The Method Efficacy and Outcomes of a Marketing Service-Learning Project on the Integration of Faith-Related Perspectives into the Lives of Undergraduate Students

Abstract

A relatively new pedagogical approach termed “faith and learning in action” (FLA) involves crafting an assignment to include faith integration (FI) in a way that inspires the learned action of an academic subject through service-learning (SL). This study incorporated experiential learning methods in the employment of FLA into a Principles of Marketing course project. Participants (47 undergraduate students) were challenged to consider how the Christian faith influenced their view of advocacy marketing, kindness in marketing messaging, and the motivation to take part in a public service advertising (PSA) project in service to a local middle school. The students were organized into groups and asked to conduct field interviews to improve their understanding of the social issues facing the local middle school students. Each group then developed a one-minute video designed to inform, persuade, or remind middle school students to recognize and respond to the social issues they face. These PSA videos were voted on by the local middle school student leadership team and distributed through YouTube to the local middle school administration to share with middle school students, teachers, and parents during various events and marketing channels. The design and methods used in this PSA project were then researched using a case study approach to investigate how FLA could synergistically connect Christian faith, service, and marketing. Self-reported outcomes of undergraduate students identified that the use of an ethical learning strategy and two experiential learning methods reportedly helped a large majority (79%) to make connections between their Christian faith and service; a large majority (69%) similarly self-reported making connections to the academic discipline of marketing.