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An Analysis of Influence Research

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Games on Business DOI: 10.1177/0735633117746746
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School Students’
Attitude and Intention
Toward Entrepreneurial
Activities

Salman Zulfiqar1, Binesh Sarwar1,

Saira Aziz2, Khurram Ejaz Chandia1,
and Muhammad Kaleem Khan3

Abstract
Although research on entrepreneurial attitude and intention has received so much
attention from scholars, only few studies have investigated the effect of value,
usefulness, and pleasure associated with business simulation games, and how these
values affect students’ attitude and intention toward entrepreneurial activities. In this
study, Technology Acceptance Model and Theory of Planned Behavior have been
used in combination to explore how these technological teaching methods influence
the attitude and intentions of the students toward entrepreneurial activities. The
results show that all hypotheses have been proven by stating significant and positive
students’ attitude and intention toward entrepreneurial activities using business
simulation games. But subjective norms did not contribute toward student intentions
in this regard. It is concluded that people with high uncertainty avoidance are
reluctant to take the risk; therefore, there is a need to change their attitude by
implementing entrepreneurial ecosystem in society.

1
School of Public Affairs, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China
2
School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China
3
School of Management and Economics, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China
Corresponding Author:
Salman Zulfiqar, School of Public Affairs, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China.
Email: Sa572599@mail.ustc.edu.cn
2 Journal of Educational Computing Research 0(0)

Keywords
business simulation games, entrepreneurial intention, perceived values,
entrepreneurship

Introduction
Currently, the world is facing high unemployment rate among youngsters due to
unstable economic conditions; unemployment can be reduced by indulging the
youth in entrepreneurial activities (Wang & Wong, 2004). An entrepreneur as a
business leader always looks for new ideas and executes them to promote the
economic growth and development in the country. But at the same time, it is also
challenging to develop enough capabilities among the students to assist and
support them toward entrepreneurship. In today’s dynamic environment, stu-
dents need to develop their abilities and skills in accordance with the changes in
the environment in order to deal with upcoming challenges. In this regard,
business schools and related institutes are the main sources of education in
terms of management, entrepreneurial, and leadership. However, these schools
and institutes are under heavy criticism because of considering more theoretical
and bookish knowledge instead of practical knowledge (Gabrielsson, Tell, &
Politis, 2010).
Some previous studies also highlighted this issue that management courses
and theories seldom provide students with more useful or concrete knowledge to
apply in the real-world scenario (Bailey & Ford, 1996; Chia & Holt, 2008;
Mintzberg & Gosling, 2002; Nale, Rauch, Wathen, & Barr, 2000; Pfeffer &
Fong, 2002). Traditional methods and techniques to teach business education
and skills are not supportive enough for young learners to cope with unexpected
market changes and to survive within a multifaceted environment. Therefore, it
is the requirement of time to transform the outdated teaching and educational
approaches to modern approaches (Schoonenboom, 2014). Students need to
gain more practical knowledge about how to implement entrepreneurial the-
ories, because conventional teaching methods such as lectures, case studies,
and discussions provide them theoretical insights of topics but lack in the
provision of real-world experiences and actual practices. Few other researchers
also asserted that individuals learn more from their practical knowledge and
experiences instead of sitting in classrooms and only listening to the lectures
(AbouRizk, 1993; Chickering & Gamson, 1987). The new generation is brought
up with video games, mobiles devices, tablets, and regular access to the Internet
in their everyday life. So, the education system should be adapted according to
the desired behavior and practices of the current generation.
In today’s dynamic business environment and fluctuating economic condi-
tions, reorientation and modification of educational programs are required,
Zulfiqar et al. 3

where learning process should focus on strengthening knowledge, skills, behav-

ior, and attitude in accordance with market needs and wants. It is important for
students with the entrepreneurial intention to have an in-depth understanding of
market dynamics, financial dealing skills, and tradeoff methods in order to be
successful. For this purpose, business simulation games can play an important
role as a true representation of market operations in the virtual and risk-free
environment. These games can help in the development of students’ professional
and decision-making skills, as they have to make decisions by looking at the
environment and given choices (Lainemaa & Nurmib, 2006).

