Entrepreneurial Alertness in Different Generations

Under COVID 19 environment it is important to analyse if there are differences between generations (X, Y, Z) within the context of entrepreneurial alertness (EA), and its influence in the creation of a new business. This study used a quantitative methodology trough a survey by questionnaire based on a sample of 978 people organized by age groups. We used, an exploratory factor analysis with principal components and varimax rotation, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) by Tamhane Test and a linear regression model. An exploratory factor analysis is presented, to assess the dimensions of the entrepreneurial alertness from which two factors were obtained: the competence of processing information and establish connections to assure a profitable business (F1) and the capability of searching information and acknowledging opportunities (F2). Then, were applied one-way ANOVA and a linear regression model to compare different generations in relation with EA, and its relation to create a new business. The results demonstrate that generation Z has less propensity than generation Y in respect to F2. Besides F1 has the same importance for all generations. We found either, that the X generation has lower propension to start a new business. Testing the effects of different dimensions of EA, through a linear regression, with the propensity to develop a new business, we confirm that only F1 is significative while F2 is partial rejected. This research contributes to the field by demonstrating how different generations assign distinct relevance to entrepreneurial alertness dimensions and its importance to promote a new activity.