Social Enterprise Awareness, Perception, and Purchase Influence in South East China

Abstract

This study aims to explore awareness and interest in social enterprises in China and in doing so provide a benchmark for comparison with future research on the topic. There is a shortage of evidence in the previous literature with which to compare the present situation, but the regulatory emphasis and resources presently dedicated by the Chinese government to social enterprises makes research in this area relevant and makes it likely that the development of social enterprises would have an upward trend in awareness and interest. Primary data was collected from over 600 online surveys which measured awareness, purchase intention, and purchase motivation before and during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of this chapter may contribute to future research on the trends of social enterprise awareness and interest in China and may also be of interest to those with an interest in social entrepreneurship.