Benefits of Simulation
Simulation-based learning is designed on the basis of constructivist learning
theory, as users learn or construct new knowledge from their own conceptual
knowledge (Dewey, 1938; Vygotsky, 1978). Simulation is a reliable and exciting
virtual system which provides students with a kind of rich and risk-free envir-
onment where they work together, brainstorm with each other, and make deci-
sions based on certain situations. Simulation games have some set of rules and
characters which students need to follow and thus provide them with an essence
of working in reality-based scenario (Leemkuil, Jong, & Ootes, 2000). These
games have different scales depending on the easy way of learning, smart learn-
ing, and learn in a real scenario with zero risks of losing. Simulation learning is
based on theories and applications that need to be implemented by students to
enhance their learning performance by engaging themselves in a real situation.
Mawhirter and Garofalo (2016) stated that simulation is a creative and innova-
tive way to increase student’s interest in learning. Simulation learning not only
helps students in reducing stress but also helps them in knowledge retention
(Popil & Dillard-Thompson, 2015).
Gredler (2004) describes some important characteristics of simulation: (a)
students actively interact with real-life complex situations (Thavikulwat,
2004); (b) rules, regulations, and duties are defined; (c) implementation of dif-
ferent strategies within certain limitations; and (d) to deal with the subsequent
changes while performing the simulation system task. Hughes and Scholtz (2015)
stated that simulation games provide students an experimental way of learning
by offering them multiple opportunities to pursue. These games can be classified
in terms of gaming, training, discrete, continuous or combined events, work-
shops, and modeling (Lean, Moizer, Towler, & Abbey, 2006).

Business Simulation Games

Business simulation games are also known as economics simulation games
whose focus is on the management of economic processes in the form of a
business. These games are the sources of student learning in the kind of more
4 Journal of Educational Computing Research 0(0)

interesting, interacting, and joyful shared environment (Blakely, Skirton,

Cooper, Allum, & Nelmes, 2010) and also helps them in choosing the specific
field as their career (Blakely et al., 2010). Business simulation games are mostly
used in the disciplines of management, marketing, finance or accounting, eco-
nomics, product development, and entrepreneurship. These games assist the
students with some innovative and creative ways of enhancing their learning
skills about the real business scenarios in terms of virtual environment
(Mawhirter & Garofalo, 2016). Students’ technical and critical thinking skills
are boosted by bringing upon an association between their theoretical and prac-
tical knowledge via simulation games (Bell & Loon, 2015). The inclusion of
business simulation games into traditional teaching approaches can bring
about more productive, useful, and cheerful results in student learning. These
games allow the students to create and run different business, experience set-
backs and challenges, face hurdles, and then get rewards in a more vibrant
but risk-free environment. There are widely endorsed views within the previous
literature on the adoption of business simulation games to positively support
individual motivation (Fripp, 1997), experimental learning (Adobor &
Daneshfar, 2006), critical thinking (Doyle & Brown, 2000), time management
and collaborative skills (Doyle & Brown, 2000), and building meaningful atti-
tude and intentions toward entrepreneurship (King & Newman, 2009; Wawer,
Milosz, Muryjas, & Rzemieniak, 2010).
According to German Ministry of economic and technology, business simu-
lation games are highly admired by German universities particularly in the field
of entrepreneurship (Kriz & Auchter, 2016). According to Zhang (2015), entre-
preneurial activities are complex and complicated in nature; therefore, it is
important to acquire entrepreneurial competencies and knowledge
(Vanevenhoven & Liguori, 2013) which can be enhanced more through using
business simulation games. These games support the students to have inspired
and built positive intention toward the entrepreneurial path. Auchter and Kriz
(2014) longitudinally analyzed the results of EXIST prime cup from 2012 to
2014 (now known as EPC) to examine the long-term effects of business simula-
tion games. The results show that it has a significant effect on the competencies,
knowledge, and intention toward entrepreneurial activities of students in
Germany (Kriz & Auchter, 2007–2012). TOPSIM STARTUP (currently
known as TATA interactive system) developed with the collaboration of
University of Applied Sciences Regensburg and the Hans Linder Institute also
established entrepreneurial simulation games covering the important phases of
entrepreneurial venture, from collection and evaluation of information and its
transformation into successful venture in a dynamic and competitive business
environment (Stame, 2007). Business simulation games are being used in more
than 1,700 universities in the United States resulting in better knowledge attain-
ment, improved student learning (Rahn & Rehg, 2014), skill development, and
construction of entrepreneurial intention (Lainema & Lainema, 2007).
Zulfiqar et al. 5

Purpose
This article aims to examine the impact of using business simulation games by
students on their attitude and intention toward entrepreneurial activities
through incorporating Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Theory of
Planned Behavior (TPB). Based on these theories, five constructs (perceived
value of using business simulation games, perceived usefulness, perceived pleas-
ure, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control) are chosen with the aim
to develop deeper understandings of the entrepreneurial world and to practically
provide important implications for educational scholars and especially for new
business founders.
The core values of business simulation games are to develop constant under-
standings among the business students about innovative skills, motivational
abilities, and meaningful tasks. Therefore, such games can be highly useful at
the school level and higher education level to boost up students’ attitude and
learning toward entrepreneurship in a more convenient and pleasurable teaching
environment. Solomon and Fernald (1991) also suggested in their study that the
provision of theoretical and practical knowledge can be more beneficial to shape
positive entrepreneurial intentions among students.

