Entrepreneurs’ digital entrepreneurial capabilities can enhance the interaction between digital innovation and digital entrepreneurship. This study explores the influence of digital entrepreneurial capabilities (digital entrepreneurial education, alertness, and knowledge) on the digital innovative attitude and entrepreneurial intention of higher education students. A sample of 417 Portuguese higher education students was collected, and the partial least squares method was applied to the research model. The results showed that higher education students’ innovative digital attitudes and digital entrepreneurial intentions are positively influenced by their digital entrepreneurial alertness and knowledge. Digital entrepreneurial education was not significant in affecting innovative digital attitudes. However, when an innovative digital attitude acts as a mediator, the relationship between digital entrepreneurial intentions and digital entrepreneurial capabilities is stronger. Thus, the importance of digital entrepreneurial education, alertness, and knowledge as precursors to the intention of digital entrepreneurship is emphasized, as well as the importance of these capabilities in promoting digital innovation. The main contribution of this study is to demonstrate the mediating role of the digital innovative attitude in the association between digital entrepreneurial capabilities and digital entrepreneurial intention. These effects intensify the associations between digital entrepreneurial alertness and digital entrepreneurial knowledge with digital entrepreneurial intention, shedding light on how digital entrepreneurship capabilities shape students’ innovative digital attitudes and entrepreneurial intentions and enable articulate digital innovation with digital entrepreneurship.
Lopes et al. (2026) studied this question.