The Effect of Social Network on Information Sharing in Franchise System

프랜차이즈시스템의 사회연결망 특성이 정보공유에 미치는 영향

The purpose of this study is as follows. First, we investigate empirically the effects of social network properties such as social network density and centrality of a franchisee on its information sharing with various subjects such as the franchisor and other franchisees in the franchise system. Second, we examine exploratively if tie strength between a franchisee and its franchisor plays a moderating role on the relationship between social network properties and information sharing. The study model was established as shown in

. We gathered 200 data from franchisees in Busan through a questionnaire survey and used 189 data for our purpose. To improve the quality of data, we selected respondents from the franchisees' owners or managers that had contacted often with their franchisor and other franchisees in the franchise system. Our data analysis began with reliability analysis, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, on the multi-item measures of social network density, social network centrality, tie strength, information sharing and control variables such as shared goals and ownership to assess the reliability and validity of those measures. The results were shown that the presented values satisfied the general criteria for reliability and validity. We tested our hypotheses using a hierarchical multiple regression analysis in four steps. Model 1 regressed the dependent variable(information sharing) only on control variables(shared goals, ownership). Model 2 added main effect variables(social network density, social network centrality) in Model 1. Model 3 added a moderating variable(tie strength) in Model 2. Finally, Model 4 added interaction terms between the main variables and the moderating variable in Model 3. We used a mean-centering method for the main variables and the moderating variable to minimize the multicollinearity problem due to the interaction terms in Model 4. Two important empirical findings emerge from this study. In other words, the effects of social network properties and tie strength on a franchisee's information sharing depend on subject types such as the franchisor and other franchisees in franchise system. First, social network centrality, tie strength, the interaction between social network density and tie strength and the interaction between social network centrality and tie strength all affect significantly a franchisee's information sharing with its franchisor. By the way, the interaction between social network centrality and tie strength has a negative effect on its information sharing while the interaction of social network density and tie strength has a positive effect on its information sharing. Second, both social network centrality affects significantly and directly a franchisee's information sharing with other franchisees in the franchise system. However, there does not exist the moderating role of tie strength in the second case. Finally, we suggest the implications of our findings and some avenues for future research.

본 연구는 다음과 같은 연구목적을 가진다. 첫째, 프랜차이즈 시스템에서 사회연결망 밀도와 중앙성이 가맹점의 가맹본부와의 정보공유와 다른 가맹점들과의 정보공유에 미치는 영향에 대한 관계를 실증적으로 밝히고자 한다. 둘째, 앞서 제시한 관계들에 있어 가맹점과 가맹본부 간의 유대강도의 조절역할을 하는지에 대하여 탐색적으로 확인하고자 한다. 셋째, 실증분석의 결과를 토대로 학문적 실무적 시사점을 제시하고자 한다. 본 연구는 실증분석을 하기 위하여 부산지역에 소재한 프랜차이즈 가맹점들을 대상으로 설문조사를 실시하였으며, 설문응답의 신뢰성을 높이기 위해서 가맹점의 점주와 점장을 중심으로 설문조사 하였다. 회수된 설문지는 총 200부이며, 이 중 무성의하게 응답한 11부를 제외한 189부를 실증분석에 사용하였다. 평균변환법과 위계적 다중회귀분석법을 사용하여 가설들을 검증한 결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 정보공유 대상이 가맹본부인 경우 사회연결망 중앙성, 유대강도, 밀도 및 중앙성과 유대강도의 상호작용이 정보공유에 유의하게 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 둘째, 정보공유 대상이 다른 가맹점인 경우 사회연결망 중앙성이 정보공유에 유의한 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 마지막으로 본 연구의 실증분석 결과를 토대로 학문적 실무적 시사점과 본 연구의 한계점 및 향후 과제를 제시하였다.