IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v201y2025ics0148296325005740.html

Facing grand challenges: implications for entrepreneur fearful emotional response on venture goal progress

Author

Listed:
  • Yang, Fu
  • Lu, Mengqian
  • Zhou, Zihan

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is inherently uncertain. When grand challenges come unexpectedly, this uncertainty creates significant challenges for entrepreneurs and their ventures. Taking the global pandemic as an illustrative example, the current study explores the effects of crisis events on entrepreneurs and their responses to addressing grand challenges. Drawing upon the cognitive appraisal theory of emotion, we examine the relationship between perceived crisis event strength and venture goal progress by exploring the mediating role of entrepreneurial fear of failure at a daily-level. Furthermore, we believe that developing digital platform capabilities mitigates the negative effects of such a crisis event. Using a time-lagged experience sampling methodology to capture day-to-day dynamics, we tested our hypotheses with 656 matched observations from 72 entrepreneurs over 10 consecutive working days. Overall, this study offers insights applicable to a wide range of crisis events, highlighting how entrepreneurs navigate challenges, thrive amid uncertainty, and mitigate the harmful impacts on entrepreneurship.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang, Fu & Lu, Mengqian & Zhou, Zihan, 2025. "Facing grand challenges: implications for entrepreneur fearful emotional response on venture goal progress," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:201:y:2025:i:c:s0148296325005740
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115751
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296325005740
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115751?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mikalef, Patrick & Pateli, Adamantia, 2017. "Information technology-enabled dynamic capabilities and their indirect effect on competitive performance: Findings from PLS-SEM and fsQCA," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 1-16.
    2. Cacciotti, Gabriella & Hayton, James C. & Mitchell, J. Robert & Giazitzoglu, Andres, 2016. "A reconceptualization of fear of failure in entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 302-325.
    3. Ming-Lang Tseng & Tat-Dat Bui & Ming K. Lim & Stephen Lewi, 2021. "A Cause and Effect Model for Digital Sustainable Supply Chain Competitiveness under Uncertainties: Enhancing Digital Platform," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-19, September.
    4. Uy, Marilyn A. & Sun, Shuhua & Foo, Maw-Der, 2017. "Affect spin, entrepreneurs' well-being, and venture goal progress: The moderating role of goal orientation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 443-460.
    5. Andreas Rauch & Willem Hulsink, 2023. "Just one Damned Thing After Another: Towards an Event-based Perspective of Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(3), pages 662-681, May.
    6. Ilan Alon & Matthew Farrell & Shaomin Li, 2020. "Regime Type and COVID-19 Response," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 9(3), pages 152-160, September.
    7. Maksim Belitski & Christina Guenther & Alexander S. Kritikos & Roy Thurik, 2022. "Economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on entrepreneurship and small businesses," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 593-609, February.
    8. Kuckertz, Andreas & Brändle, Leif & Gaudig, Anja & Hinderer, Sebastian & Morales Reyes, Carlos Arturo & Prochotta, Alicia & Steinbrink, Kathrin M. & Berger, Elisabeth S.C., 2020. "Startups in times of crisis – A rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 13(C).
    9. Brahim Herbane, 2019. "Rethinking organizational resilience and strategic renewal in SMEs," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5-6), pages 476-495, May.
    10. Paul Bishop, 2019. "Knowledge diversity and entrepreneurship following an economic crisis: an empirical study of regional resilience in Great Britain," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5-6), pages 496-515, May.
    11. Cacciotti, Gabriella & Hayton, James C. & Mitchell, J. Robert & Allen, David G., 2020. "Entrepreneurial fear of failure: Scale development and validation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(5).
    12. Dietmar Grichnik & Alexander Smeja & Isabell Welpe, 2010. "The Importance of Being Emotional: How do Emotions Affect Entrepreneurial Opportunity Evaluation and Exploitation?," Post-Print hal-00856603, HAL.
    13. Helfat, Constance E. & Raubitschek, Ruth S., 2018. "Dynamic and integrative capabilities for profiting from innovation in digital platform-based ecosystems," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(8), pages 1391-1399.
    14. Cenamor, Javier & Parida, Vinit & Wincent, Joakim, 2019. "How entrepreneurial SMEs compete through digital platforms: The roles of digital platform capability, network capability and ambidexterity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 196-206.
    15. Liao, Zhongju & Chen, Jie & Chen, Xueli & Song, Malin, 2024. "Digital platform capability, environmental innovation quality, and firms’ competitive advantage: The moderating role of environmental uncertainty," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    16. Uy, Marilyn A. & Foo, Maw-Der & Ilies, Remus, 2015. "Perceived progress variability and entrepreneurial effort intensity: The moderating role of venture goal commitment," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 375-389.
