**3. Methods**

#### *3.1. Study Design*

This study adopted a qualitative methodology through the case study approach for the research design, and the plans and procedures for the research spanned the decisions from broad assumptions to detailed methods of data collection and analysis [43]. In addition, the aim and goal for a qualitative study is not to simply generalize, but rather provide a rich and contextualized understanding on some aspects of participants' experiences through a particular case or an intensive study [44].

The case study method explores contemporary real-life case boundary systems or case boundary systems over time through in-depth detailed data collection involving various sources of information and through reporting case descriptions and case themes [43,45,46].

Through rigorous and in-depth data collection involving different sources of data, the case study approach examines multiple real-life perspectives. The researcher is able to understand the differences and similarities of knowledge of the phenomenon of study by using a multiple-case design, which allows for a deeper exploration of the research question and theoretical evolution [43,47,48].

#### *3.2. Setting and Participants*

This study population consisted of franchise business brand owners, known as franchisors, specifically of brands that have expanded into global markets. In selecting the respondents for this study, researchers used combination of convenience and purposive sampling. Convenience sampling is a category of non-probability sampling where the target population meets specific criteria. These criteria were, namely: easy to be accessed, available at a given time or willing to participate in the study [49]. Purposive sampling is a sampling technique used in qualitative research to identify and select information-rich cases for the most effective use of limited resources [50,51]. This encompasses identifying and selecting individuals or groups who are well-informed or experienced in the phenomenon of interest [52].

The unit of analysis could be individuals, groups, dyads, or organizations. The determination of the unit of analysis during the initial stage of this study is crucial, as the conceptual framework, data collection techniques and sample size depends on the unit of analysis [53,54]. This study recognizes that the unit of analysis for this study is the organization level. Franchisors are representatives of their franchise companies, as well as decision makers, and they are also part of the franchise system, where they are directly involved in the expansion process into the international market.

Ten (10) franchisors were selected from the Malaysian food and beverage franchise industry, since the Malaysian Franchise Association stated that this is the most dominant industry compared to other industries in this country. Based on the dataset, researchers found that saturation occurred within ten (10) interviews, although the basic elements were present as early as the first six (6) interviews. Data saturation can be achieved with at least six interviews and small samples depending on the size of the population sample in a qualitative study [46,55].

A very small sample could still produce an important study, and the factors influencing this would be interview quality and the depth of the analysis [56]. Various factors can also affect the sample size, including: (i) researchers' experience and expertise in interviews and subject areas, which are important components in reducing sample size and to achieve saturation [57,58]; and (ii) appropriate selection of participants [59,60].

Later, franchisors were interviewed as informants from franchise companies who provided desired information such as determinants influencing global expansion. The inclusion criteria were as follows: (i) Malaysian franchisors who had registered their business in the Franchise Development Division, Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs; (ii) Malaysian franchisors who have been establishing their business for at least 5 years; (iii) Malaysian franchisors which are currently expanding their businesses into the international market and (iv) Malaysian franchisors who have opened at least one outlet in the international market.

#### *3.3. Data Collection*

Data were collected through ten (10) sessions of in-depth interviews (see details in Supplementary Materials). All in-depth interviews were held separately with the franchisee business owner as well as the franchisor and were held from July to October 2019. Each in-depth interview session was conducted by a group of researchers. Audio was recorded for further analysis with permission from the respondents. Accordingly, the in-depth interview is a qualitative research methodology that entails performing in-depth individual interviews with a small group of respondents to learn about their opinions on a specific concept, programmer, or situation [61]. Due to the various sources of evidences, the case studies were focused on themes or explanations; a case study is an appropriate way for researchers to investigate a case or multiple cases over time, allowing for a more in-depth investigation [61–63].

