Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to use Fink's (2013) taxonomy of significant learning in a retail marketing class to help rural, price-sensitive students develop empathy toward high-end urban customers while becoming self-directed learners. Design/methodology/approach: Using a 16-week pilot course, students developed a gaming prototype and learned about the challenges of targeting those from a higher socioeconomic status. Findings: Results indicate that educators using Fisk's taxonomy of significant learning might be able to positively influence the empathy that individuals on the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum might feel toward higher-end customers. In addition, qualitative data reflects how a majority of students acknowledged empathy as their weakness but data also reveals how students plan to become continuous learners to improve their empathy in the future. Originality/value: This paper has two key contributions. First, it shows how using a creative style of teaching within a marketing classroom can influence a key characteristic that buyers would need to successfully engage with higher-end clients. Second, it uses a new technique (gaming) in which to do so.