BU.420.710 Consumer Behavior Instructor S Name Page 1 of 9

BU.420.710– Consumer Behavior Instructor’s Name – Page 1 of 9

Consumer Behavior

Instructor

[Full Name]

Contact Information

[Email Address]

[Phone Number, ###- ###-#### (Optional)]

Office Hours

[Please specify the day and time of the 2 hours that will be dedicated to office hours each week. For evening classes, faculty may wish to hold their office hours by phone or email. While faculty are permitted to state “and by appointment,” office hours should not be held exclusively by appointment.]

Required Text(s) & Learning Materials

Hoyer, W. D.,MacInnis, D. J., &Pieters, R. (2018).Consumerbehavior(7thed.).Mason, OH: South-Western, Cengage Learning. ISBN 13: 978-1-305-50727-2.

Additional Required Readings

1. The exam case must be purchased by all students from Case Centre. The course pack code isC-1480-201820-STU

• Case #9B16A066, “UNILEVER Canada: Redefining the Axe Brand”

1. Electronic copies of additional assigned articles are available on Blackboard under the E-Reserves tab.

NOTE: A complete list of additional required reading materials appears on the last page of this syllabus.

Course Description

Based on findings in psychology and sociology, this course provides students with a solid foundation in consumers’decision making. Topics include consumers' knowledge and involvement, attention, comprehension, learning, attitude, and purchase intention. Strong emphasis is given to the design and modeling of response patterns, diffusion of innovations, and consumer behavior for specific products and services. Also explored is the practical impact of consumer behavior analysis on marketing mix strategies, market segmentation/positioning, brand loyalty, persuasion process, and promotion.

Prerequisite(s)

BU.410.620 OR BU.911.610

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

1. Describe the concept of consumer behavior and its role in today’s marketing environment and marketing planning.
2. Understand basic principles and concepts used in studying marketplace behavior.
3. Understand a variety of psychological theories and models that can explain and predict customer behavior and the role of verbal and non-verbal communications in marketplace exchanges.
4. Apply the requisite skills for critically evaluating and using cutting-edge consumer research to examine marketplace behavior and develop data-driven marketing decisions.

To view the complete list of Carey Business School’s general learning goals and objectives, visit the Carey website.

Assignments & Rubrics

Graded assignments are listed in the table below, followed by a brief description of each course component.

Grading rubrics for all assignments are posted on Blackboard. Students should carefully review the grading criteria at the beginning of the term to understand how individual and group performance will be assessed for each assignment.

• Nonverbal communications analysis
• Consumer decision making interview

• Team Written Report (weighted 85%)
• Team Presentation(weighted 15%)

Attendance & Class Participation (10%)

Student performance is evaluated weekly based on attendance, active class participation, completion of field assignments, quizzes and contribution to weekly discussion topics. Regular attendance is the minimum requirement for successful completion of this course. While excessive absences will significantly impact a student’s learning, it will indeed have consequences for one’s final grade. In this course, “excused absences” are a misnomer and makeup work is never available.

The participation rubric can also be used by students to conduct a weekly self-assessment of their class participation. Additionally, participation points will be earned for completing weekly field assignments when applicable.

In-Class Exam (30%)

In Week 7, a closed book/closed computer exam consistingofshort answer and essay questionsrelated to a particular marketing case will be administered in-class. Students are expected to draw on knowledge derived from independent thoughts, assigned reading materials and class discussions to further analyze the behavioral issues and marketing challenges suggested by the case narrative. A thorough understanding of fundamental consumer behavior concepts, theories, frameworks and measures and their application to marketing is the only way to ensure outstanding performance on the case-based exam.

Individual Interpretive Assignments (25%)

Students will complete two independent exercises to explore actual consumer behavior practices and apply commonly used behavioral research tools to gather customer insights. Each assignment entails producing a 2-page, single-spaced written analysis that addresses questions about a specific consumer behavior activity.

Detailed guidelines and designated reading materials for each of the following assignments are posted on Blackboard.

Assignment 1

Nonverbal Communications Analysis – Students will assume an observer’s role as they examine two video-based marketing transactions that the instructor has selected to help them understand the influence of nonverbal communications in a (a) consumer and (b) B-2-B marketing exchange.Because buyer and seller exchanges are complex social interactions that are defined by a myriad of verbal and nonverbal clues and signals, students are asked to apply psychological concepts and theories to analyze and interpret such interactions.

