Do, Undo, Redo: How Experiential Teaching Formats Prepare Marketing Students for Retail Practice
(A2023-113623)

AUTHORS

Marc Linzmajer, University of St. Gallen/ Institute of Retail Management; Kristina Kleinlercher, Institute of Retail Management, University of St.Gallen; Matthias Eggenschwiler, University of St.Gallen; Thomas Rudolph, University of St. Gallen, Institute of Retail Management

ABSTRACT

The abundance of new touchpoints, stakeholders, and technologies that shape today’s customer journey have rendered retailing more complex than ever before. In light of the high demands on retail managers of tomorrow to use innovative practices and service solutions for delivering customized and delightful customer experiences, business schools struggle to make their courses more relevant to the challenges that students are about to be confronted with in their professional life. With the help of an ethnographic study, this paper investigates the role of experiential learning formats in preparing marketing students for business practice. Findings reveal that experiential learning formats may induce vital skills in students and strengthen their empathy, discourse with others, critical self-reflection, perspective transformation, and adapted behaviors. Our results extend research on experiential learning in marketing and derive valuable implications for retail practice and educators alike.