The Effects of Entrepreneurial Orientation and Entrepreneurial Competency on Entrepreneurial Intention: Focusing on the mediating effect of perceived start-up value Changyong Choi Advisor : Prof. Kyounghee Chu Department of Business Administration, G...
The Effects of Entrepreneurial Orientation and Entrepreneurial Competency on Entrepreneurial Intention: Focusing on the mediating effect of perceived start-up value Changyong Choi Advisor : Prof. Kyounghee Chu Department of Business Administration, Graduate School of Chosun University This study examines the effects of entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial competency characteristics on entrepreneurial intention among young prospective entrepreneurs, with particular emphasis on the mediating role of perceived start-up value. It assumes that entrepreneurial intention is not determined solely by dispositional orientation or competency-based capability; rather, it is strengthened through the way individuals perceive the value of entrepreneurship in terms of economic, social, emotional, and altruistic value. To test the proposed model, survey data were collected from 344 respondents aged between 20 and 35, and the data were analyzed using SPSS 27.0 and SmartPLS 4.0. The research model was designed to verify the structural relationships among the sub-dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation-creativity, innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, and resilience-and the sub-dimensions of entrepreneurial competency characteristics-entrepreneurial competency, managerial competency, technical-functional competency, and marketing competency-together with perceived start-up value and entrepreneurial intention. The results show that all four dimensions of perceived start-up value-economic, social, emotional, and altruistic value-have positive effects on entrepreneurial intention. Among these, economic value exerted the strongest effect, followed by social value, emotional value, and altruistic value. This finding indicates that the entrepreneurial intention of young prospective entrepreneurs is shaped not only by expected economic returns but also by perceptions of social recognition, self-fulfillment, and social contribution. With regard to entrepreneurial orientation, creativity had significant effects on economic and emotional value; innovativeness had significant effects on economic, social, and altruistic value; and proactiveness had significant effects on economic, social, and altruistic value. By contrast, risk-taking did not exhibit stable significant effects across any of the four value dimensions, while resilience showed only limited and inconsistent relationships. These findings suggest that the sub-dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation influence entrepreneurial intention through differentiated value-perception pathways rather than through a single uniform mechanism. With respect to entrepreneurial competency characteristics, entrepreneurial competency significantly affected economic, social, and altruistic value; managerial competency showed a clearer effect on altruistic value and a limited effect on economic value; technical-functional competency had significant positive effects across all four value dimensions; and marketing competency significantly affected social value. Notably, technical-functional competency demonstrated the broadest influence, whereas marketing competency played a distinctive role in strengthening perceived social value. The mediation analysis further revealed that perceived start-up value did not operate uniformly across all paths; instead, partial mediation effects were supported in several significant relationships. More specifically, in the entrepreneurial orientation model, creativity and innovativeness affected entrepreneurial intention through economic value and, in part, social value. In the entrepreneurial competency model, entrepreneurial competency, technical-functional competency, and marketing competency affected entrepreneurial intention through economic value or social value. Overall, this study demonstrates that entrepreneurial intention is not merely the direct outcome of personal orientation and competency. Rather, it is strengthened through the way individuals interpret and evaluate the value of entrepreneurship. Accordingly, entrepreneurship education and policy for young adults should move beyond the mere transfer of start-up knowledge and skills and instead focus on fostering positive perceptions of the economic feasibility, social significance, emotional rewards, and public contribution of entrepreneurship. Keywords: entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial competency characteristics, perceived start-up value, entrepreneurial intention, economic value, social value, emotional value, altruistic value