Personality traits and choice of studying digital marketing

Abstract

The Big Five model of personality traits has already been used in a number of studies in the context of comparing students from different study programs. In this research, the elements of the mentioned model (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness) were used as potential predictors of the intention to enroll in the study program Digital marketing. The primary research included 89 students of the Faculty of Economics in Subotica, in which from the next school year will be offered, among other, a new accredited master's study program Digital marketing. The research was conducted in June 2021. In addition to descriptive statistics, a questionnaire was tested and structural equation modelling was used. At the level of descriptive statistics, the results show that the following characteristics are the most pronounced among surveyed students, in order: conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, openness (for all these characteristics, the average grade of items related to them is closest to number 4 - "I agree" at five-point Likert scale), while neuroticism is not pronounced (average score lower than 3). When it comes to the model, the traits of openness and conscientiousness have positive and significant, while the trait neuroticism negative and significant (at p<0.10) influence on the intention of enrolling in the master's program Digital marketing. According to the authors' knowledge, this is the first research that relates the mentioned personality model and the choice of digital marketing studies.