Model Adoption TAM and TPB

TAM proposed by Davis (1989) as the most commonly used theory on the usage
and acceptance of new technology combined with TPB (Cheung & Vogel, 2012;
Jan & Contreras, 2011) are integrated into this study in order to evaluate the
impact of business simulation games on students’ attitude and intentions toward
entrepreneurial activities. In past, many research studies have applied TAM
to predict the user intention to adopt technology (Aldás-Manzano, Lassala-
Navarré, Ruiz-Mafé, & Sanz-Blas, 2009; Pando-Garcia, Periañez-Cañadillas,
& Charterina, 2015), thus providing evidence that TAM has significantly influ-
enced the technology adoption and its usage. Chen (2016), Sukkar and Hasan
(2005), and Benbasat and Bark (2007) studied the relevance of TAM to inves-
tigate about students’ intention toward technology adoption in developing coun-
tries and proposed modifications in the model in order to make it more
appropriate in this perspective. However, no studies have been found in the
previous literature to explore the impact of business simulation games through
this modified TAM to investigate students’ intention of entrepreneurial learning.
TAM is actually derived from the Theory of Reasoned Action (Ajzen &
Fishbein, 1980), which illustrates that the behavioral changes occur after adop-
tion of new technologies. TAM has basically two main constructs: perceived
usefulness and perceived ease of use, which helps to build the intention of the
users to adopt new technology. For this study, perceived pleasure is also used as
an important variable because of interesting and entertaining features of using
6 Journal of Educational Computing Research 0(0)

technology in terms of business simulation games. In some previous studies

conducted by Csikszentmihalyi (1975) and Moon and Kim (2001), researchers
also used the construct of perceived pleasure in the modified TAM. For this
study, the perceived value of business simulation is used as an antecedent of
perceived usefulness and perceived pleasure to investigate the impact of business
simulation games on students’ intention toward entrepreneurial activities.
Some previous studies have integrated theories of TAM and TPB to measure
user intention to adopt the technology, and the results showed the robust sup-
port for integrated models (Benbasat & Bark, 2007; Chen & Chao, 2011; Lee,
2009). However, TAM does not consider the influence of subjective norms and
perceived behavioral control while adopting new technology. Therefore, the
TPB is used in this regard to interpret human behavior and their intentions
while using different information and technology applications (Ajzen, 1991,
2002). TPB describes that a person’s behavior is directly affected by his or her
behavioral intentions and is directed by person’s attitude, subjective norms,
and perceived behavioral control (Greaves, Zibarras, & Stride, 2013; Wu &
Liao, 2013). Figure 1 shows the research framework for the study through
incorporating the modified TAM and TPB to measure users’ intentions
toward entrepreneurial activities.

Perceived Value
Perceived value is considered as the tradeoff between benefits and costs incurred
by users (Zeithaml, 1988). Woodruff (1997) also defined perceived value as
experience and information that positively influence the mind of individuals

Subjective
Perceived
Norms

Attitude towards Entrepreneurial

Perceived Value Entrepreneurship intention
of business
simulaon games

Perceived Perceived
behavioral
control

Figure 1. Research model based on TAM and TPB.

Zulfiqar et al. 7

without considering the amount of time and cost spent on it. Perceived value is
divided into four subvalues: functional value, emotional value, monetary value,
and social value. Functional value is derived from utilitarian benefits of the
product usefulness and quality (Coutelle-Brillet, Rivière, & Garets, 2014;
Petrick, 2004; Sanchez-Fernandez, Iniesta-Bonillo, & Holbrook, 2008). When
business students play simulation games, the functional value of games motiv-
ates students to adopt and use this technology in future to have a better under-
standing of the environment. Such games work as the bridge between the theory
and practice, which helps the student to enhance their technical and critical
thinking skills (Bell & Loon, 2015). Emotional values are feelings and thoughts
that are generated while using different products or services; therefore, these are
also close to the pleasure and learning satisfaction of students associated with
using business simulation games. Social values are considered when the individ-
ual feels that he or she is connected with others by using some specific product or
service. Monetary value is the time, effort, or money spent on using the product
and service in order to get some results which satisfied the individual. Monetary
value cannot be neglected because students spend their lot of time and efforts to
learn through business simulation games.
Hughes and Scholtz (2015) stated that business simulation games provide the
students with an experimental way of learning by providing an opportunity for
them to share the information, interact, and help each other in making decisions.
The effect of perceived value on attitude in adopting the technology varies with
the experience and learning of an individual (Taylor & Todd, 1995). Simulation
games support to enhance student motivation (Fripp, 1997), time management
skills (Doyle & Brown, 2000), and help to work in the real-world scenario but
risk-free (King & Newman, 2009). The concept of value can only be calculated
after experiencing the result of the products or services, that is, how many
individuals spend on it and what benefits he or she gets out of it
(Jayawardena, Bertranda, Léoa, & Philippe, 2015). Verhagena, Feldberga,
Hooffa, Meentsa, and Merikivi (2012) also observed in their study that perceived
value can positively influence perceived usefulness and perceived pleasure. They
examined that perceived usefulness and perceived pleasure have a direct effect on
the attitude of the individual, as these two paradigms are determined by system-
specific element, that is, perceived value (Verhagena et al., 2012).

