The role of individual characteristics in shaping digital entrepreneurial intention among university students: Evidence from Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This study aims to provide insight into digital entrepreneurship at the individual level by developing a model that explores the individual characteristics influencing business administration undergraduate students’ intention toward digital entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia. The suggested model incorporates the five constructs of digital innovativeness, entrepreneurial alertness, entrepreneurial passion, entrepreneurial curiosity, and digital competence and assesses how they affect students’ intention toward digital entrepreneurship. To achieve this aim, a survey of 219 participants was conducted and the data were analysed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The results showed that entrepreneurial alertness and entrepreneurial digital innovativeness positively affect digital entrepreneurial intention. Further, the results show that entrepreneurial passion, entrepreneurial curiosity, and digital competence are positively associated with entrepreneurial alertness and digital innovativeness. The implications of these results in relation to entrepreneurship theory and practice are discussed.