PI: Minhajul Ukil

Social enterprises are an integral component of economies. Created to further a social purpose in a financially sustainable way, they are pervasive and essential because they contribute to economic, environmental, and socio- cultural wealth (Shaw & Carter, 2007), doing so through creating job opportunities, reducing poverty, and increasing living standards. There are numerous considerations to take into account when starting a social enterprise. Indeed, the venture will not materialize without a strong social entrepreneurial intention. Although there have been numerous social entrepreneurial intention studies, there is a lack of empirical understanding of whether a relationship between financial motive and social entrepreneurial intention exists. While a key purpose of business entrepreneurship is to gain and maximize profit, it is understood that social entrepreneurship does not focus on profit maximization and has a strong focus on the unmet needs of the community (Alvord et al., 2004; Hibbert et al., 2002; Hockerts, 2015). Social enterprises, however, make efforts to increase wealth. Thus, questions arise as to whether financial motives are associated with the decision to become a social entrepreneur? This research attempts to answer the research question through a quantitative exploration that investigates the influence of non-financial (moral and spiritual obligation) and financial motives on social entrepreneurial intention (SEI). This study further examines whether a social entrepreneur role model can strengthen the non-financial and financial motive-SEI relationships. This study chooses young people as study sample; because they are in a position to make their career decisions and may consider creating a social venture as a viable career option. Data will be collected via online surveys and analyzed using a number of statistical techniques such as CFA, SEM and PROCESS in SPSS, AMOS and Smart PLS. The present study seeks to offer several contributions to the theory and practice. This study looks to extend our understanding about social entrepreneurial intention by modelling a relationship between financial and non-financial motives, social entrepreneurial role model, spiritual obligation and social entrepreneurial intention. The outcomes of this research would be of interest to educators, policy makers and aspiring social entrepreneurs in particular.