Perceived pleasure. Perceived pleasure is ‘‘the degree to which the activity of using
technology is perceived to be enjoyed in its own right apart from any perform-
ance consequences that may be anticipated’’ (Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw,
1992). Perceived pleasure and behaviors toward job performed are positively
significant (Pe-Than, Goh, & Lee, 2014). Hsu and Lin (2008) and Heijden
(2003) concluded from their studies that while using the hedonic system, per-
ceived pleasure shows a positive significant relationship with behavioral inten-
tion. According to Davis et al. (1992), perceived pleasure boosts up the
8 Journal of Educational Computing Research 0(0)

performance of an individual. Venkatesh and Speier (2000) compared two meth-

ods of training—traditional training methods (lectures and theoretical know-
ledge) and simulation-based training methods (simulation games)—and found
that simulation games-based training enhances intrinsic motivation which
results in the positive behavioral intention of individuals in gaining knowledge
from this system repeatedly. Hung, Tsai, and Chou (2016) also stated that users
perceive less pleasure when they interact with a system having only utilitarian
benefits as compared with the system which has high hedonic characteristics as
well (Nysveen, Pedersen, & Thorbjørnsen, 2005; Xu, Lin, & Chan, 2012).
According to Sweeny and Soutar (2001), perceived pleasure can be measured
by three important concepts: business simulation games are interesting to use,
simulation games help to solve problems in a relaxed and easy environment, and
these games encourage and boost up moral to understand complex theoretical
concepts. So, perceived pleasure is the degree to which users feel interested,
relaxed, and indulged them in some kind of useful activity.

Perceived usefulness. Perceived usefulness is defined as ‘‘the degree to which a

person believes that using a particular system may enhance his or her job per-
formance’’ (Davis, 1989, p. 320). Perceived usefulness is considered as the main
construct of TAM, which predicts the use of technology and individuals’ behav-
ior toward its usage (Alrafi, 2007; Hart & Porter, 2004). In the context of busi-
ness simulation games, perceived usefulness is the degree to which user believes
that business simulation games can help them in learning and implementing
entrepreneurial activities in a real-world scenario. It was also discussed in previ-
ous studies that perceived usefulness encourages individuals to adopt simulation
games for better understanding and learning (Alrafi, 2007; Dulcica, Pavlicb,
& Silicc, 2012; Fagan, Kilmon, & Pandey, 2012; Liu & Huan, 2015). Few
other studies also found the positive impact of perceived usefulness of business
simulation games on user attitude toward entrepreneurial activities
(Bhattacherjee, 2001; Chea & Luo, 2008; Hong, Thong, & Tam, 2006; Thong,
Hong, & Tam, 2006).

Attitude Toward Entrepreneurship

According to Kinicki and Krietner (2009), psychological tendency of a person to
express his degree of favor and disfavor while evaluating the particular situation
is called attitude. Attitude is also defined as the emotional reaction of a person
after having experience with a certain situation (Harjer & Habib, 2013).
Zimmerman (2008) emphasized that strong attitude would affect the behavior
of a person. Expectations of individuals in a certain situation, either positive or
negative, are called attitude; this further translated into intention and conse-
quently, behavior toward the situation (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). Practical
knowledge is the key to change attitude of individuals, which leads to change
Zulfiqar et al. 9

in their behavior. According to Donckels (1991), entrepreneurial teaching creates

awareness of entrepreneurship but business simulation games encourage and
motivates students to build entrepreneurial attitude. Martin, McNally, and
Kay (2013) examined that entrepreneurial education shows a positive
correlation with the attitude of people toward entrepreneurial venture.
Moreover, the entrepreneurial intention is also considered as the by-product of
one’s perceived behavioral control, attitude, and subjective norms (Krueger,
Reilly, & Carsrud, 2000).

Subjective Norms
Subjective norm is the belief that people will support or approve particular
behavior for certain situation. Subjective norms are people’s view in which the
individual is motivated to behave in a certain manner in the given situation
(Elster, 1989). According to Ajzen and Driver (1991) and Primack, Switzer,
and Dalton (2007), social pressure has referents in the form of parents, friends,
teachers, media, peers, and classmates (Zhao et al., 2006). It has been examined
in previous studies that technological-based subjective norms are strongly asso-
ciated with intention of the individual to adopt the technology. In business
simulation games, opinion of peers is very important for a number of reasons:
(a) students interact with each other and share information and thoughts which
strongly affect their positive intention; (b) Visser and Krosnick (1998) also found
that young students learn more efficiently and effectively from the people who
are close and important to them.

