The moderating effect of educational level and gender on the relationship between extended theory of planned behaviour and agropreneurship intention among youth in Sabah / Mohd Nur Fikri Waktu Saptu

Agropreneurships can be understood the marketing and processing of various agricultural products. In line with the Sabah Agriculture Blueprint 2021–2030 and Sabah Development Plan 2021-2025 or Sabah Maju Jaya 2025, Sabah will economically be benefited from the agricultural sector. However, youths‘ participation in the agricultural sector is still rather low. This research examines the significant factors influencing the agropreneurship intention among youth in Sabah. Specifically, it aims to determine the relationship between each of the extended theory of planned behavioural dimensions (attitude, perceived behavioural control (PBC), subjective norms (SN) and the perceived availability of government support) and agropreneurship intention among 382 youth in Sabah, as well as the moderating effect of educational level and gender. Partial Least Squares–Structural Equation Modeling was applied to analyse data collected. Convenience sampling technique been used in this study. The results of the PLS-SEM analysis confirmed that attitude towards agropreneurship has the strongest effect on the agropreneurship intention. This research also shows that PBC has a positive effect on agropreneurship intention. Meanwhile, subjective norms did not influence youths‘ agropreneurship intention. For the moderating effect, the result of this study unveiled that gender did not moderate the relationship between elements of the Theory of Planned Behaviour and agropreneurship intention. The findings indicate that only gender moderates the relationship between perceived availability of government support and agropreneurship intention. The study‘s findings also show that educational levels moderate the relationship between attitudes towards agropreneurship and subjective norms and agropreneurship intention. Furthermore, the result of this study reveals that educational levels did not moderate the relationship between PBC and perceived availability of government support and agropreneurship intention. The findings of this research contribute to the body of knowledge and help formulate policies and programmes by government and policymakers. This study also lends support to Sabah‘s aspiration to become an agricultural hub in the country.