Social Media Businesses: Factors Influencing the Entrepreneurial Intentions of Students at the Ghana Institute of Journalism

Abstract

The advent of social media has been not just an important tool for communication purposes but also for business as well. For already existing small and medium scale enterprises, social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and some others are being used widely for marketing and promotion of goods and services. Since most of the tertiary students in Ghana use social media, it is important to introduce cyber or social media entrepreneurship which enables individuals to start an online business without much trouble to them. However, it is not out of line to study the factors which may influence the entrepreneurial intentions of students. Hence, the main objective of this study is to determine the factors that influence the entrepreneurial intentions of tertiary students towards social media businesses in Ghana by using Ajzen (1991) theory of Planned Behavior to help assess this. The study will adopt the quantitative method of research targeting the population of Ghana Institute of Journalism. The sample size will be determined using the Taro Yamane formula. The random sampling technique and survey method will be employed in data collection with structured questionnaires via online or social media. This study is expected to help throw more light on social media businesses, factors that influence their decisions and the importance of cyber or social media entrepreneurship on the society, how it can inform a change in the entrepreneurship courses taught in schools and also helps tertiary students comprehend and acknowledge social media businesses as a promising venture without much stress.