SBANC Newsletter
April
5, 2005
Issue
366-2005
QUOTE
"We
see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are
the hosts. It's our job every day to make every important aspect
of the customer experience a little bit better."
-- Jeff Bezos
FEATURE
PAPER
Gender Difference And
The Formation Of Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy
This
paper was presented by Sanjib Chowdhury and Megan Lee Endres
of Eastern Michigan University at the
joint meeting of the United States Association for Small Business
and
Entrepreneurship
and the Small Business Institute in Indian Wells, California
on January 13-16, 2005.
Women-owned
ventures are increasingly becoming significant for the US economy,
yet studies regarding factors relevant for
the growth and success of these businesses are rare. Women entrepreneurs
are generally suggested to have characteristics somewhat different
from their male counterparts. Besides several unique individual
characteristics, researchers propose that women’s self-confidence
of being an entrepreneur is less than men’s.
Self-efficacy is one’s
confidence in performing a specific task is an important topic
for entrepreneurship. Research suggests
that self-efficacy helps develop both entrepreneurial intentions
and actions. In addition, individual perception of business knowledge
and financial knowledge help build entrepreneurial self-confidence.
Hence, the contribution of this study is based on the tenet that
self-efficacy is vital in nurturing entrepreneurial motivation
among prospective entrepreneurs. Data from 67 undergraduate and
graduate students were used to examine gender difference of forming
entrepreneurial self-efficacy formation. We then provide a discussion
of the findings and implications for future research and practice.
Women in Entrepreneurship and Self-efficacy
In today’s business environment, the entrepreneurship sector
is viewed as a significant for economic growth. However, the history
of entrepreneurship research is mainly based on evidence of male
entrepreneurs (Birley, 1989). In reality, women entrepreneurs are
increasingly becoming significant contributors to the entrepreneurial
growth around the world. Hisrich and his associates (2004) point
out the latest data of the Census Bureau and the Small Business
Administration’s office of Advocacy to show the growth and
importance of women owned businesses. While women entrepreneurial
activities play an important role, research suggest that women
entrepreneurs have less self-confidence than their male counterparts
(Hisrich, 1986).
Research also suggests
that self-efficacy play a significant role in entrepreneurship
(Boyd and Vozikis, 1994; Markman, Balkin, and
Baron, 2002). Self-efficacy is defined as one’s level of
confidence in performing a specific task and is the central cognitive
motivator predicting behavior (Bandura, 1997). Many empirical studies
have found a positive relationship between self-efficacy and entrepreneurial
action (Chen, Green, and Crick, 1998; Markman, et al., 2002; Bradley
and Roberts, 2004).
Given the above discussion, the current study contributes to the
entrepreneurship literature by studying gender difference in self-efficacy
formation. While there are many similarities between male and female
entrepreneurs, previous research has suggested some important differences.
Specifically, female entrepreneurs are suggested to be different
from their male counterpart in terms of age, educational background,
financial skills, and more importantly in terms of self-efficacy.
Read the Entire Paper...
TIP
OF THE WEEK
Understanding Psychological
Influences On Customers
Needs
Needs are often described as the starting point for all behavior.
Without needs, there would be no behavior. Although consumer needs
are innumerable, they can be identified as falling into four categories—physiological,
social, psychological, and spiritual.
Consumers’ needs are never completely satisfied, thereby ensuring
the continued existence of business. One of the more complexity characteristics
of needs is the way in which they function together in generating
behavior. In other words, various needs operate simultaneously, making
it difficult to determine which need is being satisfied by a specific
product or service. Nevertheless, careful assessment of the needs—behavior
connection can be very helpful in developing marketing strategy.
Different purchases of the same product satisfy different needs.
For example, consumers purchase food products in supermarkets to
satisfy physiological needs. But they also purchase food in status
restaurants to satisfy their social and/or psychological needs. Also,
certain foods are demanded by specific market segments to satisfy
those consumers' religious, or spiritual, needs. A needs-based strategy
would result in a different marketing approach in each of these situations.
Perceptions
A second psychological factor, perception, encompasses those individual
processes that ultimately give meaning to the stimuli confronting
consumers. When this meaning is severely distorted or entirely
blocked, consumer perception can cloud a small firm’s marketing
effort and make it ineffective. For example, a retailer may mark
its fashion clothing “on sale” to communicate a price
reduction from usual levels, but customers’ perceptions may
be that “these clothes are out of style.”
