Understanding and motivating students’ feedback seeking behavior is essential for the success of entrepreneurship programs. Therefore, in this study, we investigated how contextual and individual antecedents influence students’ feedback seeking behavior and entrepreneurship competence as the outcome. Data were collected from 289 Dutch students enrolled in an entrepreneurship program that employed the lean startup method and customer development principles. Students completed a questionnaire before and after the educational program. Results of structural equation modelling showed that students who perceived the credibility of potential customers sought feedback from them more frequently, subsequently increasing students’ entrepreneurship competence. However, the relationship between perceived customer availability and feedback seeking behavior was not significant. Regarding the individual antecedent, results showed that students with high entrepreneurial self-efficacy sought feedback from potential customers more frequently. The findings contribute to a better understanding of student feedback seeking and effective lean startup-based entrepreneurship programs.
AjjawiRMolloyEBearmaM, et al. (2017) Contextual influences on feedback practices: an ecological perspectiveScaling up Assessment for Learning in Higher Education. Singapore: Springer, 129–143.
2.
AnseelFBeattyASShenW, et al. (2015) How are we doing after 30 years? A meta-analytic review of the antecedents and outcomes of feedback-seeking behavior. Journal of Management41(1): 318–348.
3.
AshfordSJ (1986) Feedback-seeking in individual adaptation: a resource perspective. Academy of Management Journal29(3): 465–487.
4.
AshfordSJCummingsLL (1983) Feedback as an individual resource: personal strategies of creating information. Organizational Behavior & Human Performance32(3): 370–398.
5.
AshfordSJBlattRVandeWalleD (2003) Reflections on the looking glass: a review of research on feedback-seeking behavior in organizations. Journal of Management29(6): 773–799.
6.
AshfordSJDe StobbeleirKNujellaM (2016) To seek or not to seek: is that the only question? Recent developments in feedback-seeking literature. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior3(1): 213–239.
7.
BacigalupoMKampylisPPunieY, et al. (2016) Entrecomp: The Entrepreneurship Competence Framework. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European UnionJRC Science Policy Report.
8.
BacigalupoMGarcíaLWMansooriY, et al. (2020) Entrecomp Playbook. Entrepreneurial Learning Beyond the Classroom. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
9.
BanduraA (1986) Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
10.
BanduraA (1997) Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York, NY: Freeman.
11.
BellRBellH (2020) Applying educational theory to develop a framework to support the delivery of experiential entrepreneurship education. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development27(6): 987–1004.
12.
BlankS (2013) Why the lean start-up changes everything. Harvard Business Review91(5): 63–72.
13.
BlankSDorfB (2012) The Startup Owner’s Manual: The step-by-step Guide for Building a Great Company. Pescadero, CA: K&S Ranch Press.
14.
BrislinRW (1970) Back-translation for cross-cultural research. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology1(3): 185–216.
15.
CallisterRRKramerMWTurbanDB (1999) Feedback seeking following career transitions. Academy of Management Journal42(4): 429–438.
16.
CarlessDBoudD (2018) The development of student feedback literacy: enabling uptake of feedback. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education43(8): 1315–1325.
17.
ChellE (2013) Review of skill and the entrepreneurial process. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research19(1): 6–31.
18.
CrommelinckMAnseelF (2013) Understanding and encouraging feedback-seeking behaviour: a literature review. Medical Education47(3): 232–241.
19.
DaiCMBertramKChahineS (2021) Feedback credibility in healthcare education: a systematic review and synthesis. Medical Science Educator31(2): 923–933. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-020-01167-w
20.
De StobbeleirKEAshfordSJBuyensD (2011) Self-regulation of creativity at work: the role of feedback-seeking behavior in creative performance. Academy of Management Journal54(4): 811–831.
21.
FeliTGambardellaASternS, et al. (2019) Lean startup and the business model: experimentation revisited. Forthcoming in Long Range Planning53(4): ■■■.
22.
GiffinK (1967) The contribution of studies of source credibility to a theory of interpersonal trust in the communication process. Psychological Bulletin68: 104–120.
23.
GiffordE (2021) Theory-driven methods for practical entrepreneurship: hypothesis testing in entrepreneurship education. Industry and Higher Education35(4): 497–504.
24.
GinoFBrooksAWSchweitzerME (2012) Anxiety, advice, and the ability to discern: feeling anxious motivates individuals to seek and use advice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology102: 497–512.
