Using Websites to Recruit Franchisee Candidates

Unlike other interorganizational relationships, such as joint ventures, franchisors commonly display information on their websites with the objective of attracting franchisee entrepreneurs and having them sign standardized contracts. This paper analyses, for the first time, how franchise brands disclose both functional and symbolic benefits and their effect on franchise chain growth. Our empirical study, based on an in-depth analysis of 106 websites, suggests that both types of benefits are intertwined in advertising franchise opportunities. Information on financial requirements, contact facilities and recruiting processes are positively related to franchise chain growth, whereas information on business potential (financial expectations) is negatively related to growth. Moreover, information on continuous assistance is relevant for service-type franchisee candidates. Finally, our observations show that information available in all the categories is far from exhaustive and that influential information is frequently absent from franchisor websites.