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Purpose of the Study. Where do small business owners and managers get the marketing knowledge they need to make marketing decisions? Using a marketing knowledge value chain framework, this research identifies the sources used by these marketing decision makers.
Method/Design and Sample. An online survey of small business owners and managers (n = 226) was conducted. Using a constant sum response format, respondents were asked to report the degree to which they used 15 different information sources, including such things as formal education, trade publications, and on-the-job training. Various demographics were included to explore differences across groups.
Results. On-the-job training was the most heavily weighted information source (25% weight), followed by colleagues, peers, and associates (18%). Even though 59% of the sample had taken a college-level marketing course at some point, formal education had a modest importance weight (13%). Academic journals received a very low weight (1%). Few differences in sources used were found across education level, size of organization, and revenue growth.
Value to Marketing Educators. Recognizing that a large percentage of marketing graduates will work for small businesses, this study highlights the need for marketing faculty to make marketing knowledge creation and dissemination more relevant to small businesses. To accomplish this goal, more academic research can be targeted toward small business challenges, and client projects, internships, and case analyses can integrate more small businesses.
Keywords. Small business marketing, SME, marketing science value chain, practitioner learning, value of marketing education.
As marketing educators, we are often interested in preparing and developing our students to become successful business professionals through the content that we teach in the classroom (Bacon, 2017; Finch, Nadeau, & O'Reilly, 2013; Rundle-Thiele, Bennett, & Dann, 2005; Schlee & Karns, 2017; Wellman, 2017). However, we also realize that many of the ideas, insights, and tools students need to be successful are learned on the job. Students' sources of learning are the agencies with which they work, the business press, their managers, the web, and most likely many other sources. To fully understand marketing education, marketing educators must understand the entire process by which novices become experts so we can better understand the limits and potential opportunities within the role of the professional marketing educator.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The foundational work on the...