Marketing 3410: Consumer Behavior
Consumer
Theories
for Marketing Decisions
This syllabus is from Fall
Semester 2011
1987-2011: MKTG 3310 was a required course in the marketing major & a prerequisite for MKTG 4360
Classes were 90-100 students per section. Despite class size, all of the
tests included some professor-graded short essay questions
2012: the course retained the same title as it
changed to MKTG 4410. This required a change in the catalog description
and content as it became a general marketing elective for majors or
minors, or for students in the various Communications & Journalism
majors looking for a class that requires less thinking because it
duplicates courses in their Liberal Arts programs
Course
Prerequisites
Grade of C or better in MKTG 3310. Credit will not be given for both
MKTG 3410 and
CAHS 3800. Required
Purchases
+Consumer Behavior, 10th edition, by Schiffman
& Kanuk, Prentice Hall, 2009. ISBN-10: 0135053013
This book, the same as all alternative options, has the usual collection
of logical inconsistencies, self-contradictions & a vexing
inability for authors to delete from its pages descriptions of theories
that have long-since been falsified in the research literature. On the
other hand, it is more readable than other textbook options &
includes good coverage of material that will be necessary for
understanding MKTG 4360
Class
will not meet on Rosh Hashanah 5772 or Yom Kippur.
Grades
The final grade will
be determined by the sum of the raw scores
on four tests and on the comprehensive final exam.
Scores on
each test and the final exam will be added together and grades will
be
based on total points, not averages
or percentiles. There might
be
extra points possible on any of the
four tests or the final exam, but the availability of extra points
on
any tests will not alter the
number of points required for each
letter grade as described below, with one significant exception: a
minimum passing score of 60% on the comprehensive final exam is
required
for passing the course. In addition, as indicated below under the subheads "General
Policies" and "Tests & Final Exam," a student's
point
total can be lowered for
repeatedly arriving late, leaving/returning to the room during the
period, or any use of cell phone or other electronics during class without prior approval.
A
= 90% of total points
B = 80% of total points
C = 70% of total points
D = 60% of total points
F = lower than 60%
Course
Objective
This course builds upon the basic background from MKTG
3310, "Principles of Marketing," and is
a required course for all marketing majors. This "foundations"
course reviews the extensive published
research that has focused on how consumers
think, act and respond to
variations of the marketing mix and the resulting psychological
theories of how consumers respond to marketing tools which are
important perspectives for
evaluating decision alternatives . The
same
as in other marketing courses,
students are required to make a shift of perceptual
focus and can't view marketing activities as a consumer who buys
products, but instead, as marketing managers. What this means is
that
strategy must be based on
what present or potential customers understand, not in terms
of what you might personally "like." In
addition, since we will discuss possible decisions for
products you might not buy, in contexts for which you would never
be in
the target market, we will cover topic areas and use examples that
you might find personally offensive. This is unavoidable. Similar
to
marketing managers who must deal with customers who are people
unlike
themselves, you must put aside your
personal tastes.
Classes will always
start on time in the business
sense of the
term: at 8 a.m., the time designated for the start of class, you
are
expected to be in your seats and
ready to work. It is understood that you might
come
late once without
having a valid documented excuse.
HOWEVER, every unexcused late
arrival
after the first one will result in a subtraction of two (2)
points from
your course total.
The same penalty will be imposed for
departures (and returns) from the room
for phone calls or other urges that are not a medical necessity,
as
well as any electronics usage (phone, iPad, laptop) during
class without prior approval.
Documentation for an excused late arrival must be
provided
within two days. Since the class is the first one of the day,
there
should not be any reason for being
late due to problems walking from a prior class. Crowded parking
lots or town traffic are not acceptable excuses, nor is a
hangover. As
a more basic
matter, it is disrespectful to your
classmates when you repeatedly drift in late and a distract those
present.
In business, you get fired. On a
sports team, you literally "miss
the bus."
Specific day-to-day assignments
might be made or amended
at any class meeting.
If you miss all or part of any
lecture because you are absent or late, it is your responsibility to
find out from your classmates
what materials were covered, what announcements were made, and what
items may have been
distributed in class. Assignment updates,
additional explanations on lecture topics, or answers to student
questions will
sometimes be sent to all registered class members via the Auburn
University email addresses that
are provided for all students. You are expected to make
a daily check of university email for class related messages and
information.
No make up
exams
will be given without a
university-approved excuse.
Prior notice and approval must be obtained for any planned events;
unexpected
emergencies require
direct notification as soon as possible by phone or email, with
documentation and verification
contacts provided as soon as you return to campus. Do not wait
till the
next class day to drift in
with an excuse, since such delayed notifications will not
be accepted. If you miss a test and do not have documentation for
an
excuse under one of the
categories listed below, you will receive a zero on that test. As per Auburn University Policy, the following are the only
conditions
considered excused absences from class and/or exams, and
they do not include job interviews, field trips, jobs and illnesses
not
requiring the attention of a physician:
Personal or family health conditions, certified by a physician
and approved by the instructor
Personal or family legal conditions, warranting your attention
during class time and certified by an attorney or judge and
approved by
the instructor
University business certified by a university official and
approved by the instructor
Instructional activities of another class as certified by a
faculty member and approved by the instructor
Religious holy days that ban work activity for purposes of
personal observance.