Perception is a two-sided coin. It depends on the characteristics
of both the stimulus and the perceiver. Consumers attempt to manage
huge quantities of incoming stimuli through perceptual categorization,
a process by which things that are similar are perceived as belonging
together. Therefore, if a small business wishes to position its product
alongside an existing brand and have it accepted as comparable, the
marketing mix should reflect an awareness of perceptual categorization.
Similar quality can be communicated through similar prices or through
a package design with a color scheme similar to that of an existing
brand. These techniques will help a consumer fit the new product
into the desired product category.
Small firms that use an existing brand name for a new product are
relying on perceptual categorization to pre-sell the new product.
If, on the other hand, the new product is generically different or
of a different quality, a unique brand name should be selected to
create a unique perceptual categorization by the consumer.
If a consumer has strong
brand loyalty to a product, it is difficult for other brands to
penetrate his or her perceptual barriers. That
individual is likely to have distorted images of competing brands
because of a pre-existing attitude. Consumers’ perceptions
thus present a unique communication challenge.
Motivations
Unsatisfied needs create tension within an individual. When this
tension reaches a certain level, the individual becomes uncomfortable
and is motivated to reduce the tension.
Everyone is familiar with hunger pains, which are manifestations
of the tension created by an unsatisfied physiological need. What
directs a person to obtain food so that the hunger pains can be relieved?
The answer is motivation. Motivations are goal-directed forces that
organize and give direction to tension caused by unsatisfied needs.
Marketers cannot create needs, but they can offer unquiet motivations
to consumers. If an acceptable reason for purchasing a product or
service is provided, it will probably be internalized by the consumer
as a motivating force. The key for the marketer is to determine which
motivations the consumer will perceive as acceptable in a given situation.
The answer is found through an analysis of other consumer behavior
variables.
Like physiological needs,
the other three classes of needs—social,
psychological, and spiritual—can be similarly connected to
behavior through motivations. For example, when incomplete satisfaction
of a person’s social needs is creating tension, a firm may
show how its product can fulfill those social needs by providing
acceptable motivations to that person. A campus clothing store might
promote styles that communicate that the college student wearing
those clothes has obtained membership in a group such as a fraternity
or sorority.
Understanding motivations is not easy. Several motivations maybe
present in any situation, and they are often subconscious. However,
they must be investigated in order for the marketing effort to be
successful.
Attitudes
Like the other psychological variables, attitudes cannot be observed,
but everyone has them. Do attitudes imply knowledge? Do they imply
feelings of good or bad, favorable or unfavorable? Does an attitude
have a direct impact on behavior? The answer to each of these questions
is a resounding yes. An attitude is an enduring opinion, based
on a combination of knowledge, feeling, and behavioral tendency.
An attitude may act as an obstacle or a catalyst in bringing a customer
to a product. For example, consumers with the belief that a local,
family-run grocery store has higher prices than a national supermarket
chain may avoid the local store. Armed with an understanding of the
structure of a particular attitude, a marketer can approach the consumer
more intelligently.
Longenecker,
J., Moore,
C., Palich, L., & Petty, J. "Small Business Management." 13
ed. p. 298-300. Mason, Ohio: Thomson South-Western.
CONFERENCES
East
Tennessee State University Office of Professional Development
and Business & Economic Development
The East Tennessee State University Office of Professional Development
and Business & Economic Development is holding its
Second Annual Conference on Global Entrepreneurship and Business
Incubation at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia on
April 20-23, 2005. The theme for the Conference is "Opening
the Doors to International Commerce."
For more information, visit: http://business.etsu.edu/bureau/international_conference_on_entrepreneurship_and_business_incubation.htm
Allied
Academies International Conference
The Allied Academies will hold its 2005 International meeting at
the Hilton Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. Presentation dates will be
April 14 - 16, 2005, with registration on the evening of April 13.
Allied Academies has extended the submission deadline for those of
you who could use some extra time. The award submission deadline
is now March 14.
For more information, visit: http://www.alliedacademies.org/memphis-call.html
International Council for Small Business 50th World
Conference
The International Council for Small Business (ICSB) is holding its
50th World Conference at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Washington,
D.C. on June 15-18, 2005. The theme for the Conference is “Golden
Opportunities for Entrepreneurship.”
For more information, visit: http://www.usasbe.org/icsb/icsb_reg.asp
European
Marketing Academy
The European Marketing Academy is holding its 34th EMAC Conference at the Universita
Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Milan, Italy on May 24-27, 2005. The conference seeks
to promote an intensive exchange of ideas, insights and research results covering
all major areas of marketing.
