The role of perceived social support in the theory of planned behavior in predicting entrepreneurial intention: Evidence from a Nigerian university

Yazeed Muhammed, Ahmadu Bello UniversityFollow
Mohammed A. Dantsoho, Ahmadu Bello UniversityFollow
Adamu A. Abubakar, Ahmadu Bello UniversityFollow

Abstract

Despite the usefulness of the theory of planned behavior in predicting intention and behavior in different domains, the sufficiency of its use in predicting and determining intention has been debated by many scholars. This paper extended the theory of planned behavior by including social support as a possible determinant of intention in the entrepreneurship domain while looking at one of the largest universities in Nigeria. Data were collected from 432 final year students of Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria using a simple random sampling technique. Structural equation modeling was adopted using partial least square technique for data analysis. Perceived social support, attitude towards entrepreneurship, and perceived behavioral control all were found to have a significant effect on entrepreneurial intention, while subjective norms had an insignificant effect. The study found perceived social support to be an important social influence factor in the theory of planned behavior because of its influence on entrepreneurial intention. Hence, perceived social support is recommended to be included as a major construct in the theory of planned behavior.

Keywords

attitude towards entrepreneurship, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms

Chinese Abstract

计划行为理论中感知社会支持在预测创业意向中的作用：来自尼日利亚一所大学的证据

尽管计划行为理论在预测不同领域的意向和行为方面具有实用性，但其在预测和确定意向方面的充分性仍引起了许多学者的争议。本文研究了尼日利亚最大的大学之一，通过将社会支持作纳入为创业领域意向的可能决定因素，扩展了计划行为理论。研究采用简单随机抽样技术，从扎里亚的阿哈迈杜·贝洛大学的432名大四学生中收集了数据，并采用偏最小二乘法的结构方程模型进行数据分析。研究发现，感知社会支持、对创业的态度和感知行为控制都对创业意向产生了显著影响，而主观规范的影响不显著。本研究发现，由于其对创业意向的影响，感知社会支持是计划行为理论中重要的社会影响因素。因此，研究建议将感知社会支持作为计划行为理论中的一个重要构建因素纳入考虑。

关键词：对创业的态度、感知行为控制、主观规范

ORCID Identifiers

Muhammed Yazeed: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8072-8680

Mohammed Aliyu Dantsoho: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1679-2888

Adamu Ado Abubakar: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2672-7251

DOI

10.5038/2640-6489.6.2.1162

Recommended Citation

Muhammed, Y., Dantsoho, M. A., & Abubakar, A. A. (2021). The role of perceived social support in the theory of planned behavior in predicting entrepreneurial intention: Evidence from a Nigerian university. Journal of Global Business Insights, 6(2), 141-153. https://www.doi.org/10.5038/2640-6489.6.2.1162