When Challenge Helps Learning: An Authentic Challenge Framework for Experiential Marketing Education

Despite the widespread use of experiential learning in marketing education, the mechanisms linking authentic experiences to educational outcomes remain insufficiently understood. This study proposes and examines an Authentic Challenge Framework integrating authenticity, engagement, and cognitive processing to explain perceived learning and perceived skill transfer. Survey data were collected from 51 undergraduate marketing students at two public universities in the northeastern United States. Results showed that authenticity was positively associated with engagement, which was positively related to both germane and intrinsic cognitive load. Both forms of cognitive load were positively associated with perceived learning and perceived skill transfer. Contrary to expectations, intrinsic cognitive load weakened the positive relationship between germane cognitive load and perceived learning and did not significantly moderate the relationship between germane cognitive load and perceived skill transfer. Although productive challenge was not directly measured, these findings suggest that cognitive challenge may not be uniformly beneficial; its educational value may depend on students’ capacity to sustain productive cognitive processing as task demands increase. The study integrates experiential learning theory and Cognitive Load Theory while identifying a potential boundary condition for cognitive challenge and highlighting the need to balance authenticity, cognitive effort, task complexity, and instructional support.