Date of Award
12-2012
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Legacy Department
International Family and Community Studies
Committee Chair/Advisor
Limber, Susan
Committee Member
Robinson , Kathleen
Committee Member
Hawkins , Katherine
Committee Member
Holaday , Bonnie
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine what attitudinal, normative, and control beliefs most significantly predicted Hispanic business owners' intentions to engage in 13 entrepreneurial behaviors. In 2011, Hispanic business owners from five cities in Greenville Country, South Carolina were invited to participate. Only owners of for-profit business that had been in operation for a year or more participated. Seventy four Hispanic business owners were interviewed or completed an online survey.
Aizen's Theory of Planned Behavior (1980, 1991, 2002a, 2002b, 2006) was used as the framework for constructing a survey to examine stated intentions, and concomitant attitudes, norms, and control beliefs related to the use of 13 entrepreneurial behaviors. The central hypothesis of the study was that the more favorable the attitudes and subjective norms, and the greater the perceived control, the stronger will be a person's intention to perform each of the 13 entrepreneurial behaviors examined.
Each of 13 entrepreneurial behavioral intentions had a different pattern of attitudinal and behavioral control antecedents that were significant in explaining the variance in intention scores. The normative belief measure proved to not be significant in explaining the variance in any of the 13 entrepreneurial behavioral intention scores. The antecedents that were significant in explaining the variance in two or more of the 13 behavioral intentions were Attitudes antecedents (expected outcome and degree of importance in doing the specified behavior) and Behavioral control antecedents (degree of confidence and degree of agreement that is within their control).
Several of the modifiers were significant in explaining the variance in antecedent beliefs. Among those most often significant with two or more antecedents linked with two or more behavioral intentions were life satisfaction scores, the self-reported presence of entrepreneurial characteristics, their ratings of how successful their business currently is, and whether their business made a profit last fiscal year.
Recommended Citation
Saladin-subero, Rosanna, "FACTORS THAT PREDICT HISPANIC/LATINO ENTREPRENEURS' INTENTIONS TO USE THIRTEEN ENTREPRENEURIAL BEHAVIORS" (2012). All Dissertations. 1024.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/1024