Testing mediating effects of individual entrepreneurial orientation on the relation between close environmental factors and entrepreneurial intention

PurposeDrawing on the literature on entrepreneurial intention (EI), this paper develops and tests a model that aims to explain student EI by considering the valuation of entrepreneurship and the venture failure stigmatization in the closer environment of the respondent and the role of individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) through direct and indirect effects.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a survey method for data collection. As such, this study was conducted by considering a sample of 1,155 undergraduate students from different majors. Structural equation modeling is used to validate the theoretical model.FindingsThe findings suggest that a positive closer valuation of entrepreneurship facilitates students' EI. In turn, a closer stigma of entrepreneurial failure hinders students' EI. More importantly, IEO has a significant mediating role in both of these relationships. The findings offer important theoretical and practical implications for the field of entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial behavior.Originality/valueThe paper offers a new insight relating environmental cognitive elements and their impact on EI, besides how IEO represents a determinant role shaping these relations. The proposed model is original and makes a connection between two widely validated constructs and evidences the relationship that may exist between the orientation and the real intention of setting up a business. Moreover, IEO has rarely been addressed for verifying interaction effects. This paper is one of the very first studies that applies the IEO (individual-level of entrepreneurial orientation) as a mediating variable.