The Role of Perceived University Support in the Formation of Students' Entrepreneurial Intention

Entrepreneurship education is central to student entrepreneurship. Previous research has attempted to understand the role of entrepreneurship education in the formation of students' entrepreneurial intention and behavior, albeit in an isolated manner. Universities can support entrepreneurship in many ways, but it is important to measure students' perception of the support that they receive in order to understand the extent of such support and its impact on students. The current study proposed and tested an integrative, multiperspective framework. We have hypothesized that the three dimensions of university support, that is, perceived educational support, concept development support, and business development support, together with institutional support, shape students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy. In turn, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and individual motivations constitute the fundamental elements of the intention to start a business. A sample of 805 university students took part in the study and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Our findings showed that perceived educational support exerted the highest influence on entrepreneurial self-efficacy, followed by concept development support, business development support, and institutional support. Self-efficacy in turn had a significant effect on entrepreneurial intention. Individual motivations such as self-realization, recognition, and role had an additional impact on intention. However, intention was not related to financial success, innovation, and independence. The findings suggest that a holistic perspective provides a more meaningful understanding of the role of perceived university support in the formation of students' entrepreneurial intention. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed

Expressive participation in internet social movements: Testing the moderating effect of technology readiness and sex on student SNS use

An understanding of students’ use of social networking sites (SNS) for expressive participation in Internet Social Movements (ISMs) is absent in the literature on the social psychology of student social networking behavior. Using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) as a theoretical framework and survey data collected from 214 students in Spain, we empirically test the UTAUT theory in this context. Our results confirm that effort expectancy, social influence, and performance expectancy significantly affect students’ intentions to use SNS for expressive participation in Internet social movements. We also test the moderating effect of students’ sex and Technology Readiness (TR) on these UTAUT relationships. Our results show that the intention to use SNS is strongly influenced by effort expectancy for female students and students with self-reported low-levels of technology readiness. For male students and students with self-reportinghigh-levels of technology readiness, the relationship is strongly influenced by social influence. The implications of our findings for theory and practice are discussed

Perceived value of social networking sites (SNS) in students' expressive participation in social movements

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to determine the beliefs that influence university students to use social networking sites (SNS) for expressive participation in social movements. Design/methodology/approach – The original technology acceptance model (TAM), a quantitative methodological approach, and a survey were used to collect responses from 214 university students in Spain. Structural equation modelling was used to test the proposed relationships. Findings – Results confirm that the perceived ease of use (PEU) and perceived usefulness (PU) of SNS significantly affect a student's intention to use SNS for expressive social participation in social movements, with use intention significantly affecting actual participation. There was no significant moderating effect of students' gender on these relationships. Originality/value – Although there is much discussion in the popular press about how people use SNS, there is no published empirical research on the determinants that contribute to a person's intention to use and actual use of SNS in the context of social movements. This paper is one of the first studies to investigate young people's perception of the SNS usefulness and ease of the use for participation in social movements

A literature review of theoretical models of Internet banking adoption at the individual level

How and why individuals use Internet banking (IB) has attracted a great deal of academic attention. This article reviews the IB literature through the lenses of nine adoption theories. The review suggests that IB adoption is a complex and multifaceted process, and a joint consideration of customers’ personal, social, psychological, utilitarian and behavioural aspects is more important than adoption itself and will ultimately result in the intended behaviour. Therefore, managers and system developers should undertake a customer-centric approach focusing on managing belief formation rather than directly influencing behaviour. The review also concludes that IB research is in an inconclusive state, and is far from unanimamous regarding the approaches and conceptualizations used to understand the beliefs that truly influence IB behaviour. There is limited research dealing with the role of interventions that can assist managers in making effective decisions to speed the adoption process

Modeling the Effect of Multidimensional Trust on Individual Monetary Donations to Charitable Organizations

This study develops and validates a model that evaluates the effect of trust on individual monetary donations to charitable organizations (COs). Data were collected in Saudi Arabia using a two-stage approach and were analyzed via structural equation modeling. Data on psychosocial variables were collected in the first stage, and data on behavior were collected in the second stage, 4 weeks later. The findings confirm the study’s novel multidimensional perspective of trust in the context of individual monetary donations to COs in Saudi Arabia. The results validate the view that trust is present only when the individuals concerned are disposed to trust others and when they believe that the COs can conduct their charitable mission, are honest in the use of their donations, and prioritize beneficiaries’ rights. Individuals’ trust in COs affects both the intention to donate and future monetary donation behavior