Public Perception of Social Enterprise, Thesis Paper Example

Abstract

The subject of social enterprises in conjunction with social entrepreneurship has become increasingly popular across the globe in public discourses as they impact the developed and the developing worlds. Economies in the developed world have already integrated social entrepreneurship into its business practices; it is a relatively new concept that has not yet been rolled out in the developing world. Studies have pointed to a link between social enterprises and organizations that follow the corporate social responsibility business paradigm. The CSR approach has been lauded because it demonstrates that a corporation is making an exerted effort to contribute to sustainable development via employing practices that benefit all stakeholders while being socially and environmentally conscious. As a result, these corporations have been quite influential on consumer purchasing behavior, especially on consumers who find value in green consumerism as well as on those who are conscious of the essence of social entrepreneurship. Other studies have unearthed a broad array of factors that promote consciousness of social entrepreneurship and CSR, with the most important factors being a consumer’s educational background and his or her awareness. This is a qualitative study that will be divided as followed: chapter 1 introduced the topic at the length. Chapter 2 introduced a review of literature, where numerous studies were reviewed. The methodology section followed, where insight of how the review would be conducted was provided by using the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The findings, discussion and conclusions were provided. The study revealed the importance behind organizations discovering an association between social enterprises and consumer purchase and repurchase behavior. The study established the essence of promoting the understanding of social responsibility and social enterprises in Third World countries. This will be imperative to make sure consumers understand social responsibility as a concept along with how it is associated with the marketing and advertising strategies that corporations across the world deploy. Further, it was revealed that it was necessary to consider developing the entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship education into the education systems, especially in the developing countries. In the end, it was recommended that future studies building on this topic can aim at achieving specificity to ensure full concentration on a particular topic to make sure it is fully exhausted. It was established that the findings obtained in a specific study would also be worth to generalize and to conduct further experimental studies.

Introduction

Research Background

The global economy continues to shift away from Western-style capitalism towards far more inclusive alternatives. In an epoch characterized by globalization and technological innovation, private enterprises prioritize generating profits at the expense of other concerns, including greater inequality in general among people, amplified susceptibility towards animal and human health, environmental degradation because corporations continue to violate environmental safeguards and laws; and an exorbitant amount of noxious pollutants and environmentally harmful gasses—i.e. the greenhouse gases—in particular, carbon emissions. In these circumstances, the growth and development of social enterprises has gained traction at the global level as way to address a panoply of environmental and social issues. As a business entity based on socially consciously business practices, social enterprise operates not only as a business but also as an entity that is concerned with the reduction of major social problems, including poverty, unemployment, education, malnutrition, environmental degradation and pollution via business means. While Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, the progenitor of Grameen Bank, and Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, the Founder of Brac, have both familiarized the concept and essentially normalized social enterprise opportunities and collaboration across various sectors, the preponderance of consumers are not familiar with it, particularly when they purchase goods that various social enterprises provide.

Nonetheless, despite gaps in knowledge, social enterprises have spread dramatically in various diverse places across the globe (Kerlin J. A., 2006) and are still explicitly encouraged by business leaders, touting the double goal to achieve both economic and social objectives (Costanzo et al. 2014; et al. Davies 2017). This type of business has been woven into the fabric of modern-day society for several decades without the public really noticing or acknowledging it. Key Fund conducted a study that asked many participants to identify the best description of a social enterprise. Only around 20% of the participants were able answer that is “an organization which sells goods or services but also focuses on supporting people” (Jervis, 2013). The low public awareness is a barrier (European Commission 2015; Hynes 2009; Lyon & Sepulveda 2012; et al. Davies 2017) to the term of social enterprise growth (Davies, Chambers, & Haugh, 2017). Confusion and the lack of understanding are major issues hampering a clear understanding of what social enterprise is (Poon, 2011). These problems can be blamed on the way that media discourses, public figures, and leaders in non-profit organizations utilize the term incorrectly in terms of contextualization.

The problem was the fact that many scholars have focused on defining and arguing about how to best define the concept and how to articulate what it means in terms of addressing the consumer’s place in the enterprise (Davies et al., 2017; Foster & Fine 2007; Hockerts, & Wuestenhagen 2010; Lumpkin et al., 2013). Being ensconced in such ongoing debates served as a distraction, which was unfortunate, rather than actually looking at the core problems that social enterprises face when taking into consideration that some experienced minor difficulties accepting the empirical reality propagated by the entrepreneur (Welsh & Krueger, 2013). As a result, there was major confusion among the practitioners (Alter 2007; et al. Lepoutre 2011). A study from (Moss & Lumpkin 2009) mentioned that this type of business research remains in an “embryonic state,” which can most likely be attributed to the broad definition it has adopted (Gurvits, Nikitina-Kalamae, & Sidorova, 2015). Many entrepreneurs in the social field are continuously innovating new ideas while reproducing and further developing others regarding how they can exert their social influence and agency, which can lead to meaningful transformations in society that can be enduring. Welsh and Krueger (2013) mentioned that social enterprises have been discursively framed as the future savior in the global business world, with the answer given by members as  Generation X being that they “make a difference”. The role of a social entrepreneur is important to raise awareness about social enterprises and their efficacy within the current business climate while also cultivating (Smith, Cronley, & Barr, 2012) greater interest from consumers.

Regular communication is essential for customer retention so as to avoid misunderstanding (Drencheva, 2012) and increase effectiveness (Palihawadana, Oghazi, & Liu, 2016). When the public is more aware and clear on the objectives and goals of social enterprises and their socially- and environmentally-conscious endeavors, then initial interest can rise and eventually transform into desire that leads to action in promoting steadfast support for the supporting social enterprises and everything that they stand for (Davies et al., 2017). It is imperative, however, to recall that this can also vary on an idiosyncratic basis according to culture and its infrastructure therein. For this reason, this study will focus on comparing the state of public perceptions of social enterprises on between the developing and developed worlds. Numerous examples of developed and developing countries will be studied in depth to articulate an argument about hot the public perception of social enterprise varies depending on the degree of development that a country is in, which is why the level of education and average income are such good barometers to gauge why countries view and treat social enterprises so different. Some consumers in Third World countries are still quite equivocal on the purpose and value of social enterprises since they lack the knowledge and education about the concept and relevant frameworks like corporate social responsibility. Among the distinguishing factors that will be looked at in-depth and analyzed in this qualitative research study when comparing the level of public views of and attitudes towards social enterprise and how these perceptions influence and shape consumer behavior between the developing and developed world is the educational background of consumers.

Bangladesh is an extremely tiny country that is nonetheless densely population and an appropriate case study that will be included in this research. Despite its diminutive size, Bangladesh nonetheless has a robust reputation at the global level for social enterprise (BSEP, 2010). The British Council recently conducted a study that shed light on how an estimated 150,000 social enterprises are currently in operation in Bangladesh and have galvanized over 200,000 beneficiaries. The survey ascertained that almost 90% of social enterprises collaborate with persons who come from socioeconomically-disadvantaged communities, which creates hundreds and thousands of opportunities particularly for those who are apart of disadvantaged, subaltern communities. Social enterprises in Bangladesh continue to generate a yearly turnover of Tk 2.1 million, and over 75% of those social enterprises still expect an immense increase in turnover in the following financial year. Supporting consumer behavior is expected of social enterprise to amplify how such enterprises have such a widespread social impact. Current studies on consumer behavior typically focus on more traditional goods that business enterprises offer. There is a dearth of studies within academia that directly addresses the responses to the goods that are produced and marketed by social enterprises. As a result, this study will try to address a diverse array of inquiries using a qualitative research methodology and are outlined below::

• What do consumers actually know about social enterprises and the impact that they have on the community?
• How do customers perceive the goods that are created and given by social enterprises, especially within a Third World context?
• Do the perceptions of consumers undergird their intention to purchase?
• How foes the intention of a consumer’s purchase underlie whether their intention?

Another important country in the developing world that this study will shed light on is Panama in terms of social enterprise and its efficacy within this context. The Panamanian economy is characterized by a unique dynamism, which the country has touted for  the last 25 years (Minzer & Orozco, 2017), since studies have shown that its entrepreneurship continues flourishes worldwide. Panama is ranked as one of the top nine places in Latin America by Global Entrepreneurship Index rankings (2018), which are evidenced by the increasingly greater opportunities in the region in a broad and diverse array of industries. For many developing countries, entrepreneurship remains an important and prevalent component in their economies and drives revenue generation and yields high profits (Acs & Virgill, 2009). According to several entrepreneurship journals, the opportunity for social enterprise to succeed in a developing country underscores how much promise this business approach has to make a difference within contexts that are less amenable to those within the developing world. As discussed above, Panama and Bangladesh both tout robust global reputations for social enterprise despite their socioeconomic agency and the clout they possess on an international scale (Ferdousi, 2017; Kerlin J. A., 2006).

