Yours,mine, and ours: A user-centric analysis of opportunities and challenges in peer-to-peer asset sharing

The sharing economy is growing globally in terms of user numbers, service providers, and novel concepts. Peer-to-peer (P2P) asset sharing, or asset rental between private individuals, has attracted the attention of entrepreneurs and researchers alike. P2P asset-sharing networks need to focus on two distinct customer groups: (1) asset owners willing to rent out their assets, and (2) renters interested in renting others’ assets. Despite consumers’ high interest in P2P asset sharing, participation rates lag projections, which is mainly attributable to lack of participating asset owners. This could be problematic for P2P networks as they do not own assets; instead, they rely on a sufficient number of asset owners to participate. Detailed indications on the participation motives of users are required to distinctly position P2P asset sharing and enhance communication of consumer-relevant benefits. To this end, we have engaged in a detailed investigation of participation motives in the P2P car-sharing context. We have conducted in-depth interviews with car owners and renters to derive usage types that represent consumer decision profiles that participate in P2P car-sharing services. Based on our findings, we provide extensive recommendations to entrepreneurs in the P2P asset-sharing market.     

Passion for entrepreneurship or passion for the product? A conjoint analysis of angel and VC decision-making

Passion is important to venture investors, but what specifically do they want entrepreneurs to be passionate about? This study theorizes that angel investors and venture capitalists consider both entrepreneurs' passion for activities related to the product or service the venture provides (i.e., product passion) and passion for founding and developing new ventures (i.e., entrepreneurial passion). We demonstrate that both types of passion become more appealing when the investor perceives that the entrepreneur is highly open and receptive to feedback, suggesting that openness to feedback mitigates potential concerns associated with passion in its extremes. We further find that venture investors differ in their consideration of passion; angel investors and venture capitalists with more investing experience place greater emphasis on the combination of product passion and openness to feedback, whereas those with more entrepreneurial experience emphasize the combination of entrepreneurial passion and openness to feedback.     

Food choice: student consumers' decision‐making process regarding food products with limited label information

Food label information theoretically facilitates consumer decision‐making and food choice, but the extent to which consumers actually use this information during decision‐making is a subject of considerable debate. Therefore, this study focused on the importance of label information in student consumers' decision‐making process when exposed to limited label information food in a cafeteria environment. Because of a paucity of research in this area, a qualitative research approach that was exploratory in nature was used, accompanied by semi‐structured interviewing and a vignette. Undergraduate students from the North‐West University, Potchefstroom Campus, in South Africa served as the target population. The findings suggest that internal and product‐related strategies are applied when food choices are made whereby the importance of label information only features in the latter strategy. Student consumers with a label interest were more inclined to use label information strategies in the absence of complete label information to base food choice on. Those with a lack of label interest made use of alternative strategies using product and personal‐related information, such as freshness and product knowledge to make decisions. The decision‐making process was more complex because of insufficient label information and product appearance, and thus previous experiences and habitual purchasing became more important to participants. Student consumers should be supported to make healthier food choices through food manufacturers supplying cafeteria products with more complete label information and by providing students with the knowledge to use label information correctly through educational programmes.     

Risk management behaviour by the Northern Ireland food consumer

The main criteria that consumers use during the decision‐making process when purchasing food have traditionally been a combination of prices, incomes, taste and social attitudes, with price being seen as the main determinant. However, in the past 10 years risk has become a ‘new’ criterion that can affect the consumer's decision whether or not to purchase a particular food item. The effect of the perception of risk has been observed during the numerous food scares in the last decade and in trends for the demand for foods that connote a health image. This research, carried out in Northern Ireland, looked at how consumers quantified and managed risk. The research involved 202 primary food consumers and identified the factors that were perceived to be important from both a societal and a personal perspective. Using principal component analysis techniques, societal food risks were seen as either processing or dietary, and personal food risks were seen as either extrinsic or intrinsic. Further investigation into the attributes of the personal risk using the same techniques revealed a three‐factor solution described as fear, involvement and newness. Although these factors cannot be used as predictors of the risk associated with a particular food, they help to describe and explain how the risk may be managed. The relationship between two of the factors, involvement and fear, provide a framework for understanding the way consumers manage their perception of the risk, particularly of high‐risk items. Consumer and scientific knowledge of the risk in question, and the degree of control over the risk were seen as important in the management of the risk in question. The conceptualization of the mechanism by which risks are processed and acted upon provides information regarding risk management and communication strategies that should be employed by educators, food retailers and government policy makers.     

