Motivations for aspiring multiple unit franchisees in Australia

Abstract

Most conceptual, exploratory and explanatory investigations into the motivations to enter franchising arrangements have taken only the situation of a traditional single unit owner-operator into account. Presumably, franchisees are attracted to these contractual vertical marketing networks as they become part of a larger, established system with a proven brand and consumer following, while retaining some independence and receiving financial support, and initial and ongoing operational assistance. However, multiple unit franchisees may differ from their single unit counterparts in terms of their experience, philosophical orientations and expectancies. Therefore, a single theoretical model of franchisee motivations that postulates symmetry of motives would be unrealistic and untenable. Instead this research aims to build theory through the presentation of a set of propositions that explains multiple unit franchising as a function of an individual's need for empowerment, anticipation of future scale economies, available financial liquidity, entrepreneurial orientation and desire to minimise future intra-system conflict. Overall, the qualitative findings clarified and confirmed the validity of the general propositions in preparation for future empirical testing.