This section summarises the key results relevant to environmental values and sustainable entrepreneurial intention, discussing the reason why these relationships existed, and suggests some conclusions for the formation of sustainable entrepreneurial intention by entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs.
5.1. Discussion
After a series of analyses, we could generate some results as shown in
Table 5. Despite the increase in studies examining the role of environmental values implementing sustainable entrepreneurship, it is still necessary to further study the factors influencing the intentions for sustainable entrepreneurship, and how these intentions can be promoted by environmental values influencing sustainable entrepreneurs’ intention. This line of research can support entrepreneurial behaviour to become more sustainable. Most literature has been published rather recently (within the past three years); however, sustainable entrepreneurship seems to attract the attention of a wider audience of scholars.
Our analysis of independent samples indicates that there is a positive relationship between environmental values and sustainable entrepreneurial intention (r = 0.311). This finding is vital for entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs. It is linked to previous studies, such as by Nuringsih et al. [
19], proposing that green value encourage sustainable entrepreneurship, while the results differ from the study by St-Jean et al. [
10]. Green marketing and green producing among other things based on environmental values, could inspire entrepreneurs to create and produce environmental products and services [
19]. Green marketing allows people to capture green opportunities by enhancing the personal intention to start a sustainable enterprise. Sometimes, industry standards link environmental problems to social responsibility [
10], but at the social level makes it becomes difficult for entrepreneurs to set up a new sustainable enterprise. As a result, the intention for sustainable entrepreneurship will decrease. Although economic value has attracted the attention of entrepreneurs, an increasing number of sustainable entrepreneurs focused on greening the bottom line of their company to deal with environmental issues [
33]. Our findings will encourage entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs to form behavioural intention based on environmental values that could generate entrepreneurial opportunities to create a sustainable enterprise. These enterprises could rely on environmental sustainability to develop innovative behaviour; it could bring new opportunities to the market, and strengthen environmental values [
12]. Relatively speaking, the realization of social values and economic values tends to be a firm-level issue, while environmental values are more like macro-level issues related to global problems. However, it increasingly becomes more important to attach greater weight to the effects of environmental values. A new understanding of environmental values will have a positive impact on the environment and the natural resource currently wasted, which could promote cleaner production. This finding helps to enhance entrepreneurs’ intentions to become sustainable entrepreneurs, as predicted by their behaviour towards sustainable entrepreneurship [
2].
The relationship between environmental values and sustainable entrepreneurial intention is moderated by the level of experience (HE: r = 0.321,
p < 0.001; LE: r = 0.288,
p < 0.01). This surely is an interesting finding on its own. Both high-level and low-level experiences are positively correlated with the relationship between environmental values and sustainable entrepreneurial intention. The variable for environmental values is positively related to sustainable entrepreneurial intention of entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs with high-level experience compared to those entrepreneurs with low-level experience. This is consistent with Sardianou et al. [
48], where many entrepreneurs with experience were willing to take eco-friendly actions and environmental awareness was positively correlated to entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs’ intention to adopt sustainable behaviour or practices [
48]. Environmental improvements should rely on policies related to learning from experience, as high-level experience promoted entrepreneurs into the beliefs that implementing sustainable entrepreneurs would be better, which could enhance entrepreneurs’ intention to set up a sustainable enterprise. It also is the similar to the idea developed by Kuckertz et al. [
29], in that low-level experience on environmental issues is more likely to be translated into entrepreneurial intention compared to potential entrepreneurial behaviour; it also might be concerned with the individual itself [
29], for example, the influence of extrinsic rewards and intrinsic rewards [
2]. Entrepreneurs with high-level experience could be exposed to ethical situations in which they act irresponsible, and then they are less likely to form an intention to adopt sustainable entrepreneurial behaviour [
40]. This is also consistent with the view of Koe et al. [
45]: the intention towards sustainable entrepreneurship mainly focuses on the intention rather than actual action. Many potential entrepreneurs are college students who have not graduated or are fresh graduates. They usually have no or hardly any low-level entrepreneurial experience, only receiving courses related to entrepreneurship. In our study, entrepreneurs with low-level experience were more likely to increase their intention to become sustainable entrepreneurs than those with high-level experience. A close reading of the literature reveals that there are two possible approaches. For entrepreneurs with high-level experience, their core goals of enhancing intention towards sustainable entrepreneurship is to build a new venture successfully and to take a series of sustainable practices [
12]. While, for those with low-level experience, their main goals have been to start the behaviour of sustainable entrepreneurship. High-level experience, which mainly came from start-ups, did contribute to entrepreneurs to achieve a transformation of their values into specifying intentions, while low-level experience, which mainly came from college courses, might provide help to potential entrepreneurs to gain some knowledge about environmental values, and then generate incentives for sustainable entrepreneurship. Without enough experience, potential entrepreneurs might have sufficient emotions about environmental values that will drive them towards entrepreneurial behaviour related to sustainability. So, entrepreneurs with high-level experience give more attention to feasibility than those with low experience. Considering the feasibility of sustainability, these entrepreneurs or would-be entrepreneurs are more likely to engage in low-tech entrepreneurial activities of small and medium enterprises [
43,
45]; for instance, in manufacturing, construction and agriculture, in which it is more expensive to implement sustainable practices than in high-tech industries. From these findings, we derived the conclusion that the overall benefit of experience is that entrepreneurs with low-level experience will be more positively related to the relationship between environmental values and sustainable entrepreneurial intention than those with high-level experience.
