Exploring sustainable entrepreneurial intentions through the lens of theory of planned behaviour: a PLS-SEM approach

Purpose This research aims to forecast university students' intentions to contribute to sustainable entrepreneurship (SE) in an emerging market. The study observed the factors influencing students’ sustainable entrepreneurial intentions (SEI) using an extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted utilising an online questionnaire with a total of 332 college students in Gujarat, India. Partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the data. Findings The outcome of the present research sanctions that university support strongly impacts perceived behavioural control (PBC) and negatively affects attitudes towards sustainable entrepreneurship (ATT). The findings revealed that environmental concern positively influences students' attitudes and perceived behavioural control towards sustainable entrepreneurship. Whereas sustainable development goals knowledge (SDGK) negatively impacts attitude and PBC. Out of the three key factors of TPB used in the study, only the subjective norm negatively affects SEI among the respondents. Research limitations/implications This research may be valuable to academicians and environmental strategists in determining the most essential elements that drive students to create sustainable firms. The findings of this study back up the assumption that TPB adaptation is required when assessing entrepreneurship-specific intents. Originality/value The current research aimed to regulate students' entrepreneurial intention (EI) in Gujarat, India, concerning a sustainable enterprise. This research appears to be one of the extremely scarce studies that utilise the extended TPB model to investigate the effect of university support (US), environmental concern (EC) and SDGK in the context of India.