In 250 words or so, share your opinions on the LinkedIn white paper you read.  Comment on:

How the information you read is important

The Pros and Cons of LinkedIn vs other Social/Business Networking sites

Where do you see this and other platforms moving in the future

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H o w

C o l l e g e S t u d e n t s U s e L i n k e d I n , W h y S o m e D o n ’ t U s e I t , a n d
W h y I t I s I m p o r t a n t

Bela Florenthal, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Marketing

Cotsakos College of Business
William Paterson University

Wayne, NJ
Phone: (973) 720-3679

E-mail: florenthalb@wpunj.edu
(Contact Person)

Michael Dykhouse
Undergraduate Honors Student
Cotsakos College of Business
William Paterson University

June, 2012

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H o w C o l l e g e S t u d e n t s U s e L i n k e d I n , W h y S o m e D o n ’ t U s e I t , a n d W h y

I t I s I m p o r t a n t

A B S T R A C T

As competition for college graduates’ employment opportunities has increased,
the importance of maximizing self-marketing becomes critical. Because Professional
Networking Sites (PNSs) have been increasingly used by recruiters, building and
maintaining a professional identity on a PNS should be particularly valuable to college
students. Today’s college students are reportedly the heaviest users of digital media and
Social Networking Sites (SNSs) but are they also heavy users of PNSs? This paper aims
to provide an insight into whether and how students use a leading PNS, LinkedIn, and the
reasons for not using it. In-depth interviews were conducted with business major juniors
and seniors at a public Northeaster university. Three usage groups were sampled, non-
users, non-active users, and active users. The results are compared to usage of other SNSs
such as Facebook. Based on the findings, an IMC program is recommended for PNSs that
wish to increase their market share of college students.

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H o w C o l l e g e S t u d e n t s U s e L i n k e d I n , W h y S o m e D o n ’ t U s e I t , a n d W h y
I t I s I m p o r t a n t

I n t r o d u c t i o n

Nielsen named the age group of 18 – 34 as Generation C, the most connected

group of consumers (NielsenWire 2012). It reveals that though this group represents only

23% of the U.S. population, their market shares in terms of visiting social networking

sites and watching online video exceeds 25%. In addition, in terms of owning mobile

devices, tablets and smartphones, that allows online engagement on the go, their market

share exceeds 30%.

Millennials, a subgroup of the Generation C, are known for their extensive online

connectivity and particularly for their heavy usage of Social Networking Sites (SNSs)

such as Facebook and Twitter (Sago 2010; Jacobsen and Forste 2011). SNSs “allow users

to come together online and exchange, discuss, communicate, and participate in any form

of social interaction” (Ryan and Jones 2009). On these SNSs, Millennials create online

profiles; communicate with others through chats and video conferencing; post multimedia

information (e.g., pictures, articles, and video clips); and expresses their opinions using

the like/dislike option (Sago 2010).

Professional Networking Sites (PNSs) such as LinkedIn are considered a

subcategory of SNSs as they are social networking sites for business and professional

interactions (Bradley 2011). As such they possess some unique characteristics such as the

option to post and find jobs, conduct research on companies and industries, post resume

information, and give and receive recommendations (Bradley 2011; Buck 2012).

LinkedIn is a leading PNS and it surpassed 100 million registered users (Bradley

2011). Being a career-building site, how successful is it in attracting college students?

This demographic group should be of particular interest to a PNS such as LinkedIn

because it uses extensively multiple SNSs and constantly searches for job and internship

opportunities. Thus, this study explores whether and how junior and senior college

students utilize the professional platform LinkedIn. In particular, the study provides an

insight into what features students most frequently use on LinkedIn and what factors

might inhibit non-users.

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Though extensive research has been done recently to assess the usage and impact

of SNSs on college students (Park, Kee et al. 2009; Pelling and White 2009; Sago 2010;

Jacobsen and Forste 2011), PNSs have not been examined as a distinct social networking

category in terms of features and needs that drive college students to use or not to use

them. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to evaluate the usage patterns and

benefits college students derive from using LinkedIn.

