Marketing the Accounting Major: The Impact of Job-Specific Messaging on Undergraduate Student Interest

Abstract

Declining enrollments are a concerning trend for practitioners and academics alike. In this paper, we survey a sample representing over 70 majors to document their attitude towards the accounting profession. Then, we perform an experiment where we present students with information about a career in tax, audit, or forensic accounting to determine if receiving information about an accounting career can improve their perceptions. Our results show that information on all three careers improved student perceptions, but that forensic accounting improved student perceptions the most. Both academics and practitioners should try to focus on emerging careers, such as forensic accounting, rather than focusing on careers in tax and audit to maximize student recruitment.