Sustainability-oriented entrepreneurial intentions: work values and the theory of planned behaviour

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this empirical study is to enable a better understanding of the construct sustainability-oriented entrepreneurial intentions (SEI) and thereby promote sustainable entrepreneurship. It aims to examine the significance of work values (extrinsic rewards, intrinsic rewards and job security) as antecedents of SEI and to test the mediating effect of three constructs derived from the theory of planned behaviour – attitude towards sustainability, perceived entrepreneurial desirability and perceived entrepreneurial feasibility on the relationships between work values and SEI.Design/methodology/approachConfirmatory factor analysis and exploratory factor analysis were performed using analysis of moment structures v27 and statistical package for social science v28 on data obtained from the survey of young individuals of India. The respondents were students enrolled in higher education programmes.FindingsAll the identified antecedents (extrinsic rewards, intrinsic rewards, job security and theory of planned behaviour constructs) were found to be statistically significant. The partial mediating effect of the theory of planned behaviour constructs was also reported.Originality/valueThis empirical work leads to the theoretical advancement of the emerging construct, SEI, by presenting evidence of the significant individual-level antecedents of the construct. The results lead to recommendations for policymakers and educators to design strategies to strengthen SEI, thereby expanding the adoption of sustainable entrepreneurship.

Intentions to Create Green Start-Ups for Collection of Unwanted Drugs: An Empirical Study

“…Therefore, students who have positive attitudes toward green start-ups may be more willing to engage in the experience of creating a green start-up project, and they are also more eager to research and learn about how to create a start-up company. Previous evidence has also demonstrated that attitudes can be a contributing factor to engaging in green and sustainable entrepreneurship [19,21,24,45,67,[73][74][75]. The result of Sher et al [56] is consistent with the significant influence of attitudes on launching a sustainable start-up.…”

“…Zhang et al [47] found that attitude is the strongest determinant of waste classification intention. Empirical evidence supports that positive attitudes can exert a positive effect on individuals' intention to create green start-ups [35], sustainable start-ups [56], green entrepreneurship [1,24,67,74], sustainable entrepreneurship [18,45,[57][58][59]73,75], and the intention to engage in conventional entrepreneurship [51,52,66]. Furthermore, Aliedan et al [50] point out that attitudes influence the intention of students to be entrepreneurs.…”

“…Since its emergence, the TPB model has been used extensively to predict green and environmentally friendly behaviors, especially in exploring green entrepreneurship [19,45,46], waste separation intentions [39], waste classification intentions [47], solid waste collection intentions [40], plastic waste reduction intentions [48], and waste sorting behavior [49]. In addition, many researchers have extended the TPB to investigate the intentions of conventional entrepreneurship [50][51][52][53], green start-ups [35,54], sustainable start-ups [55,56], and sustainable entrepreneurship [57][58][59].…”