Understanding the motivations and challenges of early generation Z college students while establishing online baking businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic

• Main Authors: Santos, Joseph Emil N., Tenorio, Alice Katherine
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2020
• Subjects: Electronic commerce—Philippines; Baked products industry—Philippines; Generation Z—Philippines—Economic conditions; COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- —Philippines; Home-based businesses—Philippines; Internet marketing—Philippines; Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations; Marketing; Social Media
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/11281
• Institution: De La Salle University

The paper offers an in-depth view of the considerations, influences, and experiences of college students and fresh graduates starting a baking business amid the COVID-19 pandemic. With the problem of unemployment and the increase of non-hiring employers amid the pandemic, along with the increased time spent at home rather than what normally would be spent in school or work, home-bakers are strongly self-motivated to earn for themselves through a small baking business due to the disruption of their allowance or income. This study investigates Filipino Generation Z’s lifestyle, personality, and values and how these could motivate their baking hobbies, spending habits, and operation decisions. The qualitative research based on semi-structured detailed interviews with 8 Filipino Generation Z college students and fresh graduates, between the age of 18 to 25 years old, chosen because they tend to use online communication tools, such as social media, digital marketing, and instant messaging, in October-November 2020. The purpose of the paper is to examine how early Generation Z college students and fresh graduates operate their small baking enterprises despite the Philippines’ mobility restrictions, limited supplies, and imposed curfews to name a few. The research aims to discover the students’ and the graduates’ motivations and challenges while establishing online baking businesses amid the pandemic. The research also explores the radical shifts in Generation Z’s behavior caused by the current state of the country, with spending habits, marketing strategies, brand engagement, and more. A framework was illustrated from the factors that came out from the participants’ shared experiences.