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Research on franchise system survival has focused on analyzing organizational failure. However, there are two types of market exit: organizational failure and franchise discontinuance, but little research has distinguished between the two. The purpose of this study is to examine whether different factors explain these types of exit. Apart from the common factors included in previous research (age, size, upfront fee, royalty rate and ownership structure), this paper aims to add system growth and its interaction with age and size.

The paper uses data about franchise systems in Spain from 1986 to 2004 from the catering and fashion sectors and applies the Cox survival model to test the hypotheses.

The paper finds that system growth rates and system size only influence franchise discontinuance. Both the youngest and the oldest firms show the lowest risk of discontinuing franchising. The results are similar to those found in previous research that uses the two types of market exit as synonymous.

The article findings suggest that it is important to define franchise survival.

This research identifies what franchisors can do to continue in the market. An important result is that young and small franchisors should grow at a moderate rate. They should learn first how to manage a few units before becoming a large network.

This research examines the differences between two types of market exit (organizational failure and franchise discontinuance) and their drivers from the franchisor's perspective. This research contributes to the franchising literature by analyzing the effect of growth on survival. Additionally, the moderating effect of size and age on growth on the two types of market exits is included.

Pervasive mobile games (PMG) expand the game context into the real world, spatially, temporally and socially. The most prominent example to date is Pokémon Go (PGo), which in the first 12 months of its launch achieved over 800 million downloads and huge revenues for Pokémon, its majority owner Nintendo, and its developer Niantic. Like many mobile apps and innovative services, PGo's revenue structure requires continual usage (through in-app purchases and sponsorships) as it is free to download. Thus, as many players discontinued after initial adoption, substantial drops in Nintendo's share price occurred alongside the damage to brand equity. Such a case highlights the need to extend scholarship beyond traditional ‘adoption’ and begin to truly illustrate and explain the consumer behaviour phenomenon of ‘discontinuance’, particularly in the emerging and lucrative domain of PMGs.

Like many emerging marketing channels before it, large-scale discontinuance of PGo occurred and still remains unexplained in the academic literature. Herein, we address this shortcoming through a consumer case study methodology analysing a variety of data sources pertaining to PGo in Australia.

The development of the P2D_PMG model provides a new conceptual framework to illustrate the distinct forms discontinuance manifests in, for the first time. Scholarly rigour of the P2D_PMGs is achieved through validating and extending Soliman and Rinta-Kahila's (2020) framework for ‘discontinuance’ through its five forms. These forms are revealed as access and on-boarding (rejection), disconfirmation and hedonic adaptation (regressive discontinuance), technological, social, third parties, and personal issues (quitting), re-occurrences of hedonic adaptation (temporary), and alternatives and iterations (replacement).

Conceptual contributions are made in developing a model to explain what drives PMG discontinuance and when it occurs. This is particularly crucial for products with revenue structures built on continual usage, instead of initial adoption. In deriving data from actual players and aggregate user behaviour over an extended time period, the innovative case study methodology validates new discontinuance research in a manner other methods cannot. Managerial implications highlight the importance of CX, alpha/beta testing, promotion and research, gameplay design and collaboration/community engagement.

Franchising manifests a bundle of risks created by the delegation of functions as both franchisor and franchisee exploit their respective comparative advantage. The galvanization of this advantage is governed by the franchise agreement and optimized by the effectiveness of the governance structure. This chapter considers the concept of risk and discusses its implications in valuing franchisee-operated businesses. It examines how risks arise, where they congregate and synthesizes the specific franchising issues relating to risk-adjusted cashflows, risk analysis, risk mitigation, and risk pricing. The authors propose that risks in franchising are multi-layered and hierarchical. Consequently, this relationship is represented in a Franchise Risk Ecology (FRE) comprising risks inherent in the market, the franchisor, the system, the industry, and within the franchisee-operated business.

Although Australian franchising sector regulation promotes system disclosure and provides for mandatory conflict mediation, there is some concern that inequities exist within the conflict management process. From 2006 to 2008 no less than four government inquiries into franchising took place in Australia in an attempt to resolve problems occurring in the sector. A major issue was that of the perceived imbalance of power in the franchisor‐franchisee relationship, which often results in conflict between the two parties. The purpose of this paper is to extend the conflict literature in dyadic exchange relationships through investigating the causes of conflict from the franchisor and franchisee perspectives.

Exploratory research is undertaken to identify the major causes of franchising conflict. Face‐to‐face interviews are conducted with 24 franchising experts, such as lawyers and mediators, to draw upon their considerable experience in the sector.

