Opportunity abandonment: Why are entrepreneurs vulnerable to type I and II errors?

Opportunity actualization is a critical competency attributed to entrepreneurs, which has received widespread attention in the entrepreneurship literature. However, the knowledge of Entrepreneurial Opportunity Abandonment (EOA) decisions is limited. We, therefore, explore the relatively under-studied EOA, analyzing why entrepreneurs commit decision errors, abandon potentially viable opportunities (type I error) or pursue non-opportunity spaces (type II error), and ultimately forsake them later. Through a scoping literature review, we highlight more profound psychological variables that shape entrepreneurial opportunity behavior triggering EOA decisions. We discuss entrepreneurial cognitive limitations in articulating, concretizing, and communicating the opportunity. We argue that varying construal mindsets cause reification fallacies and create perceptual blocks in enunciating an opportunity idea. Further, subjective stakeholder feedback and biased information exchange largely shape EOA decisions, which are mediated through the information processing capacity of entrepreneurs. Finally, we propose four entrepreneurial decision-limiting hypotheses which require an empirical investigation.

Can entrepreneurial marketing compensate for late market entry? A moderated mediation analysis.

The study tested whether entrepreneurial marketing (EM) can create unique resource advantages for startups and small firms and compensate for late market entry. The authors collected the responses from 509 fast-food restaurants in Kuwait and analyzed the data through structural equation modeling. The evidence supports a direct effect of time-in-market on market share. However, customer-focused market penetration strategies (MPS) mediated the relationship between time-in-market and market share. Further, innovative, culturally influenced customer relationship management (CRM) moderated the impact of time-in-market and MPS on market share, compensating for late market entry. The authors utilize the Resource Advantage (R-A) Theory to inform market entry literature and provide novel solutions to resource-constrained late entrants who can offset the advantages of early market entrants and gain market share through an entrepreneurial marketing approach. It offers a practical approach for implementing entrepreneurial marketing in assisting small firms in seeking market advantages despite late entry and resource limitations. The study's findings have implications for small firms and marketing managers of late-entrant firms, who can leverage innovative MPS and CRM incorporating cultural artifacts to generate behavioral, emotional, and psychological engagement leading to higher market share.