25.
GustomoAHerlianaSDhewantoW, et al. (2017) Building a conceptual framework of entrepreneurial competencies: the ontological, epistemological, and methodological view. International Journal of Applied Business and Economic Research15(10): 191–201.
26.
HendersonMRyanTPhillipsM (2019) The challenges of feedback in higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education44(8): 1237–1252.
27.
JoughinGBoudDDawsonP, et al. (2021) What can higher education learn from feedback seeking behaviour in organisations? Implications for feedback literacy. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education46(1): 80–91.
28.
LeenknechtMHompusPvan der SchaafM (2019) Feedback seeking behaviour in higher education: the association with students’ goal orientation and deep learning approach. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education44(7): 1069–1078.
29.
LittleTDCardNABovairdJA, et al. (2007) Structural equation modeling of mediation and moderation with contextual factors. Modeling Contextual Effects in Longitudinal Studies1: 207–230.
30.
LiuMGorgievskiMJZwagaJ, et al. (2023) How entrepreneurship program characteristics foster students’ study engagement and entrepreneurial career intentions: a longitudinal study. Learning and Individual Differences101: 102249.
31.
MacDonaldHASulskyLMSpenceJR, et al. (2013) Cultural differences in the motivation to seek performance feedback: a comparative policy-capturing study. Human Performance26(3): 211–235.
32.
ManimalaMJThomasP (2017) Entrepreneurship Education: Innovations and Best Practices. Entrepreneurship Education. Singapore: Springer.
33.
MansooriYKarlssonTLundqvistM (2019) The influence of the lean startup methodology on entrepreneur-coach relationships in the context of a startup accelerator. Technovation84: 37–47.
34.
MarshHWHauKTWenZ (2004) In search of golden rules: comment on hypothesis-testing approaches to setting cutoff values for fit indexes and dangers in overgeneralizing Hu and Bentler’s (1999) findings. Structural Equation Modeling11(3): 320–341.
35.
Martínez-GregorioSBadenes-RiberaLOliverA (2021) Effect of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurship intention and related outcomes in educational contexts: a meta-analysis. International Journal of Management in Education19(3): 100545.
36.
MorianoJAGorgievskiMLagunaM, et al. (2012) A cross-cultural approach to understanding entrepreneurial intention. Journal of Career Development39(2): 162–185.
37.
R Core Team (2015) R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing.
38.
RiesE (2011) The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses. New York: Crown Publishing.
39.
San-MartínPPérezAFernández-LaviadaA, et al. (2022) The effect of role model teachers on students’ entrepreneurial competencies and intentions. Education + Training64(7): 962–980.
40.
ShepherdDAGruberM (2021) The lean startup framework: closing the academic–practitioner divide. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice45(5): 967–998.
41.
SherfENMorrisonEW (2020) I do not need feedback! or do I? self-Efficacy, perspective taking, and feedback seeking. Journal of Applied Psychology105(2): 146–165.
42.
ShroutPEBolgerN (2002) Mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies: new procedures and recommendations. Psychological Methods7(4): 422–445. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.7.4.422
43.
SilvaDSGhezziAde AguiarRB, et al. (2020) Lean startup, agile methodologies and customer development for business model innovation: a systematic review and research agenda. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research26(4): 1355–2554.
44.
SilveyraGHerreroÁPérezA (2021) Model of teachable entrepreneurship competencies (M-TEC): scale development. International Journal of Management in Education19(1): 100392.
45.
SteelmanLALevyPESnellAF (2004) The feedback environment scale: construct definition, measurement, and validation. Educational and Psychological Measurement64(1): 165–184.
46.
SungSYChoiJN (2021) Do you value or worry about feedback? Tradeoffs between cost and value perceptions and dual feedback-seeking strategies toward creativity. Journal of Organizational Behavior42: 950–963.
47.
XuJWangY (2024) Do I need feedback or avoid it in L2 writing? Impacts of self-efficacy and shyness on feedback-seeking behavior. Assessing Writing59: 100805. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2023.100805
48.
YorkJLDanesJE (2014) Customer development, innovation, and decision-making biases in the lean startup. Journal of Small Business Strategy24(2): 21–40.
49.
ZhaoHSeibertSEHillsGE (2005) The mediating role of self-efficacy in the development of entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of Applied Psychology90(6): 1265–1272.