The key findings suggest that a lack of due diligence is associated with the formation of unrealistic expectations which increases the potential for future relational conflict. Although franchising experience impacts upon operational approaches and conflict, the role played by third parties and market conditions both appear to exacerbate dissatisfaction in franchise systems.

This research is exploratory and therefore the findings are tentative. The preliminary conceptual models will be tested in a large quantitative survey of key franchising stakeholders in the near future.

With the Australian franchising sector presently under intense scrutiny by regulators this research is timely and important. It is expected that the findings will provide government and industry representatives with a more balanced understanding of the causes of franchising conflict so that preventative action may be taken.

Mobile apps usually have a short lifespan, and this prevents the majority from surviving long enough to generate revenue for their developers. To address this issue, this study aims to recognize the role of engagement and immersion and develops a cognitive-affective theoretical framework to associate these factors with the lifespan of an app. Moreover, the authors focus on gaming apps because of their dominance on mobile platforms, and because a few of them become lucrative while the majority perish within a few weeks.

This study uses a longitudinal survey-based approach to collect data on one of the popular gaming apps (Pokémon Go), which received international attention. The design focuses on identifying factors that extend the lifespan of the app and affects users’ decision to continue or stop using the app over time. The authors use the survival analysis and structural equation modeling to analyze the theoretical framework.

The authors find the centrality of the users’ experience of immersion to extend the mobile app lifespan. Engagement influences immersion and immersion predicts users’ decision to continue or stop using the app. Users’ experience of immersion increases the probability of the apps’ survival by 12%.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the only study that proposes a theoretical framework, meticulously investigates the factors that can lead to survival of a mobile app and uses longitudinal data for the empirical analysis.

Framed within the theoretical domain of attribution theory, this study aims to investigate the antecedents of experienced regret following an entrepreneur’s business failure (defined as firm discontinuance, closure or bankruptcy) and the impact of regret on personal well-being.

The population of interest was business owners whose businesses had failed within the past five years. The data was collected from 319 failed entrepreneurs using an online survey. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses presented in this study.

External attribution, including economic uncertainty and contract restrictions, was positively related to feelings of regret. Considering internal attribution, due diligence had a positive effect on regret whereas customer relationship development ability can reduce feelings of regret. Moreover, prevention-focused entrepreneurs were likely to experience higher levels of regret when engaging in extensive consideration in using information. Finally, regret had a detrimental effect on the entrepreneurs’ well-being.

The research provides fresh perspectives on experienced regret, a relatively unexplored emotion in the entrepreneurship literature. In the context of small business operations, the locus of attribution (associated with business failure) is the key influence on learning following failed business attempts.

This study extends current knowledge of regret in the context of entrepreneurial failure, which has a significant catalytic effect on employment and entrepreneurial mobility.

This research sheds light on how emotional responses are derived from an entrepreneur’s self-assessment of their performance and attribution of blame for failure.

This paper describes the status quo of the Austrian franchise situation. Judging from current trends, the future of franchising seems to have a bright outlook in Austria. The growth in franchising is a result not only of the increasing number of homegrown systems, but also of the influx of foreign franchise systems. Recently, there has been an increase in information and consulting activities as a result of the growing demand. Owing to the fact that little research on franchising in Austria has been done so far, there is a wide area for further investigation on this subject.

The reason patrons cease to attend sporting events is not well understood. The purpose of this paper is to examine how factors motivate and inhibit patronage from continuing.

A random sample of a sport franchise's fan database (n=308) is drawn. First, respondent data refines measures and tests a structural equation model of direct and indirect links to patronage. Next, content analysis classifies spectators according to self‐stated barriers to continuance. These groupings then check the moderating role constraints have on patron attitude and behaviour.

Structural work confirms both direct and indirect links but notes that consumption primarily took an indirect route, with motivational desires rousing fan involvement and media use before increasing attendance. Group differences verify constraints and limit patronage but do not dampen product‐related attitude.

The study helps clarify the connection between media use and attendance, describing how constraints impede spectator consumption. Study limitations include a focus on one hedonic service setting and the use of cross‐sectional data to examine ongoing phenomena.

Negotiating barriers to repeat purchase remains largely overlooked as a foundation for guiding strategy. Practical implications consider integrating both motives and constraints when marshalling efforts that build continuance.

Despite early interest from marketing practitioners, factors that inhibit patronage have drawn little attention. This study employs content and path analysis to address the matter.

Considers the main arguments on the question of the effect of the adoption of trading stamps on retail prices. Reveals from the studies that under normal conditions trading stamps are an effective and worthwhile form of promotion to the retailer and the consumer.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company's future strength depends on improving its long‐term earnings potential. To enhance its profitability, they must