Assignment 2

Consumer Decision Making Interview –Students will conduct a customer interview to explore the “lived” customer experience and to examine a consumer behavior phenomenon through a psychological lens. The in-depth interview should focus on a purchase decisions for any product/service. Studentswill gather and analyze the key behavioral research findings, apply theoretical concepts, ascribe meaning to the purchase experience, and discuss managerial insights. (1 page for decision-making process visual; 1 single-spaced page for interpretive analysis)

Field Observation Team Mini-Project (35%)

Student teams of five or fewer students will examine a distinct consumer behavior phenomenon and produce awritten report and presentation that summarizes the underlying theory, field observations and marketing implications.Teams are urged to start work on the mini project early in the term. Doing so will help teams identify and leverage course content that is relevant to the research project.

Students will submit individual peer evaluations of team members at the conclusion of the project. Individual grades may be adjusted downward to reflect group consensus about marginal or poor performance of specific team members.

Mini-Project Instructions

Teams will work on a consumer behavior research project starting in Week 1. The assignment will give students an opportunity to examine consumer behavior pertaining to a contemporaryor emerging behavioral phenomenon. In drawing theoretical and practical implications fromthe study of a specific behavioral phenomenon, students will learn more about internal and external factors impacting consumer decision making, understand the complexity of marketplace behavior and explore how the art and science of consumer research is used to change customer behavior.

• Week 3 Deadline:Team project topics must be finalized and approved by the instructor. Each team must submit a short written paper describing its original idea and preliminary interpretation of a consumer behavior phenomenon. The summary should include twovery relevant references from established news sources or academic journals that provide actual evidence or theoretical knowledge of the consumer behavior research phenomenon. (1 single-spaced page maximum)
• Week 4 Deadline: Teams must submit a summary of the research approach being used to conduct a field experiment. (2-page maximum)

Detailed instructions for each deliverable are posted on Blackboard.

The Written Field Observation Mini-Project Report

The team report will consist of an 8-pagesingle-spacedpaper that adheres to the following outline:

Packaging (required materials that are not included in the maximum page count)

• Cover page, including project topic, course title and term and team member names
• Executive summary, less than one page
• Table of contentswith page numbers

Contents

1. Project Description: Abrief overview of the research project will includea broad description of the behavioral phenomenon, a brief discussion of its influence on consumer behavior and decision making anda summary of its potential impact on business (e.g., specific companies or industries) and society.

1. Secondary Research: Based on the analysis of relevant secondary data, teams will conduct a brief literature review to examine a particular behavior. The purpose of this in-depth analysis is to document information that describes the behavioral phenomenon in its various forms and to discuss theoretical ideas, models or frameworks that can explain when, why or how the behavior occurs. Additionally, secondary research will help teams identify social, cultural or other environmentalinfluences that can help marketers understand the behavioral phenomenon.

1. Primary Research Design, Data Analysis, and Interpretation: Following a solid grounding of the behavioral phenomenon, the team is to take its investigation into the field – into the real word – to document evidence of consumers in action. The purpose of obtaining current evidencefrom real consumers is to bring the behavioral phenomenon to life by identifying relevant social, psychological and behavioral influences. This limited exploratory research will be conducted using observational research methods which areoften used to capture consumers’behavior in a natural setting.Resources for understanding the mechanics of conducting observational research will be posted on Blackboard and discussed throughout the term. Refer to Hoyer, Macinnis and Pieters (2013, Chapter 1 Appendix) for an overview of consumerresearch methods. Additional guidelines and tips for analyzing observational data will be provided.

1. Attitude/Behavioral Change Strategy: After analyzing data gathered during Stages 2 and 3 above students will develop a strategy for creating or changing current attitudes and/or behaviors regarding the behavioral phenomenon. Discussion of attitude formation and attitude change is covered by Hoyer, McInnis and Pieters (2013, Chapters 5–6)while related topics on behavioral change is addressed by Cialdini (2001).

1. Marketing Insights: Teams should identify at least one significant and novel finding about the consumer behavior phenomenon. This insight(s) should becomethe basis for producing a recommendation to a) help marketing managersunderstand consumers more generally and b) improve marketing practices in a given marketing setting or industry.

1. References (not included in page count): Minimum of 10 references required (NOTE: each team member shouldshare at least two relevant trade or academic references for inclusion in the mini-research project proposal due at the end of Week 3. This content will likely serve as foundational content for the final report.)

1. Appendix(8-page maximum): Attach copies of any primary data collection guides, data summary tables, pictures or other supporting materials.

