Summary
Questions: What characteristics of businesses and business owners impact their responsiveness to employee ownership as a business model? Do different outreach messages influence their responsiveness differently, and if yes, how? Generally, what conditions make business owners more receptive to information about employee ownership?
Summary : Analyzing quantitative and qualitative data collected as part of a Pittsburgh citywide employee ownership awareness initiative, we find that the type of messaging used by outreach campaigns influences responsiveness among target business owners. Moreover, this influence varies by business and business owner characteristics including firm size, industry, and the business owner’s gender. This research finds that not all outreach methods yield the same level of response to messaging.