With a better understanding of the typical sales student, sales educators can design and deliver curriculum with a more customer-oriented approach. In order to better understand the decision to pursue sales education, more than 500 undergraduate business students at a large Midwestern university participated in a survey that examined the factors influencing their decision to pursue sales education within a business major. The findings indicate that the choice of sales education is driven by students’ appreciation for creativity and people skills and their own interests and abilities, but the students’ school advisors (either college or high school) have significant influence as well. In today’s data-driven world, sales jobs depend on the use of analytical and intensively quantitative skills, yet our results indicate that sales students lack appreciation and enjoyment of the quantitative aspects of their major and potential career path.
AdidamP. T. (2006). Causes and consequences of high turnover by sales professionals. Journal of American Academy of Business, 10(1), 137-141.
2.
AggarwalP.VaidyanathanR.RochfordL. (2007). The wretched refuse of a teeming shore? A critical examination of the quality of undergraduate marketing students. Journal of Marketing Education, 29, 223-233.
3.
AndersonR. E.DixonA. L.JonesE.JohnstonM. W.LaForgeR. W.MarshallG. W.TannerJ. F. (2005). The scholarship of teaching in sales education. Marketing Education Review, 15(2), 1-10.
4.
BristowD. N.GulatiR.AmyxD.SlackJ. (2006). An empirical look at professional selling from a student perspective. Journal of Education for Business, 81(5), 242-249.
5.
CookR. W.HartmanT. (1986). Female college student interest in a sales career: A comparison. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 6(1), 29-34.
6.
CrawfordJ. C.LumpkinJ. R. (1983). The choice of selling as a career. Industrial Marketing Management, 12, 257-261.
7.
CumminsS.PeltierJ. W.ErffmeyerR.WhalenW. (2013). A critical review of the literature for sales educators. Journal of Marketing Education, 35(1), 68-78.
Deeter-SchmelzD. R.KennedyK. N. (2011). A global perspective on the current state of sales education in the college curriculum. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 31(1), 55-75.
10.
DubinskyA. J. (1981). Perceptions of the sales job: How students compare with industrial salespeople. Academy of Marketing Science Journal, 9(4), 352-367.
11.
DubinskyA. J.O‘ConnorP. J. (1983). A multidimensional analysis of preferences for sales positions. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 3(2), 31-41.
12.
FogelS.HoffmeisterD.RoccoR.StruckD. P. (2012). Teaching sales. Great sales professionals are scarce and getting scarcer. Why aren’t universities working harder to create more?Harvard Business Review, July-August, 94-99.
13.
GeorgeJ. FValacichJ. S.ValorJ. (2004). Does information systems still matter? Lessons for a maturing discipline. Paper presented at the 25th International Conference on Information Systems, Washington, DC.
14.
GrayD. M.PeltierJ. W.ShibrowskyJ. A (2012). The Journal of Marketing Education: Past, present & future. Journal of Marketing Education, 34(3), 217-237.
15.
HoneycuttE. D.FordJ. B.SwensonM. J.SwinyardW. R. (1999). Student preferences for sales careers around the Pacific Rim. Industrial Marketing Management, 28, 27-36.
16.
KarakayaF.QuigleyC.BinghamF. (2011). A cross-national investigation of student intentions to pursue a sales career. Journal of Marketing Education, 33(1), 18-27.
17.
KimD.MarkhamF. S.CangelosiJ. D. (2002). Why students pursue the business degree: A comparison of business majors across universities. Journal of Education for Business, 1, 28-32.
18.
KumarA.KumarP. (2013). An examination of factors influencing students selection of business majors using TRA framework. Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, 11(1), 77-105.
19.
LaBarberraP. A.SimonoffJ. S. (1999). Toward enhancing the quality and quantity of marketing majors. Journal of Marketing Education, 21(1), 4-13.
20.
LagaceR. R.LongfellowT. A. (1989). The impact of classroom style on student attitudes toward sales careers: A comparative approach. Journal of Marketing Education, 11(3), 72-77.
21.
LeasherM. K.MobergC. R. (2008). Evaluating the impact of collegiate sales training and education on early salesperson performance. Journal of Selling & Major Account Management, 8(4), 32-45.
22.
LiesenB.TippinsM. J.LillyB. (2004). A broadened sales curriculum: Exploratory evidence. Journal of Marketing Education, 26(3), 197-207.
23.
LysonskiS.DurvasulaS. (1998). A cross-national investigation of student attitudes toward personal selling: Implications for marketing education. Journal of Marketing Education, 20(2), 161-173.
24.
MalgwiC. A.HoweM. A.BurnbayP. A. (2005). Influences on students choice of college major. Journal of Education for Business, 80(5), 275-282.
