Applying the stimulus-organism-response theory to investigate determinants of students’ social entrepreneurship: moderation role of perceived university support

Purpose This study aims to integrate the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) theory with Mair and Noboa’s (2006) model to evaluate the stimulating role of education-related stimuli (i.e. entrepreneurial education, curriculum and lecturer competency) and the moderation impact of perceived university support on students’ emotional and cognitive processes of social entrepreneurship. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 401 university students in Vietnam and a three-step analysis approach via SPSS 28.0 and AMOS 25.0 were used to test the hypothesized model. Findings This study revealed that while entrepreneurship education and lecturer competency are positively associated with psychological organisms, then in turn affect social entrepreneurial intention and behaviors, the curriculum seems to be less significant. Social entrepreneurial intention was positively affected by social entrepreneurial self-efficacy and perceived social support, but not significantly influenced by empathy or moral obligation. As expected, the higher the perceived university support, the stronger the relationship between social entrepreneurial intention and social start-up behavior. Practical implications The findings of this study can be valuable for educators, policymakers and practitioners to inspire students’ entrepreneurial activities. Originality/value This study contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by adopting SOR theory to investigate the importance of education-related stimuli, exploring the underlying mediation mechanism of emotional and cognitive organism and explaining the moderation role of perceived university support in the fostering of students’ social entrepreneurship.