Perceived Behavioral Control

Perceived behavioral control is the degree to which individuals perceive their
ability to perform a certain behavior (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980; Bandura, Reese,
& Adams, 1982). For this study, perceived control behavior is considered as the
degree to which an individual has confidence in his capabilities to indulge in
business simulation games and such behavior then ultimately leads their inten-
tion toward entrepreneurial activities. The two important factors that are facil-
itating conditions (Triandis, 1979) and self-efficacy (Bandura, 1992) may have an
effect on the performance of the behavior. Facilitating conditions are time,
money, and other available resources which are needed to engage behavior
whereas self-efficacy is individual confidence in his or her ability to perform a
certain behavior.Sølvberg (2003) examined that students’ behavior toward tech-
nology increase as they become more aware of the usage, values, and benefits
associated with it. Likewise, Solesvick (2012) also concluded in his study that
attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intention to pursue
entrepreneurial activities are positively significantly interrelated in this regard.
10 Journal of Educational Computing Research 0(0)

Therefore, this study is based on the notion that student’s intention toward
entrepreneurial activities can enhance the usage of business simulation games
and vice versa.

H1: There is a positive significant relationship between the perceived value of

business simulation games and attitude of students to become entrepreneurs.
H2: There is a positive significant relationship between the perceived value of
business simulation games and perceived usefulness of business simulation games.
H3: There is a positive significant relationship between the perceived value of
business simulation games and perceived pleasure from business simulation games.
H4: There is a positive significant relationship between the perceived value of
business simulation games and subjective norms.
H5: There is a positive significant relationship between the perceived value of
business simulation games and perceived behavioral control.
H6: There is a positive significant relationship between perceived usefulness of
business simulation games and attitude of students to become entrepreneurs.
H7: There is a positive significant relationship between perceived pleasure from
business simulation games and attitude of students to become entrepreneurs.
H8: There is a positive significant relationship between social norms and intention
toward entrepreneurial activities.
H9: There is a positive significant relationship between perceived behavioral
control and intention toward entrepreneurial activities.
H10: There is a positive significant relationship between entrepreneurial attitude
and intention toward entrepreneurial activities.

Research Methodology
This research measures the impact of business simulation games on students’
attitude and intention toward entrepreneurial activities using modified TAM
and TPB. Before the data were collected from the respondents, two rounds of
the pilot study were conducted to test the validity of the survey instrument
(questionnaire). In the first round, three PhD scholars were requested to
review the questionnaire design. In the second round, 15 questionnaires were
circulated among the target students to find out the issues regarding word phras-
ing, format, layout, structure, and concept. As a result, conducting pilot study
ensured the high content validity of the instrument (Bell, 2005; Fink, 2003).
After the completion of pilot testing, questionnaires were distributed among
the target students to measure the research objectives.
Data were collected from multinational undergraduate, graduate, and post-
graduate students from universities and technology centers of China and
Pakistan who have knowledge about business simulation games. Respondents
were classified according to age, gender, and education. The purpose of the
Zulfiqar et al. 11

Table 1. Demographics of Respondents.

Demographics Frequency Percentage

Gender
Male 220 61.11
Female 140 38.89
Educational level
Undergraduate 95 26.38
Graduate 101 28.05
Postgraduate 164 45.55

study was explained to the students before they were asked to fill the question-
naire. Self-administrated web-based survey technique was used to collect data
from the respondents. For the web-based survey, the contact information of the
respondents was obtained from colleagues who are already studying in different
universities. A URL survey link was sent to more than 285 potential respondents
through email and Smartphone application, that is, WeChat and WhatsApp, out
of which 155 questionnaires were found usable. Through the self-administrated
survey, 220 questionnaires were filled out of which 205 were useable. In total, 505
questionnaires were circulated among students out of which 360 questionnaires
were found accurately filled. The response rate was 71.28% which is acceptable
for further analysis (Hair, Anderson, Tatham, & Black, 1998). Demographic
characteristics of respondents are summarized in Table 1. All of the respondents
were from business schools who have the knowledge about business simulation
games or at least had used such games for once or more times.
Measurement items were adapted from previous research studies with little
modifications of words and sentences in accordance with the current study. The
measurement items for perceived pleasure and perceived value were adapted
from the study of Sweeny and Soutar (2001); perceived usefulness from Davis
(1989); attitude toward entrepreneurship, subjective norm, perceived behavioral
control, and intention toward entrepreneurial activities were adapted from
Solesvik, Westhead, Kolvereid, and Matlay (2012). The 7-point Likert scale
was used with 1 indicating strongly disagrees, 4 indicating neutral, and 7 indicat-
ing strongly agree to measure the responses.

