The Embedded Economy in the Digital Age: Hybrid Market Practices and the Reconfiguration of Social Capital among Tanah Abang Traders

Afifah Azmi; Anton Prastowo Ahmad

Authors

Afifah Azmi State University of Jakarta, Indonesia
Anton Prastowo Ahmad State University of Jakarta, Indonesia

Keywords:

Digital Economy, Embedded Economy, Hybrid Markets, Market Hybridization, Social Capital

Abstract

This study explores how traders in Southeast Asia’s largest traditional market, Tanah Abang, respond to rapid digital transformation by adopting hybrid market practices that integrate offline and online sales channels. It examines the implications of this strategy for business sustainability, profitability, and the reconfiguration of social capital traditionally built through face-to-face interactions. Using a qualitative single case study, data were gathered from 15–20 traders engaged in hybrid trading for at least one year, employing semi-structured interviews, participant observation in physical stalls and digital platforms (TikTok Shop, Shopee, Tokopedia), and document analysis of advertisements, social media content, and customer reviews. Thematic analysis, guided by the embedded economy framework (Granovetter) and Bourdieu’s concept of social capital, was combined with source triangulation to ensure validity. Findings indicate that hybrid practices expand market reach and diversify revenue streams without dismantling community-embedded economic relationships. Digital platforms enhance efficiency and visibility, while offline interactions preserve trust-based networks and reciprocal obligations. This duality reshapes social capital, with face-to-face ties maintained yet increasingly mediated by digital communication. The study offers a conceptual model of market hybridization, extending socio-economic theory and providing actionable insights for policymakers, market managers, and small business practitioners operating at the intersection of tradition and digitalization.

References

Abdalla, M. M., Oliveira, L. G. L., Azevedo, C. E. F., & Gonzalez, R. K. (2018). Quality in Qualitative Organizational Research: types of triangulation as a methodological alternative. Administração: Ensino e Pesquisa, 19(1), 66–98. https://doi.org/10.13058/raep.2018.v19n1.578

Alexiou, K., Wiggins, J., & Fourkan, M. (2024). Legitimate incongruity: Strategic positioning within hybrid categories. Journal of Business Venturing, 39(4), 106402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2024.106402

Alfiani, F. R. N., & Sara, R. (2024). The Improvement of Digital Literacy to Secure Data and Privacy in the Digital Age. Interdiciplinary Journal and Hummanity (INJURITY), 3(12), 832–839. https://doi.org/10.58631/injurity.v3i12.1374

Aschemann‐Witzel, J., Randers, L., & Pedersen, S. (2023). Retail or consumer responsibility?, Reflections on food waste and food prices among deal‐prone consumers and market actors. Business Strategy and the Environment, 32(4), 1513–1528. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3202

Bally, F., Grandazzi, A., Picard, H., & Daudigeos, T. (2024). Digital and Disembedded? Questioning the Territorial Embeddedness of Local Digital Platforms. Journal of Business Ethics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-024-05886-7

Bonfim, L., & Segatto, A. P. (2024). Markets Gone Hybrid: Institutional Complexity and Work Toward Market Hybridization. BAR - Brazilian Administration Review, 21(3), 113–143. https://doi.org/10.1590/1807-7692bar2024240042

Bourdieu, P. (1993). The Field of Cultural Production. Columbia University Press.

Brown, C., Luzmore, R., O’Donovan, R., Ji, G., & Patnaik, S. (2024). How educational leaders can maximise the social capital benefits of inter-school networks: findings from a systematic review. International Journal of Educational Management, 38(1), 213–264. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-09-2023-0447

Cachón-Rodríguez, G., Blanco-González, A., Prado-Román, C., & Del-Castillo-Feito, C. (2022). How sustainable human resources management helps in the evaluation and planning of employee loyalty and retention: Can social capital make a difference? Evaluation and Program Planning, 95, 102171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2022.102171

Chen, L., Nan, G., Li, M., Feng, B., & Liu, Q. (2023). Manufacturer’s online selling strategies under spillovers from online to offline sales. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 74(1), 157–180. https://doi.org/10.1080/01605682.2022.2032426

De Luca, L. M., Herhausen, D., Troilo, G., & Rossi, A. (2021). How and when do big data investments pay off? The role of marketing affordances and service innovation. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 49(4), 790–810. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-020-00739-x

