Entrepreneurial motivations and business performance: A study of female online microbusiness owners

PLOS ONE RESEARCH ARTICLE Entrepreneurial motivations and business performance: A study of female online microbusiness owners Shibo Li ID1,2☯*, Edwin Setiawan Sanusi1☯ 1 Department of Management, SolBridge International School of Business, Daejeon, Republic of Korea, 2 Department of Management and Economics, Liaoning University of Technology, Jinzhou, Liaoning Province, China ☯ These authors contributed equally to this work. * a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 OPEN ACCESS Citation: Li S, Setiawan Sanusi E (2023) Entrepreneurial motivations and business performance: A study of female online microbusiness owners. PLoS ONE 18(8): e0289946. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0289946 Editor: Faisal Shafique Butt, COMSATS University Islamabad - Wah Campus, PAKISTAN Abstract This study aims to examine the correlation between various types of entrepreneurial motivations and the corporate performance of self-employed micro-businesses operated by women in China. Through the application of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) estimation on a sample of 160 female entrepreneurs, our findings reveal that female entrepreneurs driven by pull motivation prioritize non-financial performance as their primary goal. Conversely, those driven by push motivation exhibit a greater emphasis on financial performance. Furthermore, the cross-group analysis indicates that a high level of motivation among necessity-driven female microbusiness entrepreneurs contributes to achieving a high level of financial performance, whereas a high level of motivation among opportunitybased female microbusiness entrepreneurs does not significantly influence non-financial performance. The implications of these findings for research and policy development pertaining to Chinese female online microbusinesses are also discussed. Received: May 17, 2023 Accepted: July 30, 2023 Published: August 11, 2023 Copyright: © 2023 Li, Setiawan Sanusi. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability Statement: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files. Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work Competing interests: the authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Introduction According to Fu [1], Chinese women are increasingly turning to microbusiness entrepreneurship as a means of overcoming workplace discrimination and achieving a better work-life balance. The definition of microbusiness has evolved with the changing landscape of social media on the internet. Presently, microbusinesses are defined as enterprise merchants who conduct mobile e-commerce through social media platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, among others [2]. In China, this field employs over 60 million people, with more than 50% being women, and the transaction volume exceeded $2 trillion in 2019. Additionally, research conducted by Minniti [3] and Zhang [4] shows that the majority of self-employed online microbusiness owners in China are female. Despite the significant increase in female microbusinesses in China, there is still a dearth of research on this topic. Several studies have pointed out the scarcity of research related to female entrepreneurship, particularly in the context of China [5–7]. Moreover, despite the growing PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289946 August 11, 2023 1 / 21 PLOS ONE Entrepreneurial motivations and business performance: A study of female online microbusiness owners interest in female entrepreneurship, there is still a significant lack of research on the impact of different types of motivation on various types of business performance, particularly in the context of female entrepreneurship [8–10]. While there has been some research exploring the relationship between motivation and business performance [11], little is known about how different types of entrepreneurial motivation influence specific aspects of business performance [12]. To address these gaps, this study aims to investigate the relationship between different types of entrepreneurial motivation and the performance of female self-employed microbusinesses in China. Specifically, the study will focus on two types of motivation: necessity-driven entrepreneurship and opportunity-based entrepreneurship [13,14]. Necessity-driven entrepreneurship refers to individuals being pushed into entrepreneurship due to limited employment options or financial constraints, while opportunity-based entrepreneurship refers to individuals seeking entrepreneurial opportunities driven by factors such as autonomy, passion, and self-development [13,14]. The study will examine the impact of these two types of motivation on two dimensions of business performance: financial performance and non-financial performance. Financial performance refers to the financial outcomes of the business, such as profitability and revenue growth [15,16]. Non-financial performance, on the other hand, encompasses aspects such as innovation, customer satisfaction, and employee engagement [15,16]. Additionally, the study will explore the mediating effect of non-financial performance on the relationship between motivation and financial performance. It is hypothesized that non-financial performance acts as a mediator, meaning that the positive impact of motivation on financial performance is partially explained by the influence of non-financial performance [15,16]. This research is important and worth investigating as it will contribute to the understanding of the interplay between different types of motivation and business performance in the context of female entrepreneurship in China. By examining the specific impacts of necessitydriven and opportunity-based entrepreneurship on financial and non-financial performance, this study can provide valuable insights for policymakers, practitioners, and aspiring entrepreneurs. The findings can inform the development of targeted strategies and interventions to support the growth and success of female self-employed microbusinesses in China. Furthermore, this research will contribute to the existing literature on entrepreneurial motivation and performance by examining the specific impacts of different types of motivation on various aspects of business performance. In conclusion, this study aims to investigate the relationship between different types of entrepreneurial motivation and the performance of female self-employed microbusinesses in China. The research objectives include examining the impact of necessity-driven and opportunity-based entrepreneurship on financial and non-financial performance, as well as exploring the mediating effect of non-financial performance on the relationship between motivation and financial performance. The study’s findings will provi (...truncated)