Usage of SNSs varies across demographic groups, where some segment are none

or infrequent users (Alarcón-del-Amo, Lorenzo-Romero et al. 2011). Therefore, the

second objective of this study is to assess non- and non-active college student users. As

universities and colleges play a significant role in directing students to professional

websites (Roberts and Zahay-Blatz 2012), how can PNSs partner with them to attract

non- and non-active college student users to their platforms? This study suggests an on-

campus Integrated Marketing Communication program to help PNSs such as LinkedIn to

increase their market share of college student population.

Theoretical Background

Social and Professional Networking Sites (SNSs)

Nielsen reports that about 75% of online users, spend on average 22% of their

time on social networking sites (Roberts and Zahay-Blatz 2012). SNSs have been defined

as web sites that allow people to “hand out” virtually, communicating with friends and

family members, create and manage their online profiles, and connect to favorite brands

and businesses (Sago 2010).

LinkedIn is a leading Professional Networking Site (PNS) that has more than 100

million subscribers with a median user age of 39 years (Sago 2010; Bradley 2011). It is

considered a professional network because it allows users present themselves as

professionals and interact with other business professionals (Bradley 2011). LinkedIn has

several unique features that sets it apart from other social networks such as Facebook and

Twitter.

The professional profiles members build, share, and manage on LinkedIn are

usually significantly different from their Facebook or Twitter profiles (Buck 2012). They

include professional information such as current and past work related experience and

positions, education, and skills (Buck 2012). Many members upload their resume to their

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LinkedIn profiles to establish a professional identity. Another significant difference is

that members use LinkedIn recourses to find employment (Bradley 2011; Buck 2012).

Finally, on LinkedIn members build professional connections with past and present

coworkers or classmates (Bradley 2011; Buck 2012).

Studies indicate that older age groups use social network for professional

activities (Agarwal and Mital 2009; Sago 2010). When profiling SNSs users, Alarco´n-

del-Amo and Lorenzo-Romero (2011) identified four SNS usage segments: introverts,

novel, versatile, and expert-communicators. Introverts are a small group of least active

SNS users, age 45 years and older. Novel users, mostly women 29 years and older, that

use the SNSs for basic functions such as update their profile, brows through friends’

profiles, look up information of interest, and tag friends on their pictures. They mostly

use only 2 SNSs.

The versatile users are the largest group, mostly men ages 36 – 44. They use

SNSs almost daily for 1-5 hours, are members of 2-3 networks, and have 10-100

contacts. This group has a higher tendency to utilize SNSs for professional purposes,

investing in professional contacts. Finally, the expert-communicators are mostly women

ages 25-35 that use the SNSs extensively, several times a day for more than 5 hours.

Their number of contacts usually exceeds 100.

College Student Usage of PNSs

The creation, sharing, and management of LinkedIn profile give individuals the

opportunity to build a professional identity. Professional identity is defined as “the

perception of oneself as a professional and as a particular type of professional” (Bucher

and Stelling 1977, p. 213). The social network theory provides an explanation of how a

professional network can “establish and maintain connections in an organizational

context and how those connections facilitate a multitude of outcomes, such as

professional advancement, information acquisition, and identity development” (Sweitzer

2008). Individuals should start developing these ties and particularly invest in their

professional identity early in their careers to build a stable and credible image of

themselves (Ibarra 1999; Sweitzer 2008).

However, it appears that majority of college students do not utilize SNSs for

professional purposes and in particular are not heavy users of LinkedIn though many

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companies today use LinkedIn for recruitment (Bradley 2011; Buck 2012). The versatile

segment that utilizes networks for professional purposes is above 36 years old and the

median usage age of LinkedIn is 39 years old (Sago 2010; Alarcón-del-Amo, Lorenzo-

Romero et al. 2011). College students who are future professionals should be using

extensively PNSs such as LinkedIn, building their professional identity and strong

connections in preferred industries. Thus, this study explores the extent to which college

students use LinkedIn and compare usage patterns of LinkedIn to those identified in

previous studies for other social networks.

