Role of authenticity and perceived benefits of online courses on technology based career choice in India: a modified technology adoption model based on career theory

Abstract

In this digital era, it is important to make a wise course choice since the building blocks of a career starts from choosing the career-specific course. With the number of online courses available, it is tough to differentiate a relevant career-focused course from a mediocre one. Hence, the authenticity and validity of a particular course influence the career choice of individuals. The other important factor is perceived benefits. Additionally, an increasing number of educational businesses has already integrated or plans to integrate social media applications into their marketing plans to reach and attract future students, thus showing a shift from traditional ways of marketing. As the nature of this study is both purposive as well as probabilistic, a mixed method approach has been chosen. The study consists of two phases: the exploratory research process consisting of the literature review, the semi-structured interviews with information technology professionals to form the questionnaire and hypotheses. The researchers found that through personal inputs strongly influence the learning experiences, authenticity and perceived benefits of a course plays the most important role in the individual’s decision to adopt a technical course. The practical and research implications have also been discussed.