    17. Costa, Eric & Soares, António Lucas & de Sousa, Jorge Pinho, 2020. "Industrial business associations improving the internationalisation of SMEs with digital platforms: A design science research approach," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    18. Kautsar Ramli & Ben Spigel & Nick Williams & Suzanne Mawson & Sarah Jack, 2023. "Managing through a crisis: emotional leadership strategies of high-growth entrepreneurs during the COVID-19 pandemic," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1-2), pages 24-48, January.
    19. Kollmann, Tobias & Stöckmann, Christoph & Kensbock, Julia M., 2017. "Fear of failure as a mediator of the relationship between obstacles and nascent entrepreneurial activity—An experimental approach," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 280-301.
    20. Seetharaman, Priya, 2020. "Business models shifts: Impact of Covid-19," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    21. De’, Rahul & Pandey, Neena & Pal, Abhipsa, 2020. "Impact of digital surge during Covid-19 pandemic: A viewpoint on research and practice," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    22. A. J. Williamson & A. Drencheva & M. T. Wolfe, 2024. "When do negative emotions arise in entrepreneurship? A contextualized review of negative affective antecedents," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 62(1), pages 209-253, January.
    23. Patrick Klaiber & Jin H Wen & Anita DeLongis & Nancy L Sin & Derek M Isaacowitz, 2021. "The Ups and Downs of Daily Life During COVID-19: Age Differences in Affect, Stress, and Positive Events," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 76(2), pages 30-37.
    24. Howard E. Aldrich & Martha Argelia Martinez, 2007. "Many are Called, but Few are Chosen: An Evolutionary Perspective for the Study of Entrepreneurship," Springer Books, in: Álvaro Cuervo & Domingo Ribeiro & Salvador Roig (ed.), Entrepreneurship, pages 293-311, Springer.
    25. Marie Madeleine Meurer & Matthias Waldkirch & Peter Kalum Schou & Eliane Léontine Bucher & Katrin Burmeister-Lamp, 2022. "Digital affordances: how entrepreneurs access support in online communities during the COVID-19 pandemic," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 637-663, February.
    26. de Reuver, Mark & Sørensen, Carsten & Basole, Rahul C., 2018. "The digital platform: a research agenda," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 80669, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    27. Hamid Etemad, 2020. "Managing uncertain consequences of a global crisis: SMEs encountering adversities, losses, and new opportunities," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 125-144, June.
    28. Martínez-Caro, Eva & Cegarra-Navarro, Juan Gabriel & Alfonso-Ruiz, Francisco Javier, 2020. "Digital technologies and firm performance: The role of digital organisational culture," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    29. Afsaneh Bagheri & Golshan Javadian & Pardis Zakeri & Zahra Arasti, 2024. "Bearing the Unbearable: Exploring Women Entrepreneurs Resilience Building in Times of Crises," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 193(3), pages 715-738, September.
    30. Rajeesh Viswanathan & Mohsin Khan & N. Sarathlal, 2024. "Re-engaging employees during COVID-19 pandemic - with special reference to Indian IT companies," International Journal of Business Excellence, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 33(3), pages 324-340.
    31. Dean A. Shepherd, 2020. "COVID 19 and Entrepreneurship: Time to Pivot?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(8), pages 1750-1753, December.
    32. Alexander W. Bartik & Marianne Bertrand & Zoe Cullen & Edward L. Glaeser & Michael Luca & Christopher Stanton, 2020. "The impact of COVID-19 on small business outcomes and expectations," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 117(30), pages 17656-17666, July.
    33. Isabell M. Welpe & Matthias Spörrle & Dietmar Grichnik & Theresa Michl & David B. Audretsch, 2012. "Emotions and Opportunities: The Interplay of Opportunity Evaluation, Fear, Joy, and Anger as Antecedent of Entrepreneurial Exploitation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(1), pages 69-96, January.
    34. Stroe, Silvia & Sirén, Charlotta & Shepherd, Dean & Wincent, Joakim, 2020. "The dualistic regulatory effect of passion on the relationship between fear of failure and negative affect: Insights from facial expression analysis," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(4).
    35. Carter, Nancy M. & Gartner, William B. & Reynolds, Paul D., 1996. "Exploring start-up event sequences," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 151-166, May.
    36. Yu, Wei & Li, Zhuyi Angelina & Foo, Maw-Der & Sun, Shuhua, 2022. "Perceived social undermining keeps entrepreneurs up at night and disengaged the next day: The mediating role of sleep quality and the buffering role of trait resilience," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(2).
    37. Ahmed, Adeel & Bhatti, Sabeen Hussain & Gölgeci, Ismail & Arslan, Ahmad, 2022. "Digital platform capability and organizational agility of emerging market manufacturing SMEs: The mediating role of intellectual capital and the moderating role of environmental dynamism," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    38. Grichnik, Dietmar & Smeja, Alexander & Welpe, Isabell, 2010. "The importance of being emotional: How do emotions affect entrepreneurial opportunity evaluation and exploitation?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 15-29, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stroe, Silvia & Sirén, Charlotta & Shepherd, Dean & Wincent, Joakim, 2020. "The dualistic regulatory effect of passion on the relationship between fear of failure and negative affect: Insights from facial expression analysis," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(4).