College Student Needs to Use PNSs

College students are more engaged in social networking activities than older age

groups, visiting SNSs regularly and spending about 2-3 hours per day on them (Pelling

and White 2009; Sago 2010; Jacobsen and Forste 2011). One of the most heavily used

social networks by college students is Facebook (Sago 2010). Park et al. (2009) identified

four needs students fulfill when using Facebook: (a) socializing, (b) entertainment, (c)

self-status seeking, and (d) information seeking.

Socializing includes such needs as ‘to meet interesting people’ and ‘to stay in

touch with people I know.’ Entertainment involves the need to have ‘fun’ and

‘excitement.’ Self-status seeking need results from feeling peer pressure, to make oneself

‘look cool,’ and to develop a career through group participation. Finally, information

seeking need refers to receiving information related to on- and off-campus activities as

well as product/service related information. Other studies have found similar drives for

using SNSs (Sago 2010). As PNSs are a subcategory of SNSs with unique characteristic,

this study investigates how generalized these needs are to a professional networking site

such as LinkedIn, and whether other needs can drive a PNS usage.

PNSs and On-campus IMC Tools

PNSs such as LinkedIn generate revenue from business advertisements, usage of

integrated applications, and premium subscriptions (Roberts and Zahay-Blatz 2012).

PNSs should strive to increase their market share of the college student demographic to

grow their long-term revenue, as students when graduating from college will probably

keep using a professional network for their entire career. Though YouTube videos and

on-line articles promote and educate LinkedIn novice users (Buck 2012), on-campus

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integrated marketing communication strategy may be more effective in attracting college

students.

Universities and colleges direct students to career-related websites (Roberts and

Zahay-Blatz 2012). How can PNSs make sure that these establishments direct their

students to their websites? Various activities and services are offered frequently on-

campuses (e.g., events and clubs) and communication tools such as events, sponsorships,

and relationship marketing are part of companies’ IMC programs (Jensen and Jepsen

2006). Can PNSs use such tools to develop campus-specific IMC program leveraging

university activities and services to target inactive students users? The current study uses

student responses to answer this question.

M e t h o d o l o g y

In-depth interview were conducted with 16 business juniors and seniors in a

Northeastern university. The usage-based segmentation provided by Alarcon-del-Amo et

al. (2012) guided our study. As suspected, college students very significantly in using

LinkedIn and therefore we differentiated and sampled three group: (1) Non-users:

students who did not have a LinkedIn account, (2) Non-active users: students who have a

LinkedIn account but rarely access it, and (3) Active users: students who have a LinkedIn

account and access it frequently.

The participating students were asked the following questions:

General Questions:

1. What is your age?

2. What is your major?

3. What year are you in college?

4. Do you have a Facebook account? If yes, for how long? How many friends do

you have on Facebook? How often do you access Facebook?

5. Do you have a Twitter account? If yes, how many followers do you have? How

many people/companies do you follow? How often do you tweet?

6. What other social medial sites/platforms do you use? How often do you use each?

Why?

LinkedIn-related Questions:

7. Are you familiar with LinkedIn? What do you know about it?

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8. Do you have a LinkedIn account?

a. If no, why? Will you consider opening a LinkedIn account in the future? If

yes, when and for what purpose? If not, why?

b. If yes, how frequently do you access your account? Why? Do you have a

smartphone app? If not, why? If yes, how much do you use it?

9. How many connections do you have on LinkedIn? How often do you interact with

your connections on LinkedIn?

10. Have you ever contacted somebody on LinkedIn that you don’t know? If yes, for

what purpose? If not, what do you think about doing so?

11. How often do you update your profile on LinkedIn? What type of information do

you post on your profile?

12. Are you a member of any discussion group on LinkedIn? If yes, which ones? If

not, why not?

