Gratitude within ASEAN Higher Education: an exploratory study.

Gratitude can be a powerful mediating variable within relational exchanges, with the potential to drive important relational outcomes. The cultural characteristics of countries within the ASEAN region, suggest that relational exchanges which focus on reciprocity and thus gratitude may have a particularly important role to play. This study seeks to examine evidence of gratitude within students’ and academics’ experiences within four HEIs within Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. It examines the impact of gratitude on an important relational outcome, word-of-mouth communication. An understanding of the nature and evidence of gratitude amongst students has the potential to inform the development of strategies aimed to enhance word-of-mouth from students about their experiences of university within the ASEAN region