IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i13p7713-d846837.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

College Students’ Entrepreneurial Intention and Alertness in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Zonglong Li

    (School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China)

  • Wenyi Zhang

    (School of Business Administration, Guangdong University of Finance and Economics, Guangzhou 510320, China
    School of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China)

  • Yanhui Zhou

    (School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China)

  • Derong Kang

    (School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China)

  • Biao Feng

    (School of Information Technology in Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China)

  • Qing Zeng

    (School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China)

  • Lingling Xu

    (School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China)

  • Minqiang Zhang

    (School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
    Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
    Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
    Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China)

Abstract

This research aims to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected college students’ entrepreneurial intention (EI), as well as whether the well-studied link between entrepreneurial alertness (EA) and EI is involved. Data were collected from 612 respondents, and using the stepwise regression method we examined the moderating role of college students’ perceived risk of COVID-19 on the connection between EA and EI. The results show that students’ perceived risk of COVID-19 reduces their EI. Furthermore, the perceived risk of COVID-19 attenuates the relationship between EA and EI. Specifically, those who perceived a greater risk tended to show lower EI. This article contributes to a better understanding of how the relationship between EA and EI has changed during the pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Zonglong Li & Wenyi Zhang & Yanhui Zhou & Derong Kang & Biao Feng & Qing Zeng & Lingling Xu & Minqiang Zhang, 2022. "College Students’ Entrepreneurial Intention and Alertness in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-14, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:13:p:7713-:d:846837
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/13/7713/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/13/7713/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel Kahneman & Dan Lovallo, 1993. "Timid Choices and Bold Forecasts: A Cognitive Perspective on Risk Taking," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(1), pages 17-31, January.
    2. Cui, Yu & Sun, Chuan & Xiao, Hongjun & Zhao, Chunming, 2016. "How to become an excellent entrepreneur: The moderating effect of risk propensity on alertness to business ideas and entrepreneurial capabilities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 171-177.
    3. Brown, Ross & Rocha, Augusto, 2020. "Entrepreneurial uncertainty during the Covid-19 crisis: Mapping the temporal dynamics of entrepreneurial finance," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 14(C).
    4. KruegerJR, Norris F. & Reilly, Michael D. & Carsrud, Alan L., 2000. "Competing models of entrepreneurial intentions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 15(5-6), pages 411-432.
    5. Ardichvili, Alexander & Cardozo, Richard & Ray, Sourav, 2003. "A theory of entrepreneurial opportunity identification and development," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 105-123, January.
    6. Edmund R. Thompson, 2009. "Individual Entrepreneurial Intent: Construct Clarification and Development of an Internationally Reliable Metric," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(3), pages 669-694, May.
    7. Martin Koudstaal & Randolph Sloof & Mirjam van Praag, 2016. "Risk, Uncertainty, and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from a Lab-in-the-Field Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(10), pages 2897-2915, October.
    8. Karl Wennberg & Saurav Pathak & Erkko Autio, 2013. "How culture moulds the effects of self-efficacy and fear of failure on entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(9-10), pages 756-780, December.
    9. Scheidgen, Katharina & Gümüsay, Ali Aslan & Günzel-Jensen, Franziska & Krlev, Gorgi & Wolf, Miriam, 2021. "Crises and entrepreneurial opportunities: Digital social innovation in response to physical distancing," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 15(C).
    10. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    11. Tang, Jintong & Zhang, Stephen X. & Lin, Song, 2021. "To reopen or not to reopen? How entrepreneurial alertness influences small business reopening after the COVID-19 lockdown," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 16(C).
    12. Maria Jacinta Arquisola & Iseu Adywianti Muanar, 2019. "The Role of family influence, gender, and entrepreneurial education on Indonesian vocational students becoming entrepreneurs," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 8(5), pages 104-112, September.
    13. Diana Escandon-Barbosa & Agustin Ramirez & Jairo Salas-Paramo, 2022. "The Effect of Cultural Orientations on Country Innovation Performance: Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Revisited?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-13, May.
    14. Hedviga Tkáčová & Martina Pavlíková & Zita Jenisová & Patrik Maturkanič & Roman Králik, 2021. "Social Media and Students’ Wellbeing: An Empirical Analysis during the Covid-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-19, September.
    15. Teemu Kautonen & Marco van Gelderen & Matthias Fink, 2015. "Robustness of the Theory of Planned Behavior in Predicting Entrepreneurial Intentions and Actions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(3), pages 655-674, May.
    16. Shirokova, Galina & Osiyevskyy, Oleksiy & Bogatyreva, Karina, 2016. "Exploring the intention–behavior link in student entrepreneurship: Moderating effects of individual and environmental characteristics," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 386-399.
    17. Wenhong Zhao & Te Yang & Karen D. Hughes & Yixin Li, 2021. "Entrepreneurial alertness and business model innovation: the role of entrepreneurial learning and risk perception," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 839-864, June.
    18. Paul Slovic & Melissa L. Finucane & Ellen Peters & Donald G. MacGregor, 2004. "Risk as Analysis and Risk as Feelings: Some Thoughts about Affect, Reason, Risk, and Rationality," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(2), pages 311-322, April.
