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INSPIRA-JOURNAL OF MODERN MANAGEMENT & ENTREPRENEURSHIP(JMME) [ Vol. 16 | No. 3 | July - September, 2026 ]

Entrepreneurial Intentions among Gen Z: An Empirical Analysis Using Theory of Planned Behaviour

Ms. Isha Gupta & Dr. Nitin Bansal

In the era of Technology, Entrepreneurship has emerged as the important channel of economic development, innovation and social transformation. Young People’s entrepreneurial endeavours have become significant due to the shift progress of technology, changing market dynamics and the growing impact of digital ecosystem and AI. Future entrepreneurial ecosystem will be largely influenced by Generation Z. The Government of India has taken a step towards encouraging youth to engage in entrepreneurship through initiatives such as Startup India, Digital India, and skill India. But, with the increasing opportunities, the entrepreneurial intentions of Gen Z are shaped by a number of factors and it is important to understand the determinants of this so that the educators, policy makers and institutions working towards the implementation of entrepreneurial ecosystem can do so. The present study is based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to understand entrepreneurial intention among the students of Gen Z. TPB proposes that there are three primary precursors that affect the entrepreneurial intention: Attitude towards Entrepreneurship, Subjective Norms and Perceived Behavioural Control. The data is collected through 112 respondents of Gen Z and empirically tested using Partial Least Squares -Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM-4). The results show that the proposed model accounts for 67.2% (R²=0.672) of the variance in entrepreneurial intention. The result shows that all the variables studied have positive significant effect on entrepreneurial intention. Factor perceived behavioural control (β = 0.385, p < 0.001) was the most significant factor followed by subjective norms (β = 0.275, p < 0.001) and attitude towards entrepreneurship (β = 0.262, p < 0.005). The study validates the application of TPB in explaining entrepreneurial intention among Gen Z students. The finding provides valuable implications to teachers, policy makers and entrepreneurial development institutions that are interested in fostering entrepreneurial aspiration among young people.

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