Promoting entrepreneurial intentions for academic scientists: combining the social cognition theory and theory of planned behaviour in broadly-defined academic entrepreneurship

Abstract

PurposeDrawing on the social cognition theory, the purpose of this research is to explore how selected individual and organizational determinants, namely individual academic output (AO) and previous commercialization experience, organizational scientific reputation and entrepreneurial support policies (ESPs) influence their broadly-defined academic entrepreneurial intentions, involving spin-off intention (SOI), patenting and licensing intention (PLI), contract research and consulting intention (CCI) through theory of planned behaviour (TPB) modelling.Design/methodology/approachThe current research constructs the framework by combining reciprocal determinism in the social cognition theory with TPB. To testify the hypotheses, partial least squares structural equational modelling (PLS–SEM) technique with 272 observations from Chinese universities was utilized.FindingsThe findings show that academic-related determinants, namely individual AO and organizational reputation (OR), are more likely to influence academic scientists' SOI through TPB modelling, while entrepreneurial-related determinants in terms of individual previous commercialization experience (PCE) and ESPs in higher education organizations are more influential for promoting behavioural intention to all kinds of academic entrepreneurship activities through TPB modelling. The more formal academic entrepreneurship involvement (engaging in creating spin-offs) is better explained through TPB modelling, especially the continuous mediating effects of subjective norms and entrepreneurial attitude and perceived behavioural control are more effective on spin-off activities. In addition, subjective norms are more influential in mediating relationships between individual or organizational antecedents and academic entrepreneurial intentions in the Chinese context.Originality/valueCombining the social cognition theory and TPB, this study first investigated how individual intentions to engage in broadly-defined academic entrepreneurial activities are promoted through TPB modelling. The results, relating to the divergence of different determinants shaping different academic entrepreneurial intentions through various paths in TPB modelling, will provide insight into university managers and policymakers to improve academic entrepreneurship engagement in the Chinese context.

Borrowing for health, sustainability, credit card use and ownership: a study of 74 countries

“…The Theory of Reasoned Action argues that an individual's attitudes and subjective norms contribute to behavioral intentions that lead to actual behavior. It is argued in this study that the socioeconomic context faced by males and females justifies the differences in the borrowing behavior noted in a different geographical context (Wang et al, 2021;Aboelmaged, 2021;Holdsworth, 2020). For example, disadvantaged women in low-income countries may intend to borrow due to their inability to meet the high cost of health care financing, but they may not be able to borrow as borrowers need to meet the financial requirements stipulated by the bank.…”

“…The Theory of Planned Behavior is merely an extension of the Theory of Reasoned Action as it includes the attributes related to perceived behavioral control, which was not captured by the latter (Wang et al, 2021;Aboelmaged, 2021;Holdsworth, 2020). The primary difference between these two theories is that the former provides a holistic picture of the consumer's behavioral intentions and their decision to engage in purchasing behavior (Wang et al, 2021;Aboelmaged, 2021;Holdsworth, 2020).…”

“…The Theory of Planned Behavior is merely an extension of the Theory of Reasoned Action as it includes the attributes related to perceived behavioral control, which was not captured by the latter (Wang et al, 2021;Aboelmaged, 2021;Holdsworth, 2020). The primary difference between these two theories is that the former provides a holistic picture of the consumer's behavioral intentions and their decision to engage in purchasing behavior (Wang et al, 2021;Aboelmaged, 2021;Holdsworth, 2020). Undoubtedly, social scientists are grateful to Icek Ajzen, who first proposed the Theory of Planned Behavior and paved the way for future researchers to apply this new theory to different fields of study, such as health care, finance, accounting, and economics, to understand consumer behavior (Wang et al, 2021;Aboelmaged, 2021;Holdsworth, 2020).…”

“…The primary difference between these two theories is that the former provides a holistic picture of the consumer's behavioral intentions and their decision to engage in purchasing behavior (Wang et al, 2021;Aboelmaged, 2021;Holdsworth, 2020). Undoubtedly, social scientists are grateful to Icek Ajzen, who first proposed the Theory of Planned Behavior and paved the way for future researchers to apply this new theory to different fields of study, such as health care, finance, accounting, and economics, to understand consumer behavior (Wang et al, 2021;Aboelmaged, 2021;Holdsworth, 2020). Several theories are developed by applying the Theory of Planned Behavior to different fields of study, and some of these theories are learning, attribution, and consistency theories.…”

“…As always, human behavior is complex, sophisticated, and difficult to understand, and out of natural curiosity, social scientists have undertaken numerous studies to understand human behavior (Limbu & Sato, 2019;Jamshidi & Kazemi, 2019). Due to the unpredictable nature of human behavior, predicting current and future events has always been difficult, but social scientists have not left their relentless quest to examine, scrutinize, and predict human behavior (Wang et al, 2021;Aboelmaged, 2021;Holdsworth, 2020). As an example, it is complex to explain the phenomenon of why people may use a credit card to borrow for health or medical purposes in some geographical regions, but credit cards may not be a trustworthy financial instrument in other geographical regions.…”