Results
Step 1
Structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS 24 was used to analyze and
measure the structural model. In this study, first exploratory factor analysis was
12 Journal of Educational Computing Research 0(0)

used to deal with dimension reduction of items. To test the validity of data,
liability test was run. At the same time, researchers used a powerful instrument
that uses the confirmatory factor analysis, regression, and structural model sim-
ultaneously to estimate measurement model (Anderson & Gerbing, 1988).
Threshold level for Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability, and average vari-
ance extracted (AVE) is 0.7, 0.7, and 0.5, respectively, as per the standard
criteria in existing literature (Flynn, Sakakibara, Schroeder, Bates, & Flynn,
1990; Fornell & Larcker, 1981; Hair et al., 1998; Nunally & Bernstein, 1978).
As presented in Table 2, composite reliability and Cronbach’s alpha values are
greater than .7 and AVE values for all constructs are greater than .5, exposing
good convergent validity. According to Fornell and Larcker (1981), another way
to determine discriminate validity is to compare the relationship between cor-
relation among the constructs and the square root of AVE of all constructs.
If AVE square root is higher than the correlation among constructs, this indi-
cates good discriminate validity (Table 3).

Step 2
SEM as a cross-discipline research tool has now become one of the important
techniques used by researchers to validate their research results (Hooper,
Coughlan, & Mullen, 2008). To evaluate the model fitness, researchers need to
examine fitness indices such as chi-square, goodness of fit index (GFI), adjusted
goodness of fit index (AGFI), tucker-lewis index (TLI), comparative fit index
(CFI), and root mean square root error of approximation (RMSEA). According
to the previous studies, for model goodness, the accepted value of chi-square
value should not be not less than 2.0 and not higher than 5.0 depending upon the
sample size (Barrettx, 2007; Hu & Bentler, 1999; Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007).
The accepted value for RMSEA should be less than 0.10 (Arbuckle, 2003), and
according to Stegier (2007), upper limit is 0.07 and it should be less than 0.08
(McQuitty, 2004). According to Miles and Shevlin (2007) and Arbuckle (2003),
GFI and AGFI indices values can be greater than 0.90 and 0.80, respectively.
Other researchers recommended that for NFI, IFI, and CFI indices, the values
can be greater than 0.85 (Arbuckle, 2003; Hu & Bentler, 1999). For this study,
SEM technique is used along with AMOS 24 and confirmatory factor analysis to
measure the model goodness-of-fit using various indices. As per the aforemen-
tioned recommendations, indices calculated for this study show the appropriate
goodness-of-fit for measurement and a structural model where all values of chi-
square, GFI, AGFI, CFI, TLI, NFI, IFI, and RMSEA are within acceptable
range as shown in Tables 4 and 5.
Next step is to test the hypotheses relationship. According to results, calcu-
lated perceived value is positively associated with an attitude of an individual
toward entrepreneurship ( ¼ .143, p < .001), and perceived value is positively
associated with perceived usefulness and perceived pleasure ( ¼ .311, p < .001
Zulfiqar et al. 13

Table 2. Result of Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Composite Reliability (CR), and Average
Variance Extracted (AVE).

Constructs Factor loading Cronbach’s alpha CR AVE

Perceived usefulness .885 .886 .722

PU1 .854
PU2 .803
PU3 .818
Perceived pleasure .789 0.796 .567
PP1 .848
PP2 .763
PP3 .785
Perceived value .932 0.933 .777
PV1 .898
PV2 .860
PV3 .865
PV4 .885
Perceived behavioral control .794 0.795 .564
PBC1 .822
PBC2 .769
PBC3 .728
Subjective norm .823 .825 .611
SN1 .803
SN2 .764
SN3 .800
Attitude .778 .784 .553
A1 .769
A2 .826
A3 .728
Intention .804 .805 0.512
I1 .758
I2 .824
I3 .775
I4 .803

and  ¼ .175, p < .001, respectively). Perceived value is positively related to PBC
and subjective norm ( ¼ .416, p < .001 and  ¼ .428, p < .001, respectively).
PBC is positively associated with the entrepreneurial intention ( ¼ .126,
p < .05). Attitude is a positive relationship with the entrepreneurial intention
14 Journal of Educational Computing Research 0(0)

Table 3. Descriptive Statistics, Correlation Matrix, Reliability, and Square Root of AVE.

Sr. Construct M (SD) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1 Perceived pleasure 4.30 (1.38) 0.753

2 Perceived value 4.91 (1.40) 0.202 0.881
3 Perceived usefulness 4.79 (1.43) 0.483 0.338 0.850
4 Subjective norms 4.42 (1.34) 0.425 0.487 0.482 0.782
5 Intention 4.10 (1.48) 0.164 0.106 0.305 0.023 0.770
6 Perceived behavioral 4.36 (1.12) 0.402 0.483 0.456 0.459 0.161 0.751
control
7 Attitude 4.59 (1.24) 0.379 0.283 0.514 0.488 0.154 0.547 0.744
Boldface in diagonal line shows square root of AVE of each construct.
Correlation is significant at .01 levels.

