Overview

Original Research

A SOCIAL MEDIA FRAMEWORK FOR ENHANCING SMMEs' PROFITABILITY DURING ADVERSE CRISES: A CASE STUDY OF RURAL KWAZULU-NATAL DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS

SABELO MPUNGOSE 1, LAWRENCE MPELE LEKHANYA 2, and EMEM O. ANWANA 3.

Vol 20, No 05 ( 2025 )   |  DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15575624   |   Author Affiliation: Entrepreneurial Studies and Management, Faculty of Management Sciences, Durban University of Technology 1;2; Applied Law Department, Faculty of Management Sciences, Durban university of Technology 3.   |   Licensing: CC 4.0   |   Pg no: 328-361   |   Published on: 30-05-2025

Abstract

The Covid-19 crisis has significantly impacted Small, Medium, and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs)

worldwide, particularly in rural areas like KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa. Social media has emerged as

crucial tool for SMMEs to navigate through the crisis, fostering profitability and sustainability during the Covid

19 crisis. However, the effective utilization of social media among SMMEs in rural KZN remains a subject for

concern. This research study investigated the critical factors influencing the use of social media for SMMEs'

profitability during the Covid-19 crisis in rural KZN. The quantitative design was adopted, and data was collected

from 374 rural SMMEs in KZN by a closed-ended 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. The study employed

convenience, purposive, and quota sampling techniques. The data collected was analysed using the statistical

package for social sciences (SPSS) (version 27.0). Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, factor analysis

and correlation analysis to identify critical factors influencing the use of social media for SMMEs’ profitability

and their impact on business sustainability during Covid-19 crisis. Rural SMMEs were found to have lack of

technical skills, inadequate government regulations, lack of digital infrastructure and connectivity as well as

subjected to resources constraints. Key findings include the bivariate correlation results show the relationship

between the tested variables is significantly positive at 0.085** (sig. <0.001) level). Therefore, rejection of the

null hypothesis allows the conclusion that availability of internet is related to the use of social media by rural

SMMEs to interact with customers during the Covid-19 crisis for SMMEs profitability. These findings of this

study enabled the design and proposal for implementation of social media framework as a management tool for

rural SMMEs profitability to sustain their businesses in adversity crises such as Covid-19 crisis in rural KZN.

Keywords

Social Media, Rural SMMEs, Covid-19 Crisis, Critical Factors, KwaZulu-Natal, Growth, SMMEs Profitability.