To fully understand an individual’s intention to become either a social entrepreneur or a business entrepreneur within the pre-entrepreneurial decision process, it is necessary to look at external and individual factors. Therefore, we investigate the influence of cold cognitions in terms of economic success and social impact as external and experimentally manipulated factors. Moreover, we include positive and negative affective states to cover the field of hot cognitions. In consequence, we show profound differences between social entrepreneurs and business entrepreneurs when articulating their entrepreneurial intention to exploit an envisioned opportunity.