Such research, although limited, suggests that it is worth researching  to conduct a qualitative research study to gain a far better understanding about the direction that social enterprises continue to move in currently in many regions that have yet to have their resources tapped. The potential of social enterprises in both the developing and developed world to fully penetrate economic markets at the micro and macro levels as well as society at large to have a more meaningful impact on consumers who lack the clout and resources that many consumers possess in the developed world remains and proffers an area of research that has yet to be trodden within the burgeoning corpus of literature on social enterprise in different contexts.  Additionally, a study conducted by Lepoutre, Justo, Terjesen, & Bosma, 2011 established the level of extent at which pure commercial entrepreneurship is offered within a region, i.e., the more favorable the region is for undertaking socially innovative initiatives and the potential for those initiatives to gain traction and to make a meaningful difference. As such, this study will focus on a postulation about consumer recognition of social enterprises in certain contexts and how that such recognition and understanding will influence consumers’ intentions to purchase goods and services from this type of business in the long term. By comparing cases on a unitary basis in both the developed and developing world, a more nuanced and trenchant understanding of the role of CSR-based firms like social enterprises in an increasingly globalized world will facilitate the ability of social enterprise to meet is central goals and aims regardless of context. The researcher, more specifically, pinpointed how education is an integral component in the acceptance of social entrepreneurship and enterprises at the micro and macro levels.

Purpose of The Study and Research Questions

According to David et al., (2017), an individual who recognizes social enterprise  to evinces the proclivity to support buying or sharing with others. This study will address a gap in the corpus of social enterprise literature by examining how individuals are impacted when making their purchasing decisions from social enterprises as a response to recognizing the social imprints by such organizations in both the developing and developed countries.  The majority of consumers make decisions based on their own needs and desires; from a theoretical standpoint, many consumers, regardless of their circumstances, would agree that the goals of social enterprise based on a CSR framework are laudable within the current milieu in which environmentally conscious practices and decisions are given primacy to others even when they should not. Furthermore, this paper will uncover how education is deemed to be an essential aspect in influencing the public perception of a social enterprise, especially by influencing consumer purchase behavior.

Prior to presenting a large corpus of literature on this subject to better illuminate its context and pertinence to modern exigencies, there must be a comprehensive conceptualization of social entrepreneurship, social business, and social enterprise from a holistic perspective. This type of knowledge hinges on the conclusions that were derived from the study carried out by Ketikidis who said that social entrepreneurs can be conceptualized in the following ways: persons who can pinpoint problematic components within society and who seek to rectify or provide a corrective for those said problems;  persons who ensconce themselves in the business with the goal of having a social impact as their central motive;  young and philanthropic persons who chafe against the status who want to fight social injustice and social inequity; and innovative managers and directors who feel strongly that they possess a social responsibility as administrators  and managers of a nonprofit organization . There are, however, several limitations when engaging in this type of research since this study posits that social enterprises functions as ventures and endeavors that manifest at the hands of social entrepreneurs. Yunus asserted that social enterprises—conceived as ventured—are not just created by innovative and cogent social entrepreneurs but also adhere to clearly articulates “social business” guidelines. As he intimates, a business is configured to meet a specified goal, i.e. meeting the goal of enhancing nutrition within a family unit in a small village in Bangladesh regardless of how much the business has been penetrated.

With the entire corpus of research studies taken into consideration, combined with my own interests and desire to learn more about this subject within such a burgeoning field of study, I hope to gain trenchant insight and clear answers to the following research questions that will guide this study as displayed and clearly articulated below:

RQ 1: To what extent does the public perception of social enterprise and its efficacy or lack thereof influence consumer purchasing behavior at the local, national, and international levels?

RQ 2: How does the developing world differ from the developed world when looking at the differences in perception of a social enterprise and how those idiosyncrasies and gaps can be met and addressed so as to ensure that those enterprises are successful regardless of what content?

RQ 3: How does education influence the extent of public perception of a social enterprise in developing and developed countries?

The following study objectives will structure this qualitative research study:

• To promote an understanding of concepts such as social enterprise, social entrepreneurship, and corporate social responsibility
• To determine if the recognized social enterprise could lead to buying action.
• To identify how the education background of the members of developing and developed countries could influence the public perception of social enterprise and thus lead to consumer buying action

Research Structure

The structure of this study is organized in a way that it will provide an easy understanding of the contents of the research. The organization of the study aims at being both understandable and comprehensible. The organization of chapters in this study will be as follows:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Review of the Literature

Chapter 3: Methodology

Chapter 4: Findings

Chapter 5: Discussion, Conclusion, and the study Recommendations

The study will commence with Chapter 1 in which the researcher will introduce the topic of this study by going into greater depth into the research background, the purpose of the conducting this study, and ending by relaying the research questions and the structure of the thesis. Chapter 2 covers a review of literary sources and it aims to display the concept, theories and other relevant information about social entrepreneurship by comparing the case in the developing and developing worlds. This section will also contain a summary based on the literature review, which will greatly influence the design of a theoretical framework. Chapter 3 will cover the research methodology utilized in the production of this study. Chapter 4 will present what the researcher found after conducting this study.  Finally, Chapter 5 will cover the discussion section and conclusion. The section will also put forward suggested recommendations.

Literature Review

The fundamental concept of “social entrepreneurship” and social enterprise continues to emerge in the public, private, and non-profit sectors over the past decade, as interest in these novel practices continues to escalate. Indeed, the non-profit sector is confronted by proliferating demands for better efficacy and sustainability in the light of a lack of funding from traditional revenue sources while competition has increased for such scarce resources. While the private sector continues to witness a concentration of wealth, thereby promoting the need for more CSR and ore direct and proactive responses to complex social issues, governments at the micro and macro levels continue to struggle meeting the manifold demands that they face due to the limied public funds that they have access to. The literature review section will look at numerous studies, reports, and periodicals that are related to the study topic. This section will be organized thematically to enhance the flow and illuminate a deeper understanding of the content on social enterprise, corporate social responsibility, and the practice of social entrepreneurialism. After reviewing the large corpus of literature, the researcher will articulate any gaps that he discerns that this study seeks to fill.  A theoretical framework will then be discussed as a way to structure the subsequent chapters.

Understanding the Social Enterprise and Social Imprints

Presently, there has been a tremendous focus on the subject of entrepreneurship, especially with the findings that indicate businesses are key players in the promotion of economic development (Gandhi & Raina, 2018, p. 1).  An important subject under entrepreneurship that is somewhat novel and one which continues to baffle researchers and scholars in social entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship refers to an entrepreneurship route that gives the process of making money a heart or a social cause (Gandhi & Raina, 2018, p. 1). Social entrepreneurship has emerged as a vital concept to effectively address social issues that pertain to businesses and corporations while concurrently driving societal transformations (Gandhi & Raina, 2018, p. 1). At the core of promoting social entrepreneurship are social enterprises.

The term “social enterprise” can be found in a variety of definitions and typologies, which has ginned up an extensive debate among researchers and specialists on the correct meaning for the term. There are two distinct types of “social” businesses. One is a non-loss, non-dividend company devoted to solving a social problem and owned by investors who reinvest all profits in expanding and improving the business (Yunus, 2011). In this research, we will focus on the second one, the legally registered that pays taxes and function as a standard enterprise but have the mission to support a different area of the community.

Social enterprises can be differentiated from other commercial ventures because of their explicit mission to create economic and social value (Costanzo et al. 2014; Dacin, Dacin, and Tracy 2011; Moss et al. 2011; Teasdale, Lyon, and Baldock 2013; Davies et al. 2017). The term social enterprise is still somewhat confusing for some; including high-level executives who misunderstand this concept (Drencheva, 2012) and is rarely discussed as a global phenomenon (Kerlin, 2010).

When discussing and expounding on social enterprise, it is vital that researchers have a robust understanding of social imprints. Social imprints can be conceived as the amalgam of effects from a social vantage point that social enterprises produce when they engage in activities geared towards solving social problems and thus result in societal transformation.