13. Did you ever give or receive recommendations on LinkedIn?

14. If you have a Twitter account, did you link your Twitter account to LinkedIn?

15. Did you ever create a resume using LinkedIn?

16. What other activities do you perform on LinkedIn?

17. How beneficial do you perceive LinkedIn to be to you in finding a job after you

graduate?

Table 1 summarizes the descriptive characteristics of the participating students.

Most students were ages 21 and 22. One student was an adult learner age 48. Overall

50% of the interviewees were males and above two third were juniors. Most students

were majoring in Professional Sales and Marketing. All students except one had a

Facebook account for 2-7 years. The lowest number of friends on Facebook was 75 while

the highest numbered approached 1500. Most students (78%) accessed their Facebook

account either daily or weekly. Surprisingly, fewer students had a Twitter account (63%)

than Facebook account (94%) and more than half (55%) were inactive on Twitter. Most

participants (75%) also reported that they had at least another social network account.

Some had up to 3 other social network accounts.

[Insert Table 1 about Here]

D a t a A n a l y s i s

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The differences across the three groups in terms of LinkedIn usage are presented

in Table 2. Though non-users do not have a LinkedIn account, they all intend to open one

in the future. Sixty percent of non-users will open an account once they start looking for a

job or an internship. Most active users (75%) access their LinkedIn account daily while

71% of non-active users access their account once or twice a week or a month. More than

half of non-active users do not update their profile or rarely do so while all active users

update their profile once a month, weekly, or as soon as they can provide new

information.

[Insert Table 2 about Here]

Profile Management. Though non-users do not have a LinkedIn account 50%

anticipate posting their resume information on their profile once they open an account.

Non-active users mentioned that they posted their current and past experience,

expertise/skills, and education on their LinkedIn profile. Most active users said they

posted their resume information, in particular current and past experience. Half of them

mentioned that they posted expertise/skills and education information. Thus, all three

groups mentioned current/past experience, expertise/skills, and education as important to

post on LinkedIn profile.

Connections and Discussion Groups. The non-active users differ significantly

from active users in their (a) number of connections and (b) involvement in discussion

groups. While active users have between 40 – 88 connections, the non-active have

between 0 – 20 connections. Furthermore, all active users were involved in 4 – 9

discussion groups while less than 30% of non-active users were involved in 1 – 3

discussion groups. All active users and one non-active user were members of university-

related discussion groups. The discussion groups that were mentioned were club related

(e.g., professional sales club) and university related services (e.g., university career

advisement center).

Recommendations and LinkedIn Mobile Application. Fifty present of active

users gave and received 1 – 2 recommendations while only 14% of non-active users gave

or received 1 recommendation. One active user also used smartphone application, linked

his/her Twitter account to the LinkedIn account, and created a resume using LinkedIn.

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One non-active user used a smartphone application but none of the non-active users

linked a Twitter account to their LinkedIn account or created a resume using LinkedIn.

LinkedIn Benefits. When participating students were asked what they know

about LinkedIn and what benefits and purpose LinkedIn serves four main theme

emerged: (1) Networking and connecting, (2) Job and internship opportunities, (3)

Visibility and Self-promotion, and (4) Access to professional information (Table 3). All

three groups frequently mentioned networking and connecting with professionals and

business. Some referred to LinkedIn as “Facebook for Professionals.” Respondents

mostly perceived the benefit of networking and connecting with familiar people, friends,

classmates, and past/present employees. Most participating students did not feel

comfortable to network with complete strangers because it was ‘too forward’ and a

‘misuse of this network’.

[Insert Table 3 about Here]

LinkedIn is perceived to provide employment and internship opportunities. Some

students believe that to find a job it is necessary to have a LinkedIn account today as

companies use LinkedIn to recruit. Students associate networking and connecting to the

job/internship opportunities. Some stated that networking on LinkedIn can land a job and

that their connections can refer them to job opportunities. Students also acknowledged

the opportunity to find a job by being connected to some discussion groups.

