The Influence of Intuitive-Analytical Cognitive Styles on Entrepreneurial Decision-Making Logic: Moderated by Environmental Uncertainty

Abstract

By neglecting endogenous factors, existing studies that usually focus on examining the effect of exogenous characteristics on entrepreneurial decision-making logic has drawn conflicting conclusions. This paper explores the influences of cognitive styles on entrepreneurial decision-making logic, as well as the moderating role of environmental uncertainty. Using a multiregional sample of 336 Chinese entrepreneurs, the study obtained results by conducting multiple linear regression. Entrepreneurs with an intuitive cognitive style tend to apply causal logic, while those with an analytical cognitive style are inclined to adopt effectual logic. Environmental uncertainty moderates the effect of cognitive styles on some dimensions of entrepreneurial decision-making logic. In an uncertain environment, entrepreneurs with an intuitive cognitive style reduce the use of the logics of affordable loss and leveraging contingencies, while entrepreneurs with an analytical cognitive style reduce the use of the expected return logic. This paper clarifies the relationship between intuitive and analytical cognitive styles, which are always considered to be antithetical. This implies that they always coexist, instead of competing with each other in entrepreneurial decision-making. This finding verifies that entrepreneurial decision-making logic is the result of interactions between cognition and the environment, inspiring scholars to explore it from the combination of multiple elements.