Influence of culture and personality factors in Vietnam: in view of theory of planned behaviour towards formation of entrepreneurial intentions

Purpose Culture plays a significant role in shaping the decision of the youths to start the new venture, and Vietnam being one of the collectivist societies in Asia, it is critical to know whether culture plays any role in the formation of entrepreneurial intentions (EI) of the Vietnamese youth. However, there are limited studies in Vietnam that investigate the effect of culture on the EI of students. Hence, this study aims to integrate the direct influence of culture and personality factors in view of mediating role theory of planned behaviour components to measure the EI of students. Design/methodology/approach The data for this study were collected from 393 undergraduate/post-graduate university students using an online survey. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling to test the designed hypotheses of the study. Findings The study results showed that attitude (PA) towards entrepreneurship and perceived behavioural control (PBC) mediated the relationship between risk-propensity (RP) and EI, subjective norms (SN) and EI and also had a direct influence on EI. Risk-propensity was found to have a direct influence on students’ entrepreneurship intentions. Further, there was no direct influence of culture and SN on EI of students, but culture had a direct influence on SN, while SN indirectly influenced EI mediated by PA and PBC. Originality/value Only a few studies have been conducted to determine the role of culture affecting entrepreneurial intentions of the students in Vietnam, where strong emphasis is put on society and culture. The study demonstrates that culture plays a significant role indirectly, as the societal culture influences the close networks and family’s approval (SN) towards encouraging the youths to become entrepreneur and further this encouragement enhances the attitude and self-belief (PA and PBC) of an individual in their capabilities which affects their intentions (EI) to become an entrepreneur. Hence, this study adds this new important dimension of culture in existing academic literature in Vietnam’s context.