Knowledge of entrepreneurial support and entrepreneurial intention in the rural provinces of South Africa

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether knowledge about government entrepreneurial support and entrepreneurial support institutions and their services have an influence on entrepreneurial intention and its antecedents. The study was carried out by means of a cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire. The sample consisted of 355 final-year commerce students from two universities located in two of South Africa's most rural provinces, namely the Eastern Cape and Limpopo. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used to analyse the data. The results indicate that the respondents could hardly access information about entrepreneurial support offered by the government and support services available, and had a very low level of knowledge about these support services. The findings revealed some significant relationships between the knowledge of entrepreneurial support and entrepreneurial intention, perceived behavioural control, subjective norms and entrepreneurial self-efficacy.