ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTIONS AND CROWDFUNDING ADOPTION IN PAKISTAN: UNVEILING BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY'S MODERATING INFLUENCE AMONG BUSINESS STUDENTS

Abstract

This study aims to investigate entrepreneurial and crowdfunding intention among university business students of Pakistan, while considering the moderating effect of blockchain technology adoption. The research utilizes the theory of planned behavior (TPB) with the impact of entrepreneurial education to analyze entrepreneurial intentions. The impact of entrepreneurial intention is additionally examined concerning crowdfunding intentions and the adoption of blockchain technology offered by crowdfunding platforms. Data were gathered from 330 university students who are enrolled in business studies in Pakistan and analyzed using PLS-SEM 3. The results indicate favorable impact of attitude, social influence, and entrepreneurial education on entrepreneurial intention. Moreover, there exists a favorable correlation between entrepreneurial intention and the deployment of blockchain technology in the context of intending to use crowdfunding for capital acquisition. This study is novel and the foundational investigation into the correlation between entrepreneurial intention along with crowdfunding intention among university students of Pakistan, incorporating the moderating effect of blockchain technology adoption.