The business of blogging: Effective approaches of women food bloggers

Consumer trust and loyalty to bloggers presents opportunities for businesses to reach consumers in inconspicuous and effective ways. The study explores successful business practices used by popular female food bloggers to market food products and services. Content analysis of these food blogs shows that female bloggers construct personas on their blogs that emphasize specific meanings and motivations of food in very intentional ways. Female bloggers use a variety of business tactics to ensure that these personas are credible, professional, trustworthy, and fully intermingled in the lifestyles and beliefs of their target consumers.     

Reconceptualizing Intuition in Supply Chain Management

Studies in the psychology and management disciplines suggest that intuition might be able to complement rationality as an effective decision‐making approach. Yet, a review of how decision makers in supply chain contexts can benefit from using their intuition demonstrates that our discipline lacks a unifying conceptualization and operationalization of the complex intuition construct. Our study addresses this opportunity by following an extensive mixed‐method approach, in which we first use qualitative content analysis and quantitative testing to conceptualize intuition as a multidimensional construct consisting of experience‐based, emotional, and automatic‐processing dimensions. We then operationalize and empirically assess multidimensionality using a multiple study format, and perform an inferential analysis to begin to assess nomological validity. Our reconceptualization of intuition allows for a richer understanding of this key facet of supply chain management decision making, and our accompanying scale provides evidence of its multidimensionality and efficacy in making decisions in the uncertain and time‐constrained environments that supply chain managers often face.     

INDIVIDUAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS ON SUPPLY CHAIN INVENTORY MANAGEMENT: AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF INFORMATION AVAILABILITY AND PROCEDURAL RATIONALITY

Some strategies for mitigating ordering inefficiencies in supply chains advise sharing information among decision‐makers. However, there has been little consideration of how individual perceptions intervene in the use of available information in decision‐making processes. This article reports the results of an experiment in which participants were instructed to minimize inventory holding and backlog costs for their supply chains as a whole. The analysis suggests that additional information affects supply chain inventory management costs only when rational decision‐making processes are followed. Decreased costs are observed when rational decision‐making is applied with backlog information. In contrast, increased costs are observed when consumer demand information is available.     

Illegal entrepreneurship experience: Does it make a difference for business performance and motivation?

Existing studies show a positive relationship between entrepreneurs' business performance and their conventional human capital as measured by previous business experience and formal education. In this paper, we explore whether illegal entrepreneurship experience (IEE), an unconventional form of human capital, is related to the performance and motivation of entrepreneurs operating legal businesses in a transition context. Using regression techniques on a sample of 399 private business owners in Lithuania, we find that, in general, IEE is significantly and positively associated with subjective measures of business motivation. Moreover, younger entrepreneurs benefit from their IEE in terms of business performance, indicating that they have been more successful than older entrepreneurs in transferring their IEE to a market oriented setting. In addition, IEE and business performance are positively related for entrepreneurs who started completely new legal businesses. Thus, our research partially supports the notion that prior experience in the black or gray market may signal and provide valuable human capital for legal enterprising.     

