RECONSTRUCTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE CREATIVE DIGITAL ERA: SOCIAL INNOVATION THROUGH IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGIES

Jung Yuna (1), Lim Haeun (2), Laura Lehtonen (3), Nurul Ulya (4)
(1) Korea UniversityKR Korea, Republic of,
(2) Ewha Womans UniversityKR Korea, Republic of,
(3) Tampere UniversityFI Finland,
(4) Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Administrasi CimahiID Indonesia

Abstract

The rapid evolution of immersive technologies, such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), is reshaping the landscape of entrepreneurship, particularly within the context of social innovation. As digital technologies continue to disrupt traditional business models, entrepreneurs are leveraging these innovations to create socially impactful ventures that not only meet market demands but also address critical societal challenges. This study investigates how immersive technologies are integrated into entrepreneurial practices to foster social sustainability, with a particular focus on businesses aiming to create positive change within marginalized communities. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, including qualitative interviews with entrepreneurs and quantitative analysis of business outcomes. The findings demonstrate that entrepreneurs using VR and AR technologies report increased customer engagement, enhanced operational efficiency, and a measurable social impact, particularly in the fields of education, healthcare, and community development. The study concludes that integrating immersive technologies with human-centered values enables businesses to create sustainable models that balance economic success with social good. This research contributes to the growing field of social entrepreneurship by highlighting the potential of digital innovations to drive social change and offering practical insights into how entrepreneurs can use these technologies to address global challenges.

Full text article

Generated from XML file

References

Adhikari, P., Upadhaya, B., Wijethilake, C., & Dhakal Adhikari, S. (2023). The sociomateriality of digitalisation in Nepalese NGOs. The British Accounting Review, 55(5), 101206. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bar.2023.101206

Allal-Chérif, O., Gallego-Nicholls, J. F., Carrilero-Castillo, A., & Sendra Garcia, F. J. (2025). Stepping out of the innovation race to embrace outnovation: Fostering well-being and responsible consumption through sustainability, simplicity, authenticity, and nostalgia. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 210, 123906. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2024.123906

Bartoli, C., Baccelloni, A., Di Leo, A., & Mattiacci, A. (2025). Blending digital and physical experiences in luxury wine hospitality: an experiential approach to technology integration. British Food Journal, 127(13), 72–95. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-03-2024-0248

Briller, V. (2024). Beyond the classroom: My journey through education a tale of two educational worlds. International Journal of Educational Development, 111, 103166. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2024.103166

Chatterjee, S., Mariani, M., & Fosso Wamba, S. (2023). Prosumers’ intention to co-create business value and the moderating role of digital media usage. Journal of Business Research, 163, 113920. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.113920

Chen, Y., Pan, X., Liu, P., & Vanhaverbeke, W. (2024). How does digital transformation empower knowledge creation? Evidence from Chinese manufacturing enterprises. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 9(2), 100481. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2024.100481

Cui, Y. (Gina), van Esch, P., & Phelan, S. (2024). How to build a competitive advantage for your brand using generative AI. Business Horizons, 67(5), 583–594. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2024.05.003

Cui, Y., Tang, J., Lu, S., Wu, J., Xue, X., Wu, C.-H., & Tsai, S. (2024). Global Digital Transformation and New Venture Resilience: Journal of Global Information Management, 32(1). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4018/JGIM.360652

El Messaoudi, N., Miyah, Y., Benjelloun, M., Georgin, J., Franco, D. S. P., Kaur, P., Lim, V., & Knani, S. (2025). The role of artificial intelligence in optimizing photocatalytic degradation technologies of dyes in textile wastewater: Recent advances, challenges, and prospects. Journal of Water Process Engineering, 77, 108457. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2025.108457

Fang, X., & Yuan, F. (2024). Can digital transformation promote the turnaround of declining firms? Empirical evidence from Chinese listed companies. Business Process Management Journal, 31(4), 1453–1480. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-01-2024-0050

Gawe?, A., Ksendzuk, V., Patlatoi, O., & Wach, A. (2025). Digital business simulation games in higher education during armed conflicts. The International Journal of Management Education, 23(3), 101261. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2025.101261

He, Z., Chen, L., & Zhu, L. (2023). A study of Inter-Technology Information Management (ITIM) system for industry-education integration. Heliyon, 9(9), e19928. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19928

Iqbal, A., Abdu Shakur, M. B. M., Shahid, S., & Hashim, S. (2025). Entrepreneurial learning from failure and reentry intention: the role of emotion regulation. Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, 28(1), 40–62. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1108/JRME-12-2024-0260

Keh-Nie Lim, C., & Zhang, M. (2023). Chinese national music platformisation: A systematic review. Heliyon, 9(11), e22304. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22304

