Understanding the role of perceived drivers and barriers in shaping entrepreneurial intentions: the mediating effect of perceived value among higher education students
Despite the growth of entrepreneurship education and government support for start-up initiatives, Entrepreneurial Intention (EI) among higher education students is still very low in developing countries, such as India. Most of the existing models have studied the motivation and perceived barriers separately, and have not explored the integrative value-formation mechanism that links these factors together to influence the intention. In this study, Value Based Adoption Model (VAM) is extended to the domain of career decision to understand how students develop their entrepreneurial intentions by cognitively integrating perceived drivers (Benefits) with perceived barriers (Sacrifices) with the mediating variable of Perceived Value (PV) in selected districts of Tamil Nadu. A structured questionnaire was administered to 310 undergraduate and postgraduate students across five districts of Tamil Nadu. The model incorporates three benefit dimensions Perceived Usefulness (PU), Perceived Enjoyment (PE), and Perceived Immersion (PI) and three sacrifice dimensions Perceived Cost (PC), Perceived Complexity (PX), and Technicality (PT) with PV mediating the path to EI. PLS-SEM via SmartPLS 4 was used for data analysis, including PLSpredict out-of-sample assessment. The measurement model demonstrated acceptable reliability ( ρ c ≥ 0.808) and convergent validity (AVE ≥ 0.584). PU ( β = 0.124, p = 0.004) and PI ( β = 0.136, p = 0.002) positively influenced PV (H1a, H1c supported); PE was not significant (H1b not supported). PC negatively influenced PV ( β = −0.165, p = 0.005; H2a supported). PX ( β = 0.528) and PT ( β = 0.334) showed significant but positive effects on PV, contrary to H2b and H2c, attributed to suppressor dynamics among correlated barrier constructs. PV strongly predicts EI ( β = 0.670, p < 0.001; R 2 = 0.449; H3 supported) and mediates key antecedent paths (H4a, H4c, H4d supported; H4b not supported). PLSpredict confirms positive Q 2 predict values for all EI indicators. This study is among the first PLS-SEM-based investigations to apply VAM's benefit-sacrifice-value architecture to the entrepreneurship intention domain. Nine of thirteen directional hypotheses were supported as predicted. Findings offer actionable guidance for educators, policymakers, and incubation managers in Tamil Nadu and comparable developing-economy contexts.