Mobile Business Retailing

[We’re pleased to welcome authors Sarah Fischbach and Veronica Guerrero of California Lutheran University. They recently published an article in the Journal of Marketing Education entitled “Mobile Business Retailing: Driving Experiential Learning on Campus,” which is currently free to read for a limited time. Below, they reflect on the motivations for conducting this research:]

Almost everyone knows what you are talking about when you say Food Truck, however, when you start talking about Game Trucks, Fashion Trucks, Mobile Pet Services Trucks, Mobile IV Trucks, you will find less true understanding and knowledge. In 2014, I attended a 7-year-old birthday party for one of my neighbors’ son. It seemed like the average birthday party with a cake, piñata and of course a food truck. After a little while a couple more trucks pulled up including a Mobile Game Truck and a Mobile Beauty Truck. Inside the climate controlled Game Truck there were six 55” LED TVs with video game consoles, tons of games and controllers for up to 24 players. I was amazed and it took me by surprise, what other types of mobile business are out there. My research lead to the American Mobile Retail Association (AMRA) http://www.americanmra.com and after a couple of conversations with the founders Stacey Jischke-Steffe and Jeanine Romo, I knew that this was something that students needed to know about. The way companies and place our products with the consumer is changing, drastically.
I began working with the AMRA to set up mobile business truck events on campus and it has been a big hit. One of the challenges that I faced was the commitment of the mobile business owner. If they didn’t want to set up their shop or drive it up to campus, they didn’t have to, they were mobile. Another challenge that I found was peoples’ perceptions with mobile businesses since their first and only experience was with food trucks.

The most innovative aspects of the research focus on experiential learning and the use of mobile business truck format. Sometimes students are less motivated in a marketing course when their major is finance, accounting or management. The novelty of the mobile business project allows the students outside the marketing field to see how this could be important at all levels. The mobile business owner is the marketer, manager and the entrepreneur. In business, we wear many hats and this is a great way for the students to see it first-hand.

I have learned that research in pedagogy can be very rewarding. As a professor and a marketing researcher, I enjoy blending research into my courses and testing out new ideas with the students. It is great when these two intersect and the research is helping to improve student learning outcomes. I encourage more professors to apply their research skills to classroom activities.

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Food Truck photo attributed to Free-Photos. (CC)