How environmental understanding affects the green entrepreneurial intention of Centennials in Vietnam

Abstract

Objective: The article aims to explore the role of environmental understanding in forming green entrepreneurial intention of the Centennials in Vietnam besides the effect of entrepreneurship education.

Research Design & Methods: We constructed the research model based on the theory of planned behaviour and entrepreneurial event theory. We collected data by surveying 275 university students, who belong to the Centennials in Vietnam. Then, we employed partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to explore how environmental understanding and entrepreneurship education contribute to forming a green entrepreneurial intention.

Findings: The outcomes evidenced that environmental understanding positively impacts entrepreneurship education and start-up desirability but has a detrimental effect on entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Moreover, entrepreneurship education has a positive impact on desirability and self-efficacy, both of which are confirmed to positively affect the green entrepreneurial intention of Centennials in Vietnam. Interestingly, environmental understanding and entrepreneurship education indirectly affect green business intention.

Implications & Recommendations: To stimulate green entrepreneurial intention, the government and universities should intensify entrepreneurship education activities and launch some campaigns to raise environmental perception in parallel.

Contribution & Value Added: This article pioneers in exploring the association between environmental understanding and green entrepreneurial intention. Such novelty contributes to enriching extant literature and consolidating the research model of green entrepreneurship.

Keywords

green entrepreneurial intention, green business behaviour, entrepreneurship education, environmental understanding, Centennials, Generation Z

Author Biography

Kim Hanh Nguyen

Kim Hanh Nguyen received Master’s degree in Economics from International University of Japan/Japan and a Bachelor’s degree in Foreign Trade Economics from Can Tho University/Vietnam. She is a lecturer at the Faculty of International Business, School of Economics, Can Tho University (Vietnam). Her research interests include economics, international economics, international trade and educational management.

Ngoc Truc Han Nguyen

Ngoc Truc Han Nguyen received her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Can Tho University/Vietnam. She is currently an educational consultant at Lien Viet Education Joint Stock company, Ho Chi Minh city (Vietnam). Her research interests include green business and educational management.