Public Perception of Social Imprints in the form of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Different studies have shown that social imprints, especially those in the form of activities like corporate social responsibility (more frequently referred to as CSR), are presently gaining momentum. Corporate social responsibility has been defined in many different ways, but this study will focus on the “three-domain approach” of defining CSR. This definition of CSR focuses on a business enterprise that runs it economic activities while concurrently maintaining its legal responsibility and contributing to social causes that figure prominently in the public consciousness across the globe (Min et al., 2012, p. 106). The three-domain approach of defining CSR is displayed in Figure 1 below:

Figure 1: Figure showing the three domains of Corporate Social Responsibility (Adapted from Ghazzawi et al., 2016)

In the current business climate across the globe, consumers seem to be more aware of CSR and they have as a result set a high expectation for different organizations (Min et al., 2012, p. 104). Additionally, CSR has emerged as a significant and extremely efficacious strategy that has been increasingly deployed by various companies and thus has molded the contours of how the public perceives social enterprises and social entrepreneurship.

Social Responsibility and Marketing Strategies: Influencing Consumer Behavior

When talking of the many strategies that social imprints confer on business, one that is the center of many discussions is its relation to marketing, particularly when looking to influence consumer behavior. This is especially true when looking to influence the purchasing decision of the socially conscious consumer (Min et al., 2012, p. 4). Studies have shown that a close relationship exists between social responsibility and marketing activities (Ghazzawi et al., 2016, p. 106). Some research works have shown that social imprints in the form of companies participating in CSR have played an integral part in influencing consumer buying behavior (Min et al., 2012, p. 1). Studies with the example of Min et al., (2012, p. 4) have indicated that consumers are sensitive to negative CSR about a company, which they consider when making their purchase decision.

A CSR report by the Norwegian embassy located in Kuala Lumpur revealed a consulting company referred to as OWW incepted a socially responsible investment index (Min et al., 2012, p. 4). In this report, about 100 valuable companies in Malaysia were assigned scores for engagement to the different CSR dimensions, respect for human rights, and corporate governance (Min et al., 2012, p. 4). In this study, the share prices of these 100 companies were monitored and compared with others (Min et al., 2012, p. 4). The objective of doing making these comparisons was to ascertain and measure engagement in CSR as well as determining the extent that CSR influences and impacts the market value of any given organization (Min et al., 2012, p. 4). The findings in the report indicated that companies that displayed good CSR programs gave their shareholders higher dividends by 19.3% compared to other institutions between June 2006 and June 2009 (Min et al., 2012, p. 4). These findings also revealed that engagement in CSR was not an impediment to the economic functionality of firms in Malaysia, instead, it reflected the buying behavior of consumers. Consumers support CSR initiatives and this is evidenced by their buying behavior (Min et al., 2012, p. 4).

Public Perception of the Social Enterprise in influencing the Consumer Behavior: The Case of comparing the Developing Economies and the Developed Economies

Moldova

The public perception of the social enterprise, as seen above, influences consumer purchase behavior. Studies comparing the level of public perception in influencing consumer purchase behavior in the developed and developing countries seem to be insufficient. Some of the available studies that tackled the influence of public perception on influencing consumer behavior in the developing countries revealed the following:

The study by Dumitru (2017, p. 21) revealed that social businesses were cause-driven mechanisms that were important especially in the communities plagued by the presence of social problems. In these social enterprises, Dumitru (2017, p. 21) noted that the economic gains of a business must be used for social needs. The impact of social enterprises has to be felt by the communities and also be exerted on the environment (Dumitru, 2017, p. 21). Dumitru (2017, p. 21) additionally focused on the growth and development of social enterprises in Moldova. Moldova is a prime example of a Third World nation that remains at the periphery of Europe. Moldova’s GDP continues to rise despite the fact that the country is still one of the lowest in Europe. Furthermore, Dumitru (2017, p. 21), sought to uncover the perceptions of smallholders and other individuals on the subject of social entrepreneurship. The research involved the analysis of the perspectives of a total of 593 respondents from the three parts of Moldova (Dumitru, 2017, p. 24).

The study’s findings yielded quite concerning results regarding the current state of the understanding about and knowledge on the concept of social entrepreneurship. The findings indicated that 66% of the participants’ responses did not identify as being knowledgeable about the concept of social entrepreneurship and its currency within the current business climate (Dumitru, 2017, p. 21). Out of the 34% of the respondents who were aware of the concept of social entrepreneurship were young entrepreneurs (Dumitru, 2017, p. 21). Despite this, the younger entrepreneurs who were knowledgeable of social entrepreneurship would not reinvest their profits from a given financial year to a social cause (Dumitru, 2017, p. 21). When compared to the younger entrepreneurs, other individuals noted they would reinvest their profits in a social case if they had a business.

The findings from this study presented a lack of general understanding of the concept of social entrepreneurship (Dumitru, 2017, p. 21). One important aspect the researcher dwelled on in the conclusion section of the paper was the fact that the lack of higher and vocational education on entrepreneurship impaired the ability of people to think outside the box on matters of social entrepreneurship (Dumitru, 2017, p. 28).

The above finding introduced the role of education in promoting an understanding of entrepreneurship, and much importantly, social entrepreneurship. The assumption that holds in this section is that developing countries, with the example of Moldova, are incapable of thinking outside the box, with regards to social entrepreneurship. As a result of this, organizations in these settings tend to not compete well in the global scene, when compared to multinational companies that hold social entrepreneurship to high regard. This can also mean that these institutions will not influence the public perception of the population informed about social entrepreneurship, and this could mean that these institutions would not maximally influence consumer buying behavior.

Panama

Another perspective of social entrepreneurship worth looking at is that of Panama. The emerging economy in Panama provides a vast nest of opportunities in many industries. A social enterprise is a new type of entrepreneurship many entrepreneurs are adopting new business ideas, solving or contributing to a prone area in the community and making a profit.  Panamanian consumer has been evolving and gradually morphing into a much-sophisticated consumer (Lasso, 2018), the new generation and part of the old ones have changed their tendency and their preferences. Today most people can have access to better education and this led them to acquire a job with a decent salary that can allow them to spend in more expensive and riskier price products. For example, the Panamanian consumer will pay 20% to 30% more on organic products, compared to products that do not have an eco-friendly sustainable value (Strauss, 2016).

Egypt

Another county’s perspective worth looking at is that of Egypt. Egypt is a country located on the African Continent and has been identified as being a middle-income country in the developing world. A study carried out by Eshra and Beshir (2017, p. 32) aimed at better understanding the effects of corporate social responsibility on the purchasing behavior of consumers in Egypt. Eshra and Beshir (3017, p. 32) commenced their studies by noting the role of businesses in societal transformations through engagement in CSR. The authors considered CSR to be important in the quest for organizations to achieve sustainable development and economic success (Eshra & Beshir, 2017, p. 32).

One factor Eshra and Beshir (2017, p. 33) in the discourse on CSR is education. The researchers noted that increasing education levels meant consumers were becoming aware of corporate responsibility (Eshra & Beshir, 2017, p. 33). The indication from this is that it may soon not be acceptable for organizations to ignore the subject of exerting social imprints from their CSR activities. As education levels are noted to increase, consumers are learning more about the proactivity of corporates in participating in a social cause (Eshra & Beshir, 2017, p. 32). The authors further noted that other researchers have conducted studies that examine the relationship between CSR and education, so the corpus of western literature on this topic is quite expansive but there was scanty evidence on the correlation between the two in burgeoning markets like Egypt (Eshra & Beshir, 2017, p. 32). Furthermore, the authors elucidated that, despite the role of increasing education levels in the promotion of greater awareness and knowledge of CSR, consumer behavior in Egypt was not entirely dependent on a company’s engagement in CSR activities (Eshra & Beshir, 2017, p. 41). Consumers in Alexandria—which was the location where the study’s participants were selected from—take into consideration other factors when making their purchasing decisions (Eshra & Beshir, 2017, p. 41). This finding confirms that CSR is not the only factor but among many others that influence the buying behavior of consumers.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh is another country, whose perspective on social entrepreneurship is worth studying as described in the. Bangladesh is a developing economy. Ferdousi (2017, p. 47) carried out a research study that underscored the instrumental role that social enterprises in play in addressing the current social problems. Ferdousi (2017, p. 47) examined how consumer knowledge and the general understanding of social enterprises was extremely influential on the purchasing behavior exhibited by consumers. The researcher calculated descriptive statistics that revealed that an estimated 26% of the study participants were cognizant of the idea of social enterprises and what it means in terms of promoting environmentally-conscious (Ferdousi, 2017, p. 47). Approximately 80 % of the participants believed that social enterprises were the key to realizing sustainable development goals, commonly referred to as the SDGs (Ferdousi, 2017, p. 47). The regression analysis results revealed findings that are related to the outcome of the previous Egypt study. The findings in the case of Bangladesh elucidated that the purchasing decisions of consumers were not influenced or informed by their previous knowledge of social enterprises or ethical information (Ferdousi, 2017, p. 47). On the contrary, the purchase decisions were mainly influenced by the information displayed about the product in addition to the pricing and the availability of the product.