Visibility and Self-promotion was the third theme that emerged in the in-depth

interviews. Participating students believed that they needed to be visible to recruiting

companies using LinkedIn. Some recognized the need to build a professional presence to

better position themselves in the job market.

Finally, the interviewed students viewed LinkedIn as a hub for professional

information. They could access business related articles, look up and follow companies,

and get an update on industries. They also could post articles for their contacts to see

which could be done directly on LinkedIn website or through linking their Twitter

account to their LinkedIn account.

C o n c l u s i o n

Previous studies focused on how college students use SNSs rather than PNSs.

This research examines how college students utilize or do not utilize LinkedIn, which is a

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leading PNS. Though some similarities exist between usage of a SNS and a PNS, this

study identified several significant differences.

PNS vs. SNS Segments

Students’ usage of LinkedIn can be compared to Alarcon-del-Amo et al.’s (2012)

typology of SNS usage. In this paper LinkedIn users were divided in to three groups,

which resemble three segments of the SNS user typology: introvert, novel, and versatile.

The introverts, who are the least active group, are similar to non-users, who intend to use

the LinkedIn platform in the future. They are less active on Twitter (40%) compared to

other two groups, non-active users (71%) and active users (75%) but still pretty active on

Facebook. Thus, though they may be introverts on LinkedIn, on other SNSs, such as

Facebook they can be classified as versatile.

Non-active users of LinkedIn resemble the novel SNS users. They don’t access

their account frequently, rarely update their profile, have only a few connections, and

they rarely interact with their contacts. Versatile SNS users show similar characteristic of

active LinkedIn users. Active LinkedIn users frequently access their account and update

their profile. They have more contacts, participate in more discussion groups, and

perform more activities on the professional network than non-active users. One

characteristic of versatile individuals, to use their SNSs for professional purpose, is in

particularly matches the active LinkedIn users. They utilize LinkedIn feature for

professional purposes significantly more than the non-active users.

The segmentation typology presented by Alarcon-del-Amo et al. (2012) is generic

in the sense that it categorizes individuals into different usage groups for all their SNSs.

Our study shows that students can be very active on Facebook and Twitter but very

inactive on LinkedIn. Therefore, though PSNs are treated as part of the SNS category in

many studies, they might need to be approached as a distinctive user interface by

researchers.

PNS Benefits vs. SNS Needs

Four benefit themes of LinkedIn usage were identified in this study. As some

students perceived LinkedIn as ‘the Facebook for professionals’ the benefit themes were

compared to four gratification needs identified for Facebook by Park et al. (2009). It

appears that some needs to use a SNS and PNS are similar while others are very different.

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Socializing is the first need identified for Facebook users and can be associated

with networking and connecting benefit identified for LinkedIn users. Though ‘to stay in

touch with people the users’ characterizes socializing and networking needs, the main

difference is that networking and connecting on a PNS is for professional purposes, such

as to find a job or an internship. That is evident from the non-users who expressed the

need to join LinkedIn when they need to find a job or an internship. Social needs are

different from professional needs. Many students have contacts on LinkedIn that are not

their friends on Facebook and vice versa. Students distinguish between

networking/connecting and socializing by segmenting the people they know into

Facebook friends and LinkedIn contacts.

Self-status seeking need on Facebook can be compared to self-promotion need on

LinkedIn. Both needs are characterized by students’ desire to ‘developing their career’

and by ‘being peer pressured to participate’. Students believe that to land a successful

job/internship they need to invest in self-promotion and self-visibility by building and

updating their profiles. They also feel the pressure to do so as some of their peers have

active LinkedIn accounts and report success in being employed or finding an internship

through LinkedIn. However, the purpose of self-status seeking on Facebook is drive by

the social need while the self-promotion and self-visibility need is fueled by professional

needs (e.g., ‘branding yourself’ and ‘market yourself’). The self-promotion and self-

visibility need is consistent with the social networks theory where individuals need to

develop their professional identity.