Toward an integrated framework for online consumer behavior and decision making process: A review

This paper presents a comprehensive review of recent empirical studies dealing with online consumer behavior and decision‐making processes. To that end, the paper adapts and extends Engel, Kollat, and Blackwell's ( 1978 ) and Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard's ( 1986 ) decision‐making model as backdrop in the review of the literature. The vast majority of studies examine the link between external factors and one or more components of the decision‐making process. The findings of this study show a paucity of research on a number of components of decision making, as well as inconsistencies in the way the online environment is characterized. Finally, the findings show that student samples are prevalent among the studies identified and the research method is biased toward the survey method as opposed to experimentation. Discussion and conclusions are provided, and directions for future research are presented. ©2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Failed,not finished: A narrative approach to understanding venture failure stigmatization

This paper implements a qualitative, narrative approach to investigate entrepreneurs' personal experience of stigma associated with venture failure. Findings draw on the lived experience of 12 entrepreneurs and tell a collective story of how stigma affects entrepreneurs, shapes their actions, and engenders outcomes for them and their ventures. The story covers three episodes of entrepreneurs anticipating, meeting, and then transforming venture failure. Overall the paper shifts the focus of stigma research from the socio-cultural perspective pervading research to date, to micro-level processes underlying socio-cultural trends. Findings offer unexpected insights into failure stigmatization. First, findings suggest stigmatization is best viewed as a process that unfolds over time rather than a label. Second, this process begins before, not after, failure and contributes to venture demise. Third, there is a positive ending to the collective story in that stigmatization ultimately triggers epiphanies or deep personal insights which transform entrepreneurs' view of failure from a very negative to a positive life experience. This transformation results in entrepreneurs distributing learning from failure to the founding of future ventures, even when ventures are not their own.     

Entrepreneurial passion diversity in new venture teams: An empirical examination of short- and long-term performance implications

Empirical evidence is mounting that passion is an important part of entrepreneurship, contributing to behavior and outcomes for entrepreneurs, employees, and ventures. Yet knowledge of the performance implications of passion within new venture teams is sorely lacking. We examine how both the average level of entrepreneurial passion and the diversity of passion within new venture teams contributes to venture performance in both the short- and long-term. We test our model with multi-source, multi-wave data collected from 107 new venture teams participating in an accelerator program. Our findings indicate that average team passion is not significantly related to performance, but passion diversity, particularly intensity separation, is negatively related to performance. These findings have important implications for the literature on passion, new venture teams, and group affective diversity.Executive summaryWhile existing studies have substantially improved our understanding of entrepreneurial passion, its sources, and its subsequent impact, insight into this topic remains limited in at least three ways. First, most new ventures are founded and led by teams rather than individuals, yet existing studies predominantly focus on entrepreneurial passion at the individual rather than team level. Second, while there is a prevailing assumption in existing literature that entrepreneurial passion leads to beneficial outcomes consistent with longstanding work in psychology, there is emerging evidence in entrepreneurship that passion may not always be functional and that it can even be dysfunctional. Despite this, we have limited understanding of what types of passion or when or for whom it is dysfunctional. And third, extant work on entrepreneurial passion for individuals and within teams has focused on behavioral or self-report measures of performance (e.g. Cardon and Kirk, 2015; Santos & Cardon, 2019) as well as venture survival, rather than objective team or firm performance in the short- and long-term.In this paper, we study the influence of team passion on new venture team performance. We draw on theory concerning entrepreneurial passion within venture teams (Cardon et al., 2017) that suggests that different aspects of entrepreneurial passion within teams shape team dynamics and venture outcomes. While generally, theories of passion suggest that entrepreneurial passion is positively related to team outcomes due to the positive emotions it brings about, we find that in teams, the relationships are more complex. While the average level of passion among team members is positively related to team performance when considered alone, this effect is not significant when passion diversity is also considered. Diversity of passion among individual team members has a negative relationship with team performance, including diversity in the level of passion team members experience (intensity separation), as well as diversity in the object of their passion (focus variety). These negatively affect team dynamics due to conflicting emotions and identities among team members associated with passion diversity. We examine these relationships on specific team performance outcomes including evaluation of the business idea in the short-term and venture performance five years after their participation in an accelerator.The sample used in this study includes 107 entrepreneurial teams that were part of an accelerator program in the Netherlands. Teams were evaluated on the quality of their business ideas at the end of the accelerator program and the amount of investment the team had received five years later. Our results provide no support for positive effects of average team passion on the quality of the business ideas and confirm the negative effects of passion intensity separation on the quality of the business idea and the negative effects of passion focus variety on later venture performance.This paper makes several contributions. First, we expand the literature on passion in entrepreneurship, specifically adding to our understanding of passion within new venture teams. More specifically, we contribute to the growing body of evidence concerning potential dysfunctions of passion by uncovering a dysfunctional property of team passion diversity that uniquely manifests itself at the team level of analysis. We contribute to the literature on new venture teams by examining team composition in the form of passion diversity, and its relationship with team performance. Finally, our study extends work on the effects of entrepreneurial passion by looking at objective team performance outcomes in both the short- and long-term.For entrepreneurs, our findings confirm the importance of affect and identity for new venture teams, and specifically our findings indicate that there is a dark side to team passion. While passion is generally positioned as a positive phenomenon, we highlight the negative outcomes that passion can have in the team context. Diversity in the amount of passion team members experience can diminish the quality of the business ideas the team is able to generate in the short-term, while diversity in the focus of team members' passion can diminish the firm's long-term performance. For investors and accelerator communities this research validates the importance of considering entrepreneurial team composition and specifically entrepreneurial passion levels and domains when investing in teams or when supporting venture building.     

