The Emergence of Entrepreneurial Intentions in Indigenous Entrepreneurs: The Role of Personal Background on the Antecedents of Intentions

The fact that models of entrepreneurship have generally been developed on a global scale has made the matter of explaining and assessing indigenous level experience rather difficult from the perspective of reliability and validity. It is therefore very important from an academic perspective to reveal such local scale entrepreneurial behaviours. Research was conducted in three stages. Personal backgrounds formed by factors such as role models, traits and experience, and contextual terms were addressed. Then clues regarding cognitive structures and processes were researched by focusing on how entrepreneurs recognize opportunities. Finally, factors having an influence in the formation of entrepreneurial intentions were addressed. The sampling structure of this study was entrepreneurs in the town of Biga, which is one of the main economic fields of the Canakkale region in Turkey. Findings on the research topic were obtained by evaluating entrepreneurial activities in different time periods by indigenous entrepreneurs and by conducting detailed interviews with these entrepreneurs. Using this research method made possible a more effective understanding the decision-making paradigm of the entrepreneurs. The 26 entrepreneurs analysed in the study were divided into three basic types according to the dominant factors determined following analysis of the reasons that led them to start an entrepreneurial career.