The benefit of LinkedIn users to have access to professional information is similar

to the identified gratification need of information seeking. Park et al. (2009) includes in

the information-seeking category the need to access information related to events (on and

off campus) as well as product information. The LinkedIn users express the need to

access professional information related to industries and companies (e.g., ‘read articles’,

‘look up businesses’, ‘follow industries’). The need for information search is the same in

both cases but the type of information individuals search on Facebook and LinkedIn

differ significantly. On Facebook users look for social events while on LinkedIn they are

investigate businesses and search for job openings.

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One significant distinction between SNS and PNS is the fourth need/benefit. In

the study on Facebook the entertainment need was identified while in this study the

benefit of access to job and internship opportunity emerged. None of the interviewed

students expressed the need to use the LinkedIn platform for entertainment. However

almost all students perceived LinkedIn to provide an opportunity to ‘find’ or ‘land a job

or an internship’ either through networking or connecting, through access to companies’

information, and/or through companies’ recruitment. Several non-user students stated that

they would open a LinkedIn account in the future because of this benefit.

A study sampling Indian students revealed that these students use SNSs not only

for leisure purposes but also for meaningful professional engagement. They used them

mostly to “understand the business environment, improve job prospects, and participate

in formal discussion forums” (Agarwal and Mital 2009, p. 109). Thus, the professional

engagement on social networks by student population might be universal and should be

differentiated from other social network engagements.

Discussion Groups

The in-depth interviews reveal that active users take more significant advantage

of discussion group feature on LinkedIn than non-active users. Active users are involved

in more discussion groups. They recognize the substantial benefits membership in

discussion groups provides such as: (a) shows up on their profile, (b) provides access to

job postings, (c) provides opportunities to increase their circle of connections, and (d)

provides a convenient way to be updated on industry trends (Bradley 2011; Buck 2012).

Thus, the more proficient students are in operating their LinkedIn account the more

benefits they can gain from joining discussion groups.

The study also indicates that the active students also were more involved in

campus-related discussion groups that revolved around activities and services provided

by the universities. Students that joined campus related discussion groups could be more

involved in the university’s activities and services. Through campus related discussion

groups, PNSs can identify the professional activities and services students are interested

in and develop appropriate on-campus IMC program.

Implications

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A successful professional career is based on a continuous development of credible

professional identity, professional connections, and acquisition of professional

information (Sweitzer 2008). For students to end up with desired outcomes when they

graduate from college (e.g., landing desired job), building their professional presence on

a PNS should start early on (e.g., freshman year in college) as it takes time to establish

and maintain a meaningful professional network.

Our study indicates that two third of the juniors and seniors interviewed either

have not initiated their professional profile building on LinkedIn or do not utilize fully

their LinkedIn account. However, these students expressed a strong need to find an

internship while in school and a job after graduation and they recognized the benefit of

LinkedIn in fulfilling this need. We suspect that the non-user group is greater among

freshmen and sophomores though the benefits of an account on a professional networking

platform increase over time (e.g., recommendations, number of connections, etc.).

A PNS such as LinkedIn loses revenue when college population does not use or

does not fully utilize its features. In addition, as more PNSs emerge, LinkedIn as the

leading PNS will need to be more aggressive in promoting itself to non-user students who

will need to choose where to build their professional presence. To develop a successful

IMC program that targets college students, LinkedIn should identify discussion groups

that are university related and map out the activities and services provided by the

universities that LinkedIn could impact. Table 4 provides an example of how a PNS such

as LinkedIn might develop integrated promotional tools tailored to on-campus activities

to increase its visibility and reach the target college population.

[Insert Table 4 about Here]

LinkedIn can schedule events such as information sessions and seminars

educating students on why and how they can maximize their professional presence and

market themselves. These events can occur on campus co-partnered with the professional

career development services or Greek houses. A complementary IMC tool that LinkedIn

can utilize is sales promotions when it sets up a demonstration and registration booth

during a job fair. Relationship marketing can be fostered with career advancement centers

to provide support to students that would like to open a LinkedIn account. Another

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relationship marketing tool is to help the career development administrators create and

manage discussion groups encouraging student to join.

