Developing Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy through Hakka Culinary Innovation: An Experiential Learning Study in Higher Education

Abstract

This study examines how Hakka culinary innovation can serve as an experiential entrepreneurship learning context in higher education. Using an exploratory mixed-methods design, data were collected from 19 university and postgraduate students who joined a Hakka creative cuisine competition through an entrepreneurial self-efficacy questionnaire and reflective responses. Results show that students reported strongest confidence in opportunity identification, followed by marshaling and implementing, while planning and commercialization was weakest. Qualitative findings indicate that students negotiated tensions between culinary authenticity and youth market preferences through flavor retention, visual modernization, and affective storytelling. The study informs hospitality, cultural-creative and entrepreneurship education curriculum design.