Djatmiko, G. H., Sinaga, O., & Pawirosumarto, S. (2025). Digital Transformation and Social Inclusion in Public Services: A Qualitative Analysis of E-Government Adoption for Marginalized Communities in Sustainable Governance. Sustainability, 17(7), 2908. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17072908

Doyle, L., McCabe, C., Keogh, B., Brady, A., & McCann, M. (2020). An overview of the qualitative descriptive design within nursing research. Journal of Research in Nursing, 25(5), 443–455. https://doi.org/10.1177/1744987119880234

Duan, S. X., Deng, H., & Wibowo, S. (2023). Exploring the impact of digital work on work–life balance and job performance: a technology affordance perspective. Information Technology & People, 36(5), 2009–2029. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-01-2021-0013

Duan, S. X., Deng, H., & Wibowo, S. (2024). Technology Affordances for Enhancing Job Performance in Digital Work. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 64(2), 232–244. https://doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2023.2188497

Fauzi, D., Purnamasari, U., Wicaksono, S. A., & Maharani, C. (2023). When local customs meet the market: an analysis of coffee value chain in Tebat Benawa customary community, Indonesia. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 21(1), 2231769. https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2023.2231769

Felix, A., & Rembulan, G. D. (2023). Analysis of Key Factors for Improved Customer Experience, Engagement, and Loyalty in the E-Commerce Industry in Indonesia. Aptisi Transactions on Technopreneurship (ATT), 5(2sp SE-Articles), 196–208. https://doi.org/10.34306/att.v5i2sp.350

Gil, J., Martínez, P., & Sequera, J. (2023). The neoliberal tenant dystopia: Digital polyplatform rentierism, the hybridization of platform-based rental markets and financialization of housing. Cities, 137, 104245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2023.104245

Gioia, D. (2021). A Systematic Methodology for Doing Qualitative Research. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 57(1), 20–29. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886320982715

Granovetter, M. (1985). Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology, 91(3), 481–510. https://doi.org/10.1086/228311

Hendren, K., Newcomer, K., Pandey, S. K., Smith, M., & Sumner, N. (2023). How qualitative research methods can be leveraged to strengthen mixed methods research in public policy and public administration? Public Administration Review, 83(3), 468–485. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13528

Latuheru, M. S., Manuputty, F., & Angkotasan, S. (2024). Interactions Between Generations in Digital Literacy Education: A Case of Millennial Families in Suli, Central Maluku. Baileo: Jurnal Sosial Humaniora, 1(2), 141–154. https://doi.org/10.30598/baileofisipvol1iss2pp141-154

Leksono, S., Anam, C., & Firdaus, R. N. (2021). Code of Conduct as an Institutional Instrument to Preserve Traditional Markets. JURNAL APLIKASI MANAJEMEN, 19(4), 812–824. https://doi.org/10.21776/ub.jam.2021.019.04.10

Liu, L., & Chen, J. (2024). Marketing affordance of social media for product innovation: the role of organizational structures. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 43(3), 480–499. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-01-2024-0028

Mandviwalla, M., & Flanagan, R. (2021). Small business digital transformation in the context of the pandemic. European Journal of Information Systems, 30(4), 359–375. https://doi.org/10.1080/0960085X.2021.1891004

Matous, P., & Bodin, Ö. (2024). Hub‐and‐spoke social networks among Indonesian cocoa farmers homogenise farming practices. People and Nature, 6(2), 598–609. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10578

Mohajan, H. K. (2018). Qualitative research methodology in social sciences and related subjects. Journal of Economic Development, Environment and People, 7(1), 23–48. https://doi.org/10.26458/jedep.v7i1.571

Muharam, H., Chaniago, H., Endraria, E., & Harun, A. Bin. (2021). E-Service Quality, Customer Trust and Satisfaction: Market Place Consumer Loyalty Analysis. Jurnal Minds: Manajemen Ide Dan Inspirasi, 8(2), 237. https://doi.org/10.24252/minds.v8i2.23224

Naini, N. F., Sugeng Santoso, Andriani, T. S., Claudia, U. G., & Nurfadillah. (2022). The Effect of Product Quality, Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction on Customer Loyalty. Journal of Consumer Sciences, 7(1), 34–50. https://doi.org/10.29244/jcs.7.1.34-50