The relationship between environment value and sustainable entrepreneurial intention is mediated through attitude towards sustainable entrepreneurship (mediating effect = 0.031,
p < 0.001). However, this experience is not acting as a moderator in the relationship between environmental values and sustainable entrepreneurial intention. Environmental values has a positive impact on attitude towards sustainable entrepreneurship [
9]. Entrepreneurs who possess a positive attitude towards sustainable entrepreneurship have much more of an intention to start up a sustainable venture [
43]. A positive attitude helps entrepreneurs to enhance the balance of values related to people–profit–planet, which leads to achieving sustainable entrepreneurship [
38,
43]. Entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs worry about spending time and resource on environmental values, which would increase the risks of starting a business without generating any revenue. While a positive attitude makes them believe that the implementation of environmental values would promote sustainable entrepreneurship, especially successful sustainable entrepreneurship, it might also wipe out concerns about business failure [
2]. No matter which level experience of entrepreneurs have, with a positive attitude, the level of tolerance of entrepreneurial failure raises. A positive attitude enables entrepreneurs to face various possible difficulties in a way that allows a new venture to start that adds entrepreneurs’ intention to sustainable entrepreneurship. However, a negative attitude may fade away the intention for the fear of business failure. Now, the attitude has a positive mediating effect on the relationship between environmental values and sustainable entrepreneurial intention. The more importance on the environmental values entrepreneurs give, the more of an active attitude of entrepreneurs will have on entrepreneurship, in general. Experience would not moderate the relationship between environmental values and attitude towards sustainability positively. Although the hypothesis was not supported, the results are meaningful. In the context of developing environmental value, experience would not promote entrepreneurs’ attitude to be positive; maybe it exist among other variables moderating this relationship: on the one hand, the entrepreneurs’ attitude was influenced by perceived support and perceived barriers [
49], on the other, the detrimental effect of the entrepreneurs’ experience come from their internal and external influences [
29], for instance, whether subjects had been abroad, where different countries with different policies affected entrepreneurs in their decisions.
The relationship between environment value and sustainable entrepreneurial intention is mediated through social norms (mediating effect = 0.046,
p < 0.001). Environmental value is more positively related to the social norms of entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs with low-level experience (r = 0.291,
p < 0.01) than to those with high-level experience (r = 0.261,
p > 0.05). So, the relationship between values of environment and social norms will be negatively moderated by the studies that have confirmed that social norms are positively related to sustainable entrepreneurial intentions [
12,
17]. Previous studies have already found that social norms influence sustainable entrepreneurial behaviour [
1]. As society pays more attention to environmental protection, the pressure of social norms will drive entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs to pursue sustainable environmental development. This is in line with Rezai et al. [
13]. Previous studies about enterprises accepting environmental norms have shown that enterprises could generate economic value [
13]. Social norms promote the gradual transformation of an enterprise’s production process into a process for realizing value based environment protection, and social norms can be regarded as a predictor of sustainable entrepreneurial propensity [
43]. Such situations drive entrepreneurs to start an environmental value-oriented venture and contribute to the formation of an intention for sustainable entrepreneurial behaviour. The value attached to the natural environment increases with the development of society when developing a start-up company. Based on the influence of the institutional environment, an increase in the value attached to the environment will involve an increase of social norms [
13]. The changes of social norms promote the relationship between environmental values and sustainable entrepreneurship indirectly. Surprisingly, high-level experience does not affect the relationship of environmental values to social norms; however, low-level experience actually does generate such an effect. Under the pressure of conformity, entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs with low-level experience, especially young adults, tend to imitate other entrepreneurs. To some extent, social norms help environmental values to be determined unconsciously, and environmental values constitute a code of conduct, which positively influences its initiatives towards sustainable entrepreneurship [
23].
The relationship between environment values and sustainable entrepreneurial intention is mediated through self-efficacy (mediating effect = 0.060,
p < 0.001). Environmental values will be more positively related to the self-efficacy of entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs with high-level experience (r = 0.385,
p < 0.001) than those with low-level experience (r = 0.212,
p < 0.001). The result of the mediator is similar to the view of Ahmed et al. [
50]. From the results, we find that all effect sizes were greater than zero. Entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs with a high self-efficacy have more confidence to pursue values set in the environment without self-doubt; they believe in themselves and seek opportunities in a situation of competitive pressure, which allow them to become sustainable entrepreneurs [
50]. Entrepreneurs’ beliefs in their abilities to succeed in start-ups can promote the enhancement of their intention of taking advantage of environmental protection and value creation [
2]. Much confidence come with self-efficacy that could make entrepreneurs believe that paying more attention to the values of the environment at the beginning could enhance sustainable entrepreneurial opportunities, as well as environmental performance [
50]. In addition, high-level experience helps to raise entrepreneurs’ comprehensive abilities, and increased self-efficacy helps entrepreneurs to identify opportunities for developing environmental sustainability. Experience usually provides some attraction towards more general entrepreneurship and the generation of economic value compared to improvements in the self-efficacy of entrepreneurs [
18]. Sufficient experience enables entrepreneurs to recognize the importance of environmental value. Green practices make it easier for entrepreneurs to develop sustainability with high-level self-efficacy [
13]. Therefore, entrepreneurs with high self-efficacy are confident that they could figure out a way on how to implement environmental values; it makes entrepreneurs’ intention towards sustainable entrepreneurial behaviour more practical.
