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Drivers of entrepreneurial intentions in sustainable entrepreneurship

Anna Maija Vuorio (School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Lappeenranta, Finland)
Kaisu Puumalainen (School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Lappeenranta, Finland)
Katharina Fellnhofer (School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Lappeenranta, Finland)

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research

ISSN: 1355-2554

Article publication date: 6 December 2017

Issue publication date: 19 March 2018

11527

Abstract

Purpose

The role of entrepreneurship has changed to include issues beyond economic growth. This has turned attention toward the drivers of entrepreneurial intentions across entrepreneurship types, particularly in sustainable entrepreneurship. The purpose of this paper is to examine the drivers of entrepreneurial intentions in sustainable entrepreneurship. In particular, the paper aims to extend the existing intention models to include work values and attitudes toward sustainability, thereby bringing the model into the context of sustainable entrepreneurship.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a quantitative research design, data were collected in three European countries through anonymous questionnaires. The data consist of responses from 393 university students.

Findings

The results show that attitude toward sustainability and perceived entrepreneurial desirability enhance sustainability-oriented entrepreneurial intentions. Moreover, adding sustainability into the regression equation adds explanation power, hence suggesting that the theory of planned behavior needs to be adapted when applied to sustainable entrepreneurship. Attitudes toward sustainability are positively impacted by altruism, while perceived entrepreneurial desirability is driven by intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.

Research limitations/implications

The study focuses on one particular type of entrepreneurship and one particular age group.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by applying the entrepreneurial intention model to sustainable entrepreneurship. The results imply that it may be the time to consider the variance in entrepreneurial opportunities in intention models as well as the need to address the conflict between work values. The results show that sustainability-oriented entrepreneurial intentions are driven by attitudes toward sustainability and perceived entrepreneurial desirability. These two attitudes are driven by altruism and extrinsic rewards, and, especially, extrinsic reward plays an opposite role in both drivers of sustainability-oriented entrepreneurial intentions.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This paper forms part of a special section: advancing sustainable entrepreneurship through substantive research.

Citation

Vuorio, A.M., Puumalainen, K. and Fellnhofer, K. (2018), "Drivers of entrepreneurial intentions in sustainable entrepreneurship", International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 359-381. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-03-2016-0097

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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