The findings from the above study revealed that for companies to increase consumer response, they had to provide more awareness, knowledge, and education about their social and environmental causes (Ferdousi, 2017, p. 47). These organizations also have to maintain quality ethical standards in the quest to create trusted brands for rational consumers who value ethics (Ferdousi, 2017, p. 47). Like previous studies that focused on other developing countries, it is unequivocal that a deficiency in education, overall awareness, and knowledge of social enterprises means that consumers lack any regard when it comes to the role that social imprints have on influencing the purchasing tastes and behaviors of consumers whom are ethical and rational in their business endeavors.

Singapore

Currently categorized as a First World country, Singapore has emerged as a case study that can present the role of social enterprise in the developed world. The studies conducted by Swee-Sum et al., (2016, p. 7) focus on examining the changes in how the public perceives the concept of social enterprise in Singapore and how these perceptions influence and dictate consumer buying behavior. Figure 2 below sheds light on how public awareness of social enterprises increased over a six-year period in Singapore.

Figure 2: Changes in Perception of Social Enterprise between 2010 and 2016 in Singapore (Swee-Sum et al., 2016, p. 12)

The increase in awareness of social enterprises in Singapore was associated with the efforts of numerous stakeholders who provided education, training and development programs on the subject of social entrepreneurship (Swee-Sum, 2016, p. 12). As a result of increased cognizance and understanding of social enterprises in Singapore, there was also increased understanding of these entities over the 6-year period (Swee-Sum, 2016, p. 15). With a greater comprehension of concept of social entrepreneurship and social enterprises, Swee-Sum et al. (2016) discovered that consumers have a proclivity towards buying from and investing in social enterprises. Figure 3 shows the buying behavior of the consumers who were studied over the 6-year period.

Figure 3: Figure showing the Buying Behavior of Consumers as well as their Intention to Purchases from Social Enterprises (Swee-Sum, 2016, p. 17)

Based on figure 3 above, it is evidenced that the percentage of buyers from social enterprises increased from 22% in 2010 to 34.9% in 2016 (Swee-Sum, 2016, p. 16). This finding can be explained by the conversion of ready buyers to buyers because of their educational backgrounds, training and development programs (Swee-Sum, 2016, p. 16-17). The findings from this study confirmed how education supports the conversion of ready buyers into consumers who buy from social enterprises.

A Study of South Korea and Thailand

When researching the perceptions of social enterprise, CSR, and social entrepreneurialism within a First World context, the cases of South Korea and Thailand are ideal case studies, as they are the main subject of the study carried out by Gaynor (2018). Korea has been categorized as a developed country. In the past 60 years, South Korea has experienced major economic transformations that have seen it evolve from a nation that mainly relied on agriculture to boost its economy to one that is highly modernized and industrialized (Santacreu, 2018, p. 1). Thailand, on the other hand, is classified as a developing country (Nasingkun, 2003, p. 1). South Korea and Thailand are important case studies for social entrepreneurship considering that in both countries, the governments foster this phenomenon through the enaction of public policy (Gaynor, 2018, p. 2). Korea’s public policy is informed by the Social Enterprise Promotion Act (Defourny, Kuan, Bidet & Eum, 2011, p. 83; Gaynor, 2018, p. 2; Shin, 2018, p. 1).

The study by Gaynor (2018), sought to determine the perceptions towards social business practices in both South Korea and Thailand. Both of these nations were central to Gaynor’s (2018) study because they are deemed pivotal destinations for operating social businesses (Gaynor, 2018, p. 2). The study recruited 77 participants. One theme that was extremely significant in this study was the determination of perceptions of the study’s respondents on social business practices as compared to more traditional business practices (Gaynor, 2018, p. 30). The researcher concluded that the preponderance of the respondents viewed the quality of products produced by social businesses were much higher than the goods manufactured and sold by more traditional businesses (Gaynor, 2018, p. 49).

On matters of satisfaction of the products offered by traditional and social businesses, it was determined that a higher percentage of the respondents, especially those from Thailand, had slightly higher satisfaction levels on the products offered by social businesses, compared to those that traditional businesses offered. This study revealed the role of consumer education in influencing consumer perception of businesses, but there was more to be done. There was recommendation for more studies to be done, which would breakdown the study participants on different sub-categories, including how education levels profoundly dictated consumer perceptions of social businesses (Gaynor, 2018, p. 65).

The United States of America

The United States of America is the sole world superpower and thus is touted as the leader in the developed world. It is thus not surprising that in such an economy, the landscape for social enterprises and social entrepreneurship (British Council, 2016, p. 4). Many entities with the example of Goodwill in the U. S date their founding of social entrepreneurship at the start of the 20^th century (British Council, 2016, p. 4). The support for social enterprises is deeply rooted in the U.S (British Council, 2016, p. 4). Similar to Thailand and South Korea, the federal government in the U. S supports the plight of social enterprises (British Council, 2016, p. 4). This U. S government runs the Social Innovation Fund, incepted in 2009 and which is concerned with awarding grants to social enterprises that are keen on providing solutions to communities grappling with a wide array of social challenges (British Council, 2016, p. 4).

The United States touts its system of higher education institutions, and they are important because they provide various forms of support to social enterprises and the cause of social entrepreneurship (British Council, 2016, p. 4). These institutions offer students with courses on social impact, social entrepreneurship, and consultancy services, with many others gaining the title of being the hubs for social entrepreneurship (British Council, 2016, p. 4).

It is no wonder that a nation like the U.S with its higher education landscape that have been committed to enlightening students on social entrepreneurship continues to have social enterprises that have since their inception continued to amass immense success. This is evidenced when looking at companies like TOMS Shoes, Cascade Engineering and Goodwill.

Chapter Summary: Identifying the Gap in the Literature

This literature review chapter elucidated public perceptions of social enterprise and the manner in which social business practices profoundly influence consumer purchasing behavior in both developing and developed economies. This chapter further examined the key role that national education levels play on the subjects of social enterprises and social entrepreneurship in influencing consumer behavior (although to some degree in different settings). The literature review chapter also shed light on how social entrepreneurship and social enterprises have gained a lot of traction in terms of their popularity and utility in different economies. The study has also revealed that in First World nations like the U. S, the knowledge and popularity of social enterprises has been present since the early 20^th century, unlike nations in the developed world which only learned about these concepts far more recently. The review also confirmed that perception of social enterprises across the different economies influenced consumer behavior to some extent. The education background of the consumers also influenced their perception of social imprints of social enterprises to some extent. These findings illuminate the gaps in the examination of social enterprises in the developing and developed economies. As such, it becomes necessary to develop an inquiry to understand the social enterprise landscape in the developed and developing economies.

When comparing the social enterprise atmosphere in these two kinds of economies, it is also necessary to understand how the role of education plays out in influencing how people perceive the social imprints of social entities, especially by looking if the members of public can be moved to buy from them. For this reason, the below theoretical framework was designed to guide the next chapters in this paper.

Figure 4: Figure showing the working Theoretical Framework Designed from the Insights drawn from the Literature Review Section

The above theoretical framework supports the research theory that: The public perception of social enterprises can be influenced by the education background of consumers, which in turn, influences the consumer behavior differently in the developing and developed economies.

Methodology       

This study as was earlier mentioned, will look to navigate deeper to understand how the public perception of social enterprise influences consumer behavior, and how the role of education plays out in this phenomenon in the developing and the developed economies. The research will be organized in a thematic fashion that answers the articulated research topic as well as the research questions.

This study will focus on answering the following research questions:

RQ 1: To what extent does public perception of social enterprise influence consumer buying behavior?

RQ 2: How does the developing world differ from the developed world when looking at the extent of public perception of a social enterprise?

RQ 3: How does education influence the extent of public perception of a social enterprise in developing and developed countries?

This study will utilize qualitative research methodology and approach. The reason why the qualitative methodology was preferred was because it would allow undertaking a deeper inquiry of research problem and to gain and develop a deeper comprehension of the important themes. The qualitative research strategy call for a design that typifies a review. A review would facilitate going over many research articles to build a case on the topic. The review entailed studying numerous research articles and journals related to the topic.

