The post-lunch session at the SEASON 2026 conference in Hamburg starts with a paper by Thao Laavunen, who begins by noting the changing information sourcing practices from traditional business information sources via search engines to new digital and AI-enhanced sources today. This provides immediate access to substantial information quantities, new opportunities to identify markets and solve problems, and greater decision-making independence in business.
But greater access to information isn’t equal to better decision-making: the evaluation of the quality and relevance of sources is still critical, of course, and information overload, credibility uncertainties, algorithmic and commercial shaping of information provision, and unevenly distributed search and evaluation skills remain significant problems.
Critical literacy is core, therefore; this includes both information and digital literacy now, as the processes by which search results are produced are just as important as the processes that generated the source information itself. Such critical literacy must be developed through interaction with information environments, both through individual interpretation and the development of shared understandings – this combines subjectivity and intersubjectivity, therefore, and is a life-long process.
How do search engines shape such behaviours amongst entrepreneurs, and how do they develop their literacies? The context here is Finland and Vietnam, where small and micro-businesses are especially important to the national economy, and this study engaged in 19 semi-structured interviews with Finnish and Vietnamese entrepreneurs who were sole traders or working in small enterprises.
Five dimensions of critical literacy emerged from this: translating business problems into effective search queries; moving beyond search results to verify information through complementary sources; evaluating credibility, quality, and motives; recognising algorithmic influence on visibility; and interpreting information within the specific business context. This can also be visualised as a decision tree, which takes different pathways based on entrepreneurs’ prior knowledge, satisfaction with the information encountered, and subsequent information verification needs.
Critical literacy development splits into a mixed learning method and predominantly self-directed learning: roughly half of them drew on some degree of formal education (from university courses, business workshops, or industry training) combined with learnings from their everyday practice; the other half developed their critical literacy through leaning by doing, and repeated trial and error processes.
A framework for critical literacy development would thus involve problem recognition , information practices, feedback and reflection, and revised judgment and actions; this must take into account context, social and relational influences, material requirements, and motivational aspects.
The resulting critical literacy would then enable them to search strategically, evaluate and verify results, combine search engines with other sources, and apply the information encountered within specific contexts. Entrepreneurship education needs to reflect this, and combine formal education with networking and peer learning.