MantelS. P.PullinsE. B.ReidD. A.BuehrerR. E. (2002). A realistic sales experience: Providing feedback by integrating buying, selling, and managing experiences. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 22, 33-40.
27.
McCarthyT. M.DavisD. F.GolicicS. L.MentzerJ. T. (2006). The evolution of sales forecasting: A 20-year longitudinal study of forecasting practices. Journal of Forecasting, 25, 303-324.
28.
McCorkleD. E.PayanJ. M.ReardonJ.KlingN. D. (2007). Perceptions and reality: Creativity in the marketing classroom. Journal of Marketing Education, 29(3), 254-261.
29.
MichaelsR. E.MarshallG. W. (2002). Perspectives on selling and sales management education. Marketing Education Review, 12, 1-12.
30.
NoelN. M.MichaelsC.LevasM. G. (2003). The relationship of personality traits and self-monitoring behavior to choice of business major. Journal of Education for Business, 78(3), 153-157.
31.
PeltierJ.CumminsS.PomirleanuN.CrossJ.SimonR. (in press). A parsimonious instrument for predicting intent to pursue a sales career: scale development and validation. Journal of Marketing Education.
32.
PettijohnC.PettijohnL. (2009). An exploratory analysis of sales career desirability: An MBA perspective. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 13, 35-47.
33.
PettijohnC.PettijohnL. (2010). An exploratory analysis of student exposure to personal selling: An MBA perspective. Academy of Educational Leadership, 14, 35-46.
34.
PritchardR. E.PotterG. C.SaccucciM. S. (2004). The selection of a business major: Elements influencing student choice and implications for outcomes assessment. Journal of Education for Business, 79(3), 152-156.
35.
RoachD. W.McGaugheyR. E.DowneyJ. P. (2011). Selecting a business major within the college of business. Administrative Issues Journal: Education, Practice, and Research, 2(1), 107-121.
SchleeR.CurrenM.KieslerT.HarichK. (2007). Perception bias among undergraduate business students by major. Journal of Education for Business, 82(3), 169-177.
38.
SchwatrzB. (2004). The tyranny of choice. Chronicle of Higher Education, 50(20), B6-B8.
39.
SherwoodS. GBlackG. S.DaughtreyC. L.Duber-SmithD. (2012). State of the economy and attitude toward sales careers. Atlantic Economic Journal, 40(3), 343-345.
40.
SiegallM.ChapmanK.BoykinR. (2007). Assessment of core courses and factors that influence the choice of major: A “major” bias?Georgia University of West Georgia. Retrieved from http://www.westga.edu/~bquest/2007/bias7.pdf
41.
SpillanJ. E.TottenJ. W.ChaubeyM. D. (2011). Exploring personal selling as a career option: A case study of the perceptions of African-American students. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 15(2), 93-106.
42.
SpillanJ. E.TottenJ. W.ZiemnowiczC. (2007). What are students perceptions of personal selling as a career?Journal for Advancement of Marketing Education, 11(Winter), 19-30.
43.
StrasserS.OzgurC.SchroederD. (2002). Selecting a business major: An analysis of criteria and choice using the analytical hierarchy process. Mid-America Journal of Business, 17(2), 47-56.
44.
StevensonT. H.PaksoyC. H. (1983). An experimental approach to improve student attitudes toward careers in selling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 11(2), 29-39.
45.
SwensonM. J.SwinyardW. R.LangrehrF. W.SmithS. M. (1993). The appeal of personal selling as a career: A decade later. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 13(1), 51-64.
46.
TarasiC. O.WilsonH.PuriC.DivineR. (2013). Affinity for quantitative tools: Undergraduate marketing students moving beyond quantitative anxiety. Journal of Marketing Education, 35(1), 41-53.
47.
ThomasT.AllenA. (2006). Gender differences in students’ perceptions of information technology as a career. Journal of Information Technology Education, 5(1), 165-178.
VerbekeW.DietzB.VerwaalE. (2011). Drivers of sales performance: A contemporary meta-analysis. Have salespeople become knowledge brokers?Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 39, 407-428.
51.
WaldeckN. E.PullinsE. B.HoulettM. (2010). Media as factor in student perceptions for sales jobs: A framework for research. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 30(4), 343-354.
52.
WeilbakerD. C.WilliamsM. (2006). Recruiting new sales-people from universities: University sales centers offer a better alternative. Journal of Selling & Major Account Management, 6(3), 30-38.
53.
ZhangW. (2007). Why IS: Understanding undergraduate students’ intentions to choose an information systems major. Journal of Information Systems Education, 18(4), 447-458.
