Business students and managers do not just need appropriate cross-cultural skills and competences, but also need to be aware of the various cognitive processes and biases that shape their behavior when it comes to doing international business. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) can be a useful framework to study the role of national stereotypes and ethnic distance in determining the willingness to do business internationally. The attitude-behavior link behind TPB is important also for educators, shaping future business leaders. But stereotypes are tricky. They can be activated, but not applied due to various behavioral controls. Business students with little/ no business experience should be seen as a useful “yardstick”to asses so-called“pure”national stereotypes and ethnic distance, and their potential impact on willingness to do business, as an intention mediator between attitudes and behavior. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of national stereotypes and ethnic distance as determinants of willingness to do business with a given nation among business students. Our results show a much more transactional role of national stereotypes on intended behavior in a business context, underlined by a clearer difference between stereotype activation and application. Stronger affective beliefs more closely related to ethnicity and animosity (nationalism) on seem to work through ethnic dist ance