For more information, visit: http://www.emac2005.org
5th
Annual Hawaii International Conference on Business
The 5th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Business will be held at Waikiki
Beach Marriott, Honolulu, Hawaii on May 26-29, 2005. Topic areas include: accounting,
agribusiness, agricultural economics, business communications, business education,
business ethics, business law, and more.
For more information, visit: http://www.hicbusiness.org/cfp_bus.htm
CALL
FOR PAPERS
Academy
of Business & Adminstrative Sciences
The Academy of Business & Adminstrative Sciences will hold its 8th
ABAS International Conference at the Pavillon La Laurentienne at
the Université Laval in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada on July
20-22, 2005. Topics include: International Business, Management Science,
Finance, Management Information Systems, Computer Information Systems,
Information Science, Marketing.
Submission Deadline: April 8, 2005
For more information, visit: http://www.sba.muohio.edu/abas/new/fixed.html
The CIBER Research Institute
The CIBER Research Institute is holding its EABR Conference (business & economics)
and TLC Conference (teaching methods, styles, and administration)
at the Aressana Hotel in Santorini Island, Greece on June 20-22,
2005. For both conferences, there is a best paper award for the best
paper in each session. Papers winning the best paper award will be
reviewed for possible publication in one of the Institute's five
academic journals. Papers not winning a best paper award may be submitted
for possible publication.
Submission Deadline: May 15, 2005
For more information, visit: http://www.ciberinstitute.org/EEmain.htm
Direct Marketing
Educational Foundation
The Direct Marketing Educational Foundation is holding its 17th Annual DMEF Educators'
Conference at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, in Atlanta, Georgia on October,
16-19, 2005.
Topics include: Communication Strategies, Consumer Behavior in Interactive Environments,
Interactive Channels, etc.
Submission Deadline: May 2, 2005
For more information, visit: http://www.ciberinstitute.org/EEmain.htm
International Academy of Business and Economics
The International Academy of Business and Economics (IABE) will hold
its next annual conference at the
Boardwalk Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on October
16-19, 2005.
Submission Deadline: May 31, 2005
For more information, visit: http://www.iabe.org/
Atlantic Marketing Association
The Atlantic Marketing Association will hold its Annual Meeting at
the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem, Massachusetts, USA on September 28-October
1, 2005.
Submission Deadline: April 18, 2005
For more information, visit: http://www.atlanticmarketing.org/index_frameset.htm
ANNOUNCEMENTS
In Memory
of Max Wortman
It is with great sadness
that we pass along the message that Max Wortman has passed away. He was
a mentor to many of us and a great friend
of USASBE. He died at 12:30 a.m. on Friday, March 25. He had a stroke in
his sleep and never regained consciousness. We will all miss Max. He gave
much to us all and his legacy lives in those many people whom he helped
along the way. The Memorial for Max will be Sunday, April 17, 2005 at the
Collegiate Presbyterian Church in Ames, Iowa. Max’s widow is Cora
Wortman. Her phone number is 515-232-0915 in Ames. The address is 3010
Kellogg Avenue, Ames, IA 50010.
The SBANC Newsletter is provided as
a service to the members of our affiliates:
Academy of Collegiate Marketing Educators (ACME), Association
for Small Business& Entrepreneurship (ASBE), Decision
Sciences Institute (DSI), Federation of Business
Disciplines (FBD), International Council for
Small Business Congress (ICSB), Institute
for Supply Management, The International Small Business
Congress (ISBC), Marketing Management Association
(MMA), Small Business
Administration
(SBA), Service Corps of Retired Executives,
Small Business Institute (SBI), Society for
Marketing Advances (SMA), United States Association
for Small Business & Entrepreneurship
(USASBE), and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
If you are interested
in membership or would like
further information on one of our affiliates,
please see our web site at http://www.sbaer.uca.edu
SBANC STAFF
Main Office Phone: (501) 450-5300
Dr. Don B. Bradley III, Executive
Director of SBANC & Professor
of Marketing
Direct Phone: (501) 450-5345, E-mail: donb@uca.edu
Esther
Mead, Co-Lead Development Director, E-mail: estherledelle@yahoo.com
Amanda Harris, Development Intern,
E-mail: abharris84@yahoo.com
To subscribe or unsubscribe to the SBANC
Newsletter, please E-mail SBANC at sbanc@uca.edu
