MARKETING EDUCATION REVIEW

MARKETING EDUCATION REVIEW

SPECIAL ISSUE ONE: CALL FOR PAPERS

Call for Papers – Marketing Education Review Special Issue
Special Issue Title: Advancing Excellence in Professional Selling and Sales Management
Education

Submission Deadline: September 30th, 2026
Guest Editors:
• Dr. Leff Bonney, Florida State University (lbonney@business.fsu.edu)
• Dr. Jessica Ogilvie, Marquette University (jessica.ogilvie@mu.edu)
Journal Editor:
• Dr. Christopher Hopkins, Auburn University (cdh0059@auburn.edu)
Special Issue Overview

Professional selling remains a critical engine of economic activity, a primary driver of firm
revenue, and a foundational career path for a significant percentage of business graduates. The sales function is where strategy meets the market, and its effectiveness is paramount to
organizational success. Consequently, the education and training of sales professionals—from
undergraduate students taking their first sales course to seasoned executives honing their
leadership skills—is a matter of vital importance to both academia and industry (Scribner,
Delpechitre & Lastner, 2024).

Despite its enduring significance, sales education exists in a state of continuous evolution. It
stands at the nexus of profound disruptions transforming higher education and the business world simultaneously (Alavi & Habel, 2021). Educators must navigate a complex environment
characterized by shifting student expectations for flexibility and relevance, intense economic
pressures on universities to demonstrate value, and rapidly evolving workforce demands from an industry grappling with technological change and new buyer behaviors (Cardinali et al., 2025).

A central and persistent challenge in this domain is bridging the gap between academic theory
and professional practice (Metsola, 2025). Sales education must provide students with a rigorous theoretical foundation in areas like consumer behavior, persuasion, and strategic management, while also equipping them with the tangible, career-ready skills demanded by employers. This dual mandate requires a thoughtful and evidence-based approach to curriculum design, pedagogical innovation, and learner assessment. The scope of this challenge is broad, encompassing the full spectrum of learning contexts: traditional university degree programs and concentrations, corporate sales training and onboarding programs designed to shorten ramp-up times, and the development of sales acumen for entrepreneurs and small business owners.

This special issue of Marketing Education Review seeks to consolidate and advance our
collective knowledge of how to best educate and train the sales professionals and leaders of
today and tomorrow. We invite empirical, conceptual, and methodological contributions from 
across the entire landscape of professional selling and sales management education. The goal is to create a comprehensive special issue that addresses foundational questions, explores
contemporary challenges, and provides actionable insights for educators, administrators, and
training professionals dedicated to advancing excellence in the field.

Illustrative List of Topics
Submissions are welcome on a wide range of topics. The following non-exhaustive list is
intended to illustrate the broad scope of the special issue:

1. Pedagogical Strategies and Curricular Innovation

• Effectiveness of Teaching Modalities: As student demands for flexibility grow, rigorous
research is needed to compare the effectiveness of different delivery formats. We
welcome comparative studies on learning outcomes in in-person, online, hybrid, and
asynchronous sales courses.

• The Role of Experiential Learning: Sales is a performance-based discipline. What is
the assessed impact of experiential learning tools such as in-class role-plays, live sales
call exercises, complex case studies, and participation in national sales competitions on
student confidence, skill acquisition, and career readiness?

• Curriculum Design and Content: We solicit research on the optimal design of sales
curricula. This includes studies on the structure of a sales major, minor, or concentration;
the sequencing of courses; and the integration of core concepts such as prospecting, needs
discovery, negotiation, relationship management, and closing.

2. Learner Development, Assessment, and Career Outcomes

• Measuring Learning and Competency: How do we know our teaching is effective?
This special issue encourages the development and validation of robust instruments and
rubrics to assess the acquisition of specific sales skills and competencies, moving beyond
simple course grades.

• The Link Between Education and Performance: There is a pressing need to
demonstrate the return on investment for sales education, both for students and for the
organizations that hire them. This imperative requires research that connects educational
inputs to tangible outputs. University programs are increasingly highlighting career
outcomes, such as post-graduation employment rate, as a key indicator of success. We
therefore strongly encourage longitudinal studies that track the career trajectories,
performance metrics (e.g., quota attainment, promotion speed), and long-term success of
graduates from university sales programs.

• Student Engagement and Motivation: What factors drive student interest, persistence,
and success in the sales discipline? We invite research exploring the influence of faculty
mentorship, the role of student organizations (e.g., chapters of Pi Sigma Epsilon), and the
impact of early exposure to successful sales role models.