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria for the Review

The inclusion and exclusion criteria for this study covers information about the scope of the sources that will be deployed to help compile and organize the results, findings and discussion areas of a paper. The criterion, inclusion and exclusion information for this study are summarized in the below table:

Table 1: Table showing the Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria for the Review

Findings

This chapter will outline the findings/collected information after a review of sources that fell within the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The findings obtained were in relation to the below research question.

RQ 1: To what extent does public perception of social enterprise influence consumer buying behavior?

1. Public Perception of Social Enterprises influences the Perceived Value of the Products they offer, offsets the costs of the products, influences the buying intention and Customer Satisfaction
2. Public perception of social enterprises influenced the consumer buying behavior but to some extent

• Social Enterprises and CSR activities can be viewed as marketing strategies that influence the consumers’ buying behavior

1. Consumers value the social aspects of social enterprise but only to some extent
2. Perception of CSR among different Cultures influenced Consumer Behavior but only to some extent
3. Public perception influenced the perceived quality and repurchase intention towards Green Products: The case of positive attitudes towards green consumerism

Discussion, Conclusions, Study Limitations, Practical Implications and Recommendations

This chapter outlines a discussion of the collected information, which will also guide the conclusion and recommendation sections. The organization of the discussion section will examine the responses derived from the research to the research questions will be provided.

Research Discussion

To what extent does public perception of social enterprise influence the consumer buying behavior?

Social Enterprises and CSR activities can be viewed as marketing strategies that influence the consumers’ buying behavior

When talking of the many strategies that social imprints confer on business, one that is the center of many discussions is its relation to marketing, particularly when looking to influence consumer behavior. This is especially true when looking to influence the purchasing decision of the socially conscious consumer (Min et al., 2012, p. 4). Studies have shown that a close relationship exists between social responsibility and marketing activities (Ghazzawi et al., 2016, p. 106). Some research works have shown that social imprints in the form of companies participating in CSR have played an integral part in influencing consumer buying behavior (Min et al., 2012, p. 1). Studies with the example of Min et al., (2012, p. 4) have indicated that consumers are sensitive to negative CSR about a company, which they consider when making their purchase decision.

A CSR report by the Norwegian embassy located in Kuala Lumpur revealed a consulting company referred to as OWW incepted a socially responsible investment index (Min et al., 2012, p. 4). In this report, about 100 valuable companies in Malaysia were assigned scores for engagement to the different CSR dimensions, respect for human rights, and corporate governance (Min et al., 2012, p. 4). In this study, the share prices of these 100 companies were monitored and compared with others (Min et al., 2012, p. 4). The aim of doing this was to determine engagement in CSR exerted an influence on the market value of any given organization (Min et al., 2012, p. 4). The findings in the report indicated that companies that displayed good CSR programs gave their shareholders higher dividends by 19.3% compared to other institutions between June 2006 and June 2009 (Min et al., 2012, p. 4). These findings also revealed that engagement in CSR was not an impediment to the economic functionality of firms in Malaysia, instead, it reflected the buying behavior of consumers. Consumers support CSR initiatives and this is evidenced by their buying behavior (Min et al., 2012, p. 4).

Public Perception of Social Enterprises influences the Perceived Value of the Products they offer, Offsets the costs of the products, influences Customer Satisfaction that further led to the Consumer’s repurchase intention

The study by Choi and Kim (2013, p. 239) determined that numerous studies pointed out the consumer’s perception of matters like quality and value were instrumental to influence consumer behavior and the choice of product. Further, consumers have been noted to associate high quality and value of products with high price (Choi & Kim, 2013, p. 240). Further, Choi and Kim (2013, p. 240) also pointed out the fact that numerous studies associate perceived quality with customer satisfaction through value perception.

With the growth of the knowledge on social enterprises, consumers are expected to have different kinds of behavior as indicated by Choi and Kim (2013, p. 240). In their study, Choi and Kim (2013, p. 239) studied how different social enterprises consumers are from the traditional private enterprise consumers. The study shed light on how the products offered by social enterprises are perceived by consumers to positively impact matters of perceived value (Choi & Kim, 2013, p. 248). Which means, if consumers have higher quality perception of the products offered by social enterprises, chances are high that these consumers will have higher perceptions of the social, functional and emotional value of the products (Choi & Kim, 2013, p. 248).

Choi and Kim (2013, p. 248) determined that in other studies, the perceived quality of the products offered by social enterprises offset the costs of the said products that the consumers can see. The meaning of this being that when consumers perceive that social enterprises offer quality products; they automatically associate the price of these products to their quality. Interestingly, Choi and Kim (2013, p. 248) did not confirm this relationship.

Choi and Kim (2013, p. 248) also determined from their study that customer satisfaction for individuals who bought from social enterprises was higher when the perceived value (emotional, functional and social) was noted to be higher. What this finding implies is that consumers of social enterprises considered emotional and social value to be imperative to promoting customer satisfaction (Choi & Kim, 2013, p. 248). This finding was so because consumers of social entrepreneurs’ value ethical consumption and so they are satisfied when their consumption considered these values (Choi & Kim, 2013, p. 248). Further, Choi and Kim (2013, p. 248) determined that consumers buying from social enterprises considered the products offered by these institutions to be fresh and unique compared to those offered by the traditional private enterprises.

Further, the study by Choi and Kim (2013, p. 249) confirmed the findings from other studies that a positive relationship, in fact, existed between customer satisfaction and the repurchase intention of a consumer. According to Choi and Kim (2013, p. 249), when consumers rate the social value of an organization highly, they end up developing a range of positive opinions about the company, which becomes important to improve the probability of their repurchase intention. This study also revealed that high ratings of the emotional social, and functional value of social enterprises led to customer satisfaction, which further resulted in the consumer’s repurchase intention.

Overall, this study shows that the public perception of social enterprises by the consumers that buy from these entities is that their product offerings are of high quality, high value (social, functional and emotional), factors which contribute to purchase intention and subsequent customer satisfaction.

The qualitative study conducted by Coco (2018, p. 2) aimed at investigating how consumers perceive quality in addition to other variables that influence purchase in the backdrop of social enterprises. One of this study’s objectives pertains to the research inquiry in Coco’s, thereby illuminating how extant literature provides nuance to this study (2018, p. 36). It focused on uncovering whether or not the hybridity of social enterprises exerted affects the perceptions of quality the consumers had. The other research query informed the inquiry of determining the important factors that influenced the purchase intention in social enterprises (Coco, 2018, p. 36).

The research study produced findings that shed light on how the majority of the respondents did not directly associate the hybridity of a social enterprise with enhanced quality of the products and services quality of a social enterprise (Coco, 2018, p. 36). These findings obtained from the qualitative research study was that the participants did not associate hybridity of social enterprises as being a determinant of product quality (Coco, 2018, p. 36).

Consumers value the social aspects of social enterprise but only to some extent

Another finding in the research by Coco (2018, p. 36) was that consumers valued the social facet of businesses that identify themselves as a social enterprise to some extent. The study revealed that when consumers were placed in scenarios where they had to choose between two options, where one option charged higher prices since they were linked with a particular social cause, the participants pointed out they would buy from the social enterprise only if the difference in the prices was not significant (Coco, 2018, p. 36-37). This finding showed that public perception of social enterprises influenced the consumer buying decision, but only to a certain level, where some circumstances were evidenced to fit right.

The study by Mohr and Webb (2005, p. 121), resorted to determine how the organizations participating in CSR influenced how consumers would respond to the goods and services offered by such institutions. Two domains of CSR were put to the test, which were philanthropy, and the environment, where CSR in relation to the price the organization offered were studied (Mohr & Webb, 2005, p. 121). This study involved a broad national sample of participants who confirmed that CSR, in fact, directly influenced the purchasing intent of the consumers, and this was despite the price offered (Mohr & Webb, 2005, p. 121). The study shed light on the fact that consumers perceived philanthropy and environmental domains of CSR to be fundamental and they would gladly buy from organizations that considered these aspects of CSR. Interestingly, the study by Öberseder, Schlegelmilch, and Murphy (2013, p. 16) yielded findings that confirmed the contrary when examining the correlation between CSR and the consumers’ purchase intention. Öberseder et al., (2013, p. 16) determined a contradiction on the fact that CSR influenced consumer purchase intention. Öberseder et al., (2013, p. 16) held that the purchase intention from organizations active in CSR was a product of many different factors, confirming the insignificant relationship obtained between CSR activities and the purchase behavior of consumers.

