Unravelling agropreneurship activities among Malaysian Gen Y

Abstract

PurposeDrawing on the institutional theory and the theory of planned behaviour, the purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the impact of social institutional and psychological variables on the formation of agropreneurial intention and behaviours using samples from Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachVia a six-month longitudinal study, the paper analyses whether normative forces supplied by subjective norm and social networking impact psychological variables and agropreneurship activities.FindingsThe model explained a satisfactory percentage of the variance in all five dimensions of agropreneurial behaviour, intention and the psychological variables. The results suggest a certain path in the configuration of agropreneurial intention and behaviour.Research limitations/implicationsThe longitudinal effect of intention on actual agropreneurial behaviour was limited to six months longitudinal time only. Hence, the causality between intention and actual behaviour could not be strongly demonstrated. Nevertheless, future study on agropreneurial behaviour can replicate this study by extending the longitudinal time frame to more than six months.Practical implicationsKey policy actions should increase the agropreneurial social events such as agropreneurship’s seminars, forums or workshops to exert more normative influence on the young Gen Y.Originality/valueThis study shows that the development of agropreneurial intention and behaviour is the significant effect of social institutional and psychological influences. The results suggest that six-month period is adequate for Malaysian Gen Y to make appropriate preparation for the establishment of an agropreneurial business.