3. Educating for Sales Management and Leadership

• Teaching Sales Management: Research on effective pedagogical approaches for
teaching core sales management topics is critical. This includes curriculum design for
subjects such as sales force compensation and incentives, contest design, territory
alignment, sales forecasting, and performance management.

• Managing & Leveraging Technology Strategically: Modern sales leaders must be
adept at selecting, implementing, and driving adoption of a complex sales technology
stack, from CRM and analytics platforms to AI-powered coaching and sales enablement
tools. We invite research on how to educate future managers on evaluating the ROI of
these technologies, integrating them into the sales process to enhance productivity, and
using technology to support, rather than replace, effective coaching and performance
management.

• Developing Coaching Skills: Effective coaching is a key differentiator between average
and elite sales managers. How can we effectively teach the art and science of sales
coaching in a classroom setting? We solicit research on pedagogies for developing
coaching frameworks, feedback techniques, and motivational strategies in future sales
leaders.

• Strategic Alignment: Influential scholars argue that sales management must be tightly
integrated with a firm's overall business strategy to be effective. We welcome papers that
explore how to teach this crucial connection, preparing students to think beyond tactical
selling and understand the strategic role of the sales function.

4. The Academia-Industry Interface

• The Role of University Sales Centers: University sales centers have become pivotal in
advancing the discipline. We seek studies that examine the impact and best practices of
these centers in fostering industry partnerships, enriching the student experience, and
generating relevant research. The work of the University Sales Center Alliance (USCA)
provides a rich context for this research.

• Effective Industry Partnerships: What forms of industry collaboration are most
impactful? We invite studies on the effectiveness of corporate advisory boards, guest
speaker series, company-sponsored curriculum projects, and the use of industry
professionals as mentors and coaches.

• The Legitimacy Project: We welcome conceptual or historical papers on the role of
organizations like the Sales Education Foundation (SEF) and USCA in establishing sales
as a legitimate, rigorous, and respected academic discipline and professional career,
changing perceptions in both academia and the corporate world.

5. Ethical, Global, and Cultural Dimensions of Sales Education

• Teaching Sales Ethics: Beyond a single lecture, how can educators embed ethical
decision-making into every facet of the sales curriculum? We seek papers on innovative
pedagogies, case studies, and frameworks for cultivating a strong ethical compass in sales
students.

• Global Sales Education: What adaptations are needed to prepare students for careers in
international sales? This includes research on teaching cross-cultural negotiation,
adapting sales models to non-Western frameworks, and managing global sales teams.

• Developing Cultural Intelligence & Competencies: As sales becomes increasingly
global and customer bases more diverse, the ability to understand, adapt to, and leverage
cultural differences is a critical skill. We invite research on pedagogical methods for
developing and assessing cultural intelligence (CQ) in sales students. This could include
studies on the effectiveness of immersive experiences, cross-cultural case studies, and
frameworks for adapting communication and negotiation styles to different cultural
contexts.

• Student Well-Being: Higher education is witnessing rising levels of student anxiety and
burnout. What is the role of the sales educator in this context? We solicit research on
fostering resilience, managing performance pressure, and supporting student mental
health within the demanding context of sales education.

Submission Guidelines and Key Dates

Manuscripts should follow the Marketing Education Review formatting and submission
requirements. Submissions must clearly articulate both theoretical and practical contributions,
with particular emphasis on how the work addresses challenges or opportunities in professional selling and sales management education. Authors are encouraged to demonstrate the applicability, adaptability, and potential impact of their insights on instructional design, student engagement, curriculum development, or broader educational practice.

When submitting, authors must select the special issue option, "Advancing Excellence in
Professional Selling and Sales Management Education," and not the regular issue. Manuscripts
should be between 4,000 and 7,000 words (15 to 30 pages), plus appropriate references, tables, and other supporting materials. Please consult the MER website for complete submission formatting requirements.

Important Dates:
Manuscript Submission Portal Opens January 15th, 2025
Manuscript Submission Deadline September 30th, 2026

Contact Information:
For inquiries regarding this call for papers, please contact the Special Issue Editors or the Editor-in-Chief.

• Dr. Leff Bonney, Florida State University (lbonney@business.fsu.edu)
• Dr. Jessica Ogilvie, Marquette University (jessica.ogilvie@mu.edu)
• Dr. Christopher D. Hopkins, EIC, Auburn University, (cdh0059@auburn.edu)

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SPECIAL ISSUE TWO: CALL FOR PAPERS

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Marketing Education Review Teaching Innovations Special Issue:

“Marketing Strategy Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”

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Guest Editors:

Bryan T. McLeod – University of North Carolina at Pembroke

Jose Saavedra Tores – Northern Kentucky University

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Manuscript Submission Deadline: February 15, 2027

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Marketing strategy has long served as the Final course within many undergraduate and graduate marketing programs. Unlike courses that focus on a single area of marketing, marketing strategy requires students to integrate concepts from consumer behavior, marketing research, branding, digital marketing, analytics, international marketing, and other marketing disciplines to develop comprehensive marketing strategies. To be successful, students must analyze complex business problems, evaluate strategic alternatives, and make decisions in situations where information is often incomplete and there is rarely a single correct answer.

