Social Networks, Organizational Characteristics, and Social Recognition As Key Drivers of Business Performance

Social networks have played an important role in people's lives, also becoming notable in business. Thus, this study aims to understand the impact of the use of social networks on business performance. To achieve the proposed objective, data was collected through a structured questionnaire between December 2023 and April 2024, which resulted in a sample of 171 Portuguese companies. The data obtained were tested in Smart PLS 4, and the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) model was used to test the proposed hypotheses. The results show that the adoption of social networks strongly influences business performance. And, in turn, the use of social networks is influenced by organizational characteristics, but mainly by social recognition, strengthened by customers.