Entrepreneurial intentions: The role of individualism and collectivism in perspective of theory of planned behaviour

Abstract

Purpose

Culture plays a vital role in shaping individuals’ intentions and behaviour. Influence of cultural values on entrepreneurship has been acknowledged widely by academics and practitioners. However, little in terms of empirical results is known. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of cultural values on entrepreneurial intentions (EI) of Pakistani students.

Design/methodology/approach

Cultural values of individualism and collectivism were incorporated into the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Smart-PLS software was used to run a structural equation modelling (SEM) technique to analyse the data.

Findings

SEM results showed that attitudes towards entrepreneurship and perceived behavioural controls (PBC) mediated the relationship between individualism and EI while subjective norms (SN) mediated the relationship between collectivism and EI.

Originality/value

The study confirms the applicability of the TPB for understanding the EI in a collectivist culture. Additionally, findings of this study displayed that external factors, such as cultural values, can impact EI through SN, attitude and PBC. Incorporation of cultural values in TPB contributed to the understating of antecedents of EI.

Citation

Farrukh, M., Lee, J.W.C., Sajid, M. and Waheed, A. (2019), "Entrepreneurial intentions: The role of individualism and collectivism in perspective of theory of planned behaviour", Education + Training, Vol. 61 No. 7/8, pp. 984-1000. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-09-2018-0194