Advancing scholarship: Fostering the motivation to research in future marketing scholars

Purpose of the Study: As doctoral students represent the future of scholarship in academic marketing, we deemed it imperative to explore what factors are related to doctoral students’ motivation to conduct research. Method/Design and Sample: Assessing a sample of doctoral students in Marketing from the AMA’s doctoral students’ special interest group (AMA DOCSIG), the authors used regression analysis to test relationships between the factors self-efficacy, age, emotional labor, faculty quality, role ambiguity, and role conflict and the intrinsic motivation, failure avoidance, and extrinsic motivation components of research motivation. Results: The authors found that in order to identify doctoral students with the highest motivation to produce research, doctoral programs must focus on recruiting candidates who have a high level of self-efficacy, are older with life experience, and who engage in little or no emotional labor (surface acting), all of which contribute to increased intrinsic motivation to conduct academic research. Value to Marketing Educators: Research is an extremely important aspect of the tripartite (research, teaching, and service) model of the modern scholar. In order for marketing to continually advance, the motivation to carry out research must be fostered in scholars of the future.