Search results
1 – 10 of 100Jungkun Park, Dongyoup Kim and Hyowon Hyun
The purpose of this study is to investigate the evaluation of desirability/feasibility and adoption intention for the self-service technology of “older” consumers. This study also…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the evaluation of desirability/feasibility and adoption intention for the self-service technology of “older” consumers. This study also aims to show that the evaluation of desirability/feasibility and adoption intention varies depending on the type of customer value provided by self-service technology. Moreover, the authors improve the understanding of “older” consumers by comparing the adoption behavior through three proxies that express consumer aging: chronological age, subjective age and future time perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This study was performed as an experimental design by manipulating advertisement messages of self-service technology for online grocery shopping according to customer values. There are two analytic methods applied in this study. First, the current study compares the effects of chronological age, subjective age and the future time perspective on the evaluation and adoption intention of self-service technology by using structural equation modeling. Second, this study examines the moderation effect of customer values by conducting a multi-group analysis.
Findings
The results of current research indicate that the future time perspective explains participants’ evaluation and adoption intention of self-service technology compared to chronological age and subjective age. Specifically, participants who perceive their future time to be limited, rather than expansive, negatively assess the expected desirability and feasibility of self-service technology. In addition, the results of the moderation test show that the future time perspective affects more significantly the evaluation and adoption intention of self-service technology when the functional value is emphasized rather than emotional or social value.
Research limitations/implications
The results of this study showed that the effect of future time perspective on expected desirability and feasibility was almost significant in each sub-dimension, but there were relatively few factors influencing trial intention. In this respect, it is necessary to look into the impact of the details of desirability and feasibility along with other variables known to influence the adoption of self-service technology related to aging. It would be meaningful to find and operationalize items that are valid for older consumers, rather than the desirability and feasibility elements typically applied to self-service technology.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the extension of the socioemotional selectivity theory that has been suggested to interpret older consumers’ behaviors. This research applies the concept of future time perspective to the assessment of desirability and feasibility and adoption intention. At the same time, for the marketing managers, the comparison between proxies that represent aging proposes the ways to attract “older” consumers with appropriate emphasis on customer values.
Details
Keywords
Asif Yaseen, Simon Somogyi and Kim Bryceson
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how farmers perceive and exploit business opportunities to foster entrepreneurship in developing country agriculture.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how farmers perceive and exploit business opportunities to foster entrepreneurship in developing country agriculture.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 174 milk producers completed a face-to-face survey within a posttest- pretest research design. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
Results revealed that intentions, channelled through desirability, feasibility and optimism, become a strong predictor to recognise the opportunity to be entrepreneurial; however, the presence of a munificent environment and participation in apprenticeship and training programmes are the main and direct source of exploiting farming business opportunities.
Research limitations/implications
The major limitation of the study is that cross-sectional data collected only from milk producers in Pakistan, signifying a need to include other agricultural sectors across different developing countries for further contextualising the results.
Originality/value
Research on entrepreneurial behaviour among farmers is scant. This study emphasises how cognitive heuristics guide intentions influencing the process of opportunity formation, and a munificent environment and entrepreneurial skills trainings are necessary for starting dairy farming business with modern practices.
Details
Keywords
Joaquín Loras and José Vizcaíno
Entrepreneurial initiative has come to be recognised the world over as a driver of economic and social development. However, there is still a long way to go in terms of…
Abstract
Purpose
Entrepreneurial initiative has come to be recognised the world over as a driver of economic and social development. However, there is still a long way to go in terms of understanding the acquisition of capabilities related to entrepreneurship. In today's society, it is clear that human capital determines the rate at which quality of life improves or declines, as well as the competitiveness of productive systems. Conceptually, engineers might be regarded as vital enablers of change. This paper seeks to address these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire was passed to the students of civil engineering, which contained questions on the desirability of new venture creation or the intention to start up a new business. The questionnaire also asked respondents about the perception of the feasibility of creating a new venture, and the perceived image and economic and social evaluation of the business owner, as well as the prestige and recognition of the figure of the entrepreneur in comparison with other professions. Maintaining this structure enabled the authors to compare the results of this survey with other studies carried out in different fields and moments in time.
