Emphasizing the student as consumer, this study investigates a causal model of student attitudes and choice of a major in business administration. The impact of academic, vocational, and social influence factors on both attitude and choice were studied. Separate causal models are examined for the four majors of marketing, management, finance, and accounting. Although there were many differences between majors, the academic factors appear to have the greatest effect on attitude and choice.Increasingly, education is being viewed as provision of a service rather than as a factory designed to turn out educated students (Bell 1974). If education is a service, the views of students as consumers must be considered in curriculum evaluation and design (Enis 1977; I-Iomans and Sargent 1977;Kerin et al. 1978). Current and projected declines in college enrollments, coupled with the increased career orientation of college students, have emphasized the need for faculty and administrators to become more aware of the means by which students evaluate and select academic areas of study. Educators can no longer ignore the need to evaluate the educational process from the student consumer point of view (Enis 1977).Recent research has suggested several possible factors that may be important in determining how students evaluate major areas of study in a school of business. Kerin, Harvey and Rothe (1978) found that personal interest in a subject area, job opportunities, and perceived relevance of the subject area were important in the selection of a major. Willenborg, Pitts and Lewison (1978) reported that such factors as course interest, long-term earnings potential, job image, and job orientation were related to a student's attitude toward a major. Gaertner, Terpening and Pitts (1980) expanded these concepts to include specific course offerings, perceptions of faculty, and specific career opportunities. These studies indicate that various aspects of the curriculum, faculty, and future career potential are related to the way a student evaluates major areas of study. However, the literature in psychology and vocational counseling also suggests that various personal factors also affect a student's attitude and choice. Two types of factors may be especially relevant. Vocational orientation would appear to be one such personal factor that may influence a student's evaluation of major areas of study. It is also widely accepted that the individual's social environment is a major influence on attitudes and behavior. Thus, such influences would be expected to affect the student's attitude toward, and subsequent choice of, a particular major.Social influences would be expected both from the home environment and from student peers in the university.Thus, three general types of factors can be postulated to affect the attitudes and choice of majors in the functional areas of a business school: vocational orientation factors (an orientation toward scientific, social, artistic or enterprising occupations); academic factors (such as the perceived ...