The Impact of Social Media Marketing Education on Financial Decision-Making Skills in Higher Education Institutions in Jordan

Abstract

Due to the rapid advancements of digital technologies and the increasing prevalence of social media and on-line business, social media marketing education has gained a prominent position in business and marketing courses of Jordanian universities. Moreover, financial decision-making skills have been acquiring more importance for students at the university level, as they are currently navigating in an increasingly complicated environment with characteristics like digital payment systems, financial technology, on-line investment facilities and exposure to large amounts of financial information from social media. Despite this fact, the current level of research on social media marketing education and students’ financial decision-making skills is limited, especially in the context of Jordanian higher education. This research aims to investigate the effects of social media marketing education on financial decision-making skills among students in Jordanian higher education. More precisely, this research will try to analyze the extent of association between social media marketing education and financial decision-making skills, to identify the determinants of students’ financial decisions, to evaluate the outcomes of social media marketing education programs and to formulate a conceptual model for improving financial decision-making through social media marketing education. The present research employs a quantitative survey method with the application to university students in Jordan. The independent variable of the present study is social media marketing education whereas the dependent variable is students’ financial decision-making skills and consists of many dimensions; they are Financial knowledge, Budgeting skills, Saving behavior, Investment knowledge, Risk assessment, Financial planning, and Confidence in decisions. It is expected that the present research will add to the literature by consolidating concepts from financial literacy, digital marketing education and taking into account the Social Cognitive Theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior. Moreover, it is expected that it will offer recommendations at the level of curricula design, policies development and dissemination of responsible financial behavior among university students.