Findings
Engineers perceive creativity and innovation as having characteristics that are inherent in the qualities associated with their profession, in the sense that the engineer is someone who uses inventiveness to achieve or carry out objectives. In short, it is a profession that involves the application of ingenuity. However, engineering graduates rarely consider starting up a business as one of their career options upon completing their studies, and will invariably look to work for established firms.
Research limitations/implications
Technical training appears to be an enabler of creativity and an obstacle to business initiative. It would be interesting to analyse this implication over time.
Practical implications
The results of this study indicate a clear demand to complete the entrepreneurial training of civil engineering students. When asked about the possibility or opportunity of complementing their studies with business‐related training, a large part of the sample (43 per cent) were in total agreement, and 29 per cent were generally in favour.
Social implications
It can be concluded that the introduction of subjects that promote business creation in a technical degree course, such as engineering, is both necessary and desirable.
Originality/value
With a view to identifying the attitudes and beliefs amongst engineers towards business creation, this paper analyses the desirability, feasibility and intention to create a new firm, as well as the image and perception of the figure of the business owner, and the personal characteristics of civil engineering students as entrepreneurs.
Details
Keywords
Asif Yaseen, Muhamamd Abid Saleem, Sadaf Zahra and Muhammad Israr
Promoting entrepreneurship within agri-food sectors in developing countries can be a viable strategy towards economic development. Predicting which factors will foster…
Abstract
Purpose
Promoting entrepreneurship within agri-food sectors in developing countries can be a viable strategy towards economic development. Predicting which factors will foster entrepreneurial behaviour is somewhat complex. Specifically, a deeper understanding of precursory effects on entrepreneurial behaviour is required to enhance entrepreneurship in the agri-food sectors. This paper aims to explore what predicts the entrepreneurial decisions in the dairy industry of Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach
The research used an integrative framework built on the entrepreneurial event model and determinants of entrepreneurial intention. Using a partial least square approach to structural equation model estimation, this study tested a conceptual model and its hypotheses based on 174 cases sampled from Pakistan’s dairy industry.
Findings
The research showed that intention is a strong predictor to start entrepreneurial activities in the Pakistani dairy industry. Amongst precursory factors, perceived feasibility, readiness and conviction were found strongly linked to intention when explaining the causes of entrepreneurial start-ups. Surprisingly, the impact of attitude and triggering event was not significant in explaining the phenomenon under investigation.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that training and education programmes can enhance critical perceptions such as desirability, feasibility and conviction among farmers to become entrepreneur. For this purpose, government should establish dairy incubation centres in different cities and transform agricultural extension department to help farmers understand market-oriented dairy farming businesses and build their capacity in farm entrepreneurship.
Originality/value
This research attempted to shed light on fostering entrepreneurship in the context of agri-food sectors in developing countries such as Pakistan’s dairy industry.
Details
Keywords
Khalid Alammari, Robert Newbery, Mohamed Yacine Haddoud and Emily Beaumont
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how cultural values influence the entrepreneurial process. It conceptualises the relationship between post-materialistic values and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how cultural values influence the entrepreneurial process. It conceptualises the relationship between post-materialistic values and entrepreneurial intention to explain low entrepreneurial activity.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted in Saudi Arabia with non-entrepreneurs. An online survey returned 405 valid questionnaires, representing a 27 per cent response rate. The data were analysed using partial least structural equation modelling.
Findings
The paper identifies key factors that explain the influence of changing cultural values on entrepreneurial activity. The results show that post-materialistic values influence entrepreneurial intention by decreasing desirability and entrepreneurial self-efficacy.
Research limitations/implications
The study conceptualises the interplay between cultural values and entrepreneurial intention in Saudi Arabia. Further insights can be developed by comparing Saudi Arabia with other countries. The study was conducted as a “snapshot” of the current situation of entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia with a cross-sectional survey design.
Practical implications
The paper holds important implications for entrepreneurship educators when addressing unsupportive cultures for entrepreneurial activity. Cultural and motivational approaches are suggested. While the former focuses on aspects that encourage the desire and confidence to start a business, the latter involves encouraging setting venture creation as a goal.