References

1. Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behaviour. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179-211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T
2. Alvarez-Risco, A., Mlodzianowska, S., Zamora-Ramos, U., & Del-Aguila-Arcentales, S. (2021). Factors of green entrepreneurship intention in international business university students: The case of Peru. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 9(4), 85-100. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2021.090406
3. Amankwah, J., & Sesen, H. (2021). On the relation between green entrepreneurship intention and behavior. Sustainability, 13(13), 7474. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137474
4. Bae, T.J., Qian, S., Miao, C., & Fiet, J.O. (2014). The relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions: A meta–analytic review. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 38(2), 217-254. https://doi.org/10.1111/etap.12095
5. Baharuddin, G., & Ab Rahman, A. (2021). What is the most effective antecedent for developing entrepre-neurial intention among Muslim youth in Indonesia?. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 9(1), 75-88. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2021.090105
6. Barba-Sánchez, V., Mitre-Aranda, M., & del Brío-González, J. (2022). The entrepreneurial intention of univer-sity students: An environmental perspective. European Research on Management and Business Econom-ics, 28(2), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iedeen.2021.100184
7. Barton, M., Schaefer, R., & Canavati, S. (2018). To Be or Not to Be a Social Entrepreneur: Motivational Driv-ers amongst American Business Students. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 6(1), 9-35. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2018.060101
8. Bergset, L., & Fichter, K. (2015). Green start-ups–a new typology for sustainable entrepreneurship and inno-vation research. Journal of Innovation Management, 3(3), 118-144. https://doi.org/10.24840/2183-0606_003.003_0009
9. Bohlen, G., Schlegelmilch, B.B., & Diamantopoulos, A. (1993). Measuring ecological concern: A multi‐construct perspective. Journal of Marketing Management, 9(4), 415-430. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.1993.9964250
10. Bruyere, B., & Rappe, S. (2007). Identifying the motivations of environmental volunteers.” Journal of Envi-ronmental Planning and Management, 50(4), 503-516. https://doi.org/10.1080/09640560701402034
11. Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ.
12. Dutta, S., Lanvin, B., Wunsch-Vincent, S., & León, L.R. (Eds.) (2022). Global Innovation Index 2022: What is the Future of Innovation-driven Growth? (15th ed.). WIPO Switzerland.
13. Drago, C., & Gatto, A. (2022). An interval‐valued composite indicator for energy efficiency and green entre-preneurship. Business Strategy and the Environment, 31(5), 2107-2126. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3010
14. Elfenbein, D.W., Hamilton, B.H., & Zenger, T.R. (2010). The small firm effect and the entrepreneurial spawn-ing of scientists and engineers. Management Science, 56(4), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1090.1130
15. Fayolle, A., Gailly, B., & Lassas‐Clerc, N. (2006). Assessing the impact of entrepreneurship education programmes: a new methodology. Journal of European Industrial Training, 30(9), 701-720. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090590610715022
16. Hair, J.F., Sarstedt, M., Hopkins, L., & Kuppelwieser, V.G. (2014). Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM): an emerging tool in business research. European Business Review, 26(2), 106-121. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-10-2013-0128
17. Hattab, H.W. (2014). Impact of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intentions of university students in Egypt. The Journal of Entrepreneurship, 23(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/0971355713513346
18. Henseler, J., Ringle, C.M., & Sarstedt, M. (2014). A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in vari-ance-based structural equation modeling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(1), 115-135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-014-0403-8
19. Jiang, H. (1999). The Ordos Plateau of China: an endangered environment. UNU Press.
20. Koe, W.L., Omar, R., & Majid, I.A. (2014). Factors Associated with Propensity for Sustainable Entrepreneur-ship. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 130, 65-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.04.009
21. Krueger, N. (1993). The impact of prior entrepreneurial exposure on perceptions of new venture feasibility and desirability. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 18(1), 5-21. https://doi.org/10.1177/104225879301800101
22. Liguori, E., & Winkler, C. (2020). From offline to online: Challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurship education following the COVID-19 pandemic. Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy, 3(4), 346-351. https://doi.org/10.1177/2515127420916738
23. Liñán, F., & Chen, Y.W. (2009). Development and cross–cultural application of a specific instrument to measure entrepreneurial intentions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 33(3), 593-617. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2009.00318.x
24. Loan, L.T., Doanh, D.C., Thang, H.N., Viet Nga, N.T., Van, P.T., & Hoa, P.T. (2021). Entrepreneurial behaviour:
25. The effects of fear and anxiety of Covid-19 and business opportunity recognition. Entrepreneurial Busi-ness and Economics Review, 9(3), 7-23. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2021.090301
26. Maloni, M., Hiatt, M.S., & Campbell, S. (2019). Understanding the work values of Gen Z business students. The International Journal of Management Education, 17(3), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2019.100320