Nguyen, T. T. Q., Tran, N. G., & Nguyen, T. T. (2023). Social Capital and Digital Transformation of Startups in Vietnam During the Covid-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Human Capital and Access to Resources. Management Systems in Production Engineering, 31(1), 33–42. https://doi.org/10.2478/mspe-2023-0005

Park, S. M. (2025). Qualitative Research Methods in Ethnic Communities: A Framework for Studying Language and Cultural Preservation. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 12(3), 34–52. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/2185

Permana, C. T., & Winarso, H. (2024). Opportunity for informal business networking to reshape the institutional capacity of community in housing revitalization projects: learning from Bandung and Surakarta, Indonesia. International Planning Studies, 29(3), 213–233. https://doi.org/10.1080/13563475.2024.2357998

Praničević, D. G., Borowicz, A., Talaja, A., & Kuczewska, J. (2023). The digital transformation process in the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic. Management, 28(2), 27–41. https://doi.org/10.30924/mjcmi.28.2.3

Prasetyo, E. H. (2021). Legitimacy building of digital platforms in the informal economy: evidence from Indonesia. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 14(6), 1168–1187. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEEE-02-2021-0073

Prasetyo, E. H. (2024). Digital platforms’ strategies in Indonesia: Navigating between technology and informal economy. Technology in Society, 76, 102414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2023.102414

Rong, K., & Liu, R. (2025). Manufacturer’s modularity and operation performance: the role of digital embeddedness and organization compatibility. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 125(4), 1390–1413. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-07-2024-0683

Sadiq, T., Tulder, R. van, & Maas, K. (2022). Building a Taxonomy of Hybridization: An Institutional Logics Perspective on Societal Impact. Sustainability, 14(16), 10301. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610301

Sarjono, F., & Rudiatin, E. (2022). Informal Cross-Border Trade: Malaysia-Indonesia Borders The Conceptualisation From ‘Authority-Defined’ To “Everyday-Defined.” BASKARA : Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship, 5(1), 108–122. https://doi.org/10.54268/baskara.v5i1.14046

Shandryk, V., Radchenko, O., Radchenko, O., Koshelenko, A., & Deinega, I. (2024). Digitalization as a Global Trend of Public Management Systems Modernization. In R. Shchokin, A. Iatsyshyn, V. Kovach, & A. Zaporozhets (Eds.), Digital Technologies in Education. Studies in Systems, Decision and Control (pp. 3–16). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-57422-1_1

Sharabati, A.-A. A., Ali, A. A. A., Allahham, M. I., Hussein, A. A., Alheet, A. F., & Mohammad, A. S. (2024). The Impact of Digital Marketing on the Performance of SMEs: An Analytical Study in Light of Modern Digital Transformations. Sustainability, 16(19), 8667. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16198667

Silva, A. de S. e. (2023). Hybrid spaces 2.0: Connecting networked urbanism, uneven mobilities, and creativity, in a (post) pandemic world. Mobile Media & Communication, 11(1), 59–65. https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579221132118

Wahidin, D., Utami, I. S., Amalia, A. R., Aqida, A., & Aidah, S. (2025). Opportunities and Challenges of Digital Democracy in Indonesia. Pancasila: Jurnal Keindonesiaan, 5(1), 20–34. https://doi.org/10.52738/pjk.v5i1.723

Xiang, B., Chen, R., & Xu, G. (2022). Uncovering Network Heterogeneity of China’s Three Major Urban Agglomerations from Hybrid Space Perspective-Based on TikTok Check-In Records. Land, 12(1), 134. https://doi.org/10.3390/land12010134

Yazdi, F. A., Mesgarani, M., & Roudari, S. (2022). Natural Resource Rents and Social Capital Interaction: New Evidence on the Role of Financial Development. Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management, 24(01), 12–22. https://doi.org/10.1142/S1464333222500211

Zhang, Q., Cao, W., Liu, Y., & Zhang, Z. (2020). Integration of online and offline channels in retail: feasibility of BOPS? Kybernetes, 50(5), 1588–1620. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-11-2019-0774

Ziółkowska, M. J. (2021). Digital Transformation and Marketing Activities in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. Sustainability, 13(5), 2512. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052512