Originality/value
Previous studies indicated that post-materialistic values negatively influence entrepreneurship; this paper contributes further by exploring how this relationship manifests by exploring the intervening factors between post-materialistic values and entrepreneurial intention. It advances entrepreneurship research by investigating deep assumptions underlying the formulation of entrepreneurial intentions. It also responds to the need to understand the difference in the levels of entrepreneurial activity across countries.
Details
Keywords
Mohammad Saud Khan, Bronwyn Pamela Wood, Sarfraz Dakhan and Asif Nawaz
This paper aims to examine female entrepreneurship perceptions at the nexus of understandings of Muslim behaviour in Pakistan, the “formula” of Shapero for considering…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine female entrepreneurship perceptions at the nexus of understandings of Muslim behaviour in Pakistan, the “formula” of Shapero for considering entrepreneurial intentions and the viewpoints of young Pakistani women.
Design/methodology/approach
Data collected from 555 women between 18 and 30 years of age, undertaking tertiary-level business studies in Pakistan constitute the sample of the study, and structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
This study finds that the respondents’ perceptions of Islam positively impact the formula at the feasibility component, whilst also inverting the desirability component, therefore, resulting in a “does not equal” outcome for intentions.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work is one of the first to empirically examine the role of Islamic perception in shaping entrepreneurial intentions through the individual components of desirability, feasibility and propensity to act. It puts forth contextual deliberations for a meaningful heterodoxy in light of female entrepreneurship in an Islamic country.
Details
Keywords
Cheng Xu, Jooyoung Park and Jacob C. Lee
This research investigates the novel questions of whether and how specific forms of shopping channels (online vs offline) influence consumers' decision-making. Moreover, this…
Abstract
Purpose
This research investigates the novel questions of whether and how specific forms of shopping channels (online vs offline) influence consumers' decision-making. Moreover, this research investigates marketing firms' proper marketing strategies across different shipping channels.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted three studies using a large sample (N = 703) recruited from a diverse pool (students and adults) that examined multiple products (camera and car) across different shopping channels (online vs offline). Study 1a (n = 251) and Study 1b (n = 252) examined the effect of an online versus offline channel on consumers' decision-making using a one-factor (shopping channel: online vs offline) between-subjects design. Meanwhile, Study 2 (n = 200) investigated the effective strategies that firms should employ across different shopping channels using a 2 (shopping channel: online vs offline) × 2 (mental simulation: outcome vs process) between-subjects design. Participants in the online condition evaluated the product on a computer screen, whereas participants in the offline condition evaluated the real product assuming a real-world retail store setting.
Findings
The three studies supported the predictions that shopping channels (online vs offline) affect consumers' psychological distance and, in turn, affect their decision process. Specifically, results reveal that the online (offline) channel increases (decreases) psychological distance and leads consumers to pay more attention to a product's desirability (feasibility) aspects.
Originality/value
Given that many firms sell the same products through multiple channels, the findings of this research offer insightful theoretical and practical implications.
Details
Keywords
Nguyen T. Thai and Ulku Yuksel
This paper aims to find out what product features become salient when consumers are exposed to many market offerings, demonstrating how choice set size influences construal…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to find out what product features become salient when consumers are exposed to many market offerings, demonstrating how choice set size influences construal mindset, which then affects the type of product consumers choose.
Design/methodology/approach
Experiment 1 provides preliminary evidence that being exposed to a large (vs small) choice set may drive people to focus more on the feasibility (i.e. a secondary feature) of a product and less on the desirability (i.e. a primary feature) when making a choice. Experiment 2 unveils the serial mediating roles of construal level and importance of price/design.
Findings
Consumers are more likely to select feasible (i.e. affordable) market offerings and not desirable (i.e. well-designed) ones when choosing from a large (vs small) choice set. This effect is serially mediated by mental construals and by the importance of price or design. Choosing from a large (vs small) choice set leads to low-level mental construals, which increase the importance of price (a feasibility attribute) while decreasing the importance of design (a desirability attribute), resulting in choice of feasible (affordable) market offerings over well-designed ones.
Research limitations/implications
Although consumers generally focus on the desirability of a choice or an action, choosing from large choice sets makes them focus more on the feasibility of market offerings because of low-level mental construals.
