Development and Validation of the Tourism e-microentrepreneurial Self-Efficacy Scale

Abstract

With the emergence of tourism sharing economy platforms like People-First Tourism, Vayable, Airbnb, and Uber, there are now a much greater number of microentrepreneurs engaged in selling products and services directly to tourists. The limited existing literature examining these individuals suggests that they are often inspired by noneconomic motives such as freedom, passion, or lifestyle, rather than the desire to rapidly grow a venture and maximize revenue. Accordingly, given that tourism microentrepreneurs have different goals and business models relative to typical entrepreneurs, this study adapted extant entrepreneurial self-efficacy measures to the context of tourism e-microentrepreneurship to develop the tourism e-microentrepreneurial self-efficacy (TeMSE) scale. Our new 13-item scale provides insights into a unique and burgeoning group of tourism actors, namely measuring their beliefs in their ability to successfully perform the various roles and tasks of microentrepreneurship in the tourism sharing economy.

A gap analysis of farm tourism microentrepreneurial mentoring needs in North Carolina, USA

“…Tourism microentrepreneurship is the process of launching a new enterprise or adding value to an existing one, relying partially on web marketplaces to attract visitors and operating in any of the tourism sectors, employing no more than five people, with the aim to meet a market need and permitting the owner a desired livelihood and lifestyle (Ferreira et al, 2018). This definition helps differentiate de facto tourism microentrepreneurship (Gardiner & Dolnicar, 2018;Morais, Ferreira, & Wallace, 2017), from other microentrepreneurial activities performed in the context of tourism, such as management, maintenance, or cleaning services supporting the burgeoning web-based short-term accommodation rental market (Sigala & Dolnicar, 2018).…”

“…According to McGehee and Kline (2008), microentrepreneurship is well suited to the context of rural tourism development, because it "harmonizes with the philosophy that problems are best solved by solutions generated from inside the community, and that external consultants are not needed to propose successful strategies for economic redemption" (p. 123). Likewise, many more authors have called for an increase in the stimulation and support of tourism microentrepreneurship by small business development authorities (Ferreira, 2016;K.C., 2015;LaPan, 2014;Mao, 2014;Nazariadli, 2018;Nyaupane, Morais & Dowler, 2006).…”

“…The development of the TeMSE scale was informed by longitudinal participatory actionresearch with rural tourism microentrepreneurs by Ferreira, Morais, Pollack, and Bunds (2018), and has been applied successfully to measure tourism microentrepreneurial self-efficacy of farmers (Ferreira, 2019). We administered the scale via phone to 29 farm tourism microentrepreneurs participating in the People-First Tourism project (P1t) in North Carolina, an initiative led by North Carolina State University with the aim of supporting individuals interested in pursuing sustainable livelihoods through tourism microentrepreneurship.…”

“…However, there are concerns that the advent of web-based sharing economy platforms may be widening the socio-economic gap between individuals across the digital divide by excluding microentrepreneurs with unreliable access to the internet and limited computer skills (Morais et al, 2012;Payton, Morais & Heath, 2015). In addition, they may show low efficacy in other domains of entrepreneurial activity that may preclude them from investing themselves in entrepreneurial opportunities (Ferreira, Morais, Pollack, & Bunds, 2018).…”

“…Frequently, Extension agents are trusted mentors of agribusiness entrepreneurs, and farming businesses are increasingly adopting tourism as a component of their business model; therefore, this study explores the extent to which rural development Extension agents in North Carolina feel able to mentor farmers wishing to start or add value to an existing farm tourism microbusiness. We first measured tourism microentrepreneurial selfefficacy (Ferreira et al, 2018) among 29 farmers in North Carolina. Secondly, we adapted this scale to assess Extension agents' tourism e-microentrepreneurial mentoring self-efficacy (TeMMSE).…”