5.2. Implications
These findings are of great importance as we have shown that environmental values have a positive impact on sustainable entrepreneurial intention. These values stimulate entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs in a way that enhances the intention for sustainable entrepreneurship. Attitude, social norms and self-efficacy are variables that serve as links between the relationship of environmental values to sustainable entrepreneurial intention. Internal and external drives are adopted to improve entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs’ recognition of environmental value creation, and the mediating effects of experience on attitude, social norms and self-efficacy directly promote the enhancement of intention to sustainable entrepreneurship, so as to predict sustainable entrepreneurial behaviour. In the following, we provide some suggestions for entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs who intend to become sustainable entrepreneurs.
Firstly, the importance of environmental values does increase the willingness of entrepreneurs to become sustainable entrepreneurs. The government, social organization and other institutions can publicize the advantages of implementing environmental protection, green technology and cleaner production, and use the typically successful entrepreneurial enterprises to guide entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs to enhance environmental values among entrepreneurs. In addition, we encourage the government to formulate preferential policies for entrepreneurs to implement values regarding the environment, and encourage enterprises to innovate green technology and cleaner production. For entrepreneurs with low-level experience, especially college students, relevant education of environmental protection, resource conservation and energy efficiency in entrepreneurship courses should be used to guide their positive views on the values of the environment, the people–profit–planet’s sustainability and the importance of cleaner production. While, for entrepreneurs with high-level experience, preferential entrepreneurial policies should be used to attract entrepreneurs to learn the ways and methods of implementing values created from environment efficiently.
Secondly, attitude is influenced by attaching importance to environmental values: the more efficiently environmental values are playing into practices, the more likely it is to stimulate attitudes to become more positive towards sustainable entrepreneurship. A too pessimistic attitude is not conducive to the formation of sustainable entrepreneurial intention; entrepreneurs are afraid of gains and losses, and conservatives are more inclined to rapidly gain profits in entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs with a positive attitude tend to be risk-oriented and rely on environmental sustainability to achieve sustainable economic, social and environmental development. The publicity of environmental practices should be vigorously promoted to guide entrepreneurs to have a positive attitude, correctly recognize the role of green implementation and stimulate entrepreneurs to pursue sustainable entrepreneurship. The channels of environmental protection, green technology, low consumption and high yield results are what entrepreneurs need to pursue. Less positive entrepreneurs may have intent to choose environmental practices with less risk and mature technology, and imitating innovation may be green implementing’s best strategy. Risk-orientated entrepreneurs with a positive attitude are suggested to choose ecological innovation strategies to make development decisions for value creation of green efficiently.
Thirdly, wide distribution of propaganda and practice methods by the government, universities and society about environmental values, to some extent, can stimulate entrepreneurs to perceive larger social norms. Entrepreneurs with high-level experience could certainly influence entrepreneurs with low-level experience by the sustainability practices of environmental values, especially for potential entrepreneurs without entrepreneurial experience as to the formation of social norms. We encourage the government to set different implementation of environmental values according to different industries, for the formation of high-level actual social norms. For entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs with low-level experience, they can enhance their intention to implement sustainable entrepreneurship by taking part in entrepreneurial projects competitions and adopting imitation of successful enterprises. That is to say, the society should take some measures to make both perceived social norms and actual social norms together to be high level, which helps to form a standard code of conduct for entrepreneurship. For example, a business incubator should carry out relevant training regularly. The government should jointly issue relevant policies, form basic codes of conduct and implement the reward and punishment system. Universities should also open the relevant courses to form a better sustainable entrepreneurship ideology.
Fourthly, high-level experience is more likely to promote the improvement of entrepreneurs’ self-efficacy, and it is believed that they can fully exploit environmental values, so as to achieve comprehensive and sustainable entrepreneurial behaviour. In this initiative to improve the function of the business incubator, encourage the government to introduce more preferential policies for entrepreneurship, such as the mechanism of trial and errors. With the help of large to small enterprises, mature enterprises to new organizations, entrepreneurs’ personal entrepreneurial ability will be improved, and more places are provided for entrepreneurs to continuously try to efficiently obtain environmental values. Considering the cost of sustainable entrepreneurship implementing, we recommend that the business incubator can give more time and resource for sustainable entrepreneurs than that for general entrepreneurs, and encourage them to have the sustainable business intent.