The Curiosity in Marketing Thinking

Abstract

This article identifies the curiosity in marketing thinking and offers ways to teach for marketing thinking through an environment that fosters students’ curiosity. The significance of curiosity in its relationship with thinking is that when curiosity is absent, so is thinking. Challenges are discussed in recognizing the fragility of curiosity through an understanding of the factors that suppress it. Drawing on existing research in education, psychology, and marketing, a synthesized pedagogical reversal is suggested—instead of pursuing learning in the form of students’ acquisition of knowledge, the focus should be on students’ exploration and appropriation of knowledge and marketing knowledge through their curiosity and thinking. The pedagogical differences are discussed in terms of expectations, measures of success, and what students leave with upon completion.