Practical implications
In today’s era of e-commerce, as consumers are exposed to too many product offerings, retailers should emphasize the feasibility of their market offerings (e.g. affordability) to increase the chance that consumers purchase their products. This research shows that people rely very much on product price to make selections when provided with a large choice set.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to show that large choice sets make consumers choose affordable products over well-designed ones and introduces the serial mediation effect of construal level and importance of price/design. Accordingly, this research establishes that large choice sets activate low-level mental construals, which associate with a feasibility mindset that ultimately makes consumers choose an affordable product instead of a well-designed one. It adds to the literature on choice overload by showing that the importance of price overshadows the importance of design (aesthetics) when people are exposed to large choice sets.
Details
Keywords
Kostas Galanakis and Paraskevi Giourka
The purpose of this paper is to synthesise the socioeconomic context, personality, knowledge and social capital into a systemic framework, named the “entrepreneurial path” that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to synthesise the socioeconomic context, personality, knowledge and social capital into a systemic framework, named the “entrepreneurial path” that demonstrates the process of transforming initial entrepreneurial intentions to a growing venture. This systemic framework decouples the overall complexity of the entrepreneurial realisation to three main subsystems: entrepreneurial intentions and venture idea formation; barriers of transition from nascent to active entrepreneur; and active and growing ventures.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper employs a systemic thinking approach to decouple the complexity of the subject. Survey techniques and digital social network discussion forums were used for the collection of primary qualitative data from multiple stakeholders.
Findings
The conceptual framework, named the entrepreneurial path, highlights the importance of different factors at each stage of the entrepreneurial realisation. Especially the importance of factors such as perceived desirability, feasibility, self-efficacy, network ties and social capital has been identified as central. Needs for managerial skills and resources for the new venture come to play only on the later stage. Each of those factors though, plays a distinctive role in the different stages of the realisation and in dependence to the maturity of the entrepreneurial context.
Research limitations/implications
Further research may examine whether these factors that have been identified by successful entrepreneurs and stakeholders are reflecting the experience for those who have not been successful in their effort to create their venture.
Practical implications
The entrepreneurial path provides a supportive tool for: academics designing focussed entrepreneurship education programmes and research; managers in intermediate structures to identify the specific needs of nascent and early-stage entrepreneurs in comparison to the needs of entrepreneurs in the growth stage; and for policy makers prioritising on supportive structures and institutions directing their actions to specific stages or barriers of the process or creating holistic and evolving structures based on the maturity of the entrepreneurial context.
Originality/value
The decoupling of the process of transforming initial entrepreneurial intentions to a growing venture demonstrates that different approaches are required in order to foster each one of the factors identified. Focussing on activities and resources on one stage at the time, or presenting parallel activities that reflect the different level of maturity of regions, institutions, individuals and societal perceptions may provide better service to nascent and active entrepreneurs, than considering treating entrepreneurial intentions as a unified process.
Details
Keywords
Intentions capture the motivational factors that influence a given behavior and indicate how hard a person is willing to try in order to perform the behavior. An individual's…
Abstract
Purpose
Intentions capture the motivational factors that influence a given behavior and indicate how hard a person is willing to try in order to perform the behavior. An individual's entrepreneurial intentions are a function of the perceived feasibility and desirability of engaging in a particular entrepreneurial behavior. Because they are perceptual factors, the processes of assessing feasibility and desirability of entrepreneurial behaviors tends to be limited to the cognitive abilities of the specific individual. The purpose of this paper is to use an experimental manipulation to illustrate to students how the simple act of planning can dramatically influence entrepreneurial intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws from two sections of undergraduate study-abroad students who developed a severe craving for American foods they missed. Both sections assessed the desirability and feasibility of a particular entrepreneurial behavior (organizing an event to get the missed food), but one section was provided with a half-hour of classroom time to plan for the event.
Findings
The group of students who engaged in planning activities was significantly more likely to view the behavior as feasible and, in turn, had significantly higher intentions to engage in the behavior. This experiment provided a simple but powerful demonstration to students of how important a role planning plays in shaping entrepreneurial intentions.
Originality/value
This study offers a pedagogy that uses students both as participants and the primary audience of a manipulation of perceived feasibility and entrepreneurial intentions. Conducting this simple experiment and sharing the results with students provides dramatic evidence of the power of simple planning.
Details