PERCEPTION OF BUSINESS EDUCATORS ON DIGITAL MARKETING SKILLS NEEDED BY BUSINESS EDUCATION UNDERGRADUATES IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY

Abstract

The study examined the perception of business educators on digital marketing skills needed by business education undergraduates in the digital economy. A descriptive survey research design was adopted in the study. A self-designed 4-point rating scale questionnaire tiled: Digital Marketing Skills Inventory” (DMSI) was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by experts and was further subjected to internal consistency testing using Cronbach Alpha which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.75. The population of the study comprised 59 Business Educators: 29 males and 30 females in 5 public institutions in Ogun State, Nigeria. Data collected were analysed both descriptively and inferentially, using mean and standard deviation to find answers to the research questions, and t-test to test the null hypotheses. Findings revealed that, Business Educators perceived electronic communication and search engine marketing skills as needed by Business Education undergraduates to be successful in the digital economy. Also, there is no significant difference in the mean scores of males and females Business Educators on the electronic communication skills needed by business education undergraduates in the digital economy and there no significant difference in the mean rating of Business Educators on Search Engine Marketing (SEM) skills needed by business education undergraduates in the digital economy based on ownership. It was recommended that Business Education undergraduates should learn and develop skills in search engine marketing to take advantage of opportunities in the digital economy. It was concluded that the future is digital, thus, digital marketing skills are needed to be successful in digital era.

Keywords: Digital Economy, Digital Marketing, Skills and Digital Marketing Skills