Publication - Research and analysis

Behaviour and motivation of businesses: qualitative insights

Published: 1 November 2019
Topic: Business, industry and innovation
ISBN: 9781839603105

Report on research to understand attitudes and behaviour of SME owners in Scotland in relation to business growth.

Appendix A: Summary of insights and COM-B intervention functions

The table below provides a summary of the insights that emerged from the research, the associated behaviors, and the potential range of different types of intervention functions that could be applied to each using the COM-B model.

Table A.1: Summary of insights, behaviours and intervention functions

Activity/ attitude	Behavioural Insights	Source of Behaviour	Potential intervention functions
Activity/ attitude	Behavioural Insights	Source of Behaviour	Education	Persuasion	Incentivisation	Coercion	Training	Restriction	Environmental restructuring	Modelling	Enablement
Overarching themes
Restricted growth capability	Perceived lack of skills, knowledge and expertise	*Psychological capability*	√				√				√
Restricted growth capability	Perceived lack of resources (financial and/or people)	*Physical capability*					√				√
Restricted growth opportunity	Growth impacted by market demand and performance, particularly in rural locations	*Physical opportunity*						√	√		√
	Concerns around political and economic uncertainty	*Physical opportunity*						√	√		√
	Perceived lack of time for growth related activity	*Physical opportunity*						√	√		√
Ambivalent growth motivation	Reluctance to step away from day to day operational activities to focus on growth activities	*Automatic motivation*		√	√	√			√	√	√
	Lack of growth ambition due to being risk averse	*Automatic motivation*		√	√	√			√	√	√
	Lack of growth ambition due fear of failure	*Automatic motivation*		√	√	√			√	√	√
	Desire to remain in full control of the business	*Automatic motivation*		√	√	√			√	√	√
	Concerns that growth would lead to increase costs	*Reflective motivation*	√	√	√	√
Environmental and contextual factors impacting on growth
Economy and market conditions	Growth impacted by financial climate and market performance	*Physical opportunity*						√	√		√
	Restricted by competition from larger companies	*Physical opportunity*						√	√		√
	Caution due to uncertainty around political landscape	*Physical opportunity*						√	√		√
	Restricted by small markets that businesses struggle to grow themselves	*Physical opportunity*						√	√		√
Financial considerations	Growth impact by access to external finance, either from banks or grants	*Physical opportunity*						√	√		√
Financial considerations	High business rates stifling growth	*Physical opportunity*						√	√		√
Policy, legislation and regulation	Growth hampered by time and expense associated with compliance with legislation (e.g. minimum wage, health and safety)	*Physical opportunity*						√	√		√
Recruitment, retention and skills	Challenge finding people to fill positions	*Physical opportunity*						√	√		√
	SMEs unable to offer competitive wages to match larger companies	*Physical opportunity*						√	√		√
	A lack of accommodation in rural areas	*Physical opportunity*						√	√		√
	Uncertainty over ability to hire non-UK EU nationals	*Social opportunity*						√	√		√
Physical assets	Growth encouraged or hampered by location of existing premises and/or availability of new premises	*Physical opportunity*						√	√		√
Physical assets	Growth impacted by availability of new equipment	*Physical opportunity*						√	√		√
Culture and mindset	Small-town mindsets restricting opportunities for growth	*Social opportunity*						√	√		√
Culture and mindset	Lack of collective promotion of local areas	*Social opportunity*						√	√		√
Behavioural factors
Barriers to having a business plan	Lack of external impetus to have a business plan	*Physical capability*					√				√
	Do not have enough time for business planning	*Physical capability*					√				√
	The perception that it is a theoretical document	*Social opportunity*						√	√		√
	Perception that business plans were structured and inflexible	*Social opportunity*						√	√		√
	Jargon' used in business planning guidance off-putting	*Psychological capability*	√				√				√
	Belief that they had enough experience that they did not need to form a business plan	*Automatic motivation*		√	√	√			√	√	√
Barriers to making operational improvements/innovating	Perception that costs of making improvements may outweigh likely benefits	*Reflective motivation*	√	√	√	√
	Lack of time to implement improvements	*Physical opportunity*						√	√		√
	Lack of general knowledge and skilled required to make changes	*Psychological capability*	√				√				√
Barriers to collaboration	Lack of awareness of potential benefits of collaboration	*Psychological capability*	√				√				√
Barriers to collaboration	Lack of time and/or resources	*Physical opportunity*						√	√		√
Barriers to marketing or promotional activity	Marketing not seen as a priority for businesses in early stages of their journey	*Reflective motivation*	√	√	√	√
	Costs seen as restrictive	*Physical opportunity*						√	√		√
	Lack of knowledge about marketing avenues available	*Psychological capability*	√				√				√
The role of support and advice
Awareness and perceptions	Low awareness of existing support agencies	*Social opportunity*						√	√		√
	Perception that the landscape was confusing	*Psychological capability*	√				√				√
	Misconceptions around the types of support available (e.g. support only available for certain types of business)	*Social opportunity*						√	√		√
	Perception that agencies were unable to provide tailored or relevant support	*Social opportunity*						√	√		√
	Perceived variation in the quality of advisors from support agencies	Psychological capability (of the advisors)	√				√				√
	Lack of time to engage with support agencies	*Physical opportunity*						√	√		√
Communication and marketing
Business mindset	Businesses with low aspirations and risk averse, could benefit from positive campaigns and role models	*Automatic motivation*		√	√	√			√	√	√
Language	Businesses put off by jargon used in communications	*Psychological capability*	√				√				√

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Appendix A: Summary of insights and COM-B intervention functions

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