Uncovering the Drivers of Entrepreneurial Intention: A Hybrid Systematic Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

This study examined the intellectual structure, publication trends, and key determinants of entrepreneurial intention through a hybrid systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis. The study analyzed 120 journal articles indexed in the Scopus database, retrieved using the exact phrase “Entrepreneur Intention” and screened in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The dataset covered publications available through August 2026. Bibliometric analysis was conducted using VOSviewer to examine publication trends, country and institutional contributions, authorship patterns, and keyword co-occurrence networks. The results showed that research on entrepreneurial intention had increased steadily since 2003, with a substantial rise in publication output from 2022 onward and a peak of 21 publications in 2025. Malaysia emerged as the leading contributing country and was also associated with the most prominent institutional contributions, while international research collaboration became increasingly interconnected. Keyword co-occurrence analysis identified entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial intention, entrepreneur intention, and entrepreneur as the most prominent research themes. The Theory of Planned Behavior remained a central theoretical framework and was closely associated with entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and innovation. The findings indicated that entrepreneurial intention was a multidimensional construct shaped by behavioral, psychological, educational, social, innovation-related, and institutional factors, with entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurship education emerging as prominent complementary drivers.