Utility maximization? An expectancy view of entrepreneurial persistence

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of expectancy and valence in the decision policies of entrepreneurs when choosing whether or not to persist with their current venture. Design/methodology/approach – Using a conjoint experiment design, 105 entrepreneurs made a series of decisions based on a common set of attributes. The decisions were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling to determine how the attributes were weighed in the decision policies. Findings – The results indicate that entrepreneurs use expectancy and valences and interestingly, a negative interaction between expectancy and valences in their persistence decision policies. Practical implications – An understanding of how individuals make decisions may be of great value to entrepreneurs as they consider the decision to persist with a venture in the face of adversity. Originality/value – Previous research has focused on the decision to start a business. This study adds to the literature by considering the important decision of whether to persist with a business or not. The results provide interesting insights into why and how entrepreneurs choose to persist and contributes to the literature on expectancy theory.