Li, C., Li, D., Liang, Y., & Wang, Z. (2024). Underdog entrepreneurship in the digital era: The effect of digital servitization on household entrepreneurship in China. Heliyon, 10(2), e24154. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24154

Li, N., Chen, B., Liu, Z., Wu, C.-H., Yuan, Y.-H., & Wang, J. (2025). Influence of Community Culture on the Quality of Competition Among Organizational Members. Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, 37(1). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4018/JOEUC.394596

Lim, W. M., Kumar, S., & Donthu, N. (2024). How to combine and clean bibliometric data and use bibliometric tools synergistically: Guidelines using metaverse research. Journal of Business Research, 182, 114760. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.114760

Lin, Z., Guoqing, L., Yiwen, Z., Simin, Y., & Xumin, Z. (2023). Spatializing the emerging geography of urban system in China: Based on live streaming commerce. Cities, 143, 104613. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2023.104613

Liu, Z., Liu, J., Zhao, C., & Qiu, Z. (2025). Business model innovation in the age of metaverse. Technovation, 143, 103225. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2025.103225

Pitakaso, R., Khonjan, S., Srichok, T., Nanthasamroeng, N., Khampukka, P., Sawettham, A., Dinkoksung, S., Supasarn, C., Jungvimutipan, K., Boonarree, Y., Jirasirilerd, G., & Mongkhonngam, P. (2025). AI-driven cultural urbanism: A data-integrated model for learning city development in emerging heritage contexts. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 12, 102011. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.102011

Puyt, R. W., Lie, F. B., & Wilderom, C. P. M. (2023). The origins of SWOT analysis. Long Range Planning, 56(3), 102304. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2023.102304

Pyykkönen, M., & De Beukelaer, C. (2025). What is the role of creative industries in the Anthropocene? An argument for planetary cultural policy. Poetics, 109, 101971. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2025.101971

Qiu, Y., Isusi-Fagoaga, R., & García-Aracil, A. (2023). Perceptions and use of metaverse in higher education: A descriptive study in China and Spain. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 5, 100185. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2023.100185

Wang, Q., Liu, X., & Huang, K.-W. (2024). Investigating employees’ occupational risks and benefits resulting from artificial intelligence: An empirical analysis. Information & Management, 61(8), 104036. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2024.104036

Wang, X., & Cui, H. (2025). Digital empowerment for manufacturing enterprises transformation: an SAO framework analysis of legitimacy, availability and governance mechanisms. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 126(5), 1509–1536. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-06-2025-0768

Wang, Y., & Wang, H. (2025). Constructing ideal wanghong villages on social media: the rural aesthetics, e-commerce livestreaming, and digital representations of Chinese rurality. Journal of Rural Studies, 119, 103782. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103782

Williams, T. A., & Fathallah, R. (2024). Adapting a collective will and a way during a civil war: The persistence of an entrepreneurial ecosystem as an architecture of hope. Journal of Business Venturing, 39(2), 106369. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2023.106369

Yu, S. (2025). Redirective Tactics for Designing Transitions: A Typology of Sustainable Future-Making Pathways. She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation, 11(4), 525–542. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sheji.2025.10.002

Zatini, G., & Della Porta, A. (2025). Entrepreneurial intentions are made, not born: the active role of institutional, educational and economic support. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 32(8), 109–136. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1108/JSBED-02-2025-0112

Zeng, B., Chotia, V., Ghosh, V., & Cheng, J. (2025). Digital antecedents and mechanisms towards sustainable digital innovation ecosystems: examining the role of circular supply chain resilience. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 218, 124220. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2025.124220

Zhang, X., & Hu, J. (2023). A study on the learning behaviors and needs of design-maker communities of practice in the era of mobile learning. Library Hi Tech, 42(2), 580–606. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-12-2021-0486

Zhang, Y., & Siau, K. (2024). Meta-Entrepreneurship: Journal of Global Information Management, 32(1). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4018/JGIM.364094

Zhao, X., Ke, X., & Jiang, S. (2025). Dynamic assessment and pathway optimisation of China’s national energy system: An integrated spatial–temporal insight for addressing the global energy trilemma. Energy Conversion and Management, 343, 120200. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2025.120200

Authors

Jung Yuna
jungyuna@gmail.com (Primary Contact)
Lim Haeun
Laura Lehtonen
Nurul Ulya
Yuna, J., Haeun, L., Lehtonen, L., & Ulya, N. (2026). RECONSTRUCTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE CREATIVE DIGITAL ERA: SOCIAL INNOVATION THROUGH IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGIES. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship and Creative Technology, 3(3), 218–229. https://doi.org/10.70177/jseact.v3i3.3827

Article Details

Similar Articles

1 2 3 4 5 6 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.