Puppetry's potential for broadening boundaries in marketing education

Puppetry has long been used as a means of teaching, communication and artistic expression. Like other art forms such as drama, dance and story telling, it is claimed that puppetry can both teach and persuade and as such offers considerable potential for marketing educators. Despite this potential, little has been written about the use of puppetry in marketing pedagogy. This paper documents a case study involving the use of student designed puppetry within a final-year services marketing unit at an Australian University and presents findings from an exploratory study investigating student reactions to puppetry and perceptions of puppetry's educational value. The paper also provides justification for using puppetry in marketing education and outlines some of the ways that puppets, in various forms, can be utilised in the classroom. Results from the study suggest that students perceived the use of puppetry to be fun, engaging and a useful way for students to work with and get to know classmates. The results of this preliminary study have implications for marketing educators seeking to explore alternative teaching methods and trying to create worthwhile, engaging and novel experiences for students in face-to-face teaching environments.