Standing out while fitting in: How business students understand and practice personal branding
Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Objective:\n\nThe aim of the study is to provide understanding on the phenomenon of personal branding in the\ncontext of Finnish business students. More specifically, the research looks into how the business\nstudents understand the phenomenon on four different aspects: what personal branding is, why it is\npracticed, where it is practiced and how it is practiced. The latter is still divided into two sub-topics:\nhow business students practice personal branding, and how they think it should be practiced in order\nto help being hired. In addition, the research looks at the greater, underlying reasons behind the\ndevelopment of the phenomenon.\n\nMethodology:\n\nThe study is qualitative and interpretative in nature. Twelve single semi-structured interviews were\nconducted with final year business students at Aalto University. The interviewees represent two\ndistinct majors: marketing and economics. Six students of both groups were interviewed. The\ntranscribed interviews were then analyzed using the thematic data analysis method.\n\nKey findings:\n\nThe key findings of the study include identifying strategies and methods that business students use\nfor branding themselves. The analysis shows that personal branding is about constantly finding the\nright balance between goals, audiences and communication, and the phenomenon is perceived as\nhighly audience- and context-specific. Individuals increase cultural and social capital to acquire\nfield-specific knowledge and networks, which can then help the individuals in standing out while\nfitting in. However, as personal branding is first and foremost personal, there is no one-size-fits-all\nstrategy, but individuals need to find their own, best way to practice branding.\n\nThe findings also show that while being such an individualistic approach, the understanding of the\nphenomenon varies greatly between the students. Interestingly, no perceivable differences were\nfound between the two major groups. Despite social media being widely present in personal\nbranding, the students still prefer the traditional offline world for branding themselves.
Source: Aaltodoc (Aalto University)
Author: Miina Tikkanen
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2602740425