The Rise of the Influencer-Entrepreneur: Understanding Social Media Content Creators’ Entrepreneurial Success
(A2025-130308)

AUTHORS

KHALID HUSSAIN, Marketing Department, College of Economics and Political Science, Sultan Qaboos University; Wondwesen Tafesse, United Arab Emirates University; Muhammad Junaid, Asian Institute of Technology

ABSTRACT

Social media content creators, or influencers, are increasingly engaging in entrepreneurial ventures by offering products and services. However, research on influencers’ entrepreneurial activities and success factors remains scattered and unorganized. The present study addresses this research gap by systematically collecting and analyzing 180 research documents from the Scopus database using a bibliometric-systematic literature review method. As a result, we categorize the existing literature into four thematic groups: motor themes, basic themes, emerging themes, and niche themes. In addition, we identify a range of entrepreneurial success factors and classify them into two broad streams and six categories. Based on these categories, we propose a novel framework to guide future research on these success factors. This study makes significant contributions to advancing the body of knowledge in the emerging field of content creators’ entrepreneurial venturing.