Preference for a career in Retailing: a question of personality

Abstract

Drawing on previous findings from the field of brand personality research and employer branding this research aims to explore the symbolic attributes of the retail industry image in South Africa and to identify those personality traits that distinguish preferred industries from the retail industry. Therefore, a quantitative survey study with 1426 participants from South African universities was conducted. The main results suggest that retail and non-retail students hold different personality perceptions of the retail industry and that retailing performs significantly worse on those personality attributes that are of major importance for future job seekers. Moreover, we identified those attributes that exert a strong effect on students’ preferences for the retail industry