27. Masjud, Y.I. (2020). Ecopreneurship as a solution to environmental problems: Implications for university entrepreneurship education. Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, 3(1), 97-113. https://doi.org/10.7454/jessd.v3i1.1041
28. Mestre, M.V., Samper, P., Frías, M.D., & Tur, A.M. (2009). Are women more empathetic than men? A longi-tudinal study adolescence. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 12(1), 76-83. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1138741600001499
29. Moriano, J.A., Gorgievski, M., Laguna, M., Stephan, U., & Zarafshani, K. (2012). A cross-cultural approach to understanding entrepreneurial intention. Journal of Career Development, 39(2), 162-185. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845310384481
30. Mueller, S. (2011). Increasing entrepreneurial intention: Effective entrepreneurship course characteristics. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 13(1), 55-74. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJESB.2011.040416
31. Murphy, P.J., & Coombes, S.M. (2009). A model of social entrepreneurial discovery. Journal of Business Eth-ics, 87(3), 325-336. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9921-y
32. Neumann, T. (2022). Impact of green entrepreneurship on sustainable development: an ex-post empirical analysis. Journal of Cleaner Production, 377, 134317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.134317
33. Ngo, M. (2020). Small Businesses Are Dying by the Thousands - And No One Is Tracking the Carnage. Bloomberg, August 11. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-11/small-firms-die-quietly-leaving-thousands-of-failures uncounted# xj4y7vzkg on January 12, 2023.
34. Nguyen, T.L., Pham, N.A.N., Nguyen, T.K.N., Nguyen, N.K.V., Ngo, H.T., & Pham, T.T.L. (2022). Factors Affecting Green Entrepreneurship Intentions During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Empirical Study in Vietnam. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 9(2), 383-393. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2022.vol9.no2.0383
35. Paray, Z.A., & Kumar, S. (2020). Does entrepreneurship education influence entrepreneurial intention among students in HEI’s? The role of age, gender and degree background. Journal of International Education in Business, 13(1), 55-72. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIEB-02-2019-0009
36. Peterman, N.E., & Kennedy, J. (2003). Enterprise education: Influencing students’ perceptions of entrepre-neurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 28(2), 129-144. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1540-6520.2003.00035.x
37. Qazi, W., Qureshi, J.A., Raza, S.A., Khan, K.A., & Qureshi, M.A. (2020). Impact of personality traits and univer-sity green entrepreneurial support on students' green entrepreneurial intentions: the moderating role of environmental values. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 13(4), 1154-1180. https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-05-2020-0130
38. Rahman, S.A., Amran, A., Ahmad, N.H., & Taghizadeh, S.K. (2014). GrameenPhone: Creating a win‐win at the base of the pyramid in Bangladesh. Global Business and Organizational Excellence, 33(5), 41-53. https://doi.org/10.1002/joe.21562
39. Ramayah, T., Rahman, S.A., & Taghizadeh, S.K. (2019). Modelling green entrepreneurial intention among university students using the entrepreneurial event and cultural values theory. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, 11(4), 394-412. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJEV.2019.101629
40. Robayo-Acuña, P.V., Martinez-Toro, GM., Alvarez-Risco, A., Mlodzianowska, S., Del-Aguila-Arcentales, S., & Rojas-Osorio, M. (2023). Intention of Green Entrepreneurship Among University Students in Colombia. In Alvarez-Risco, A., Muthu, S.S., & Del-Aguila-Arcentales, S. (Eds.) Footprint and Entrepreneurship. Envi-ronmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-8895-0_12
41. Shapero, A., & Sokol, L. (1982). The social dimensions of entrepreneurship. In Kent (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurship (pp. 72-90). Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
42. Shepherd, D.A., & Patzelt, H. (2011). The new field of sustainable entrepreneurship: Studying entrepreneuri-al action linking “what is to be sustained” with “what is to be developed”. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 35(1), 137-163. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00426.x
43. Solesvik, M., Westhead, P., & Matlay, H. (2014). Cultural factors and entrepreneurial intention. Education and Training, 56(8/9), 680-696. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-07-2014-0075
44. Soomro, B.A., Ghumro, I.A., & Shah, N. (2020). Green entrepreneurship inclination among the younger gen-eration: An avenue towards a green economy. Sustainable Development, 28(4), 585-594. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2010
45. Widjaja, S.U.M., Wibowo, A., Narmaditya, B.S., Wardoyo, C., & Saptono, A. (2022). Identifying factors affect-ing entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention among Indonesian university students. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 10(3), 89-104. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2022.100306
46. Yi, G. (2021). From green entrepreneurial intentions to green entrepreneurial behaviors: the role of univer-sity entrepreneurial support and external institutional support. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 17(2), 963-979. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-020-00649-y
47. Zhang, P., Wang, D.D., & Owen, C.L. (2015). A study of entrepreneurial intention of university students. En-trepreneurship Research Journal, 5(1), 61-82. https://doi.org/10.1515/erj-2014-0004