Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
2022
Abstract
As digital social networks become an integral part of career placement, advancement, and professional networks, young professionals are required to find ways to compete for the attention of potential and current employers. One of the theories that have been used across diverse areas from marketing scholars (Zamudio et al., 2013, Close et al., 2011; Noble et al., 2010) to fashion models (Parmentier et al., 2013) to understand self-promotion for professionals is personal branding. Recent articles like Swaminathan et al. (2020) have expressed the need to understand better how consumers are branding themselves in the hyperconnected world and what psychological consequences emerge. Parmentier and Fischer (2021) recognize that there is a gap in the literature about how individuals do and protect their personal brand. Rangarajan et al. (2017) suggest that managers need to backing employees on their personal branding efforts that will benefit the company and the employee. As no research has been conducted to analyze how young professionals use personal branding to develop their careers dynamic environments such as social media, this study aims to explore the perceptions and experiences of recent business program graduates regarding the use of personal branding strategies based on impression management to advance their careers.
This research explores how recent business professionals develop their brand by using impression management behaviors in the professional social network called LinkedIn, one of the largest social media platforms for professionals in the USA. Using an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), this study used focus groups to explore young business professionals' perceptions and experiences using personal branding strategies based on impression management actions.
The findings reveal the relevance of branding as young professionals engage in branding strategies to advance their careers. Different themes emerged to describe the participants' perceptions and experiences using personal branding strategies based on impression management behaviors: Enhancement, Ingratiation, Self-Promotion, Exemplification, Personal Branding, Personal Branding Strategies, and Personal Branding on LinkedIn.
The recent business professionals develop their brand initially, sometimes unintentionally, and by inertia, and as they mature in their professional studies and or professional roles, they become self-aware of the importance of personal branding and become strategic about their branding efforts.
This study contributes to the personal branding literature by extending our understanding of branding strategies based on impression management in a social media platform. The paper also contributes to our knowledge of job markets by pointing out how important personal branding is for recent business graduates to advance their careers. Lastly, this research also extends our understanding of LinkedIn as an online personal branding representation of individuals commencing their professional careers. These insights are of increasing importance, as employers are required to find new ways to attract, hire, and retain human resources in the digital realm.
Recommended Citation
Valdez, Carlos and Villegas, Jorge, "Building a Personal Brand Using Impression Management in Social Networks" (2022). Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2022. 29.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/amtp-proceedings_2022/29
