The e-entrepreneurial intention of students: The role of self-efficacy and education

Abstract

Objective: The goal of this article is to evaluate the relationship between education and e-entrepreneurial intention (EEI) under the mediated effect of outcome expectation and attitude, as well as the positive moderating role of self-efficacy in that relationship. Research Design & Methods: This research uses quantitative research methods to assess the relationships in the proposed research model. By convenient sampling, data were collected from 406 students studying at universities in Ho Chi Minh City. The research hypotheses were tested by partial least squares structural equation modelling. Findings: The results have shown that although education has a more decisive influence on students’ attitudes towards e-entrepreneurship than outcome expectations, their outcome expectations are more influential on their EEI than attitude. Another remarkable thing is that this article demonstrates the positive moderating role of self-efficacy on the relationship between attitude and EEI. Implications & Recommendations: This study confirmed that entrepreneurial education is necessary to form EEI. Besides that, universities need to increase students’ self-efficacy by equipping them with the skills re-quired to help them have a more positive attitude towards e-entrepreneurship. Contribution & Value Added: This article proves that the combination of social cognitive theory (SCT) and theory of planned behaviour (TPB) helps to more comprehensively explain e-entrepreneurship, especially dis-covering the positive moderating role of self-efficacy in explaining the relationships in these two theories.