Negative emotions as driver of academic entrepreneurship: Scientists’ fear of disadvantages

In the academic entrepreneurship context, we consider the fear of disadvantages (FoD) to be triggered by scientists' loss aversion and anticipated regret, as they may dread things like missing out on financial or reputational benefits of successful research commercialization if they do not demonstrate entrepreneurial behaviour. Drawing on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), we conducted a longitudinal online survey that targeted scientists. The results confirmed that FoD is important for entrepreneurial decision-making and behaviour. Scientists' were found to be more likely to engage in commercial activities if they anticipate the potential for a negative outcome in case of inactivity. The results also showed that FoD moderated the TPB-intention link. Scientists with high FoD based their entrepreneurial intentions much more on desirability in terms of positive attitudes. Our results corroborated that fear (i.e., FoD) may be a meaningful predictor of entrepreneurial decisions and behaviour, especially if individuals display higher levels of introversion and perceived commercial potential.