Exploring the role played by entrepreneurial self-efficacy among women entrepreneurs in tourism sector

This study aimed to explore how entrepreneurial self-efficacy impacts firms' performance among women entrepreneurs in developing countries in tourism and hospitality industry. Survey data collected from women entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka confirmed entrepreneurial self-efficacy is influenced by social media, entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial role models, whereas education and work experience had no influence over entrepreneurial self-efficacy. The mediating behavior of entrepreneurial persistence behavior is confirmed. For entrepreneurship stakeholders, this research revealed a critical factor that entrepreneurial self-efficacy is influenced by social media in digital world of technologies. Moreover, this research provided a validated model of entrepreneurial self-efficacy, enhancing its usage during the adversity or growth stages of business while producing valuable insights to policy makers in developing countries, enhancing women entrepreneurs’ contribution to the economy.     

Angel investor characteristics that determine whether perceived passion leads to higher evaluations of funding potential

Despite interest in understanding the role passion plays in investor decision making, little is known about the conditions under which perceived passion is likely to play a significant role in the funding decision process. We first establish a relationship between perceived passion and evaluations of funding potential, then use affective reactivity as a theoretical framework to explore how several individual characteristics of angel investors impact the relationship between perceived passion and evaluations of funding potential. The results indicate that the relationship is stronger for angel investors who are older, more intuitive, have a high openness personality, or those who are motivated to mentor. Surprisingly, the relationship weakens for angels who are extraverted and those who have a promotion-dominated regulatory focus.     

Profiling consumers in home ware stores according to their decision‐making process: an exploratory study

Despite the growing interest of South African consumers regarding home ware, insufficient research is available regarding their decision making of this product category. The objectives of this exploratory study were to evaluate consumers' decision‐making process regarding home ware, and to suggest consumer profiles of the home ware based on the decision‐making process. A qualitative research strategy was used to purposively recruit both male and female participants walking around a home ware store. Semi‐structured interviews were used to collect data from 33 participants at which point data saturation was reached. Each step of the decision‐making process was investigated during the interviews, using questions relevant to the purchasing of home ware. The results indicated clear differences as well as similarities in home ware consumers' decision‐making process. It was evident that the decision‐making process was a result of their specific need for a home ware product. Consumers evaluated home ware based on their needs, values and personal style, while making their final product choice based on product quality, appearance and price. It was also possible to identify home ware consumer profiles based on an evaluation of their decision‐making process. Four profiles were identified, namely, the quality‐conscious, the fashion‐conscious, the lifestyle‐orientated and the impulsive home ware consumer. The characteristics associated with each profile should provide the growing home ware market with insight regarding the specific needs and preferences of the consumer. Seeing that this study was only exploratory in nature, it is recommended that further research regarding the purchasing of home ware should be done.     

