Using A Self-assessment Project And Instructor Self-disclosure To Support Student Personal Branding

Abstract

Establishing a personal brand is essential for career readiness and professional success. Marketing students often do not have formal instruction in personal branding. Grounded in self-expansion theory, the Self-Assessment Project engages students in self-discovery and self-reflection as a first step in personal brand development. This two-part written assignment includes completing the Enneagram Personality Assessment. Students completed a pre-project survey and a post-project survey to assess changes in the measured constructs. Two sections of the marketing course (n = 55) served as control sections and four sections as experimental sections (n = 166). Using a quasi-experimental approach, the treatment self-disclosure of the instructor’s own Enneagram Personality Assessment. Using a one-sample t-test, survey results provide evidence that students thought the activity had self-expansion elements, was valuable, and recommend it for future use. The results of the paired samples t-test also provide evidence that students in the experimental sections showed a significant increase in perceived self-awareness and personal growth motivation, not present in the control sections. The findings highlight the influential role of instructor self-disclosure. These elements contribute to providing the foundation for building a personal brand. The authors suggest the project is appropriate for any course with a personal branding component.

Department(s)

Marketing

Document Type

Article

DOI

10.1080/10528008.2025.2537023

Publication Date

1-1-2026

Journal Title

Marketing Education Review

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