Abstract: Using data from a unique undergraduate marketing math course offered in both traditional and online formats, this study looks at four dimensions of course evaluation: overall evaluation, perceived competence, perceived communication, and perceived challenge. Results indicate that students rate traditional classes better on all four dimensions. However, the relationships between outcome variables (overall evaluation and perceived competence) and controllable variables (perceived communication and challenge) remain consistent across both formats. Perceived competence and perceived communication are positively associated with overall evaluation of the course. While perceived challenge has no significant relationship with overall evaluation, it is positively associated with perceived competence.

Abstract: This article provides a review of the history of marketing education. Some of the pioneers who developed concepts and pedagogical material used in teaching marketing are identified and some schools of thought are reviewed, namely, the commodity, institutional, and functional schools, as well as marketing management. During the early part of the 20th century, a number of scholars contributed seminal ideas that laid the foundation of marketing thought. Their published texts influenced what was taught in the classroom. What we teach today reflects what previous thought leaders and textbook authors considered to be important for the dissemination of marketing knowledge to students. Educators need a historical background about the concepts they teach and the textbooks they use. This background will help put what we teach today in perspective. This overview should provide an opportunity to think critically about the challenges that marketing educators face in selecting and presenting content in the classroom.

Abstract: Recruiters seek candidates with certain business skills that are not developed in the typical lecture-based classroom. Instead, active-learning techniques have been shown to be effective in honing these skills. One skill that is particularly important in sales careers is the ability to make a powerful and effective presentation. To help students develop strong presentation skills, two sections of an undergraduate sales management course included an exercise in which students make a presentation using a Pecha Kucha format. Active-learning exercises like this promote both thinking and doing, and improve student engagement. The expectation is that the exercise will not only improve presentation skills, but also content knowledge. The effectiveness of the format is assessed through instructor observation, pre- and postpresentation student surveys, student reflection papers, and examination.

Abstract: There is a shortage of qualified salespeople, which creates a challenge for educators to prepare more students for a sales career. One of the most common teaching techniques used in preparing students is role playing, which mirrors real-world selling. However, role plays are not necessarily authentic because the players and conditions are not a real sales environment. “Show and Sell,” a teaching innovation, overcomes this limitation through a project-centered approach, whereby students sell a product to business and consumer prospects. The project can be applied across formats (hybrid, online, and in-person) to meet curricular objectives that teach students how to sell.

Abstract: Student initiated out-of-class communication (OCC) with instructors has been linked to benefits for students, faculty, and the institution at large, yet garners little attention in business educati...

Abstract: Badging has become a popular tool for obtaining social recognition for personal accomplishments. This innovation describes a way to add badging to a marketing simulation to increase student motivation to achieve the simulation’s goals. Assessments indicate that badging both motivates students to perform better and helps explain students’ perceived learning in a marketing course that uses a simulation.

Abstract: Service-marketing education provides students customer service skills sought by employers who recognize the relationship between service and profit Students in service marketing benefit from active-learning activities with actual organizations to apply customer service frameworks taught in the course The purpose of this paper is to describe an experiential team project taught through collaboration with a local Better Business Bureau (BBB) Descriptions of the class project address challenges with group and experiential-learning projects The paper provides suggestions for working with a local business organization for service marketing team projects

Abstract: Marketing graduates are ultimately expected to perform in managerial roles, yet limited course work is devoted to leadership training for marketing management. In the capstone marketing course, group projects with partner organizations can serve as an opportunity for student leadership development. Marketing students working in groups on experiential-learning projects rated others in their project group on the extent to which selected leadership behaviors were evidenced. Three key leadership constructs surfaced in the peer evaluations: vision, rational communication, and heart. Students exposed to leadership concepts in the capstone marketing course rated their peers higher on leadership skills and performed better on the group project.

Abstract: Marketers are criticized for not understanding the steps in the engineering research and development process and the challenges of manufacturing a new product at a profit. Engineers are criticized for not considering the marketability of and customer interest in such a product during the planning stages. With the development of 3D printing, rapid prototyping at a reasonable cost may help to overcome the “sound barriers” between the two disciplines. We report on how a cross-discipline class team, using the stage gate model taught by an engineering professor and a marketing professor, helped both groups of students acquire cross-functional knowledge of marketing and engineering design to hear the voice of the customer while creating and prototyping an innovative new product. We provide in detail the work students completed at each stage and explain how developing rough prototypes and testing customer reaction to them lead to 3D printing of an alpha prototype. With an alpha prototype, which looks and functio...

Abstract: This research explores marketing students’ emotional reactions to classroom encounters. We identify what types of critical incidents lead to specific emotional outcomes. The study included a sample of 1,208 marketing undergraduates. Findings confirm the viability of the taxonomies identified by Swanson and Davis (2000). We expand their framework to include the emotions of outrage and delight. Results confirm the conceptual distinctions among satisfaction, delight, dissatisfaction, and outrage, while suggesting that the absence of those factors that contribute to students’ dissatisfaction and outrage will not necessarily lead to their satisfaction and delight. Suggestions for responding are identified and associated with specific incident types.

Abstract: Many educators and researchers have suggested that some students learn more effectively with visual stimuli (e.g., pictures, graphs), whereas others learn more effectively with verbal information (e.g., text) (Felder & Brent, 2005). In two studies, the present research seeks to improve popular self-reported (indirect) learning style measures and explore whether visual or verbal learning styles predict student performance on visual or verbal assessments. The improved self-reported learning style scale was not predictive, although systematic differences in student performance were found. A direct measure of individual differences—mathematical aptitude—was found predictive. Implications for the use of indirect measures of learning style, the development of direct measures of learning style, and educators’ application of visual and verbal performance assessments are discussed.

