Bridging Marketing Education and Industry Needs: The Role of Artificial Intelligence and Ethics in Curriculum Innovation

Marketing education is undergoing a transformative shift driven by technological innovation, especially with the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is reshaping both marketing program offerings, student learning, and industry practice. To systematically explore student perceptions regarding these changes and overcome common challenges in obtaining comprehensive real-world data, this study leverages a purposefully constructed synthetic data set. This approach provides an analysis of how student needs correspond with current industry demands. As higher education continues to respond to changing marketing practices, there is a growing need to incorporate experiential learning opportunities, such as AI-driven simulations, to bridge the gap between theoretical marketing concepts and current industry practices. At the same time, the ethical dimensions of marketing instruction are increasingly transdisciplinary, as students entering a workforce must navigate a landscape where technological advancements challenge traditional ethical norms. This article examines the relevance of the marketing concept, where students are viewed as customers, and explores using a utilitarian lens to analyze ethical dilemmas in marketing. The paper suggests that marketing programs and faculty must equip students with technical marketing skills and ethical frameworks to succeed in their chosen profession.