Business Commons^™

Enhancing The Communication Competency Of Business Undergraduates: A Consumer Socialization Perspective, Kenneth C. Gehrt, M. O'Brien, D. Mease

Kenneth C. Gehrt

Explaining how individuals acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively participate in society is often accomplished through Socialization Theory. We investigate numerous socialization agents and their relationship with the communication competency of university business majors. Communication competency (reading, writing, and verbal) was measured via both a standardized skill test and self report. Exploratory analysis was conducted upon high and low communication competency groups that were identified via cluster analysis. Our findings generally indicate the most important socialization agents are via personal interactions whereas the least important socialization agents are influencing via primarily electronic or media-based methods.