    19. Kai Hockerts, 2017. "Determinants of Social Entrepreneurial Intentions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(1), pages 105-130, January.
    20. Martin Obschonka & Kai Hakkarainen & Kirsti Lonka & Katariina Salmela-Aro, 2017. "Entrepreneurship as a twenty-first century skill: entrepreneurial alertness and intention in the transition to adulthood," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 487-501, March.
    21. Slovic, Paul & Finucane, Melissa & Peters, Ellen & MacGregor, Donald G., 2002. "Rational actors or rational fools: implications of the affect heuristic for behavioral economics," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 329-342.
    22. Ksenia Podoynitsyna & Hans Van der Bij & Michael Song, 2012. "The Role of Mixed Emotions in the Risk Perception of Novice and Serial Entrepreneurs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(1), pages 115-140, January.
    23. Simon, Mark & Houghton, Susan M. & Aquino, Karl, 2000. "Cognitive biases, risk perception, and venture formation: How individuals decide to start companies," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 113-134, March.
    24. Baron, Robert A., 2004. "The cognitive perspective: a valuable tool for answering entrepreneurship's basic "why" questions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 221-239, March.
    25. Elena-Aurelia Botezat & Alexandru Constăngioară & Anca-Otilia Dodescu & Ioana-Crina Pop-Cohuţ, 2022. "How Stable Are Students’ Entrepreneurial Intentions in the COVID-19 Pandemic Context?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-22, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andreas Hack & Frauke Bieberstein & Nils D. Kraiczy, 2016. "Reference point formation and new venture creation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(3), pages 447-465, March.
    2. Preeya S. Mohan, 2022. "An investigation into entrepreneurial intentions in Caribbean Small Island Developing States," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-21, December.
    3. Ricardo Figueiredo Belchior & Roisin Lyons, 2021. "Explaining entrepreneurial intentions, nascent entrepreneurial behavior and new business creation with social cognitive career theory – a 5-year longitudinal analysis," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1945-1972, December.
    4. Dheer, Ratan J.S. & Castrogiovanni, Gary J., 2023. "Cognitive adaptability’s impact on entrepreneurial intent: The mediating roles of entrepreneurial passion and efficacy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    5. Brunella Arru, 2020. "An integrative model for understanding the sustainable entrepreneurs’ behavioural intentions: an empirical study of the Italian context," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 3519-3576, April.
    6. Anthony Igwe & Anastasia Ogbo & Emmanuel Agbaeze & James Abugu & Charity Ezenwakwelu & Henry Okwo, 2020. "Self-Efficacy and Subjective Norms as Moderators in the Networking Competence–Social Entrepreneurial Intentions Link," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(3), pages 21582440209, July.
    7. Evelien Croonen & Hans van Der Bij & Rozenn Perrigot & Assaad El Akremi & Olivier Herrbach, 2022. "Who wants to be a franchisee? Explaining individual intentions to become franchisees," Post-Print hal-03281669, HAL.
    8. Tang, Jintong & Zhang, Stephen X. & Lin, Song, 2021. "To reopen or not to reopen? How entrepreneurial alertness influences small business reopening after the COVID-19 lockdown," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 16(C).
    9. Carlos Bazan & Hannah Gaultois & Arifusalam Shaikh & Katie Gillespie & Sean Frederick & Ali Amjad & Simon Yap & Chantel Finn & James Rayner & Nafisa Belal, 2020. "A systematic literature review of the influence of the university’s environment and support system on the precursors of social entrepreneurial intention of students," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-28, December.
    10. Carlos Bazan, 2022. "Effect of the University’s Environment and Support System on Subjective Social Norms as Precursor of the Entrepreneurial Intention of Students," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(4), pages 21582440221, October.
    11. Leonidas A. Zampetakis & Manolis Lerakis & Konstantinos Kafetsios & Vassilis S. Moustakis, 2016. "The moderating role of anticipated affective ambivalence in the formation of entrepreneurial intentions," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 815-838, September.
    12. Zellweger, Thomas & Sieger, Philipp & Halter, Frank, 2011. "Should I stay or should I go? Career choice intentions of students with family business background," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 521-536, September.
    13. Asante, Eric Adom & Affum-Osei, Emmanuel, 2019. "Entrepreneurship as a career choice: The impact of locus of control on aspiring entrepreneurs' opportunity recognition," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 227-235.
    14. Erik Lundmark & Anna Krzeminska & Dean A. Shepherd, 2019. "Images of Entrepreneurship: Exploring Root Metaphors and Expanding Upon Them," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(1), pages 138-170, January.
    15. Giuseppe Criaco & Philipp Sieger & Karl Wennberg & Francesco Chirico & Tommaso Minola, 2017. "Parents’ performance in entrepreneurship as a “double-edged sword” for the intergenerational transmission of entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 841-864, December.
    16. Dan K. Hsu & Johan Wiklund & Richard D. Cotton, 2017. "Success, Failure, and Entrepreneurial Reentry: An Experimental Assessment of the Veracity of Self–Efficacy and Prospect Theory," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(1), pages 19-47, January.
    17. Jeffery S. McMullen & Katrina M. Brownell & Joel Adams, 2021. "What Makes an Entrepreneurship Study Entrepreneurial? Toward A Unified Theory of Entrepreneurial Agency," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(5), pages 1197-1238, September.
    18. Najmul Hoda & Naim Ahmad & Shankar Lal Gupta & Mohammad Mahtab Alam & Irfan Ahmad, 2021. "Application of Entrepreneurial Intention Model in Comparative International Entrepreneurship Research: A Cross-Cultural Study of India and Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-23, December.
    19. Philipp Kruse, 2020. "Can there only be one? – an empirical comparison of four models on social entrepreneurial intention formation," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 641-665, June.
    20. Mario Rosique-Blasco & Antonia Madrid-Guijarro & Domingo García-Pérez-de-Lema, 2018. "The effects of personal abilities and self-efficacy on entrepreneurial intentions," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 1025-1052, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:13:p:7713-:d:846837. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.