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Unlocking the influence of family business exposure on entrepreneurial intentions

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Abstract

Although the impact of family business exposure on offspring’s entrepreneurial intentions has attracted significant attention, assessments of this impact remain inconsistent. To solve this puzzle, we switch the focus from the presence of family business exposure to the content of exposure by examining the learning experiences of business family offspring. Specifically, we test the impact of perceived parental entrepreneurial rewards on entrepreneurial intentions and explore the underlying process in this relationship. Findings from a sample of 131 Chinese business family offspring support that perceived parental entrepreneurial rewards are positively related to entrepreneurial intentions, and this relationship is found to be partially mediated by entrepreneurial self-efficacy; additionally, offspring’s family business involvement weakens the positive impact of perceived parental entrepreneurial rewards on entrepreneurial intentions but strengthens the impact of entrepreneurial self-efficacy. The findings from this research contribute to the social cognitive career theory, family business, and entrepreneurial cognition literature. We also provide practical guidance for parent entrepreneurs by clarifying the impact of perceived parental entrepreneurial rewards and family business involvement on their children’s entrepreneurial intentions.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71202158 & No. 71572179) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities awarded to the second author and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71272172) to the third author. Dan Wang and Lili Wang contributed equally to this research. And we’d like to express special thanks to James G. Combs (University of Central Florida)who helps us a lot in the revision process of this paper.

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  1. Dan Wang and Lili Wang contributed equally to this work.

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  1. Institute for Entrepreneurs, School of Management, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, China

    Dan Wang & Ling Chen

  2. Marketing Department, School of Management, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, China

    Lili Wang

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  1. Dan Wang
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Correspondence to Lili Wang.

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Table 3 Factor analysis
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Table 4 Study variables and their items
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Wang, D., Wang, L. & Chen, L. Unlocking the influence of family business exposure on entrepreneurial intentions. Int Entrep Manag J 14, 951–974 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-017-0475-2

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