Perception of CSR among different Cultures influenced Consumer Behavior but only to some extent

The study by Karaosman, Morales-Alonso, and Grijalvo (2015, p. 1) sought to understand how consumers react to CSR, particularly those in a cross-cultural setting. More specifically, the authors wanted to determine how engagement in CSR influenced the consumers behavior for consumers in international settings. More specifically, Karaosman et al., (2015, p. 1) was aimed at understanding the difference between how the cultural perspectives of consumers in the Spanish and Turkish markets influenced their awareness of CSR along with the manner in which CSR influenced the purchase behavior of these consumers, and how communication within the CSR framework is received by these consumers.

Bringing a more narrow focus on the findings yielded by Karaosman et al., (2015), especially by paying attention to the theme of looking at how consumer behavior influenced the purchase decision of the participants, the following insight ensued. Karaosman et al., (2015, p. 13-14). CSR was determined to influence consumer behavior but to some extent. During the interviews, which was the method for data collection in the study, participants from the two countries of interest (Turkey and Spain) were asked to prioritize the factors considered to be important before making a purchase decision (Karaosman et al., 2015, p. 13). The participants from both countries revealed that personal values and self-interest were important purchase criteria (Karaosman et al., 2015, p. 13). More specifically, the participants from Spain revealed that product factors such as design and quality, and price were important to the purchase criteria (Karaosman et al., 2015, p. 13). The participants from Turkey considered factors like quality, product durability and price to be important factors in their purchase criteria (Karaosman et al., 2015, p. 13).

The above findings are an indication that participants from both countries would gladly purchase those products whose attributes are considered to be responsible (Karaosman et al., 2015, p. 13). These findings addition shed light on how the CSR framework does not constitute the sole factor that consumers look at in companies before they make their decision to invest and purchase with other factors playing a role as well (Karaosman et al., 2015, p. 13). These other factors include price, quality, and other product attributes (Karaosman et al., 2015, p. 13). In the quest to determine if the study participants would rather invest in buying certain goods and services that have been touted as being high quality and reliable when they were asked explicitly.  An exemplification was subsequently carried out and required respondents to choose between product A and B (Karaosman et al., 2015, p. 13-14). As part of the profile of product A (a garment) included the following:

• Cheap
• Accessible
• Unique
• Fashion brand producing the garment is associated with social scandals, some of which were projected on the media

The profile of product B included the following:

• Nothing original with the product
• Affordable
• Accessible
• Marketing branch with the garment

When the respondents from both countries were asked explicitly if they would buy products either from A or B, they determined that as much was product price and other product features were important to them, they would still buy a product from an entity that was socially responsible (Karaosman et al., 2015, p. 13-14). For this reason, the respondents noted they would buy product B as opposed to Product A, which has a past history of social scandals (Karaosman et al., 2015, p. 13-14).  This finding seemed contradictory to the previous findings, where it was noted that CSR was not a critical factor in influencing the consumer’s purchase criteria (Karaosman et al., 2015, p. 13-14). When the study participants were asked to expound on their new findings, they explained that they would not knowingly support an organization that had poor working conditions (Karaosman et al., 2015, p. 13-14). These findings appeared to be a contradiction of the participants’ earlier declaration that social factors did not quite determine their purchase criteria (Karaosman et al., 2015, p. 13-14).

Karaosman et al., (2015, p. 13-14) arrived at the conclusion that the new finding may be directly linked with the presence of feminine values as discerned in the cultures of the Spanish and Turkish people. The traces of the feminine values were responsible for supporting social awareness when the study participants were inquired about (Karaosman et al., 2015, p. 13-14). Furthermore, the findings of the study elucidated how the national cultures of countries were responsible for the consumers in both countries would, after a period of time, forget about the social scandals and most likely, consumers end up still buying from these brands (Karaosman et al., 2015, p. 14). Another significant finding gleaned from the study—especially from the Spanish participants—was the reality that the preponderance of the consumers in this country evinced the willingness to spend money on a brand rather than the quality of the products offered by some international institutions (Karaosman et al., 2015, p. 14). This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that global products were mostly affordable and known, so people would prefer buying products even if they know that these products would not last long (Karaosman et al., 2015, p. 14).

The implications from this study suggest that the social imprints of certain organizations influenced the consumer behavior but only to a degree. The study revealed other factors could influence the purchase criteria of people, and this included aspects like branding, price, quality, and other product attributes (Karaosman et al., 2015, p. 14). Further, the study brought in a new concept that pointed out the role of culture in compiling the purchase criteria of people (Karaosman et al., 2015, p. 14).

Public perception influenced the perceived quality and repurchase intention towards Green Products        

Ariffin, Yusof, Putit, and Shah (2016, p. 391) carried out a research study in which they wanted to determine the factors that influenced the perceived quality and the purchase intention towards green products. In order to execute this study, Ariffin et al., (2016, p. 394) proceeded to study shoppers at the Parkson Bandar Utama, a Department Store. The mechanism utilized for data collection in the study was a valid, reliable, and closed-ended questionnaire, which had a 5-point Likert scale (Ariffin et al., 2016, p. 394). In about 250 questionnaires that were filled, 200 were deemed to be good enough to facilitate the study. The scale studied the below topics:

• Green value
• Environmental consciousness
• Emotional value
• Perceived quality
• Repurchase intention

Analysis of the data revealed insightful information. The researchers concluded that the green value of products has significant association with quality and the repurchase intention by the consumers (Ariffin et al., 2016, p. 395). These findings confirm the results yielded by the study conducted by Zhuang, Cumiskey, Xiao and Alford (2010, p. 6). Zhuang et al., (2010, p. 6) outlined that perceived value described as acquisition utility increased the consumer’s buying intention.

These findings were also replicated in many different studies. For instance, the works by Yaacob and Zakaria (2011, p. 4) confirmed them in a study where the researchers used a questionnaire as the research instrument. In their study, Yaacob and Zakaria (2011, p. 4) determined that green consumerism was a reality for a majority of the participants in the study. It was determined from the study that the respondents developed a positive attitude for green products (Yaacob & Zakaria, 2011, p. 6-7). The respondents displayed agreement that green products were beneficial to the environment, and that by using such products, they would contribute to the environment. This finding was also replicated in the study by Mahesh (2013) where it was established that green products resulted in the development of positive attitudes, which further influenced the consumer’s purchase intention.

Doszhanov and Ahmad (2015, p. 9-10) revealed in a similar study that there was indeed a significant association existing between the perceived value of green products and the customer’s purchase and repurchase intention of these products. Green products are seen as an opportunity for organizations to highlight their products as being sustainable and thus using this as a marketing strategy for their product offerings (Chen & Chang, 2012, p. 1152; Koller, Floh & Zauner, 2011, p. 1154; Steenkamp & Geyskens, 2006, p. 136).

From the above findings it can be deduced that when organizations concentrate on the social responsibility of promoting environmental sustainability, they influence the green value that consumers possess. This, in turn, goes to result in the development of perceived quality regarding the products and services offered by these organizations. For consumers who value environmental sustainability (an aspect of social responsibility), they develop a positive attitude towards these organizations and they are, in turn, motivated to purchase and repurchase products and services offered by such institutions. These findings go to show that most often, people will value organizations that leave social imprints, which could be in the form of the four domains of social responsibility. For this reason, marketers ought to take note of these findings, especially those that operate social enterprises in their quests to implement green marketing strategies as a means to stir repurchase intentions from consumers.

How does the developing world differ from the developed world when looking at the extent of public perception of a social enterprise?

The Attitudes towards Social Responsibility in the Developing Economies vs. the Developed Economies

In the quest to respond to the above research question, it becomes necessary to look at evidence from literature comparing how public perception of social enterprise or social responsibility differs in the developed and developing economies. For the developed economies, the examples of the U.S and Europe will be used and Pakistan, Sudan, South Africa and Swaziland will be the examples of the developing economies.

The study by Forte (2013, p. 815) revealed how CSR played a significant role for firms in the U.S. In the U.S, companies are not only keen on just making profit, instead, they have a social responsibility where they are expected by the citizens to be ethical and conduct themselves in a responsible manner (Forte, 2013, p. 815). Like the U.S, in the European Union, social responsibility has been in existence since the formation of this organization (Forte, 2013, p. 815). Over the years, since the inception of CSR, this phenomenon has gained attention in Europe (Forte, 2013, p. 815). In fact, the European Union developed sustainability strategies for the region in 2001 that focused on the coexistence between economic growth, environmental protection and social cohesion (Forte, 2013, p. 815). This finding alone shows that the idea of CSR is not new in Europe and it is highly likely that similar to the U.S citizens, the members of EU hold companies to account on matters of social responsibility. In other terms, this can be put that the public perception of the members of these developed countries towards the social imprints of organizations in these locales have over the years been cultured around the subject of social responsibility. It is likely that CSR quests have infiltrated the marketing scene where consumers can make decisions based on how organizations are socially responsible.

