INTERVENTIONS TO ASSESS AND ADDRESS THE SELF-EFFICACY OF MARKETING STUDENTS TOWARD ACQUIRING ANALYTICAL SKILLS

Abstract

Marketing graduates with analytical skills are in high demand but many marketing majors lack confidence in working with quantitative material. More guidance is needed to address how to support the self-efficacy of marketing students in acquiring analytical skills. We identify three independent types of confidence that relate to the development of analytical skills: confidence in natural ability, confidence in ability to learn, and confidence in current skills. We then provide the results of a two-phase survey, in which students rated an inventory of interventions designed to nurture and advance analytical capabilities. The results suggest that many of the preferences for interventions differ according to confidence level and type of confidence. For example, students with high confidence in their natural ability are more welcoming of opportunities for self-paced studies, while students with lower confidence in their natural ability are more likely to value using additional in-class time to practice quantitative problems. Overall, the findings indicate that quantitative marketing courses should offer multiple approaches for increasing students’ self-efficacy with analytics skills to reach diverse student segments, while using more uniform teaching approaches for valued interventions that do not significantly differ among student groups in terms of perceived helpfulness.

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