Research Note 1: An initial search for timely and relevant consumer behavior topics should target trade and popular press publications such as Psychology Today, Brand Week, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, AMA Marketing News, Sloan Management Review, Slate Magazine, Fast Company,and McKinsey Quarterly,which provide a wealth of information on consumer behavior and marketplacedevelopments.

Research Note 2: Appropriate secondary resources for this project include but are not limited to peer-reviewed academic journals such as The Journal of Consumer Research, The Journal of Marketing, Marketing Science, Marketing Letters, The Journal of Retailing, The Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Psychology and Marketing, Journal of Advertising, The Journal of Service Research, The Journal of Consumer Affairs,and The Journal of Marketing and Public Policythat provide theoretical treatment of consumer behavior topics. Additionally, journals from the field of social psychology, sociology and economics also contain extensive treatment of consumer behavior topics as well. Theoretical models, conceptual ideas and empirical evidence are critical resources for developing the research topic for this assignment. Do NOT wait until the last minute to conduct secondary research as the amount of information available on any consumer behavior topic could be overwhelming.

Research Note 3:Information obtained from blogs, commercial websites and other online resources (e.g., Wikipedia, LinkedIn) that primarily represent independent opinions and thoughts written by “self-proclaimed” experts or other “unidentified” sources are to be used minimally in the written report (no more than 3% of all referenced materials). Refer to APA guidelines for properly citing all information sources.

Mandatory APA guidelines

All secondary information sources such as journals, magazine articles, websites and industry reports must be properly acknowledged and formatted with in-text citations of the original source and an organized list of references. Please strictly adhere to APA guidelines for formatting and documenting information sources used in the project report.

All written submissions will be processed through Turnitin, the plagiarism detection software used at Carey Business School. Teams should also subject the final written paper to Turnitin to ensure proper use and citation of secondary sources. Instances of plagiarism will be reported immediately to the Honor Council.

Team Written Report Requirements

• Typewritten; 12-point font; one-inch margins on all sides
• Include page numbers, staple pages
• Written text cannot exceed required page limit; include additional info in appendix, if necessary

TeamMini-Project Presentation

Each team will deliver a 10-minute presentation followed by a 5-minute Q&A period.They will produce an original storyboard promoting the attitude change recommendation. Storyboardingis a creative and effective tool for selling new ideas [see storyboarding examples (Example 1, Example 2, Example 3, and Example 4). Teams are encouraged to use imagination and creativity to integrate low-tech/high-tech resources to produce a persuasive storyboard. Limited use of traditional PowerPoint slides is permitted for: (1) introducing the project topic, (2) highlighting the key psychological, behavioral and social influences, (3) inserting imagery,or (4) summarizing the managerial relevance of research findings.Otherwise, the use of text-heavy PowerPoint slides is prohibited.

Grading

Effective Fall 2017: The grade of A is reserved for those who demonstrate extraordinarily excellent performance as determined by the instructor. The grade of A- is awarded only for excellent performance. The grades of B+, B, and B- are awarded for good performance. The grades of C+, C, and C- are awarded for adequate but substandard performance.The grades of D+, D, and D- are not awarded at the graduate level (undergraduate only). The grade of F indicates the student’s failure to satisfactorily complete the course work.

Please note that for Core and Foundation courses, a maximum of 25% of students may be awarded an A or A-; the grade point average of the class should not exceed 3.3. For Elective courses, a maximum of 35% of students may be awarded an A or A-; the grade point average of the class should not exceed 3.4. (For classes with 15 students or fewer, the class GPA cap is waived.)

Tentative Course Calendar

Instructors reserve the right to alter course content and/or adjust the pace to accommodate class progress. Students are responsible for keeping up with all adjustments to the course calendar.

+HMP = Hoyer, MacInnis and Pieters required textbook

Required Case Studies

Students will purchase only one of the exercises below.

Additional Readings

Carey Business School

Policies and General Information

Blackboard Site

A Blackboard course site is set up for this course. Each student is expected to check the site throughout the semester as Blackboard will be the primary venue for outside classroom communications between the instructors and the students. Students can access the course site at Support for Blackboard is available at 1-866-669-6138.

Course Evaluation

As a research and learning community, the Carey Business School is committed to continuous improvement. The faculty strongly encourages students to provide complete and honest feedback for this course. Please take this activity seriously; we depend on your feedback to help us improve. Information on how to complete the evaluation will be provided toward the end of the course.