This qualitative study sought to explore how women entrepreneurs leverage the Gift Card Internet to empower their entrepreneurial activities in the Chinese context.To this end, we first conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 women entrepreneurs, and then analyzed their transcripts by following the principles of thematic analysis from grounded theory method.After the three-phase coding procedure, we developed a conceptual model of Internet use of women entrepreneurs which were composed of Internet marketing, Internet purchasing, and Internet learning.The current study provides the first evidence for the multidimensional construct of Internet use with a sample of Knee Sleeves women entrepreneurs in China.
A hypothesis concerning the relationship between Internet use and women entrepreneurial performance is proposed for future investigation.Implications for women entrepreneurs and policymakers are discussed.