sociais: um estudo de caso com empresários itabaianenses

Abstract

Informal trade on social networks, is growing every day. The opening of type of commerce is more and more frequent, given the critical socioeconomic factors of today and, the opportunities, which motivate entrepreneurs to try to act in the digital environment, even in the informality. Given the reality of informal digital businesses, this study aims to analyze the informal business market from social networks in the city’’ of Itabaiana, seeking to understand informality in the online environment and understand what motivates entrepreneurs to enter this type of business and the characteristics of their ventures. For that, the research was developed from an exploratory methodology of qualitative character, through studies of multiple cases. Data collection was carried out through an interview, with the help of a semi-structured script with open questions. Most of the interviews were conducted online, due to the conditions of social isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic. The method for data analysis was made from thematic analysis. The results of the study show that the interviewed digital entrepreneurs are not concerned with formalization and do not recognize it as an advantage. They indicate that the motivation for an entrepreneur came from observing opportunities that social networks brought to entrepreneurship and from realizing their dreams from that, and they are not so concerned with the crisis that the country has been going through. Its businesses were created to remain, in the long term, in a virtual format, without pretending the existence of physical space to develop the work. Finally, this research indicates that there is an informality accepted at some level, and social networks contribute to its establishment.