Do knowledge and personality traits influence women entrepreneurs’ e-commerce venture? Testing on the multiple mediation model

Women’s involvement in business is growing and positively impacting the national economy, especially in developing countries. Women entrepreneurs’ success has shown women’s abilities to empower and support national policies and agendas. Efforts and tenacity in a consecutive e-commerce business require innumerable tactics since the business ecosystem has become more challenging and complex. Therefore, this study aims to identify the multiple mediation influence of the need for achievement and locus of control towards the relationship between entrepreneurial knowledge and women entrepreneurs’ e-commerce ventures. The theory of planned behaviour provides excellent opportunities for understanding and envisaging entrepreneurial actions. The study pre-supposes that the interaction of these variables ultimately defines women entrepreneurs’ e-commerce ventures.

This study used a cross-sectional design, and the survey data were collected from 259 valid women entrepreneurs. The study population covers the Klang Valley area, composed of the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Malaysia. The instrument used in this study was adapted from previous studies. Structural equation modelling was used to establish the measurement model and examine the direct and causal path models.

Firstly, results show a positive relationship between entrepreneurial knowledge and women entrepreneurs’ e-commerce ventures. Secondly, the results show that the need for achievement and locus of control plays an intermediate role in the relationship between entrepreneurial knowledge and women entrepreneurs’ e-commerce ventures.

There are some limitations to this study. Firstly, the main limitation is that it is impossible to generalise the study’s findings since it only examines the sample in the Klang Valley area. Therefore, it would be better for future research to conduct similar studies in other areas. Next, the data were collected cross-sectional, and considering the changes in time that might influence human behaviour, future studies might consider a longitudinal research technique. Thirdly, this study model is limited; hence, future studies can advance and develop the current research model by including more variables, such as moderating and mediating variables.

Education is one of the driving factors that help increase entrepreneurs’ knowledge and skills. Lifelong learning programs must be implemented for women entrepreneurs to increase their knowledge. The relevant parties, including the government, entrepreneurial bodies, training institutions and universities, must provide and develop a more affordable, flexible and inclusive short-course training program and activities for women entrepreneurs.

Empirical studies have proposed reconsidering the effect of entrepreneurial personalities for a better understanding of entrepreneurship engagement. These unique characteristics could act as an enabler for a capable entrepreneur. Many studies have examined the direct relationship between predictor and intention or between predictor and behaviour. Nevertheless, only a few studies have identified the influence of mediating variables in the theory-based framework. By adding the role of personality traits (i.e. need for achievement and locus of control), this study delivers fascinating insights into the current entrepreneurship research and literature. This study also makes a meaningful contribution to entrepreneurship literature, especially in Malaysia’s context of entrepreneurship ecosystems, considering there are still few studies on women entrepreneurship. This study also provides exposure and explanation of the function of the need for achievement and locus of control as the mediators for the relationship between entrepreneurial knowledge and women entrepreneurs’ e-commerce ventures.