Examining Networks, Social Capital, and Social Influence among Wildlife Tourism Microentrepreneurs in Coastal North Carolina

Social networks are an important element of entrepreneurship because entrepreneurs consistently rely on those networks to access ideas, information, and resources to facilitate the entrepreneurial process. Social capital is defined as the collective linkages inside social networks and the value of all the tangible and intangible resources embedded in those networks. Extensive social capital is argued to have significant positive impact on entrepreneurial success, in part because dimensions of cognitive social capital, such as trust, reciprocity, and togetherness are expected to enhance cooperation among network ties. Moreover, network structures themselves foster the development of different forms of social capital (i.e., bonding and bridging).;The literature on small-scale tourism enterprises is limited, although they are prevalent globally and often touted as a critical strategy for natural resource-rich communities to pursue endogenous economic development. This study was carried out in North Carolina's Pamlico Sound region, a region with rich wildlife resources yet with high economic disparity, to examine the network developed among local wildlife tourism (WT) microentrepreneurs. Specifically, this study examined the WT microentrepreneurs' network structure based on the types of support exchanged with each other; the forms of bonding or bridging network structure and key influencers within the network; the extent and type of network ties (strong versus weak ties) developed among them; the process they use to form and nurture those ties; and the effect of social influence on trust, reciprocity, and togetherness exerted through network structure.;Results revealed that, in the studied WT microentrepreneur network, there is a prevalence of business ties (i.e., weak ties) over family and friends ties (i.e., strong ties). WT microentrepreneurs reported to receive support from each other in terms of marketing and advertising, information sharing, and product support. Business connections were established and nurtured primarily through face-to-face interactions in professional workshops and seminars, as well as working in the same natural areas, or in informal meetings at the local supply stores. Dimensions of cognitive social capital, such as reciprocity, togetherness, and trust were found to play a critical role in the maintenance of these business connections, but the level of reciprocity, togetherness, and trust were found to diminish with increased number of business ties. Further, microentrepreneurs' level of trust and reciprocity in the network was influenced by the levels of trust and reciprocity reported by their direct ties. Lastly, the structure of the network revealed that the members were aggregated into loosely formed subgroups connected with each other by redundant bridging ties. Those bridging ties consisted of influential members in the network recognized for providing much support to their peers and for preventing network fragmentation.;Overall, this study contributes towards a better understanding of the networking behavior of WT microentrepreneurs, revealing that social networking, social capital, and social influence theories apply partially to the context of microentrepreneurship. Further, the study provides specific actionable insights for organizations working in the area of microentrepreneurial tourism development, wildlife or coastal resource management, and endogenous rural development.