Table 4. Goodness of Fit statistics for Measurement Model.

Model X2 df X 2 /df GFI AGFI RMSEA CFI IFI NFI

Base 413.406 209 1.978 .911 .882 .052 .952 .953 .908

Table 5. Goodness of Fit Statistics for Structural Model.

Model X2 df X 2 /df GFI AGFI RMSEA CFI IFI NFI

Base 718.648 307 2.341 .870 .839 .061 .908 .909 .852

( ¼ .092, p > .01), and the subjective norm has a negative relationship with the
entrepreneurial intention ( ¼ .066, p > .01). The result shows that H1, H2, H3,
H4, H5, H6, H7, and H9 are supported but H8 and H10 are not supported.
Figure 2 shows the path analysis.

Discussion
The primary theme of this study was to examine the impact of using business
simulation games by students on their attitude and intention toward entrepre-
neurial activities. The entrepreneurial spirit is an important driving force for
further revolution and transformation of the economic activities. Therefore,
boosting up this entrepreneurial spirit is the key to structural reforms which
can motivate the country market at a deeper level to achieve healthy and
Zulfiqar et al. 15

Perceived
Subjective
usefulnes
.428*** Norms
-.066
.311***
.306**

Attitude Entrepreneurial
towards intention
Perceived Value
of business
Entrepreneurshi .092
.134*

.175*** 174*** .126*

Perceived .416*** Perceived

behavioral
Pleasur
control

Figure 2. Result of research model test.

sustainable development. Entrepreneurial spirit can be created by providing

favorable education and training to the students which enhances their intention
toward entrepreneurship. Researchers, policymakers, and educators should
focus on reforming education programs and should provide students with prac-
tical education and training in order to enhance their capabilities and skills to
start their own new ventures. The research findings show that perceived value
has a positive significant impact on perceived pleasure, perceived usefulness of
business simulation games, and attitude toward entrepreneurial activities.
Similarly, perceived usefulness and perceived pleasure also showed a positive
significant impact on students’ attitude toward entrepreneurial activities. The
perceived value is found to be positively associated with perceived behavioral
control and subjective norms. Perceived behavioral control and intention to
become an entrepreneur are positively associated with each other. Attitude
and intention to become an entrepreneur are positively associated with each
other but it has nonsignificant value, and subjective norms were found to be
negatively related to the intention to become an entrepreneur.
This study is the first to investigate the impact of using business simulation
games on entrepreneurial intention using modified TAM and TPB. The study
also provides some important contributions to the literature on entrepreneurship
by exploring the relationship between the perceived value of business simulation
games and intention of students to become entrepreneurs. Business simulation
games are a specialized form of experiential learning that provides more useful
and joyful modes of learning about theories, business models, and critical
works. To encourage the entrepreneurial spirit among the students, educational
16 Journal of Educational Computing Research 0(0)

institutes can adopt the techniques through which students can develop
entrepreneurial skills by retaining themselves in the real-world scenario.
Business simulation games can assist the students to learn more practically by
assuming themselves in the real-world scenario, trying out different strategies,
and going through specific situations.
Values associated with business simulation games are social, functional, fiscal,
and emotional; these values influence social norms, perceived behavioral control,
and individual attitude toward entrepreneurial intention (Hughes & Scholtz,
2015; Woodruff, 1997). Simulation games provide students with the opportunity
to interact with each other, brainstorm the ideas presented, and experience those
ideas in real time but in a risk-free environment. Students will be able to think
out of the box in a creative and innovative way and can build intention toward
entrepreneurial venture. The findings indicate that business simulation games
are more popular among students who have the exposure to modern virtual
videos games; these virtual games work as a platform which enhances their
learning performance. Unlike the real-world consequences, business simulation
games help the students to start their own business, make decisions, and pivot
their directions in a vibrant and risk-free learning environment. These games not
only refine the students but also help them in dealing with the situations that
may occur in their real life.
Moreover, the results of the study indicate that business simulation games can
play an important role in developing favorable intentions among students
toward entrepreneurship. According to Bandura (1992), self-confidence on the
individual abilities can be gained through experiences, social interactions, and
learning by doing. Simulation games provide opportunities to develop feasibility
reports, business plans, and strategies to run a real business in a rapidly chan-
ging environment; therefore, these games play an important role in developing
PBC among students.
As Ulmanis (2015) also states, using case-study approaches to teach and guest
lecturers works as cheerleaders, as they inspire the students to be entrepreneurs
but they did not help in doing fact-based analysis and may not help for real
business plans. Therefore, business simulation games as a progressive and
innovative tool help the students in connecting theory with the practical impli-
cations and thus help them in choosing entrepreneurship as their career. The
entrepreneurial venture is a messy and complex world; there is always a risk of
failure and any wrong decision or response may result in the death of the ven-
ture. But such practical games offer the student with multiple opportunities to
learn from the experiences, the obstacles, and the failures which they face while
making decisions in multiple situations in the kind of virtual world. These games
help its participants in assessing risk, anticipate failures, and make contingency
plans. It is same as the mountain climbers who have to face extreme risks while
climbing but require doing a risk assessment. In the case of unexpected weather
changes, they have contingency plans according to different situations.
Zulfiqar et al. 17

