Exploring antecedents of business angels’ intention to invest

In this research, we use regulatory focus theory to explore the cognitive mechanisms that contribute to the formation of business angels’ intention to invest. Although prior literature has argued that perceived desirability and perceived feasibility are the two main antecedents of the intentional behavior of entrepreneurs, little is known about the antecedents of the intentional behavior of business angels. We address this gap by linking the role of regulatory focus and entrepreneurial alertness to the formation of investment intentions. We begin by collecting qualitative data via semi-structured interviews with business angels to gain a broad perspective on business angels’ intentional behavior, their goals, planning activities and several characteristics related to cognition. We collected survey data from an international sample of business angels to find that entrepreneurial alertness with its scanning and search dimension plays an important role in intentionality. Furthermore, business angels that have promotion regulatory focus are more likely to form investment intentions.