Retail Education from the Student to the Store and Beyond: How New Teaching Formats and Methods Influence Students’ Transformative Learning Process
(A2019-9356)

AUTHORS

Kristina Kleinlercher, Institute of Retail Management, University of St.Gallen; Marc Linzmajer, University of St. Gallen/ Institute of Retail Management; Thomas Rudolph, University of St. Gallen, Institute of Retail Management

KEYWORDS

retail education; transformative learning; student overconfidence

ABSTRACT

The abundance of new touchpoints (e.g., mobile apps, price comparison portals, blogs) and stakeholders (e.g., manufacturers, other customers, search engine providers) that shape the customers’ purchase experience have rendered retailing more complex, fast-moving, and competitive than ever before. In light of the high demands on retail managers of tomorrow, educational institutions struggle to make their courses more relevant for the challenges that students are about to be confronted with in their professional life. With the help of a longitudinal study and several laboratory experiments, this project examines how an innovative, and technology-enhanced teaching format and new teaching mechanisms may help bridging the gap between the experiences that retail students make in the classroom and real-life work experiences. This project extends research on store retailing, retail education, and transformative learning and derives valuable implications for educators in retail management.