The study by Forte (2013) was focused on comparing CSR in the U.S and Europe. One of the main findings obtained from the research was that CSR in both the U.S and Europe was aimed at creating a social image (Forte, 2013, p. 821). These regions wanted their CSR activities to focus on stakeholders and the issues surrounding them (Forte, 2013, p. 815). This in a way can be said that the perception of stakeholders influences the companies in the U. S and the European Union to ensure they are socially responsible and to maintain an image that would likely result in loyalty.

The CSR scene in the developing world, with the examples of South Africa and Swaziland is still developing (Sanchez, 2011, p. 1). Often, social initiatives are in Africa viewed to be some form of charity or social spending that positions companies to the market (Sanchez, 2011, p. 1). With this insight, it is not surprising that consumers in some parts of the developing world like Africa may hold the view that when organizations engage in socially responsible initiatives that they are doing so mainly because of positioning themselves to the market (Sanchez, 2011, p. 1).

Culture has been shown to play an important part in how societies view CSR and this is highly evidenced in Muslim societies, which are known to be very collectivist. The study by Chen, Chen and Hussain (2019, p. 1) sought to understand how CSR was viewed in Muslim societies, where a survey was done on Sudan and Pakistan. In the study, it was established that Muslim societies were responsible to CSR quests, which was linked to their culture (Chen et al., 2019. p. 1). These finding goes to show the possible attitudes of the members of these society towards social enterprises, especially in determining if their purchase criteria from these enterprises could be influenced as a result. This finding shows that despite the development level of an economy, culture has a role to play in the attitudes people have towards social initiatives.

How does education influence the extent of public perception of a social enterprise in developing and developed countries?

When looking at the subject of social entrepreneurship and in looking to study how well the society embraces social enterprises, it is worth to look at the subject of education, especially on matters of entrepreneurship, and compare the status in developing and developed countries. This knowledge will be able to give a clue of how social enterprises would be accepted in the developing and developed economies.

Status of Entrepreneurship and Social Entrepreneurship Education in the Developing Economies

Entrepreneurship education has been noted to be one of the key strategies to fighting the challenge of unemployment around the globe (Mbeteh & Pellegrini, 2018, p. 91). This insight could not be far from the truth like in the developing countries in the continent of Africa, which have to struggle with the effects of unemployment for years (Mbeteh & Pellegrini, 2018, p. 91). The challenge of unemployment is mostly faced by the youths in countries within the continent (Mbeteh & Pellegrini, 2018, p. 91). Developing nations, especially those in Africa also struggle with the execution of entrepreneurship education (Mbeteh & Pellegrini, 2018, p. 91).

Despite the debates as to whether or not entrepreneurship education has to be taught in the African context, the truth of the matter is that this field of study has numerous benefits in the African setting. For instance, entrepreneurship education is the key to developing individual capacity by providing skills necessary for individuals to discover business opportunities (Mbeteh & Pellegrini, 2018, p. 91). Some of the objectives entrepreneurial education would achieve include creating or developing an entrepreneurial culture and attitudes for individuals and the community as a while.

The status of entrepreneurial education in the developing world can be said to be lacking and it is no wonder a majority of the governments of the developing economies are looking to find ways in which entrepreneurial education development can be made better in the pursuance to result in societies that fully embrace entrepreneurship.

Taking the example of Malaysia, looking at the state of entrepreneurship education, offered in the country’s higher education, especially for students taking construction or project management, an unfortunate reality ensues (Aziz & Jaafar, 2008, p. 182). The design of construction courses does not integrate studies on entrepreneurship education and the other unfortunate bit is a study of many of the developing countries portray a similar narrative. This finding alone confirms that a challenge already exists in the developing countries, regarding educating students on entrepreneurship, which could explain the reason why instances of self-employment are few in a majority of the developing world, when compared to the developed world where entrepreneurship is integrated to the education system.

Closely related to the subject of entrepreneurship is social entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship has been a growing phenomenon over the years, and presently, it has attracted the interest of policy makers. Policy makers are looking to redirect of social entrepreneurship and social enterprises to the developing economies. The main reason for this is attributed to the fact that the developing countries struggle with a myriad of social, economic and political challenges (Rametse and Shah, 2012, p. 1). These challenges result in the onset of social problems such as poverty (Rametse and Shah, 2012, p. 1). Further, in the developing countries, the social, political and economic challenges result in scenarios where access to certain basic needs such as healthcare, education, and sanitation becomes a problem for some members of the society (Rametse and Shah, 2012, p. 2). In fact, because of such issues, some members of the society become at risk for sicknesses associated with poor nutrition (Rametse and Shah, 2012, p. 2). A good example of this is evidenced in India where the risk of being blind because of poor nutrition, poverty, and poor health services (Rangan & Thulasiraj, 2007, p. 35; Seelos & Mair, 2005, p. 241). In the developing countries, services pertaining to education tend to be limited as outlined by Rametse and Shah (2012, p. 2). Extrapolating this insight when looking at education on social entrepreneurship, it is likely that education on this phenomenon could be lacking as well.

At this point of the discussion it becomes necessary to look at individual examples from the developing economies to understand the current state of education in social entrepreneurship. One country that is worth looking at is Iran, a developing country located in the Middle Eastern part of Asia. Salamzadeh, Azimi and Kirby (2013, p. 17) undertook a study where the authors sought to find the level of awareness, support and gaps in higher education on the subject of social entrepreneurship in Iran. The target institution where the study would be undertaken was a renown higher education facility in Iran referred to as the University of Tehran (Salamzadeh et al., 2013, p. 17).

The instrument of data collected that was used in the study was a questionnaire (Salamzadeh et al., 2013, p. 17). Data was collected from three faculties in the University of Tehran and these faculties were selected with the aim of determining the gaps that currently stand in the understanding of social entrepreneurship among the postgraduate students (Salamzadeh et al., 2013, p. 17).

The findings from the study revealed that there was intent towards understanding and exploring the concept of social entrepreneurship (Salamzadeh et al., 2013, p. 17). The study however revealed a gap in understanding or exploring social entrepreneurship because of the lack of adequate attention to contextual factors and the lack of support in the form of training, role models, funding, mentorship, and premises (Salamzadeh et al., 2013, p. 27). These findings indicated there was still a long way to go when it comes to cementing the understanding and exploration of social entrepreneurship in a developing country like Iran.

Status of Entrepreneurship and Social Entrepreneurship Education in the Developed Economies

In the quest to understand the current state of social enterprises in a developing country, it is also essential to consider looking at a case study of an economy classified as a developed country. For the purpose of comparing the case in a developed economy against the developing. The economy that would help give a clue of the developed economy is the Netherlands. The Netherlands is one of the most developed countries in the world whose physical location places it in the continent of Europe.

The social entrepreneurship scene in developed economies is expected to be different compared to the case in developing economies. For instance, one area worth looking at to promote the understanding of the difference between the social enterprise scene in the developed and developing economies is regarding the subject of motivation for social enterprises. The article by Lo (2013, p. 1) studied some of the motivations for establishing social enterprises in the developing markets, emerging markets and in a developed country (Canada). The following findings in the figure below were determined:

Figure 5: Figure showing the areas of interest impact Investment in the Developing and Emerging Economies Markets (Source: Lo, 2013, p. 1).

From the above findings, it is apparent that the areas with the most concentration of impact investment in the developing markets were healthcare, food and agriculture, and education (Lo, 2013, p. 1). In the emerging markets, the focus for impact investment was microfinance, food and agriculture, and financial services (Lo, 2013, p. 1). Interestingly, when comparing these findings to the case of Netherlands, a developed country, it was determined that the country had a thriving entrepreneurship sector, which also translated to the status of social enterprises in the country (Lo, 2013, p. 1). Compared to the findings on Iran in the study assessed preciously, it is worth to note that in a developed country like the Netherlands, supporting mechanisms were in place to support social entrepreneurship and the development of social enterprises. Some of the resources that are available to support social entrepreneurship in the Netherlands include the availability of the following: support centers, incubators, hubs, platforms offering acceleration programs, capacity building, work space, investment opportunities, and other kinds of assistance that can be offered to startups (Lo, 2013, p. 1). These findings present a clear indication that the social entrepreneurship scene in developing countries seem to be lacking. This is based on the findings on the Iranian scene where it was determined that not only was social entrepreneurship still at its infancy, but that there were numerous factors that stood in the way of developing social enterprises and one of these factors was the lack of support being offered to these institutions.

