Resumo

At the height of the pandemic caused by Covid-19, that had a magnitude never seen before, consumers experienced significant changes in their purchasing behaviors (Sharma et al., 2022). Covid-19, together with the increase in consumers’ environmental awareness, has brought to the entrepreneurship business field opportunities aiming at improving the environment. Specifically, the ecopreneurship has emerged as a new front for entrepreneurship, which unites environmentalism with the entrepreneurial spirit, with the potential to advance towards an ecological society (Bawakyillenuo & Agbelie, 2021).

Amid such contextualization, we intend to answer the following research question: What is the influence of moral obligation and environmental engagement on empathy, self-efficacy, and the creation of ecological value in eco-enterprises? More specifically, the present study aims to explore the ecopreneurial behavior in the context of Covid-19 by analyzing the influence of moral obligation and environmental engagement – which are behavioral antecedents driven by this disruptive context – on the perception of empathy, ecopreneurial self-efficacy, and creation of ecological value.

The theoretical framework included an overview about the ecopreneurship and the ecopreneurs. Ecopreneurship is an emerging field of interest in an era of struggle to achieve economic growth, conscious natural resources use and pollution control. Ecopreneurs play a crucial role in conducting business activities without adversely affecting people and the environment (Rodríguez-García et al., 2019). Additionally, two ecopreneurship characteristics were approached: moral obligation and environmental engagement and its relationship with empathy, self-efficacy and environmental value creation.

The study is characterized by an exploratory purpose and applied nature. Based on a quantitative approach, primary data collection was conducted in the field through a questionnaire, in which the investigation target was ecopreneurs participating in the Atlantic Forest Connection Project. A conceptual model was adapted from Hockerts (2017) to achieve the research objective. Data analysis and treatment were supported by multivariate data analysis, more specifically through the use of Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling.

Our study confirmed that empathy and self-efficacy perception is influenced by higher moral obligation levels. Results also indicate that more environmentally engaged ecopreneurs have higher self-efficacy and ecological value creation levels. On the other hand, the premise that a feeling of morality could positively impact the ecological value creation arising from the business was contradicted. Similarly, the hypothesis that environmental engagement positively influences ecopreneurial empathy has not been confirmed. Results are in line at the same time that contradict previous studies.

Our research question was answered and the research findings validation is relevant, suggesting that contributions are feasible and focus on three main points: First, the study validates a robust theoretical model with high explanatory power for the dependent variables, which helps in understanding ecopreneurial behavior. Second, it demonstrates the complexity of the relationships between variables that measure ecopreneurial behavior and the need to explore these key characteristics determinants. Third, it offers practical insights for policymakers and educators involved with ecopreneurship.

Bawakyillenuo, S. & Agbelie, I. (2021). Environmental consciousness of entrepreneurs in ghana: How do entrepreneur types, demographic characteristics and product competitiveness count? Sustainability. Hockerts, K. (2017). Determinants of social entrepreneurial intentions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. Rodríguez-García, M. et al. (2019). An overview of ecopreneurship, eco-innovation, and the ecological sector. Sustainability. Sharma, G. et al. (2022). Entrepreneurial challenges of COVID-19: Re-thinking entrepreneurship after the crisis. Journal of Small Business Management.