    2. Portocarrero, Florencio & Newbert, Scott & Young, Maia & Zhu, Lily, 2025. "The affective revolution in entrepreneurship: an integrative conceptual review and guidelines for future investigation," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 126090, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Cacciotti, Gabriella & Hayton, James C. & Mitchell, J. Robert & Allen, David G., 2020. "Entrepreneurial fear of failure: Scale development and validation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(5).
    4. Nguyen, Bach & Tran, Hai-Anh & Stephan, Ute & Van, Ha Nguyen & Anh, Pham Thi Hoang, 2024. "“I can't get it out of my mind” - Why, how, and when crisis rumination leads entrepreneurs to act and pivot during crises," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 39(4).
    5. Yuval Engel & Stephany Noordijk & Afra Spoelder & Marco van Gelderen, 2021. "Self-Compassion When Coping With Venture Obstacles: Loving-Kindness Meditation and Entrepreneurial Fear of Failure," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(2), pages 263-290, March.
    6. Darden, Bryan B. & Kellermanns, Franz W. & Best, Emma L., 2022. "Entrepreneurial fear of failure: Transgender versus cis-gender entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    7. Yu, Xiaoyu & Meng, Xiaotong & Stockdall, Kyle & Lanivich, Stephen E. & Cao, Gang, 2025. "A meta-analysis of the antecedents of entrepreneurial well-being," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    8. Tiberiu Foris & Alina Simona Tecău & Camelia-Cristina Dragomir & Diana Foris, 2022. "The Start-Up Manager in Times of Crisis: Challenges and Solutions for Increasing the Resilience of Companies and Sustainable Reconstruction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-20, July.
    9. Wiklund, Johan & Nikolaev, Boris & Shir, Nadav & Foo, Maw-Der & Bradley, Steve, 2019. "Entrepreneurship and well-being: Past, present, and future," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 579-588.
    10. Jiang, Hong & Yang, Jingxuan & Gai, Jinlong, 2023. "How digital platform capability affects the innovation performance of SMEs—Evidence from China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    11. Amanda J. Williamson & Martina Battisti & Michael Leatherbee & J. Jeffrey Gish, 2019. "Rest, Zest, and My Innovative Best: Sleep and Mood as Drivers of Entrepreneurs’ Innovative Behavior," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(3), pages 582-610, May.
    12. Santos, Susana C. & Caetano, António & Costa, Sílvia F. & Rueff Lopes, Rita & Silva, Ana Junça & Neumeyer, Xaver, 2020. "Uncovering the affective turmoil during opportunity recognition and exploitation: A nonlinear approach," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 14(C).
    13. Tori Y. Huang & Vangelis Souitaris & Sigal G. Barsade, 2019. "Which matters more? Group fear versus hope in entrepreneurial escalation of commitment," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(11), pages 1852-1881, November.
    14. Liu, Yue & Zhu, Xiumei & Deng, Shengliang, 2025. "How platform enterprises compete through suppliers: the mediation role of supplier value co-creation between digital platform capabilities and competitive advantage," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    15. Li, Yu & Chen, Yuxi & Wang, Junhe & Zhou, Yun & Wang, Chengqi, 2025. "Digital platform capability and innovation ambidexterity: The mediating role of strategic flexibility," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    16. Zahid Sarwar & Jingmei Gao & Adnan Khan, 2024. "Nexus of digital platforms, innovation capability, and strategic alignment to enhance innovation performance in the Asia Pacific region: a dynamic capability perspective," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 867-901, June.
    17. Costa, Paula L. & Ferreira, João J. & Torres de Oliveira, Rui, 2023. "From entrepreneurial failure to re-entry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    18. Sabeen Hussain Bhatti & Adeel Ahmed & Alberto Ferraris & Wan Mohd Hirwani Wan Hussain & Samuel Fosso Wamba, 2025. "Big data analytics capabilities and MSME innovation and performance: A double mediation model of digital platform and network capabilities," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 350(2), pages 729-752, July.
    19. Liao, Zhongju & Chen, Jie & Chen, Xueli & Song, Malin, 2024. "Digital platform capability, environmental innovation quality, and firms’ competitive advantage: The moderating role of environmental uncertainty," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    20. Rössig, Sarah-Alena & Vera Hedwig Schmidt, Corinna & Schrewentigges, Lisa & Strese, Steffen, 2025. "Is it contagious? The effect of fear of failure on employee satisfaction," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:201:y:2025:i:c:s0148296325005740. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.