The current status of course offerings in pricing in the business curriculum

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to determine the availability of pricing courses in AACSB‐accredited undergraduate programs, determine what curricular trends are happening in the area of pricing, ascertain the status of price in the curriculum, and discuss the future direction for pricing in the curriculum. Design/methodology/approach – The population examined consisted of institutions with undergraduate programs accredited in business by the AACSB. At the time the study was conducted, the AACSB's list of accredited schools numbered 443. The data for the study were obtained from the online versions of each school's catalog which could be accessed. The sample consisted of 363 (81.9 percent) of the accredited schools. The marketing offerings of each qualifying school were examined to determine the existence of a course devoted specifically to pricing or including pricing as a significant component. Findings – The paper finds that a only 33 schools (9.1 percent) list a course in their online catalog that demonstrates a significant emphasis in pricing, and only 14 schools (3.9 percent) offer a course dedicated solely to the topic of pricing. Comparing this study with previous studies leads to the conclusion that the availability of pricing courses has not increased as anticipated, and has actually decreased. Practical implications – Numerous papers have concluded that students majoring in marketing would benefit from taking a course in pricing. This paper asks why so few courses are offered given the interest in, and attention to, the topic. Business educators should be raising questions about the content of curricula being offered. Originality/value – This study should raise awareness about the lack of attention toward pricing in the business curriculum. The study also indicates that additional research is needed to compare the curricula of programs not offering a stand‐alone pricing course with schools offering these courses, and begin to address this concern.