The principal investigator facilitated the discussion of interviews with respondents, while other member assistants recorded the interviews in their field memos, providing information for further analysis. Each of the session began with general questions to trigger discussion between the researcher and the respondent. An example of such a question is "What are the determinants factors as a competitive advantage in driving Malaysian franchise entrepreneurs to expand into the global market?". At the end of the interview session, the conclusion was summarized, and the lead researcher thanked the respondents for their participation. Thus, a protocol discussion was held with the franchisors for the present study, and each interview and discussion took about 40 to 50 min to be completed.

## *3.4. Data Analysis*

For this study, thematic analysis was used by the researchers in order to analyze the grounded data and produce related findings to answer the research questions. The researchers used thematic analysis in analyzing the informative, rich, and trustworthy research findings in this study [62]. Basically, qualitative data analysis can be broken down into five (5) steps, namely gathering, disassembling, reassembling, analyzing, and concluding [64]. The verbatim interview transcriptions were also analyzed using Atlas.ti software package version 9.0. Atlas.ti also offered support services for the researchers during the data analysis phase, which included coding and annotation when analyzing and interpreting the interview texts. Furthermore, this software provided a detailed outline of the research project which was known as the hermeneutic unit in Atlas.ti, as well as a search and retrieval tool [65,66].

The data analysis process was carried out in three (3) stages. First, the data analysis process involved close readings of word-by-word transcriptions on the transcript of the interview. The second stage consisted of re-reading the transcript, extracting all themes and grouping them into general categories that contained smaller subthemes by equation. In the third and final stage, the content of each theme was analyzed and interpreted in accordance with the context in the study. Themes and subthemes were selected with the consent of all researchers and then shown to the respondents for validation of the data.

#### **4. Findings and Discussion**

The study population consisted of 10 (ten) franchisors from the food and beverage industry. Table 1 showed a summary of the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants who have participated in this research.


**Table 1.** Sociodemographic characteristics.

Interview analyses were performed with information gathered from in-depth interviews of five (5) themes, with seven (7) sub-themes emerging from the analysis. All themes and sub-themes were included in the broader category related to determinants of global expansion indicated in Table 2:


**Table 2.** Distribution of themes and subthemes.

#### *4.1. Franchise Brand*

The respondents reported that building a well-known, strong, and recognizable name is the core of smart marketing in the franchise business. Additionally, the existing strategies for marketing plans reflected the franchisor's target demographics in order to attract customer attention and in turn grab market share in the international market.

#### 4.1.1. Well-Known Brand

As highlighted by the respondents, having a strong and well-known franchise brand also served as building customer recognition. This is seen when customers tend to buy the products or services of a particular brand of the franchise based on the brand. Furthermore, customers are more likely to choose a brand they know rather than something they do not know, even if they do not know much about the franchisor's company at the time. It was reported that a well-known and popular brand makes it easier for franchises when expanding into the global market because it is already known and has its own customers.

"One of the reasons why the franchisor is able to enter the global market is because of its brand ... if we look at it in terms of the brand itself ... our own brand shows its strength to penetrate other countries ... our brand is also wellknown and popular"—P4

## 4.1.2. Brand Uniqueness

The recognition and enhancement built through brand uniqueness are capable of producing higher customer loyalty. The current trends indicated that most customers were more inclined toward and attracted to a unique franchise brand. When franchisors had a unique brand, they were able to provide quality products and services to their customers around the world. Therefore, a unique brand leads to good and widespread market expansion. Additionally, the uniqueness of a franchisor's brand differentiates them in the market. When customers ge<sup>t</sup> to know the franchisor's brand, it helps in terms of giving them a competitive advantage in the international market. Customers come to recognize the franchisor's brand, thus increasing the ability and acceptance of their brand not only in the local market, but also in the international market.

"Due to the uniqueness of the products under our brand, it is actually one of the factors why other investors from other countries are interested in this brand. Surprisingly, the customer base from various countries loves our brand because of the unique taste of our products ... and as such, it creates opportunities for our brand to expand into the global market"—P6

"Our brand itself already has customers and fans to our menus ... we see the opportunities and strengths from our brand ... the potential and uniqueness of our brand is what makes us want to always expand it"—P2
