Abstract
Simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time (Banks, Carson, Nelson, & Nicol, 2001). Simulations require the development of an algorithm, or model, that represents the key characteristics, behaviors, or functions of whichever system the simulation represents. So, for example, flight “simulators” are used in training airline pilots. Using these simulations, pilots can encounter any of the wide range of conditions they will face in real flying conditions, including weather, traffic, different airport situations, and mechanical failures, and attempt to deal with them. The benefits of these simulations include, of course, the fact that lives are not put at risk and that expensive equipment remains undamaged, while still confronting the pilots with all the real eventualities they might be challenged with.
Simulations have been used in marketing education for a long time. Like flight simulators, simulations in marketing expose marketing decision makers to a wide range of business conditions that they might face in real-world situations. And, like flight simulators, marketing decision simulations mitigate the risks of making bad decisions in real-world situations. No real money is lost, no real organizations face bankruptcy or reputation problems, and no real jobs are at stake. Like flight simulators, when playing a marketing simulation, marketing decision makers still confront many of the eventualities that will challenge them in the real world of business.
Simulations in marketing, and games as part of marketing courses, have varied in many ways. Some are “analog” in the sense that no computation by digital technology is required, such as the board game described by Forman (2012). Others require digital computations of the decisions made and their effects, and subsequent results. There are games that focus on only one aspect of marketing decision making, such as pricing in the case of the “Universal Rental Car” game (Gourville, Nagel, & Hogan, 2011). Then there are games that require participants to make a wide range of marketing decisions, including market segmentation and target marketing, product design and branding, pricing, distribution, sales force allocation, and advertising. Some simulations require only a little time to conduct and a few minutes for participants to make their decisions, for example, in a single class, while others require a number of weeks to reach a conclusion, and can expect participants to spend many hours in a typical decision round. There are simple simulations whose rules take participants only a few minutes to learn and others that require hours of learning and practice, and that might still not lead to mastery.
Advances in computer technology have radically changed the way computerized marketing simulations and games have worked and been used. Marketing simulations were first used in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. These were mainframe computer based, with students required to make decisions on punch cards, and receiving feedback in the form of vast reams of computer printout. In the 1980s, marketing simulations shifted to personal computers, with students required to input decisions on paper, which the instructor in turn keyed in, and provided the output to students in the form of printed results. In the 1990s, games evolved to a stage where students saved decisions on diskettes, which were then read on the instructor’s computer, processed, and then returned to the players as saved files on the diskettes. Nowadays, most of the more advanced simulations are played “in the cloud,” with students making decisions—and receiving results—online. Many of the limitations of the past, such as keying errors by both students and instructors, and faulty diskettes and file reading, have been eliminated.
The marketing and marketing education literatures have indeed given extensive attention to the use of simulations in the marketing classroom. However, many of the recent advances in software and cloud computing have resulted in radical changes in the conceptualization and utilization of marketing simulations. Moreover, there are many marketing simulation games used nowadays that are not computer based, and which still provide excellent learning experiences for students. Thus, the overall objective of this special issue of the Journal of Marketing Education is to bring together scholarship that addresses how instructors and students alike are using and experiencing simulations in the marketing classroom. Manuscripts for this special issue on “Using Simulations in the Marketing Classroom” are likely to follow, but are not restricted to, one of the following four formats.
Teaching Marketing With Simulations
This format focuses on the role of simulations in the marketing classroom at all levels—undergraduate, MBA, and executive learning situations. Of particular interest here are how simulations fit into the marketing curriculum, how they help achieve the learning objectives set for courses, and the proportion of the final grade they account for, and how this is calculated. We seek papers that describe and study the use of simulations in undergraduate principles courses, MBA and EMBA Marketing Management courses, and also in executive development courses, as well as simulations used in more specialized courses, such as pricing, advertising, retailing, services, and B2B marketing.
Learning From Marketing Simulations
Marketing simulations provide a wonderful, and very realistic, setting in which to study the behaviors of marketing decision makers in groups. While simulations mimic reality, in many ways the situations in which students interact with each other in teams and make marketing decisions mirror how marketers make decisions and evaluate results in the real world. Simulations afford researchers really appealing criterion variables (the “outcomes of the game”), and a wide range of independent variables (such as group cohesiveness, group structure, the quality of group discussion). This format seeks papers that explore the impact of group behavior on simulation outcomes. The value of this type of research lies in the fact that by understanding how group behavior affects simulation performance in a marketing environment, marketing educators can better coach students in groups. It also has wider implications in that these findings can be extended to real-world settings.
Reviews and Comparisons of Marketing Simulations
This format solicits two kinds of submissions. First, it seeks “Consumer Reports” type papers that compare a number of marketing simulations across a range of criteria, including complexity, ease of use, duration, application, and price. Second, it welcomes submissions that do detailed “road tests” of a single, specific simulation, especially if the author(s) has (have) extensive experience in using the simulation.
Personal Reflections of Simulation Developers
This format seeks short submissions from developers of marketing simulations, in which they reflect on the development of their simulations over time. The special issue editors do not intend that these pieces be “advertorials” that promote particular simulations, but rather that the author/developers describe their initial motivations, early and evolving experiences, the trends in the simulation’s development, the challenges, and speculations on how the simulation might evolve in the future.
Cross-Functional Partnerships
Manuscripts addressing any of the numerous topics are encouraged, and the manuscript does not have to be restricted to the marketing classroom/student. We recognize that many marketing simulations are in fact multifunctional in nature and that marketing educators frequently work with colleagues in other disciplines such as accounting, operations, MIS, finance, and business policy. We therefore welcome cross-functional submissions about educating our future business leaders by means of simulations.
Potential contributors should feel free to contact the co-editors with any questions concerning interest and/or appropriateness of topics and formats. All manuscripts will be judged on their scholarly merits, the soundness of the conceptual and methodological approaches, and overall ability to advance the marketing education literature. Authors should follow the general submission guidelines of the Journal of Marketing Education found in recent issues or online at http://jmd.sagepub.com/.
Manuscript submissions should be sent electronically to both of the special issue co-editors:
Professor Leyland Pitt, Simon Fraser University
Professor Jan Kietzmann, Simon Fraser University