Legacy Writing and the Consumption of Biographic Services

This study focuses on legacy writing and the development of the life‐history business (e.g., family ghostwriters and writing workshops). A theoretical model is proposed to study the underlying mental processes that lead the elderly to consume such services. This model was empirically tested on a sample of 392 individuals aged from 60 to 92 years. Results highlighted the following: the role of generativity and death preparation reminiscence on identity preservation issues in later life, the strong desire to contribute to collective memories (i.e., to reach people outside of the family circle), and the social nature of the consumption of services that could be considered as a means of sharing emotions. The results of this study will lead to a more in‐depth understanding of consumer behavior regarding the transmission and preservation of the self at end of life, and may also help service providers to improve their products and services.     

Constructing conceptual models for knowledge capture and delivery systems

Appropriate conceptualization of the nature of entities and relationships in a problem domain is a key prerequisite to the successful design of computerized decision aids for business, especially those developed for more than one idiosyncratic user. The need for a reliable conceptual model is particularly acute in the design of decision support systems that must function in problem‐solving situations with no existing theoretical framework or where theory and practice differ considerably.

This paper presents an interative procedure for developing a reliable conceptual model by testing the “fit”; of successive revisions of the model against a collection of “think‐aloud”; verbal problem‐solving protocols of people with experience in the domain. The model is revised each time until it is verifiably and consistently accurate. Such a procedure, it is argued, is more objective and reliable than intuition or traditional knowledge engineering and requires considerably less experimental data collection and analysis than more elaborate empirical model development procedures.

The feasibility of this procedure is illustrated by using it to construct a conceptual model for a computer‐based system that seeks to capture knowledge used during project planning and deliver it for use during project control.     

Industry and startup experience on entrepreneur forecast performance in new firms

I theoretically develop and empirically investigate the role of industry and startup experience on the forecast performance of 2304 entrepreneurs who have started new businesses. Using the Kauffman Firm Survey I show that industry experience is associated with more accurate and less biased entrepreneur expectations. Further, the benefit of industry experience on entrepreneurial forecast performance is greater in high-technology industries. These findings are consistent with knowledge of the setting informing entrepreneurial decision making, especially in highly uncertain environments. However, in contrast to the prevailing view in the literature, I find no significant evidence that startup experience improves entrepreneurial forecast performance.     

SHACKLE AND MODERN DECISION THEORY

The paper discusses the role of George L.S. Shackle in fostering an unconventional approach to individual decision making. Up until the early 1970s Shackle was the single critic of the probabilistic approach to decision making who proposed an alternative formal corpus for dealing with uncertainty. The main aim of the paper is to analyse Shackle's non‐probabilistic conceptualization of individual decisions under uncertainty from a specific viewpoint, namely that of a possible connection between his theory and one of the most interesting recent approaches to decision under uncertainty, the so‐called non‐additive probability approach of Gilboa and Schmeidler. The paper shows that these developments in modern decision theory take Shackle's issue seriously and confirm that the reliance of strict Bayesian theory on probabilistic judgements based on point‐probability estimates, a reliance that Shackle intended to oppose, is untenable. Non‐additive decision theory also provides a usage of non‐additive probability distributions in choice that is an alternative to Shackle's approach of using a qualitative notion of probability, such as potential surprise.     

Work‐related lifelong learning for entrepreneurs in the agri‐food sector

This article presents a study on work‐related lifelong learning for entrepreneurs in the agri‐food sector. Accordingly, learning needs, learning preferences, learning motivation and conditions in the context of lifelong learning were identified. The results indicate that technology, IT and entrepreneurial competencies will become of increasing importance in the future. Non‐formal and informal learning seem to play an especially important role in the competence development of entrepreneurs. Supporting learning in a personal way is a critical factor in stimulating lifelong learning. The results might provide some important starting points for the support of lifelong learning in practice. Investment in new, different, long‐term work‐related learning arrangements than have been undertaken hitherto is a high priority. Workplace learning for entrepreneurs in the context of lifelong learning should take place in settings where (new) knowledge is constructed in dialogue with the entrepreneurs’ environment and where personal competence development is facilitated by experts in learning.