Abstract

A business venture is an intentionally planned activity. Literature in social psychology has shown that intentions are the best predictors of planned behaviour. Intentions in turn can be predicted by certain social and psychological factors. This study investigates how certain psychosocial factors impact on an individual’s intention to create a business venture. The study was conceived after the realization that there was inadequate literature linking psychosocial factors and intention to business venture creation in Kenya. Consequently, many of the efforts used to promote entrepreneurship focus on provision of financial capital as evidenced by the policies the Kenya government has been putting in place for the youth and women. Using a sample of 380 students and 148 nascent entrepreneurs in Nairobi, Kenya, we confirmed that perceived feasibility and perceived desirability were significant antecedents of intention to venture business creation. We further found that social norms, social support networks and entrepreneurial experiences had indirect significant influence on intentions mediated by the perceptions of desirability and feasibility. As one of the implications of this study we propose that the Kenya government should in addition to facilitating easy access to financial capital, put in place policies and initiatives that impact positively on the social and psychological factors that positively influence entrepreneurial intentions.