Entrepreneurial enablers, risk perception, motivational factors and behavioral intention: evidence from Vietnam

Abstract

This study discusses and tests the role of the entrepreneurial enablers (i.e., subjective norms and social supports), risk perception, and motivational factors (i.e., perceived desirability and feasibility of entrepreneurship) toward the forming of entrepreneurial intention in the context of Vietnam, based on Shapero’s (1982) entrepreneurial event (SEE) model. Also, this study explores the moderation effects of demographic variables (i.e., gender, income, job position, and experience) on causal relationships in the proposed research model. Based on the self-administered survey of 201 Vietnamese MBA students, a structural equation modeling approach with latent constructs is used to test the hypotheses. The results show that subjective norms are found to have a stronger effect on enhancing perceived desirability than on increasing perceived feasibility of entrepreneurship. In contrast, social supports induce the perception of feasibility more than the one of desirability. Perceived risks have a stronger negative influence on perceived feasibility. In addition, entrepreneurial intention is strongly determined by perceived desirability, the perception of feasibility also drives the intention to run a business, but at a weaker degree. Further, the moderating results of the demographic factors indicate that some causal relationships such as between perceived risks/subjective norms and motivational factors vary across different levels of income and types of job position. Hence, this study has contributions in both academic and practical ways.