Aside from looking at the supportive mechanisms that are in place in a developed country that support social entrepreneurship, it is also worth to consider looking at the motivation for setting up social enterprises in these developed economies. Figure 5 showed some of the areas of interest for entrepreneurship impact in the developing and emerging economies. In the developed countries, the findings are somewhat different. For instance, the motivation behind social enterprises in Netherlands are country-specific issues such as clean technology, energy and environmental sustainability (Lo, 2013, p. 1). One social enterprise in the Netherlands for instance, as pointed out by Lo (2013, p. 1) was focused on providing sustainable mobility solutions, which would be safe for the environment, which is contrary to issues like sanitation challenges, or poverty, which are the motivation for social enterprises in the developing and developed countries.

The findings in Netherlands are replicated in the case of the broader European Union, which confirms that the current state of entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship, especially on matters of education, could influence the difference in the awareness, knowledge and contexts of social enterprises in the developing and developed countries. A report by the British Council (2017, p. 20-21) revealed that the European Union has a policy that aims at integrating entrepreneurship in the education system, high school in particular. The idea of enterprising is introduced to the young population in the European Union, which in a way can clearly explain the difference between the knowledge, awareness and attitudes towards social enterprises in the developed and developing economies.

In the developing economies, as was seen in the earlier sections of the paper, social entrepreneurship is still setting root. When compared to other developing economies, it would be no surprise that green consumerism or appreciation of social enterprises would be noted in the developed economies, which have had the notion of social entrepreneurship for much longer compared to the developing countries. It is likely that developed countries would develop a rich perception towards the social imprints and social responsibility of companies, compared to individuals in developing economies. With the difference in the scene of social entrepreneurship in the developing and developed economies, it comes as no surprise that consumers would be more aware of the social imprints of enterprises and would make purchase decisions based on that. It also comes as no surprise that countries where social entrepreneurship is at its infancy would mainly consider other factors such as price in their purchase criteria, and not base most of their decisions on factors such as how an organization ensures social responsibility in its processes and decisions before buying its products or services.

Results Gleaned from Descriptive Statistics

In accordance with the literature review combined with a comprehensive analysis of the public’s purchasing behaviors. The survey that was administered was made up of 23 items that were deemed both reliable and valid from previous studies. Over 380 participants answewred the survey, which yielded the following statistical results:

Participant demographic profile

Demographic profile from participant

The above tables present the demographic factors of the participants in terms of gender since the preponderance of the participants were female, documenting a frequency of 224 collected out of the 383 total participants. As such, Almost 60% of the participants were female. The participants did not have to check their gender, so a little under 2% of the respondents opted not to identify themselves by their gender. The second important demographic variable was the age of participants, which meant that there were seven age groups that were utilized to celeritously determine which generation the respondents belonged to since the Millennials were shown to be the most present in participation while the Baby Boomers recorded the least invested in this endeavor. What this elucidates is that members of the younger generation are far more invested in social enterprises and social entrepreneurism than their older counterparts.

In table 4.1 Demographic profile determined by the age of the participant

The table above provides a breakdown of the ages of the respondents. It is clear that the majority of the respondents were under 37 years old, which means that the perspectives included in this study are those that belong to generations that have a proclivity towards more imagination and propensity to partake in endeavors and business enterprises that are more environmentally conscious. The final demographic variable, as presented below, is education level of the participants who responded to the survey. This particular survey was administered in the Panama context, a country in the developing world, meaning that the average education level was below a Master’s degree level. In Panama, it is typical to be educated 3-5 years; given the situation, not all participants retained stable employment and evinced the willingness to obtain a higher education degree because of the costs of both money and time.

Table 4.1 Demographic profile from participant, education level

As discerned in the table above, the participants are considered to be quite educated as members of a First World country considering that over 43% of the participants have obtained at least a Bachelor’s or Associate’s degree. When this is the case when a country’s representatives have noted a high education level, the income level typically correlates directly. The following chart shows the income breakdown of the participants in this study in the Panama context:

Table 4.1Demographic profile of participants according to their income

The table above sheds light on the mean salary that the respondents made, which underscores how the denizens in Panama are considered to be middle class in accordance with government studies.

4.2. Descriptive Statistics of the Public Perceptions in Panama regarding Social Enterprise and Social Entrepreneurship

While this qualitative research focused on comparing the public perceptions of social enterprise and social entrepreneurship in the Third World and First World, the descriptive statistics were derived from a study conducted in the Panama context in accordance with the limited parameters of this study. As seen in the chart above with the descriptive statistics calculated, the researchers observed that both recognition and the intent to purchase within the Panamanian context has become a dominating area in terms of the choices that the participants had. What this means is that the standard deviation value underscores how all of the data points shown above and the results in general are clustered close together (George & Mallery, 2010). The values for kurtosis as well as for asymmetry predicated on the study conducted by George and Mallery (2010) have been rendered acceptable if between the values -2 and +2 as a means to prove that there is normal univariate distribution. In the meantime, the cognizance as well as ethical posturing is unequivocally positive, although prior to drawing conclusions from the results, the research will run a linear regression analysis to compare the data that has been collected from the questionnaire that was administered to the participants described above.

Linear Regression Analysis and Results

As mentioned above, this study calls for a simple linear regression analysis utilizing the SPSS statistic tool to calculate the correlation coefficient of every variable to better interpret the desired results.  The results included a histogram of residuals in a model that retains a typical distribution and a homogeneity of the model that is favorable for this type of study.

Research Conclusion

This study has been instrumental in shedding light on the state of the public perception of social enterprise in influencing consumer behavior. The study also compared the case of developing and developed countries to determine how these economies compared in the development of the public perception. The study also shifted gears to look at if the education background in the developing and developed economies played a part in influencing the public perception of social enterprises.

The study was an eye opener by providing numerous insights all at once. One, the study pointed out the need for organizations to understand that the link between social enterprises and consumer purchase and repurchase behavior. Two, the study also shed light on the need to promote the understanding of social responsibility and social enterprises in the developing countries. The social entrepreneurship scene in emerging and developing markets, when compared to the developing world was lacking in many fronts, including on matters of education, awareness, knowledge and training. This was different compared to the strong presence of social entrepreneurship evidenced in the developed countries, where it was noted that a rich support system for social enterprises was in place. Three, the study revealed the necessity of the developing economies to consider growing, nurturing and supporting entrepreneurship and related social entrepreneurship education into the education systems. This will be the key to not only encouraging entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship in the population in the institutions of higher learning but to the society as well.

Study Limitations

This study was informative and contributed to the body of literature on social entrepreneurship while providing more nuance to it in terms of inclusivity and breadth. Despite this, it had its weaknesses. The main limitation was the lack of specificity in the study. The study covered different themes all at once, which in a way impaired the purpose of contributing effectively to the body of literature.  Geographical confines were an unequivocal limitation since it was difficult to have access to multiple markets within both the Developed and Developing World.

Practical Implications and Recommendations

Based on the findings obtained in the study, there are practical implications, which are evident, and which can be considered to be vital recommendations.

1. There is also the need for organizations to understand that there is a link between social enterprises and consumer purchase and repurchase behavior. Organizations managers will have to take note of the fact that consumers can hold emotional, social and functional values, which can further influence their perception of quality, and subsequently influence their purchase and repurchase intentions. Organizations can thus be inspired to ensure their products and services invoke values (functional, emotional and social values)
2. There is need to promote the understanding of social responsibility and social enterprises in the developing countries. This will be imperative to ensure that consumers understand the concept of social responsibility, and how it relates to the marketing strategies that companies hold. This will be important to widen their scope of thinking when it comes to finding a criterion of priorities that will influence the process of making a purchase decision. It is also important to determine how culture could influence the attitudes people have regarding social enterprises and their initiatives/imprints.
3. Regarding the subject of education, it is necessary to consider developing the entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship education into the education systems, especially in the developing countries. Higher education curriculums may need reforms and revisions from numerous sources to ensure improvements are applied and that students, especially those in the developing economies, are exposed to similar settings as those in the developed world. This will be the key to not only encouraging entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship to in the institutions of higher learning, but to the society as well.

Future Studies

Future studies need to build on this topic can aim at achieving specificity to ensure full concentration on a particular topic to make sure it is completely exhausted. This would be important because a rich contribution to the body of literature would have been achieved instead of scarcely touching on the topics of interest. The findings obtained in a specific study would also be worth to generalize and to conduct further experimental studies.

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