Explaining entrepreneurial intentions by means of the theory of planned behaviour

Purpose This paper sets out to present a detailed empirical investigation of the entrepreneurial intentions of business students. The authors employ the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), in which intentions are regarded as resulting from attitudes, perceived behavioural control, and subjective norms. Design/methodology/approach The methodology used was a replication study among samples of undergraduate students of business administration at four different universities (total n =1,225). Five operationalisations of intentions are used as well as a composite measure. Prior to the main study, qualitative research conducted at two other universities (total n =373) was held to operationalise the components of the…