The role of perceived social support in the theory of planned behavior in predicting entrepreneurial intention: Evidence from a Nigerian university

Abstract

Despite the usefulness of the theory of planned behavior in predicting intention and behavior in different domains, the sufficiency of its use in predicting and determining intention has been debated by many scholars. This paper extended the theory of planned behavior by including social support as a possible determinant of intention in the entrepreneurship domain while looking at one of the largest universities in Nigeria. Data were collected from 432 final year students of Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria using a simple random sampling technique. Structural equation modeling was adopted using partial least square technique for data analysis. Perceived social support, attitude towards entrepreneurship, and perceived behavioral control all were found to have a significant effect on entrepreneurial intention, while subjective norms had an insignificant effect. The study found perceived social support to be an important social influence factor in the theory of planned behavior because of its influence on entrepreneurial intention. Hence, perceived social support is recommended to be included as a major construct in the theory of planned behavior.