Innovation can be seen as the adoption or implementation of a new idea or product within a specific context, demonstrating the adaptability of a concrete output resulting from the creative process. It generates excitement, encourages skill development and information exchange, and promotes dynamism by breaking monotony. Innovation also accelerates organisational and personal growth, encouraging originality, personal development, and continuous learning.

Innovation has become increasingly crucial in both social and economic contexts, prompting rapid changes towards more scientifically advanced societies. Adapting to these changes is vital to avoid being left behind. Knowledge acquisition is central to socioeconomic progress, influencing economic, political, and social dynamics. As knowledge spreads, it profoundly impacts sectors such as the economy, business environment, and education, fostering a culture of innovation. Innovation integrates new technologies and business practises, facilitating governance by addressing public issues and shaping policy frameworks.

The innovation process involves developing, commercialising, and marketing new or improved products, processes, or services. It encompasses a broad range of activities, from product development to implementing new organisational structures and administrative systems. Technological innovation involves transforming new ideas into concrete products and disseminating them. It is divided into two main types: technological product innovation, which commercialises a product to provide new services or maximise existing product benefits, and technological process innovation, which involves the complete innovation or significant improvement of production or distribution processes.

Technological developments and innovative approaches create practical products. This innovation manifest in both the improvement and development of existing products and the production of entirely new ones. Technological product innovation focuses on providing new services to consumers through product development or commercialisation, while technological process innovation aims at improving production or distribution methods. Globalisation, driven by technological progress, has reshaped the global arena, intensifying competition, particularly in industrial areas.

Creativity, the essence of human endeavour, significantly impacts organisational effectiveness, providing resilience in rapid transformations and competitive environments. The process of birthing new concepts embodies creativity as a precursor to innovative breakthroughs, fuelling innovation and turning intellectual effort into tangible results. Creativity involves critical thinking, distinguishing connections between events, anticipating obstacles, finding solutions, and expressing findings precisely. It is crucial to adapt to variability in complex and competitive environments to innovate and enhance performance.

An entrepreneur combines innovative products, processes, markets, organisational structures, or supply channels, taking proactive risks to transform opportunities into viable economic offers. Entrepreneurship involves implementing new configurations, perceiving opportunities arising from environmental factors, and transforming these opportunities into products or services.

In today’s globalised world, entrepreneurship has emerged as a critical factor driving economic progress. With increasing competition and technological advancements, individuals and institutions must adopt innovations to stay current. Entrepreneurs play a pivotal role in this by pioneering new ideas and products through their visionary perspectives.

This study examines the relationship between university students’ entrepreneurial characteristics and their innovation-technological innovativeness. Data were collected through a survey and analysed using a structural equation model. The study focuses on the innovative and entrepreneurial characteristics of university students, hypothesising their impact on the students’ general tendency to innovate and subsequently their tendency towards technological innovation. Data were gathered from 836 undergraduate students at Kütahya Dumlupınar University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences.

University students were chosen due to their leading role in society and their potential to generate new ideas and contribute significantly to economic and technological progress. Universities are key action centres for discovering talents and producing and sharing knowledge. The survey targeted students to test the impact of their innovative capacity on technological innovation tendency using structural equation modelling. The scale used to measure innovation and technological innovation tendency included factors like risk-taking, proactiveness, uncertainty avoidance, creativity, innovativeness, and technological innovation. The overall reliability of the measurement model was high (Cronbach’s α = 0.95). Confirmatory factor analysis and necessary modifications yielded a significant model (p<0.05) with acceptable goodness of fit values (X2/df = 3.35, GFI = 0.85, RMSEA = 0.59).

All hypotheses were confirmed, except for the one proposing a relationship between the risk-taking tendency and the innovation tendency. Creativity was the most important factor influencing students’ innovation tendency, while risk-taking was the least important. The emphasis on creativity may stem from the need to tackle diverse problems in a world of constant change and competition. Students’ perceptions of socioeconomic risk and uncertainty might influence the lack of a significant relationship between risk-taking and innovation tendencies. 

To foster innovation, innovation be integrated into national education policy from an early age, with local and general competitions to encourage students. During long holidays, students can be directed to techno parks, research centres, and university campuses for scientific research training. Higher education students should be encouraged to participate in social and scientific activities to apply their theoretical knowledge. Finally, the entrepreneurship course content and teaching style in higher education should be revised to be practical and independent of grade concerns.