Entrepreneurial passion, alertness and opportunity recognition: Affective-cognitive interactions in dynamic environments

Opportunity recognition is a core concept in entrepreneurship research. However, the mechanisms by which passion influences opportunity recognition, as well as the conditions under which this relationship occurs, are not well understood. This study analyses time-lagged data from 258 entrepreneurs to explore how, when and which aspects of entrepreneurial passion influence opportunity recognition through entrepreneurial alertness. The results indicate that all three types of entrepreneurial passion – passion for inventing, passion for founding and passion for developing – enhance opportunity recognition by increasing entrepreneurial alertness. Yet, only passion for inventing and passion for developing have a direct impact on opportunity recognition. Additionally, passion for inventing and passion for founding boost entrepreneurial alertness, but only in highly dynamic environments. Conversely, the effect of passion for developing alertness remains consistent regardless of environmental conditions. Further analysis reveals that each of the three passion domains affects opportunity recognition through different dimensions of entrepreneurial alertness.