Title: An examination of the entrepreneurial intention of business students in Portugal and Turkiye: a cross-cultural comparison

Authors: Büşra Tuncer; Faruk Şahin

Addresses: Fethiye Faculty of Business Administration, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, 48300, Fethiye, Muğla, Turkey ' Fethiye Faculty of Business Administration, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, 48300, Fethiye, Muğla, Turkey

Abstract: The objective of this article is to assess the entrepreneurial intentions of business students in two diverse economic and cultural contexts: Portugal and Turkiye. Specifically, drawing on the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991), this study aims to investigate whether attitude toward behaviour (ATB), subjective norms (SN), and perceived behavioural control (PBC) predict entrepreneurial intention (EI) in two different economic and cultural contexts. A total of 321 students from one Portuguese and one Turkish university participated in this study by responding to a structured questionnaire in classrooms. Data were analysed by using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The results show that ATB and PBC were directly associated with students' entrepreneurial tendencies, while SN was not. Overall, the analyses provide support for the need to incorporate the antecedents of EI (i.e., ATB, SN and PBC) into the existing theory of planned behaviour in cross-cultural EI studies. The study with a cross-cultural perspective includes theoretical and managerial contributions and directions for future research.

Keywords: theory of planned behaviour; entrepreneurial intention; Portugal; Turkiye; partial least squares; PLS-SEM.

DOI: 10.1504/MEJM.2025.145899

Middle East Journal of Management, 2025 Vol.12 No.3, pp.349 - 374

Received: 12 Nov 2023
Accepted: 08 Mar 2024
Published online: 30 Apr 2025 *

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