Abstract: This paper describes an innovative assignment in which students associate marketing concepts with artwork from a specified photographic exhibit. During the encoding process, linking various topics with pieces of art activates high-involvement learning, creative elaboration, and analytical reasoning. Consequently, students experience higher levels of learning, specifically synthesis, in this environment than in a “straight lecturing” learning environment. Implementation of this assignment in undergraduate consumer behavior and introductory marketing courses increased cognition and achievement of learning outcomes compared with sections without this assignment. In addition, students reported high levels of satisfaction with completing a nontraditional assignment that challenged them creatively.

Abstract: Few, if any, marketing students are adequately prepared to conduct a thorough job search that will lead them to enjoyable, meaningful employment upon graduation. We present a method we have used in several classes that helps demystify the job search process for students. Using our approach, students have been able to discover their career passions and find work that they enjoy. Our method can be used in numerous courses and can be used by both undergraduate and graduate students.

Abstract: This article proposes a journal-neutral Publication to Citation Ratio (PCR) to complement qualitative methods to evaluate a marketing educator’s scholarship for reappointment, promotion, tenure, and post-tenure review (RPTP) decisions. We empirically establish a minimum time period to evaluate scholarship data, then benchmark publication and citation counts from a sample of 270 marketing educators. The purpose is to equally represent the academic ranks and business school emphasis (teaching to research intensive) to describe “how much scholarship is good enough.” Discussion includes significant findings useful for RPTP decisions.

Abstract: The Value Chain Game is an activity that helps students to develop a holistic understanding of the processes and challenges in managing the value chain so that customer needs are met. Competing value chains work to produce and sell two products. Seasonal demand, quality defects, transportation delays, and audits offer complexities that represent challenges faced in the selection, production, and distribution of products to customers throughout the value chain. The Value Chain Game integrates the 4 P’s (product, price, place, promotion) from the perspective of a chain of organizations instead of a single company. During the activity, students utilize collaboration, pricing, and negotiation skills.

Abstract: This paper outlines the experiences of developing a new hands-on marketing course. The objective of the course was to simulate the real-world scenario of starting an online retailing business and let students become entrepreneurs. Students were challenged to assimilate and apply relevant e-retailing knowledge while being responsible for designing, developing, sourcing, and selling merchandise through a Web site. At the end of the semester, students were able to witness and experience the challenges faced by an e-retailer. Based on the assessment of performance of students, instructor, and the course itself, suggestions are offered to adapt the course so that the concept can be applied to other marketing courses in the future.

Abstract: Many colleges of business demand A-level journal publications from marketing faculty as a condition for professional advancement. Yet only around 10 percent of marketing academics ever publish in the “Big 4,” A-level journals (Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, and Marketing Science). This motivates the questions explored in the present study: How do marketing academics view A-level journals and what distinguishes successful Big 4 journal authors from individuals striving to publish work in these journals? Results of a national survey of marketing faculty at colleges accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) show perceptual and motivational differences between published and striving-to-publish Big 4 journal authors, as well as different beliefs regarding success factors for publishing in A-level journals. The results, viewed through the theoretic lenses of the Motivation-Ability-Opportunity (MAO) model, construal level t...

Abstract: The AIDA Model (Attention-Interest-Desire-Action) is one of the classical promotional theories in marketing. Through active-learning techniques and peer critiques, we use infomercials as an innovative educational tool to instruct the four components of the AIDA model. Student evaluations regarding this active-learning assignment reveal that the infomercial activity increases students’ creative input, engages participation, builds class enthusiasm, fosters peer relationships, and enhances topic knowledge. Benefits, constraints, and learning objectives relating to the activity are also discussed.

Abstract: Most undergraduate marketing majors will spend at least some time in a sales role, and employers are requiring greater professionalism and more varied skill sets from their sales hires. In addition, there is an increasing demand for online and higher order learning in sales education. In response, this article proposes that sales courses using structured learning activities can increase critical thinking skills, irrespective of the learning environment. To test these propositions, a pre- and post-test interventional research study was conducted. Results show that students’ objective critical thinking scores showed some improvement over a semester for both face-to-face and fully online courses. Moreover, a control group of students did not experience a similar increase in their critical thinking skills.

Abstract: Flipped classrooms reverse traditional lecturing because students learn content before class through readings and prerecorded videos, freeing lectures for hands-on activities and discussion. However, there is a dearth of literature in marketing education addressing flipped classrooms. This article fills this void using grounded theory to develop a student-centered framework for implementing flipped classrooms into marketing education. Exploratory videographic analysis of publicly available videos (N = 6) describes experiences of nonmarketing educators who have implemented flipped classrooms. This supports a framework for transitioning flipped classrooms into marketing education. Flipped teaching, learning, and assessment ideas for marketing educators are provided.

Abstract: Most sales management undergraduate courses teach students about sales management rather than how to successfully manage a sales team. A desire to change this paradigm resulted in a newly designed hands-on, skill-based sales management course that uses business case studies in combination with students developing, practicing, and performing the hard (analytic) and soft (people) skills needed to succeed as sales managers. Results indicate that students learned important competencies related to their ability to calculate and interpret marketing analytics for decision making, as well as in developing effective sales coaching skills.

Abstract: To prepare students for the rapidly evolving field of digital marketing, which requires more and more technical skills every year, a social media practicum creates a learning environment in which students can apply marketing principles and become ready for collaborative work in social media marketing and analytics. Using student newspapers as examples, the practicum adopts an action-learning approach to enhance student knowledge and skills in social media. This paper describes the structure, process, and tools that support this practical experience in a marketing course. The extent to which the practicum helps in preparing students is assessed and reported.