Similarities and Differences in UK and US Franchise Research Data: Towards a Dynamic Model of Franchisee Motivation

Abstract

PROFESSOR JOHN STANWORTH IS DIRECTOR of the International Franchise Research Centre, at the University of Westminster, England, and Professor Patrick Kaufmann is associate professor of marketing at Georgia State University, USA. The dominant quest for 'independence' (and allied intrinsic satisfactions) among those entering self-employment has been well-documented in the UK, the USA and elsewhere. This appears to hold true for those entering franchising as well as those staging an entry into more conventional small businesses. However, in addition to this, franchising, as a 'tried-and-tested' business format is designed to appeal to motives of economic security far sooner than would normally be the case in a small business career. Additionally, franchisors frequently acknowledge the changing developmental nature of franchisee motivation over the lifespan of a career in franchising and yet, to date, no theoretical framework has been developed to aid an understanding of the dynamic and changing nature of franchisee motivation and its behavioural implications. This current paper represents a first stage attempt at construction of a motivational model capable of being extended through the full career of a franchisee. The research reported here examines data drawn from 728 face-to-face interviews with individuals ('potential franchisees') attending franchise exhibitions held in London, England, and Washington DC, USA, during the spring of 1994. The results indicate marked similarities. The sample is disaggregated into three distinct sub-samples which are then treated as cross-sectional in terms of their socialisation into patterns of motives normally associated with self-employment. The model which emerges is seen as being capable of being extended through the entire career of a franchisee and the paper points to areas of future research required to develop further this process of model construction.

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