Attendance,
Reading
Assignments & Class Participation: The
classroom
experience is
considered an
integral aspect of this course and your
attendance is an important
part of the learning experience.
Every
semester, students tend to perform poorly in
the course
if they have a semester
of erratic attendance, a chronic propensity to come to class
without reading the assigned chapters and/or an inability to take
notes
on anything other
than what appears on a screen.
Materials
provided by the textbook publisher will not be used as the
basis
for
lectures.None of the slides,
videos or examples used in class are pulled directly from the
textbook.
However, the substance of
lectures builds upon the textbook materials, so pre-class
knowledge and understanding from the assigned
readings is critical -- you need to study
each chapter before class. Coming to class unprepared makes it
difficult to
understand lectures and an ongoing semester-long practice of
textbook
reading that should make preparation for tests and final exams
easier.
Since you need to study the
reading assignment before, not during, the class in which it
will be discussed, books are to be closed during class. You are sold
copies of the
lecture slides in order to maximize the value of our time together.
You
should not be reading the text or copying the screen during class,
but
instead, listening, asking questions and taking notes.
The 4 tests
& Final Exam will be a combination of essay, short
answer
and
multiple choice. For
essay questions, paper will be provided at the test time. For any
multiple choice questions on tests or the final exam, you must
bring a SCANTRON #882-ES or #882-E (the
smaller sized forms) and
a #2 pencil. If you have the wrong Scranton, you can't take the test and receive credit. Students who
arrive
late for class on a test day will not be allowed to take the exam
once
anyone
finishes and
leaves the room.
Test scores will be
returned before the start of the next
class meeting after each test date. If you are absent from class,
you
must see me in my office to pick-up your score information. After
each
test, class time will not be spent going over the test
answers. On test days, the essay answers will be at the front table
for
student reading before leaving the test room. In addition, prior to
the
day of the second test, students may come
to my office to read (not write) the answer
key. After
the second test, the first test will no longer be available for
review, the second test will not be available after the third test,
and
so on. During last week of classes, the only key
available for reading will be from test #4.
Each of the four tests
will only deal with materials assigned and discussed in the period
since the prior test. The
comprehensive final exam covers
all materials from the entire semester. The final exam is the
single
most important item that pulls together all material and is a crucial
education tool that actually increase long-term retention of the
content of this core required course. All assigned
readings
from the
textbook, additional handouts,
regular lectures, guest speaker presentations, video programs or
discussion
by other students (everything covered from
the first minute of the first class) could be the basis for
exam questions. If you feel that there
is a difference between lecture materials and the textbook content,
the
lecture materials should be used as the basis for answering exam
questions. Since readings
and lectures are
interrelated, it will be impossible to say how much of the questions
will come from one or the
other. Therefore, do not ask what to emphasize when you
study, or whether you should focus more on lectures or the reading
assignments. Do not ask
what is more
important in preparing for
tests or the final exam. It is all important. And it is
important
to understand what you study, since questions may apply the
materials to novel situations.
Other stuff, plus items AU requires to be included in every syllabus
Students are expected to do their own work on written
assignments, quizzes and tests. Alleged violations of the Student
Academic
Honesty Code will be reported to the Academic Honesty
Committee.
Questions & comments relevant to
the
topics under discussion
are encouraged.
You will be held
responsible for the texts and lecture material covered in the
prerequisite courses.
Make sure all personal electronics are turned off before class starts.
Hiding you phone in your lap to spend
class time texting messages to family or friends are engaging in
a
class disruption under the AU
Policy
on Classroom Behavior.
I would be happy to
discuss the course, your progress, the most recent test answers
or any
other
issues that concern you on an individual basis.
If you have a
disability, contact me to
discuss possible accommodations.
Course requirements will
not be waived, but accommodations will be made to assist in
meeting the
requirements, provided
you are timely in working with me to develop a reasonable
accommodation
plan.
Lecture
topics & reading assignments
The required
textbook by Schiffman and Kanuk (S&K)
is the foundation of material for the course and all sixteen
chapters
will be covered on the final exam, as will be all handouts or email delivered readings that
are
noted as "required." Specific
day-to-day assignments will be made as we go along and announced
in
class.
Basic
Perspectives
1) Definitions
and
uses of consumer theory:
S&K, ch 1
1a)
abuses of consumer theory:
S&K, ch 16
2) Research
interpretation: S&K, ch
2
3) Segmentation
& target selection: S&K, ch 3
Test #1
Biology
4)
Personality,
drives & monsters from the id: S&K, ch 4
&
5
5)
Psychology of perception:
S&K, ch 6
Data
Collections & Popular Explanations
8) Persuasive communication & opinion leaders: S&K, ch 9
&
14
9)
Family, social
class and decision making: S&K, ch 10 &
15
Test #4
Cultural
& International Perspectives
10)
International
& culture perspectives: S&K, ch 11
&
13
11) Subcultures
& identity: S&K, ch 12
