Motives Driving the Choice of a Business Concentration: A Four-Country Study of Marketing, Accounting and Finance, and Management Undergraduates

This four-country study compares business students concentrating in marketing, accounting and finance (AF), and management with respect to five motives: lifestyle aspirations, reputational effects, relative ease of completion, career outcomes, and developmental skills. We find that, except for the d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of marketing education Vol. 41; no. 3; pp. 185 - 201
Main Authors Davies, Mark A. P., Tikoo, Surinder
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.12.2019
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Accounting
Business Administration Education
Business education
Career Choice
Careers
Cognitive Style
Comparative Analysis
Cross Cultural Studies
Cultural Influences
Educational Administration
Finance Occupations
Foreign Countries
Graduation
Life Style
Lifestyles
Majors (Students)
Management Development
Marketing
Outcomes of Education
Reputation
Skill Development
Social Systems
Student Attitudes
Student Motivation
Undergraduate Students
United Kingdom
United Arab Emirates
United States
China
United States > US
accounting and finance
motives
marketing
concentrations
management
culture
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Summary:This four-country study compares business students concentrating in marketing, accounting and finance (AF), and management with respect to five motives: lifestyle aspirations, reputational effects, relative ease of completion, career outcomes, and developmental skills. We find that, except for the developmental skills motive, the importance of different motives varies with concentration choice. Lifestyle aspirations and relative ease of completion motives tend to be generally more important to marketing than AF and management concentrators, while career outcomes are more important to AF concentrators compared with marketing and management concentrators. Comparing marketing students in the United States to their counterparts elsewhere, those in China are significantly less attracted to lifestyle aspirations, reputation, and career outcomes, while those in the United Arab Emirates show no significant differences in career outcomes or reputation compared with those from the United States. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of variations in cognitive styles of concentrations, cultural norms, and market forces between tight and loose societies, with implications for managers of educational institutions.
ISSN:0273-4753
1552-6550
DOI:10.1177/0273475318773501