Name Recognition: An Informal Look

Abstract

Treacy (3), a professor of economics at Wright State University, reports on an inquiry which he conducted in two sections of his class. One hundred and nine students were asked to identify Adam Smith, Nfred Marshall, and Spuds MacKenzie (the Anheuser Busch Budweiser light-beer dog). Twenty-nine percent correctly identified Adam Smith, 44% Alfred Marshall, and 95% Spuds MacKenzie. To gather more data on this topic, a study was conducted in the Spring of 1988 at a business school in the Northeast. Eighty-three graduate students majoring in management were asked to identib, using a written survey, Peter Drucker, Henri Fayol, Spuds MacKenzie, and Frederick Taylor. Reference was made in class to Drucker, Fayol, and Taylor; Spuds MacKenzie was not mentioned. Taylor was discussed in a reading assignment; the other three were not. The number of correct identifications are displayed below by sex, citizenship, and age.