Universities and colleges started to get more involved in PNSs and companies

such as LinkedIn can capitalize on these initiatives. Helping students to reap the many

gains a professional network service offers is an opportunity for universities and colleges

to provide extra value to students particularly in the current touch job market. It also

gives a chance for PNSs to increase their market share of this age group and long-term

revenue from loyal postgraduates.
Limitations

The sample size and the sample pool are two main limitations of this study. Only

16 juniors and seniors in the business school of a public university were interviewed. To

generalize our findings, students from all four years in school and other

departments/schools should be sampled coupled with increased sample size. Being

qualitative in nature, this study reports only one method, in-depth interviews. Additional

methods such as on-line and off-line focus groups can complement the findings of this

study. More comprehensive survey method can be employed as a follow up to establish

reliability and validity of the study findings.

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References

Agarwal, S. and M. Mital (2009), “An Exploratory Study of Indian University Students’

Use of Social Networking Web Sites: Implications for The Workplace,” Business
Communication Quarterly, March, 105-110.

Alarcón-del-Amo, M.-d.-C., C. Lorenzo-Romero, et al. (2011). “Classifying and Profiling
Social Networking Site Users: A Latent Segmentation Approach,”
CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 14(9), 547-553.

Bradley, T. (2011). Five Ways to Use LinkedIn. PC World. 29: 30.
Bucher, R. and J. G. Stelling (1977). Becoming Professional. London, Sage.

Buck, S. (2012). The Beginner’s Guide to LinkedIn. Mashable.
Ibarra, H. (1999). “Provisional Selves: Experimenting with Image and Identity in

Professional Adaptation.” Administrative Science Quarterly 44: 764-791.
Jacobsen, W. C. and R. Forste (2011). “The Wired Generation: Academic and Social

Outcomes of Electronic Media Use Among University Students.”
Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 14(5): 275-280.

Jensen, M. B. and A. L. Jepsen (2006). “Online Marketing Communications: Need for a
New Typology for IMC?” Journal of Website Promotion 2(1/2): 19-35.

NielsenWire (2012). Introducing Generation C: Americans 18-34 Are the Most
Connected, NielsenWire.com.

Park, N., K. F. Kee, et al. (2009). “Being Immersed in Social Networking Environment:
Facebook Groups, Uses and Gratifications, and Social Outcomes. .”
CyberPsychology & Behavior 12(6): 729-733.

Pelling, E. L. and K. M. White (2009). “The Theory of Planned Behavior Applied to
Young People’s Use of Social Networking Web Sites.” Cyberpsychology &
Behavior 12(6): 755-759.

Roberts, M. L. and D. Zahay-Blatz (2012). Internet Marketing: Integrating Online &
Offline Strategies Mason, OH, South-Western Cengage Learning.

Ryan, D. and C. Jones (2009). Understanding Digital Marketing. Philadelphia, PA,
Kogan Page Limited.

Sago, B. (2010). “The Influence of Social Media Message Sources on Millennial
Generation Consumers.” International Journal of Integrated Marketing
Communications Fall: 7-18.

Sweitzer, V. L. (2008). Networking to Develop a Professional Identity: A Look at the
First-Semester Experience of Doctoral Students in Business. New Directions For
Teaching And Learning, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Table 1
Descriptive Characteristics of Participants

Characteristics
Total

(N=16)
Non-users

(n1 = 5)

Non-active
users

(n2 = 7)

Active
users

(n3 = 4)
Age range 21-48 21-22 21-48 20-25

Gender:
Male 50% 60% 43% 50%
Female 50% 40% 57% 50%

Major:
Professional Sales &
Marketing

68% 60% 86% 50%

Global Business 13% 20% 25%
Management 6% 14%
Accounting 13% 20% 25%

Year in college
Junior 68% 40% 75%
Senior 32% 60% 100% 25%

Facebook
Students who have an account 94% 80% 100% 100%
For how long (years)? 2 – 7 4 – 7 2 – 6 4 – 7
Number of friends 75 – 1500 400-800 75 – 500 170 – 1500
How often access?