Subjective norm is an important determinant of intention which approves

and disapproves the behavior of an individual toward entrepreneurial activ-
ities (Krueger et al., 2000). The results show that student’s intentions toward
entrepreneurial activities have a negative relation with the support of the
society in terms of student referents. Data for this study were collected
from students belonging to developing nations. Because, in developing
nations, opportunities to become entrepreneurs are relatively low. Uncertain
economic and political system results in the destruction of entrepreneurship
and most developing countries are facing such problems (Ács, Szerb, Autio,
& Lloyd, 2017). In this regard, entrepreneurs can not only contribute to the
development of economy but may also help for the development of societies.
They can help to improve the standard of people living in a country by
providing innovations and then supporting into gross domestic product
(Kirkley, 2016). According to Yordanova and Tarrazon (2010), in developing
countries, uncertainty avoidance is high which means people are reluctant to
take the risks. Subjective norms are the social pressure which forms people
intend to take an action toward the certain role. According to Alsos, Isaksen,
and Softing (2006), subjective norms affect entrepreneurial intention, as these
norms are the determinants of intention (Leeuw, Valois, Ajzen, & Schmidt,
2015). This research shows that students are willing to be entrepreneurs, but
there are social pressures that create barriers to their intentions to become
entrepreneurs.

Conclusion and Implications

The study concludes that simulation-based studies are a useful, easy, and amus-
ing way of learning, which help the students to think critically. There is a need to
shift from traditional methods of instructions (e.g., classroom lectures) to lear-
ner-based methods that help students to learn more while engaging themselves in
the practical implication of theories. The simulation-based studies are con-
sidered as the supplement tool in classroom learning that enhances collaboration
among students and they get involve and help each other in the overall learning
process (Otting, Zwaal, & Gijselaers, 2009). It is important for educators to use
simulation-based learning methods to gain students’ attention and interest so
that they can develop a better understanding of theory in a more convenient and
pleasant environment. According to Pratt and Hahn (2016), the addition of
entertaining or exciting elements into educational approaches can maximize
the learning process. Educators should take feedback from students regarding
its usefulness, easiness, and learn in order to make modifications accordingly.
The results show that student’s entrepreneurial intention is negatively associated
with subjective norm but at the same time, self-efficacy (PBC) is positively
associated with intentions, which shows that students have the potential to
start a new venture.
18 Journal of Educational Computing Research 0(0)

The high unemployment rate in the world can be reduced by introducing

entrepreneurial courses, related training, and workshops to young graduates;
this could help them in improving their entrepreneurial skills (Wang & Wong,
2004). There are lots of challenges in the implementation of simulation-based
learning. In this regard, there is a need to train educators and instructors to learn
new technologies and methods of teaching so that they can enhance student’s
creativity and learning performance. People are always reluctant to adopt new
ways of doing things so that there is a need to create awareness of simulation
system adoption and its benefit for both students and instructors. Future
research should examine what governmental policies can be implemented in
designing curriculum at high school level that can motivate the referents of
subjective norms to encourage their relatives to become entrepreneurs. All stake-
holder of the country should join hands together to build an entrepreneurial
ecosystem in the country.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication
of this article.

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Zulfiqar et al. 25

Author Biographies
Salman Zulfiqar is currently a PhD scholar at the University of Science and
Technology of China, School of Public Affairs. His research interests include
entrepreneurial intention and learning, online social capital and trust, and social
networking policy.

Binesh Sarwar is currently a PhD scholar at the University of Science and

Technology of China, School of Public Affairs. Her research interests include
social media and public administration, online student engagement and collab-
orative learning, social capital, and entrepreneurial learning.

Saira Aziz is currently a PhD scholar at the University of Science and

Technology of China, School of Management. Her research interests include
retailing and consumer behavior issues in retailing management.

Khurram Ejaz Chandia is currently a PhD scholar at the University of Science

and Technology of China, School of Public Affairs. His research interests
include Economic Policy and Management.

Muhammad Kaleem Khan is a PhD Scholar at Beijing University of Posts and

Telecommunications, Beijing China. His areas of interest include finance, crowd
funding, entrepreneurial finance, and corporate governance.