Recruiting for the Collegiate Marching Band: A Study of Student Perceptions of Recruitment and College Choice Factors in Kansas and Missouri

The marching band is an important and iconic part of the game day atmosphere at athletic events and community functions at colleges and universities throughout the United States. At many institutions, the band is a great source of pride and considerable resources are committed in an effort to have the best band possible. A key component to having the best band possible is having effective recruiting practices. There is a large body of research on recruiting general student populations and many other sub categories of students, including music majors. However, research regarding recruitment of students that participate in marching band is missing from the literature because most marching band members are not majoring in music. It is the hypothesis in this research that these students are a unique population that likely respond to different recruiting strategies than would those who are music majors. To determine what college choice factors and recruiting strategies are most applicable to the college marching band member, the Marching Band Participation Questionnaire was designed to measure why students chose to participate in their chosen program. Results from the study demonstrate that 70% of college marching band members are not majoring in music and that they have college choice considerations that differ from the general student population and those of music majors. Therefore, this demographic is likely to be more responsive to a recruiting and marketing campaign that treats them as a unique population