Predicting students’ intent to pursue retailing as a career: A means-end perspective

Abstract

Career opportunities in retailing are rapidly expanding, and there is an increased demand for college graduates into the industry. However, retailing was not regarded by the students to be an attractive career option. The current study identified personal values as underlying motivations, which have received less attention but carry important meanings in explaining college students’ choice behavior regarding retailing careers. From the perspective of means-end chain theory, a hierarchical model consisting of personal values, job attributes, and choice behavior has been proposed. Participated in this study were 172 final year business students from two public universities in Malaysia. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the hypothesized relationships. The results show that the values-attributes-behavior hierarchy model can serve as a reliable tool in predicting college students’ expected choice behavior regarding retailing as a career.