International Marketing Curriculum and Instructional Pedagogies: Cross-National Differences in Business Students

This study explores B-school students’ perceptions of subject areas in international business/marketing as well as their preferred learning methods. We compared the responses of students from Peru, Guatemala, Mexico, and China. We found the students from the three Latin American countries mostly shared common perceptions of international marketing curriculum and pedagogies, but they were statistically different from their Chinese counterparts. Mexican and Peruvian students preferred multi-media, hands-on learning, and case analysis learning methods while Guatemalan students preferred having guest speakers in the classrooms. Chinese students, by contrast, preferred lectures, and hands-on applications. With respect to international marketing education, the biggest differences in subjects’ views from various countries were observed in the areas of product adaptation decisions. We also report some differences in international marketing subject areas and preference for methods of learning by gender and age groups.