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Math Anxiety and the Millennial Marketing Student PDF

Article · February 2016

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Riley Dugan Concha Allen

University of Dayton Central Michigan University
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 marketingmanagement higher ed

Math Anxiety and the

for the level of data analysis required of
marketing managers.
A recent survey of students at a

Millennial Marketing large, national university revealed some

interesting differences in regards to
how accounting/finance and marketing
Student majors view math, and how important
they believe math will be in their
business careers. The results showed that
accounting/finance majors are more
likely than their marketing counterparts
By Riley Dugan and Concha Allen to believe that they will use math heavily
 rdugan1@udayton.edu during their professional careers. While
 concha.allen@cmich.edu this is not surprising, it does highlight
the fact that marketing majors are
generally unaware of the ubiquity of data

M
ost everyone who has taken a standardized within the profession. From salespeople
test can recall having to answer a math quantifying the ROI on their offerings to
market researchers making increasingly
question that went something like this: “Train heavy use of analytics, numbers—and
A is leaving Pittsburgh at 5 a.m. traveling west at 45 the math required to analyze them—
are unavoidable within the marketing
miles per hour. Train B is leaving Denver at 7 a.m. discipline. Despite the increasing
traveling east at 55 miles per hour. At what time will quantitative requirements in the
marketing profession, might students be
the two trains meet in St. Louis?” gravitating toward marketing, as opposed
to other business disciplines, under the
The “train question” has become more than any other marketing course, is mistaken belief that they can avoid math?
synonymous with the difficulty of often the least popular in the curriculum Another interesting, and disturbing,
mathematics. However, when people among marketing students. Decades finding pertains to the reasons why the
bring up the train question as an example of research have shown that millions students chose their respective majors.
of why they found math so difficult, of adults suffer from math anxiety Sixty-three percent of accounting/finance
the implied caveat is that this difficulty and avoidance, which blocks them students chose their majors because of
is associated with the general belief from important career advancement the intellectual challenge of the courses,
that finding the correct answer is an opportunities. Yet while there is a whereas only 21% of marketing majors
impossible mystery, solvable only by the correlation between math ability and surveyed chose their major for the same
gilded few who were born with a certain math anxiety, the two can be entirely reason. Could it be that marketing is the
level of math genius. Yet the question’s separate. Thus, it is possible to be capable “fail safe” option for business students
ubiquity underscores an important in math but still fear it. Oftentimes, who want a less strenuous major—
counterpoint to this belief. That is, the this is the realm where many of our perhaps one less quantitative? To avoid
very fact that it is a hallmark of high marketing students reside. Researchers attracting students to the marketing
school standardized tests is meant to at Central Michigan University revealed major under false pretenses, the data-
suggest that average math students who that marketing students—and sales driven nature of marketing should be
have completed algebra should be able to students, specifically—enjoy quantitative highlighted in college catalogs and
solve it. Students are equipped to answer work less than other business students advising materials as well as entry-level
the question but have the mistaken belief and feel that it is less important to their business courses. Setting expectations
that it is outside the bounds of their career development. Marketing students early may improve the fit between
mathematical abilities. typically have the ability to do the math students pursuing the marketing major
One issue that many marketing required of a business major (which and career opportunities.
professors face are students who have a often requires nothing more advanced Additionally, the survey revealed
fear of classes and assignments that are than basic algebra) but don’t like it, and that accounting/finance majors
quantitative in nature. It is no secret to seemingly want to avoid it if they can. were significantly more likely than
professors that marketing research, which It’s up to marketing professors to help marketing majors to do math in
generally relies on “number crunching” assuage these fears, but also train students their major courses and were more

22 marketing news | February 2016

MN Feb 2016 1-64_1.21.indd 22 1/21/16 12:54 PM


comfortable doing math in general.
Given the heavily quantitative nature
of accounting/finance courses, this also
comes as no surprise. However; given
the importance of quantitative skills in
the marketing profession, these results
should require us to re-think how
we integrate math and statistics into
our curriculum to better prepare our
students for marketing careers.
Marketing professors can better
integrate math and statistics into the
curriculum by treating the use of
numbers as a way to solve holistic
business problems rather than as
answers needed on a test. One way
to achieve this is by using computer
simulations. In the introductory
marketing course of one of the authors,
students team up to form hypothetical
companies in the personal computer
MN Feb 2016 1-64_1.21.indd 23
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higher ed
industry. While the focus of the
simulation is on how marketing and
sales drive top-line revenue, students are
also required to minimize their costs of
goods sold, evaluate the financial trade-
offs of hiring additional salespeople, and
analyze financial forecasts of different
global market segments. All of these
decisions require students to utilize math
and analyze data, but in a way that seems
relevant to marketing. Additionally,
as millennial students have grown up
using computers and have witnessed
the “gamification” of certain aspects
of digital marketing, a simulation is a
natural extension of an environment in
which they are already comfortable.
Despite what may be perceptions
to the contrary, marketing is most
certainly not a major for those students
who want to avoid using numbers. Yet
marketingmanagement
given the fears that many marketing
students have toward analyzing data,
it is incumbent that educators provide
a realistic preview to students prior
to choosing a marketing major, and
integrate the use of math and statistics
into the curriculum in a way that seems
relevant to students. The future of our
discipline may depend on it. m
Riley Dugan is an assistant professor of
marketing at the University of Dayton. He
is actively involved with the Fiore Talerico
Center for Professional Selling at the
University of Dayton. His research concerns
personal selling, sales management, and
issues in sales and marketing education.
Concha Allen is an associate professor
at Central Michigan University and the
founding faculty member of the CMU
Professional Sales program.
February 2016 | marketing news 23
1/21/16 12:54 PM