Exploring social entrepreneurial intention through servant leadership and effectuation: The moderating role of collectivism

Social entrepreneurship research has focused on the importance of ventures that create social value with economic sustainability. However, a comprehensive understanding of the drivers of social entrepreneurial intention (SEI) is less well developed and clearly requires research from the perspective of leadership and personal value orientations. This article addresses this research gap by drawing on the theory of planned behavior and effectuation theory to explore the influence of servant leadership on SEI through the mediating effects of effectuation and the moderating effects of collectivism. An empirical analysis of 287 university students using partial least squares structural equation modeling showed that servant leadership—empowerment, service, and vision—significantly influences SEI. The influence of servant leadership on SEI is partially mediated by effectuation—experimentation, affordable loss, flexibility, and precommitment. Moreover, the results show that collectivism—an internalized value that focuses on interdependence and shared responsibility—positively moderates the relationship between servant leadership and SEI. The findings indicate that collectivism serves as an important boundary condition for translating leadership values into social intent. This research makes theoretical contributions by linking leadership orientation with entrepreneurial cognition and has implications for educators and policy makers interested in developing a new wave of socially responsible entrepreneurs.