During the International Week of the Dutch Fontys University of Applied Sciences, David Bourdin from FHWien der WKW presented his research work and supported students to develop concepts for the implementation of the SDGs in selected communities.
David Bourdin, Teaching & Research Associate at the Competence Center for Marketing, proved that the international exchange of lecturers works excellently despite travel restrictions. As a guest lecturer at the International Week at the Fontys Academy for Creative Industries from March 15 to 19, he gave a lecture on his research work in the field of international marketing – intercultural behavior. Under the motto “WE ARE Global Citizens” he coached Dutch students on concept development for anchoring the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) among selected target groups – of course, in a virtual interactive setting.
With 44,000 students and over 200 bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, Fontys University of Applied Sciences is one of the largest universities in the Netherlands and part of FHWien der WKW’s international network of over 150 partner universities worldwide.
Intercultural Consumer Behavior – An Overview
In his interactive presentation on “Identities, Orientations, and Stereotypes: How Individual Characteristics Affect our Intercultural Behavior,” Bourdin explained key aspects of intercultural consumer behavior, such as global, local, and foreign brand positioning strategies, the country-of-origin effect, ethnocentrism, cosmopolitanism, and xenocentrism, and addressed the impact of a service professional’s accent on customer participation in the service process.
Concept development using a “design thinking process” to anchor selected SDGs.
Students from the bachelor’s degree programs in Communication, Marketing Management, and Trend Research in their 2nd and 3rd years, as well as exchange students, worked together in multidisciplinary teams to develop concepts that could have a positive impact on a specific community. The challenge was to solve a specific issue related to the SDGs. Unveiled in 2015 by the UN General Assembly, the Calls to Action are a collection of 17 interrelated global goals that are intended to serve as a “roadmap” to achieve a more sustainable future for all people by 2030.
The task focused on three of these goals: “Good Health and Well-Being” (SDG 3), “Gender Equality” (SDG 5), and “Reduced Inequalities” (SDG 10). Demonstrating their creativity and problem-solving skills, students explained the relevance of their assigned SDG to a community of their choice and applied the design-thinking process to create an operational concept based on extensive analysis that can achieve global impact. David Bourdin acted as coach, supporting the concept development process in daily group meetings with feedback and food for thought, encouraging dialogue and deep reflection to the final result – the presentation of an 8- to 15-minute video.
International university partnership even in times of the COVID-19 pandemic
David Bourdin’s participation in the virtual International Week of the Fontys University of Applied Sciences enabled new contacts to be made with international lecturers, a lively exchange with Dutch students to take place and the partnership between FHWien der WKW and the long-standing partner university to be strengthened. This in turn contributes significantly to the international orientation of FHWien der WKW.