![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
The need to endow marketing graduates with skills relevant to employability grows ever more important. Marketing math and elementary financial understanding are essential employability skills, particularly given the contemporary emphasis on marketing metrics, but the evidence is that marketing graduates are often relatively weak in such skills. This article suggests that one educational strategy to improve numeracy and financial skills may be through the use of a marketing simulation game. Through the simulation game, students are exposed to marketing calculations and financial data in an engaging context that simulates the real world. It is hypothesized that marketing students’ numeracy and financial skills, and their self-efficacy with respect to marketing calculations, will improve following participation in a simulation game where numerical and financial analysis are necessary activities. Using a quasi-experimental research design, it is found that there are substantial and significant improvements in numerical and financial performance after participating in a simulation game, but that there is no improvement (and possibly a small decline) in self-efficacy related to these tasks. Marketing educators are advised that a marketing simulation game is a viable option to consider when seeking to improve students’ numeracy and financial skills.
References
Section:
|
Ardley, B., Taylor, N. (2010). The student practitioner: Developing skills through the marketing research consultancy project. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 28, 847-861. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Bacon, D. R., Stewart, K. A. (2006). How fast do students forget what they learn in consumer behavior? A longitudinal study. Journal of Marketing Education, 28, 181-192. doi:10.1177/0273475306291463 Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191-215. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman. Google Scholar | |
|
Betz, N. E., Hackett, G. (1983). The relationship of mathematics self-efficacy expectations to the selection of science-based college majors. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 23, 329-345. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Bobot, L. (2010). Teaching sales and negotiation with combining computer-based simulation and case discussions. Marketing Education Review, 20, 115-122. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Brew, C. (2001). Women, mathematics and epistemology: An integrated framework. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 5(1), 15-32. doi:10.1080/13603110010003515 Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Bryman, A. (2004). Social research methods (2nd ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Bynner, J., Parsons, S. (1997). Does numeracy matter? London, England: Basic Skills Agency. Google Scholar | |
|
Faria, A. J. (2001). The changing nature of business simulation gaming research: A brief history. Simulation & Gaming, 32, 97-110. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Faria, A. J. (2006, October). History, current usage, and learning from marketing simulation games: A detailed literature review. Paper presented at the proceedings of the Marketing Management Association, Nashville, TE. Google Scholar | |
|
Ganesh, G., Qin, S., Barat, S. (2010). Improving the marketing math skills of marketing undergraduate students through a unique undergraduate marketing math course. Marketing Education Review, 20(1), 47-63. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Gibson-Sweet, M., Brennan, R., Foy, A., Lynch, J., Rudolph, P. (2010). Key issues in marketing education: The marketing educators’ view. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 28, 931-943. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Gopinath, C., Sawyer, J. E. (1999). Exploring the learning from an enterprise simulation. Journal of Management Development, 18, 477-489. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Jennings, D. (2002). Strategic management: An evaluation of the use of three learning methods. Journal of Management Development, 21, 655-665. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Keys, B., Wolfe, J. (1990). The role of management games and simulations in education and research. Journal of Management, 16, 307-336. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Kline, P. (1999). The handbook of psychological testing (2nd ed.). London, England: Routledge. Google Scholar | |
|
Lockett, G. (1974). Thoughts in numeracy in management. Personnel Review, 3(2), 36-39. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Mason, C., Perreault, W. D. (2001). The marketing game! New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Google Scholar | |
|
McIntyre, S. H., Munson, J. M. (2008). Exploring cramming: Student behaviors, beliefs, and learning retention in the principles of marketing course. Journal of Marketing Education, 30, 226-243. doi:10.1177/0273475308321819 Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Pajares, F. (1996). Self-efficacy beliefs in academic settings. Review of Educational Research, 66, 543-578. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Pajares, F., Graham, L. (1999). Self-efficacy, motivation constructs, and mathematics performance of entering middle school students. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 24, 124-139. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Pajares, F., Kransler, J. (1995). Self-efficacy beliefs and general mental ability in mathematical problem-solving. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 20, 426-443. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Parsons, S., Bynner, J. (2005). Does numeracy matter more? London, England: National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy. Google Scholar | |
|
Pilling, B. K., Rigdon, E. E., Brightman, H. J. (2012). Building a metrics-enabled marketing curriculum: The cornerstone course. Journal of Marketing Education. Advance online publication. doi:10.1177/0273475312450390 Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Pirog, S. F. (2010). Promoting statistical analysis in the marketing curriculum: A conjoint analysis exercise. Marketing Education Review, 20, 249-254. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Pollack, B. L., Lilly, B. (2008). Gaining confidence and competence through experiential assignments: An exploration of student self-efficacy and spectrum of inquiry. Marketing Education Review, 18(2), 55-66. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Robson, C. (1993). Real world research. Oxford, England: Blackwell. Google Scholar | |
|
Saber, J. L., Foster, M. K. (2011). The agony and the ecstasy: Teaching marketing metrics to undergraduate business students. Marketing Education Review, 21(1), 9-20. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Schlee, R. P., Harich, K. R. (2010). Knowledge and skill requirements for marketing jobs in the 21st century. Journal of Marketing Education, 32, 341-352. doi:10.1177/0273475310380881 Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Strong, J. T., Anderson, R. E. (1990). Free riding in group projects: Control mechanisms and preliminary data. Journal of Marketing Education, 12, 61-67. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Vos, L., Brennan, R. (2010). Marketing simulation games: Student and lecturer perspectives. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 28, 882-897. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Walker, I., Tsarenko, Y., Wagstaff, P., Powell, I., Steel, M., Brace-Govan, J. (2009). The development of competent marketing professionals. Journal of Marketing Education, 31, 253-263. doi:10.1177/0273475309345197 Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Wellman, N. (2010). The employability attributes required of new marketing graduates. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 28, 908-930. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Wolfe, J., Roberts, C. R. (1993). A further study of the external validity of business games: Five-year peer group indicators. Simulation & Gaming, 24, 21-33. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Zanakis, S. H., Valenzi, E. R. (1997). Student anxiety and attitudes in business statistics. Journal of Education for Business, 73(1), 10-16. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Zantow, K., Knowlton, D. S., Sharp, D. (2005). More fun and games: Reconsidering the virtues of strategic management simulations. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 4, 451-458. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Zeidner, M. (1992). Statistics and mathematics anxiety in social science students: Some interesting parallels. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 61, 319-328. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI |
