Increasingly, professional sales programs receive financial support from company sponsors in exchange for varying types of branding and recruiting opportunities. This study builds on the literature regarding employer branding and talent acquisition by examining the effect sales program sponsorship has on students. Grounded in organizational reputation theories, brand equity, and the literature on corporate sponsorship, it is proposed that sponsoring a sales program leads to positive student–firm related perceptions. Additionally, it is predicted that classroom engagement in the form of coteaching enhances these positive effects. Two natural field experiments, one involving two semesters of professional sales students (n = 90), the other involving four semesters of professional sales students (n = 174), are conducted to test the conceptual model. Results confirm the study’s predictions that sponsoring firms are perceived more favorably by students, and classroom engagement enhances these positive perceptions. Finally, results suggest that firms with lower initial familiarity among students have the most to gain in terms of enhancing student perceptions through coteaching.

越来越多的专业销售计划从公司赞助商那里获得财务支持，以换取不同类型的品牌推广和招聘机会。本研究以有关雇主品牌和人才获取的文献为基础，通过检查销售计划赞助对学生的影响。以组织声誉理论、品牌资产和有关企业赞助的文献为基础，建议赞助销售计划会导致积极的学生-公司相关认知。此外，预计以联合教学形式进行的课堂参与会增强这些积极影响。两个自然现场实验，一个涉及两个学期的专业销售学生（n = 90），另一个涉及四个学期的专业销售学生（n= 174)，进行概念模型测试。结果证实了该研究的预测，即学生更喜欢赞助公司，而课堂参与增强了这些积极的看法。最后，结果表明，学生最初熟悉程度较低的公司在通过联合教学提高学生认知方面获益最大。