Using Typologies to Interpret Study Abroad Preferences of American Business Students: Applying a Tourism Framework to International Education

Abstract

The authors describe research that applies a tourist framework to study abroad attitudes and preferences. A total of 371 university business students in the Southern region of the United States completed a survey that included the International Tourist Role scale and study abroad attitudes and preferences. These students were grouped into one of 4 international tourist typologies: familiarity seekers, controlled exposure seekers, spontaneous dissimilarity seekers, and cultural dissimilarity seekers. Identifying the combination of travel preferences held by members of these 4 typologies can help business educators and study abroad professionals design, develop, and market study abroad programs for business students.

Keywords:

• global business education
• international education
• program marketing
• study abroad
• tourist typologies