EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE UPTAKE OF INDIAN GOVERNMENT WELFARE SCHEMES: AN EMPIRICAL APPROACH

Abstract

This study was conducted over the prospective beneficiaries of business and entrepreneurship-related welfare schemes in India, which are aimed mainly at empowering business startups and MSMEs. No doubt, these startups will benefit society at large

One of the primary theoretical foundations used is the technology acceptance model (TAM). Conceptual models and hypotheses were constructed and tested using statistical analysis with the centralized research question: Can social media be used for government communication and citizen engagement for business and entrepreneurship-related welfare schemes in India?

The accessibility and suitability of social media in the Business and Entrepreneurship communities utilizes the welfare scheme-related information through social media are checked. The analysis through logistics regression model indicates that social media platforms should audit existing posts for interactive elements, need to set KPI targets for reply ratios. On every social media there are different categories of audiences who visit the sites. The social media people should segregate the audiences in categories like information – seekers and recognition – seekers and accordingly the content should be customized for better engagement and usefulness.

Authors have found that these study findings will narrow the gap between the existing schemes and how to better propagate them to the public at large.