The mediating role of entrepreneurial intention between creativity and social innovation tendency

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the relationship between creativity, entrepreneurial intention and social innovation tendency within academic community members (namely, students and professors/researchers). Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was administered to nearly 300 students and professors/researchers in Portuguese higher education institutions, whereupon a mediation analysis was performed to understand the aforementioned relationship. Findings The results indicate a positive relationship between individual creativity, entrepreneurial intention and social innovation tendency and that entrepreneurial intention mediates the relationship between creativity and social innovation tendency. Research limitations/implications Firstly, the results obtained to fit the specific characteristics of the sample used, suggesting that it would be risky to extrapolate to other contexts. Secondly, although the constructs used to measure variable creativity are based on the extant literature, these may be open to debate and possibly, therefore, alternative measures could have been used. Practical implications The findings of the paper have important practical implications within the university context, namely: that study programmes should be designed to address the entrepreneurial potential of their students, teaching and research staff; that social entrepreneurship, volunteering activities and the development of creativity skills should be stimulated; and, finally, that social innovation should be at the core of a university’s mission. Originality/value To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first time that the relationship between creativity, entrepreneurial intention and social innovation tendency has been empirically tested. To do this, a conceptual framework is proposed which suggests that individual creativity can be perceived by means of three interconnected constructs (the self, family and university creativity), which, in turn, predict entrepreneurial intention and social innovation tendency.