Missing value 6% 20%
Once a month 6% 14%
1 – 5 a week

25% 20% 29% 25%

Daily 63% 60% 57% 75%

Twitter
Students who have an account 63% 40% 71% 75%
Number of followers 2 – 200 2 5 – 200 1 – 125
Number of following 1 – 250 1 – 10 10 – 100 1 – 250
How often do you tweet?

Not active 55% 100% 44% 25%
Rarely 13% 14% 25%
1 – 2 a month 6% 14%
1 -3 a week 13% 14% 25%
Daily 13% 14% 25%

Student have additional social
network account/s

75% 40% 86% 100%

Number of other social media
used

1 – 3 1 – 3 1 – 3 1

18

Table 2
Summary of In-depth Interview Responses

Questions
Non-users

(n1 = 5)
Non-active
users

(n2 = 7)
Active users

(n3 = 4)
Students familiar with LinkedIn 100% 100% 100%
Students who have a LinkedIn account 0% 100% 100%

If no, will consider opening one in the future 100% – –
If not, why not?

Does not need a job or an internship 60% – –
Does not know how to operate or find it very
useful

40% – –

Too busy in school 20% – –
Frequency of accessing the account:

Rarely – 29% –
1 – 2 times a month – 14% –
1 – 2 a week – 57% 25%
Daily – – 75%

How many connections? – 0 – 20 40 – 88
If yes, how often do you interact?

Never or Rarely – 100% 50%
Once a month – 25%
Weekly – 25%

How often do you update your profile?
Not yet or Rarely – 57% –
Once a month – 14% 50%
Weekly – – 25%
As soon as something comes up – – 25%

What information do you post or would like to post?
Current or past experience 25% 43% 100%
Expertise/skills 25% 43% 50%
Education 25% 43% 50%
Awards, rewards, and achievements 0% 14% 25%
Everything on the resume 50% 29% 75%

Students who are members of discussion groups? – 29% 100%
If yes, in how many? 1 – 3 4 – 9

Students connected to university-related groups – 14% 100%
Students who gave and/or received recommendations? – 14% 50%

If yes, how many?
Gave – 1 1 – 2
Received 1 1 – 2

Students who have a LinkedIn app – 14% 25%
Students that linked their Twitter account to LinkedIn – 0% 25%
Students who created a resume using LinkedIn – 0% 25%

19

Table 3
Purpose and Benefits of Using LinkedIn

Emerging Themes
Total

(N = 16)
Non-users

(n1 = 5)
Non-active
users
(n2 = 7)
Active users

(n3 = 4)
Networking and Connecting
• Networking/connecting 31% 20% 43% 25%
• Networking/connecting with

professionals and businesses
69% 80% 43% 100%

• Search for and connect with
people you know (e.g.,
friends, classmates)

38% 20% 29% 75%

• Facebook for professionals 25% 20% 14% 50%
Job and Internship Opportunities
• Useful/necessary for job

purpose/opportunities
44% 40% 14% 100%

• Post, search, and get jobs 60% 29% 25%
• Finding a job after graduation 25% 20% 29% 25%
• Used by companies to recruit 13% 20% 0% 25%
• Foot in the door, job through

connections
19% 0% 29% 25%

Visibility and Self-promotion
• Gain visibility and be able to

market yourself
19% 20% 0% 50%

• Branding yourself, have
online presence, getting your
name out

25% 20% 29% 25%

Access to Professional Information
• Read articles and other posts 13% 0% 14% 25%
• Look up, follow, and learn

about businesses and
organizations

19% 20% 14% 25%

20

Table 4
An Example of Utilizing On-campus IMC Tools

IMC Tools

On-campus Activities & Services Events Sponsorships
Relationship
Marketing

Sales
Promotion

• Job fairs +
• Clubs +
• Greek houses + +
• Career advancement services + +
• Local/National Competitions +
• Guest Speakers +