Discovering markets and culture across Southeast Asia
MARK 561 students posing outside of the Angkor Thom Temple in Cambodia.
In January 2025, graduate marketing students set out on a transformative study abroad journey through Southeast Asia. Guided by Cliff Shultz, professor and Charles H. Kellstadt Chair of Marketing, the group traveled to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand as part of MARK 561: Comparative Marketing and Consumer Behavior in Emerging Southeast Asia.
Below, graduate student Susan Plattner reflects on the experience and how it shaped her education and outlook.
MARK 561 abroad reflection by Susan Plattner
Southeast Asia has always been on my bucket list of places to visit. When I interviewed for the Baumhart Scholars MBA, one of the people I met encouraged me to take MARK 561, the Comparative Consumer Behavior in Emerging Southeast Asia class with Dr. Cliff Shultz, and said I wouldn’t regret it. I took his advice and as soon as registration opened, I registered for that course. Learning about other countries, cultures, economics, and business in school is interesting, but learning about business in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand by traveling there was enlightening.
Starting in Ho Chi Minh City, we met many inspiring people, including former Vietnamese students of Dr. Shultz who delivered informative and uplifting presentations on their business careers. We also had the opportunity to meet Americans who lived and worked in Ho Chi Minh City, and learned about what brought them to Vietnam, and how to thrive in Vietnam. In Cambodia, Bunthin, our tour guide, shared the history of his country. Being a survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide could easily break a person, but Bunthin has tremendous pride in his country and enthusiastically discussed Cambodia’s history, both the good and the bad, and its current political and market dynamics. He reminded us how important it is to learn about history, so that we can prevent future atrocities. We also had an opportunity to cook and serve a delicious lunch for schoolchildren in rural Cambodia, who endure poverty and other hardships simply to attend school. In Thailand, several expat business leaders shared their experiences regarding the challenges and opportunities of living and doing business in Thailand, and the nuances of marketing and consumer behavior in Southeast Asia more broadly.
Seeing temples, monuments and historical sites in person, I was left awestruck. We toured the Reunification Palace in Ho Chi Minh City, the command center of the former southern regime during the Vietnam War, which is now a museum. Wherever we went in Ho Chi Minh City, we learned about the history of a neighborhood, building, hotel, and the overall area. We also visited the War Remnants Museum, which had several exhibits that showed the tragic impact of war on the Vietnamese people and Americans. In Cambodia, we toured Angkor Wat at sunrise. Bunthin took the time to share the history of the temple, the sculptures, carvings, and their connections to both Hinduism and Buddhism. We explored Angkor Thom, “the Great City”, and its incomparable Bayon Temple. Seeing it in person left me speechless. In Thailand, we toured several temples including Wat Po, and its gigantic reclining Buddha. We also had the opportunity to assess and experience touristic marketing while visiting beaches in Vung Tau, Vietnam, and Jomtien, Thailand. It was interesting to compare them and to learn who they are marketed towards, while also enjoying some time to relax.
Food always tastes better in the countries where it is from. In Vietnam, we ate pho, banh mi, and many other wonderful Vietnamese dishes, including Vietnamese pizza. In Cambodia, we ate amazingly delicious foods. We visited SPOONS Café and Restaurant, an NGO that trains young adults in the hospitality industry; students actually ran the restaurant where we had my favorite meal of the whole trip: fresh spring rolls, a chicken dish, dessert, and cocktails. In Bangkok, we had many delicious meals including a dinner cruise on the Chao Phraya River. Throughout the trip, we tried several different fruits including dragon fruit, pomelo, jack fruit, bananas, watermelon, pineapple, and coconut. Everything was delicious and the hospitality was always welcoming.
In two weeks, the number of people we met, places we visited, and sites we saw was tremendous. Fortunately, prior to the trip, we had two in-person classes at the Schreiber Center and learned about each country’s history, government, politics, economics, business and marketing, consumers and NGOs. These classes were an important foundation for our experiential learning and understanding in Southeast Asia. Our final meeting was at a Thai restaurant in Chicago. We shared memories and life-updates while enjoying a professional quality slideshow presentation from a project team in the class that video-recorded our many experiences. Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand all have a lot to offer to those interested in visiting as tourists, but also to those wanting to open or do business there. Having the opportunity to understand the unique business, industry, tourism, marketing and consumer dynamics by experiencing them in person made this class one that I won’t ever forget. Benefiting from the many relationships that Dr. Shultz has made over the years, made this experience even more valuable from a learning perspective. The opportunity to study abroad as a graduate student is one that I recommend everyone experiences.
Photo gallery
See highlights from the trip in this Flickr photo gallery.