Social media and entrepreneurial competence: the impact of Linkedin on boosting entrepreneurial engagement of Gen-Z

Research Objective: This study examines the impact of LinkedIn usage on entrepreneurial competence and engagement of Gen-Z aged between 18-27. Motivation: This study is motivated by the increased dependence young entrepreneurs have on social media as a channel for professional development and networking. The study builds on works of Banerji & Reimer, (2019) on start-up founders and their LinkedIn connections, Franc, Stampfl, & Geyer, (2024) worked-related learning on LinkedIn, and Vitelar (2019) on Gen-Z and the use of social media. Idea: This research tests the direct effect of the usage of LinkedIn on Gen-Z individuals' entrepreneurial competence and engagement. It assumes that high engagement in learning and networking activities on LinkedIn will be followed by an equivalent improvement in their entrepreneurial outcomes. In this research, the independent variables are the patterns of usage on LinkedIn, while the dependent variables are entrepreneurial competence and engagement. Data: The quantitative research methodology was adopted, and the survey was conducted through Google Forms among 350 Gen-Z users on the professional networking site LinkedIn. Tools: Descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, and multiple regression analyses were used for the collected data. Findings: The results indicated that the different usage patterns—such as the frequency of login and engagement on LinkedIn Learning—had a significantly positive correlation with both entrepreneurial competence and engagement. Regression analysis pointed out entrepreneurial competence as one of the chief predictors for entrepreneurial engagement. Therefore, it is concluded that LinkedIn is quite instrumental in enhancing the entrepreneurial capacity of Gen-Z; it therefore gives relevant insights to entrepreneurs and the developers of this particular platform. Contribution: The paper thereby provides empirical evidence on the specific impact of LinkedIn on Gen-Z entrepreneurs, which enriches the literature of social media and entrepreneurship. Keywords: LinkedIn, Gen-Z, Entrepreneurial Competence, Social Media, Professional Networking.