Anticipated emotions and their effects on risk and opportunity evaluations

Despite the empirical and anecdotal evidence of the role of anticipated emotions in people’s deliberations, little is known about their role in entrepreneurial business opportunity evaluations. This study investigated the role of anticipated emotions as a predictor of risk perception and of business opportunity evaluations. One hundred and eight entrepreneurs selected from the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce provided data that were analyzed using SmartPLS. This research confirms the importance of anticipated emotions about an outcome when evaluating a business opportunity. The study also explains the mediating role of risk between anticipated emotions and business opportunity evaluations. This research contributes to the development of a more comprehensive theoretical framework of business opportunity evaluations by extending the role of affect and including anticipated emotions, and by explaining the role of risk as a mediator of anticipated emotions and judgments of a business opportunity.