The moderating effect of entrepreneurial motivation on the relationship between entrepreneurial intention and behaviour: An extension of the theory of planned behaviour on emerging economy [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]

• Published in: F1000 research Vol. 12; p. 1585
• Main Authors: Nayak, Pushparaj M., Joshi, Harish G., Nayak, Madhukara, Gil, Mathew Thomas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Faculty of 1000 Ltd 01-01-2023; F1000 Research Limited
• Subjects: Attitudes; Behavior; Careers; Education; Emerging markets; Engineers; Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurship; Human influences; Influence; Literature reviews; Longitudinal studies; Motivation; Personality; Personality traits; Students; India; Entrepreneurial intentions; entrepreneurial behaviour; theory of planned behaviour; higher education institution; structural equation modelling; engineering students
• ISSN: 2046-1402; 2046-1402
• DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.140675.2

Background
The study investigates the influence of antecedents of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and personality traits on entrepreneurial intention and behaviour among engineering students in an emerging economy. It employs the extension of the TPB model by focusing on the intention-behaviour gap, an under-researched area in research. Furthermore, it investigates the moderating effect of entrepreneurial motivation on the relationship between intention and behaviour to improve conceptual model predictability.
Methods
A structured questionnaire was used to gather data from 1,564 engineering students, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modelling (SEM) with Amos software.
Results
The results revealed that subjective norms were the strongest predictor of entrepreneurial intention and behaviour, followed by entrepreneurial alertness, perceived behavioural control, attitude towards entrepreneurship, need for achievement, and risk tolerance. Moreover, the moderation analysis showed that entrepreneurial motivation was crucial in moderating the relationship between intention and behaviour.
Conclusions
The present conceptual model contributes to the existing TPB model by improving predictive power to understand the intention-behaviour relationship. The results of the study will assist policymakers, academicians of higher education institutions, and universities in developing policies, strategies, and curricula to engage more students in entrepreneurial activities.