Unraveling students’ intention toward social business entrepreneurship for poverty alleviation: an analysis using theory of planned behavior (TPB)

Purpose This study aims to investigate the cognitive and normative antecedents of students’ entrepreneurship-driven social business intention (SBI) for multidimensional poverty alleviation in Bangladesh. It contributes to social enterprise scholarship by examining how Yunus-style zero-dividend venture intention is formed at the individual cognition level in a collectivist Global South context. Design/methodology/approach An extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) framework was used, incorporating knowledge, normative structure and self-efficacy as upstream antecedents. Data were collected from Bangladeshi university students using a five-point Likert scale. Purposive criterion-based sampling and partial least squares structural equation modeling were used for this cross-sectional study. Findings (1) Attitude significantly affects SBI, (2) knowledge significantly affects attitude, (3) normative structure significantly affects subjective norms, (4) subjective norms significantly affect SBI, (5) self-efficacy significantly affects perceived behavioral control and (6) PBC significantly affects SBI. All three mediating pathways bridging knowledge through attitude, normative structures through subjective norms and self-efficacy through PBC are positively significant. Research limitations/implications The cross-sectional design and single-country sample limit generalizability. Future research should use longitudinal designs and cross-cultural comparisons across diverse Global South contexts to further validate these psychological mechanisms. Social implications Strengthening community-level normative support, social business knowledge and self-efficacy among students can accelerate social business formation, effectively mobilizing young entrepreneurs to contribute toward achieving sustainable development goal 1. Originality/value This study establishes that Yunus style SBI formation in collectivist Global South settings is primarily governed by community-level normative structures and self-efficacy rather than individual attitude, challenging the conventional TPB predictive hierarchy.