The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence is changing how each of these activities is performed in industry. Marketers increasingly rely on AI to gather and analyze information, identify market opportunities, evaluate competitors, generate strategic alternatives, and develop marketing plans. As AI becomes more deeply integrated into strategic marketing practice, marketing educators must reconsider not only how marketing strategy is taught, but also how students are prepared for careers in which strategic decision making will increasingly involve collaboration between human judgment and artificial intelligence.

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Although recent research has examined the integration of AI into marketing education, considerably less attention has been given to its implications for marketing strategy education specifically. This gap is important because the marketing strategy course is where students are expected to synthesize knowledge gained throughout the curriculum and apply it to real-world decision making. AI has the potential to fundamentally change how students gather information, develop strategic recommendations, and solve complex marketing problems. At the same time, effective marketing strategy continues to require critical thinking, creativity, ethical reasoning, and managerial judgment, competencies that cannot simply be delegated to AI.

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We invite conceptual, empirical, pedagogical, and practitioner-oriented submissions that advance our understanding of how artificial intelligence is shaping marketing strategy education. Manuscripts may include empirical research, conceptual articles, case studies, pedagogical innovations, and best practices that examine the opportunities, challenges, and future directions of integrating AI into marketing strategy courses. We encourage submissions that examine how AI is changing the design, delivery, assessment, and outcomes of marketing strategy courses. We also encourage research that identifies best practices for integrating AI into marketing strategy education while continuing to develop the strategic thinking and decision-making skills that have long defined successful marketing professionals.

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Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

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Marketing Strategy Curriculum

• Redesigning the marketing strategy course for the age of AI • Integrating AI throughout the strategic marketing planning process • Teaching AI literacy within marketing strategy courses • The evolving role of marketing strategy within the marketing curriculum • Preparing students for AI-enabled marketing careers • Balancing traditional marketing concepts with emerging AI technologies

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Strategic Decision Making

• Teaching strategic thinking in AI-enhanced learning environments • AI-assisted environmental scanning and situation analysis • AI applications for SWOT analysis • AI-assisted market segmentation, targeting, and positioning • Competitive analysis using AI • AI-supported strategic forecasting • Teaching students when to rely on AI and when managerial judgment should prevail • Human creativity and intuition in AI-supported strategy development

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Experiential Learning

• AI-enhanced consulting projects • Client-based learning using AI • AI-generated marketing simulations • AI-supported business competitions • AI throughout the development of marketing plans • AI-assisted strategic decision-making exercises • Experiential learning that combines human judgment with AI capabilities

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Assessment and Student Learning

• Assessing strategic thinking in AI-supported classrooms • Authentic assessments in marketing strategy education • Oral defenses of AI-assisted marketing plans • Measuring creativity and higher-order thinking in AI-enhanced environments • Student perceptions of AI in marketing strategy courses • AI's influence on strategic reasoning and decision quality • Academic integrity within AI-supported strategy courses

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Faculty Perspectives

• Faculty adoption of AI within marketing strategy instruction • Best practices for integrating AI into capstone marketing courses • Faculty perceptions of AI's impact on student learning • Challenges associated with teaching marketing strategy in AI-rich environments

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The Future of Marketing Strategy Education

• The future role of the marketing strategy course • Skills and competencies required of future marketing strategists • Employer expectations for graduates entering AI-enabled organizations • The relationship between AI, strategic thinking, and managerial decision making • Human-centered competencies that remain essential despite advances in AI • Emerging research directions related to marketing strategy education and AI

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Submission Information

Marketing Education Review welcomes conceptual, empirical, qualitative, quantitative, mixed-method, and pedagogical submissions that make meaningful contributions to marketing strategy education. All manuscripts should follow the journal's submission guidelines and will undergo a double-blind peer review process.

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Manuscript Submission Deadline: February 15, 2027 Submit a manuscript at Taylor & Francis Group

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Questions regarding this special issue should be directed to the guest editors, Bryan T. McLeod (Bryan.McLeod@uncp.edu), Jose Saavedra Torres (saavedratj1@nku.edu) or Christopher D. Hopkins, Editor-in-Chief (mer@auburn.edu).