Resumo

Entrepreneurial Culture is a key pillar of Entrepreneurial Ecosystem’s (EE) dynamics (Stam and van de Ven, 2021). We contend that entrepreneurial rhetoric could represent a valuable – and measurable – manifestation of such cultural aspects (Loewenstein, Ocasio, and Jones, 2012). In this article we dedicate attention to addressing the association between contextual conditions of EE and the emergence of stronger entrepreneurial rhetoric in franchising firms in Brazil.

In this research we aim at verifying the association between contextual features of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (EE) and the Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) rhetoric.

We used the approach of the EO based on the rhetoric, an aspect that refers to the way in which the franchisor communicates to its potential franchisees, elements (aligned with the EO construct factors) of the network’s EO (Zachary et al., 2011). The EE approach emerges as a way to present a systematized view of aspects that take entrepreneurial activity as a phenomenon embedded in local contexts (Wurth, Stam, and Spigel, 2021).

We evaluated the level of EO rhetoric through content analysis conducted in the Brazilian national directory of franchises. We relate these micro-level elements to four pillars of EE, namely: Exogenous Demand, Knowledge, Institutions, Networks and Talent. Associations between the dimensions analyzed were first assessed through cluster analysis (with non-parametric ANOVA tests between latent groups). Further refinements of the empirical approach were carried out with fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).

We highlighted how franchisors in different regions, with different maturity of entrepreneurial aspects, could adopt different strategies related to entrepreneurial rhetoric, what in our interpretation could be linked with the role exerted by Entrepreneurial Culture.

Our findings indicate that significant differences emerged concerning the level of EO rhetoric and the stage of maturity of EE in which franchise headquarters were embedded. As argued by Loewenstein, Ocasio and Jones (2012), rhetoric and culture have a linkage. Based on this idea, we interpret that the differences in the use of elements of EO Rhetoric by Brazilian Franchisors (in different local contexts, i.e., different EEs) are grounded on the diversity of maturity of Entrepreneurial Cultures observed in a continental country, as in Brazil.

Loewenstein, J., Ocasio, W., and Jones, C. 2012. “Vocabularies and vocabulary structure: A new approach linking categories, practices, and institutions.” Academy of Management Annals 6 (1): 41-86. Stam, E., and Van de Ven, A. 2021. “Entrepreneurial ecosystem elements.” Small Business Economics 56: 809-832. Zachary, M. A., McKenny, A. F., Short, J. C., Davis, K. M., and Wu, D. 2011. “Franchise branding: An organizational identity perspective.” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 39 (4): 629-645.