Social Media and Entrepreneurial Intentions

Running head: DISSERTATION
Social Media and Entrepreneurial Intentions
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1DISSERTATION
Acknowledgement
Thank you to all of those who have helped listened and encouraged me throughout this study. I
am indebted to my supervisor ......................... whose guidance, advice and patience have
been immeasurable. My sincere thanks to all members of the............... [Mention your
university/college name], both staff and students, whose continuous support have made this
thesis possible.
I would like to thank all of the participants in the study: students, teachers and Local Education
Authorities, for the time and help given throughout. Without their participation, this research
would not have been possible. In this context, I am also thankful to them, whose research work
helped me to execute this paper well.
Finally, I thank my family, without whom this thesis would not have been started or completed!
Your encouragement and support have never faltered; thank you.

2DISSERTATION
Abstract
The aim or purpose of the research is to understand the issue of social media use in development
of entrepreneurial intention among the students. Change is the only constant thing and change
across different business sectors is highly evident. With time, new phenomenon arises that
provide new dimensions and prospects to business environment. Thus, it can be said that the
business world is not safe from the constant changes that keeps coming up with changing need of
the target market and audiences. Since the emergence of social media, it has served as a tool that
ensured improved interaction for the younger interaction. Therefore, due to the various benefits
that social media offers, the use of social networking sites has changed the face of the business
sector significantly.
Less and minimal emphasis has been seen on the problems of developing entrepreneurial
intentions for the students that has contributed to the career choice for several students.
Additionally, significant literature gaps has been identified in previous literatures developed
based on entrepreneurship that requires further understanding of the gaps or the issues. The
rationale behind selecting this research topic is that social media offers both platform and space
for the individual students so that they can indulge them in creativity and making impression on
others suitably. However, it needs to be argued on the use of social media platform for creating
space for self-presentation and creating greater impact on others. Additionally, undertaking the
research is also significant because this will allow in evaluating and analyzing the role social has
to offer in influencing the entrepreneurial intentions of the students thereby, making it
successful.

3DISSERTATION
Positivism philosophy, deductive approach, descriptive design and survey research strategy has
been appointed. In accordance with the aforementioned methodological tools, 100 students have
been selected as the sample size using simple random probability technique that intends to
achieve the aim of the current research suitably. Primary data collection process with quantitative
data analysis technique has been used that helps in converting the responses collected into graphs
and numeric so that it can be used meaningfully in the research. Moreover, regression analysis
has also been used for analyzing the gathered data.
From the descriptive analysis, it can depicted that the students of all age groups but mainly 26-35
years with educational qualification of bachelor, master and PhD and varied duration of study
and using social media for more than a year are using the different social media platforms
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn for developing their entrepreneurial
intentions successfully. As the p-value obtained is less than 0.05, it can be implied that social
media usage has a significant impact and difference in developing entrepreneurial intentions
among the students. The students are well aware of the benefits of the social media platforms and
know that it can be used for venturing into new business ideas. Social media have no constraints
in terms of communication and facilitate the users are able to stay connected, updated and
informative about the latest changes in the business sector just a click away. As a result, the
students are able to grill their mind and entrepreneurial intentions thereby, giving them a
direction.

4DISSERTATION
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction..............................................................................................................10
1.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................10
1.1 Problem statement...............................................................................................................12
1.2 Research aim........................................................................................................................12
1.3 Research objectives.............................................................................................................13
1.4 Research questions...............................................................................................................13
1.5 Research rationale................................................................................................................13
1.6 Structure of the dissertation.................................................................................................14
1.7 Summary..............................................................................................................................16
Chapter 2: Literature review..........................................................................................................17
2.1 Overview..............................................................................................................................17
2.2 Emergence of social media..................................................................................................17
2.3 Different types of social media platforms...........................................................................19
2.3.1 Instagram......................................................................................................................20
2.3.2 YouTube.......................................................................................................................21
2.3.3 Twitter...........................................................................................................................22
2.3.4 LinkedIn........................................................................................................................22
2.4 Theory of planned behavior and social media usage...........................................................23

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2.5 Use of social media platforms among students...................................................................24
2.6 Role of social media in developing entrepreneurial intentions...........................................25
2.7 Social media and entrepreneurship......................................................................................26
2.7.1 Challenges of using social media in for Students.........................................................27
2.7.2 Benefits of using social media among students............................................................29
2.7.4 Factors affecting student’s entrepreneurial intentions..................................................32
2.7.5 Impact of social media on entrepreneurial intentions...................................................34
2.8 Research hypotheses............................................................................................................35
2.9 Summary..............................................................................................................................35
Chapter 3: Research methodology.............................................................................................37
3.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................37
3.1 Research outline...................................................................................................................37
3.2 Research philosophy............................................................................................................38
3.2.1 Providing the rationale for settling on positivism philosophy......................................38
3.3 Research approach...............................................................................................................39
3.3.1 Providing the rationale for settling on deductive approach..........................................39
3.4 Research design...................................................................................................................40
3.4.1 Providing the rationale for settling on descriptive design............................................40
3.5 Research strategy.................................................................................................................40
3.5.1 Providing the rationale for settling on survey research strategy...................................41

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3.6 Sampling technique and sample size...................................................................................41
3.6.1 Providing the rationale for settling on probability sampling technique.......................42
3.7 Data collection process........................................................................................................42
3.7.1 Providing the rationale for settling on primary data collection process.......................43
3.8 Data analysis technique.......................................................................................................43
3.8.1 Providing the rationale for settling on quantitative data analysis technique................44
3.9 Ethical considerations..........................................................................................................44
3.10 Accessibility issues............................................................................................................45
3.11 Summary............................................................................................................................45
Chapter 4: Data analysis and interpretations.................................................................................47
4.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................47
4.1 Findings and analysis...........................................................................................................47
4.1.1 Descriptive analysis......................................................................................................47
4.1.2 Inferential analysis........................................................................................................53
4.2 Interpretation of the results..................................................................................................58
4.3 Summary..............................................................................................................................68
Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendations...........................................................................71
5.0 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................71
5.1 Linking with objectives.......................................................................................................73
5.2 Recommendations................................................................................................................74

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5.3 Future scope of the study.....................................................................................................75
References......................................................................................................................................77
Appendix 1.....................................................................................................................................86
Survey questionnaire.................................................................................................................86
SECTION 1: DEMOGRAPHICS..........................................................................................86
SECTION II: SOCIAL MEDIA (scale)................................................................................87
SECTION III: SELF-EFFICACY (scale)..............................................................................89
SECTION IV: ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTIONS (Intentions to start a business)........89