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Gregory J. Baleja
Alma College
MARKETING RESEARCH:
QUESTIONNAIRE CONSTRUCTION PROCESS
Each year during my lectures on Marketing Research, I spend one full
class period discussing the Questionnaire Construction Process in great
depth. I find the presentation of the concepts associated with the questionnaire construction process to be rather straightforward. In fact the
presentations go so well, that many students come to the conclusion that
creating a questionnaire, or evaluating a current one, in the real world is
relatively easy. They seem to believe that all one has to do is to understand
the basic objectives of the research, and then simply translate these
objectives into a formal questionnaire. It is this erroneous assumption that
bothers me.
After going through a detailed list of generalizations associated with
the construction of a questionnaire, I then ask the students to critically
evaluate the “Instructor Evaluation Form” that they have been exposed to
many times during their tenure at Alma College. Some of the questions
utilized on this form in the recent past, are illustrated below. Samples of
the student’s comments are shown in italics following each of these
questions. For each of these questions, the students were instructed to
assign a letter grade according to the following scale:
A
B
C
D
E
1.
=
=
=
=
=
Excellent/almost always
Good/frequently
Fair/sometimes/average
Poor/infrequently
Fail/almost never
The instructor was well prepared for class.
- How do we know if they are, or are not, well prepared for
class?
- What is meant by “well prepared?” --- Well dressed?
Awake? An outline of the lecture on the board? Etc.
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It’s hard to judge whether the instructor is well prepared for
class because the instructor can talk about numerous topics
related to the subject.
The instructor was aware when students did not understand the
material.
- How does the instructor know when the students do not
understand?
- How would we know if the instructor was aware or not?
- Is it the instructor’s responsibility to find out when people
don’t understand, or is it the student’s responsibility to
inform the instructor?
- Instructor awareness of a student’s not understanding is
difficult to measure. Whether the instructor did anything
about it is somewhat more measurable.
The grading methods were made clear to students.
- This question is very ambiguous. What is clear to one person
may not be clear for another.
Exams reflected the important aspects of the course.
- This may not be within the respondent’s "zone of experience."
- Who is in a better position to know the important aspects of
the course, the instructor or the students?
The instructor was readily available for help.
- What is meant by readily available?
- Usually professors aren’t available between 9 p.m. and
midnight, when the majority of the students do their
homework, does this mean they aren’t available?
- If the student doesn’t seek outside help, they won’t be able to
answer this question.
The instructor showed respect for students.
- What is considered respect?
- The question is better set up for a dichotomous (yes/no) type
of answer. It would be hard for a student to rate the respect
she received from the instructor.
- The question should be reworded to "was respectful toward
students."
-
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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-
Too broad: what defines "showing respect?" A score of
lower than "A" would indicate that the instructor did not
"almost always" show respect.
After the students have found a variety of faults with each of the
questions on our "Instructor Evaluation Form," I then assign them the task
of creating their own version of this evaluation form. Once they have
turned in their rendition of the form, I then allow the class to critically
evaluate the best forms. It is interesting to note that typically, the class
finds as much fault with the forms that they created, as they do with the
current form that they have been criticizing for many years.
The purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate to the students, the
difficulty encountered when trying to operationalize the questionnaire
construction process.
Geoffrey P. Lantos
Stonehill College
THE JOY OF . . . MARKETING RESEARCH?
The least-loved course in our marketing curriculum is probably
Marketing Research. Many students enter this course with fear and
loathing. The idea of research spooks them because it conjures up images
of laboratories, dull people in white smocks, archaic formulas, dry-asdust statistics, and esoteric procedures hatched in the ivory towers of
academia. The professor has a handicap from day one, as most students
would just as soon be undergoing a root canal or working on a chain
gang.
My philosophy is to try to make this course as painless and pleasant
as possible. On syllabus day I let them know that, while they will need to
think, struggle, and work hard, they can have some fun and enjoyment in
learning too. I encourage them to share their personal experiences with
marketing researchers, the good, bad, and ugly (e.g., being accosted by
bright-eyed, zealous young fieldworkers in shopping malls, hustled by
silver-tongued researchers on those dinner-time phone calls, etc.). Too, I
remind them that, while research is a technical subject, much of the
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course is really a study in human behavior (e.g., dealing with response
biases, increasing response rates, etc.), like the Consumer Behavior
course which so many of them prefer.
Once the sugar-coating message has been imparted, you can use the
usual suspects: interesting videos; guest speakers; case studies; debates on
ethical issues; pass-arounds of real research proposals, research reports,
and syndicated data, etc.; and a semester-long project to gain their
involvement and which you can continuously implore them to discuss as
examples of concepts throughout the course. In addition, I try to follow
up in gaining their interest (if not enthusiasm) in some of the following
specific ways:
I clip interesting material from the popular press, which is always
reporting polls on various political, social, and marketplace issues and
occasionally contains a cute (if not uproariously funny) cartoon. Make
transparencies of or scan these into your PowerPoint presentation (e.g.,
a percentage distribution showing the proportion of people who favor
each of the Three Stooges is more interesting than the proportion of
companies in the widget industry that make high-end vs. low-end
widgets).
When discussing organizational and human relations issues in marketing research (e.g., disagreements between marketing managers and
researchers over issues such as time, money, and decision making), I have
students "choose sides" and role play either the manager or the researcher
engaged in a heated discussion on each issue, defending their point of
view.
Exploratory/qualitative research is probably the topic that generates
the most opportunities for enjoyable learning. I break students into small
groups and have them brainstorm ways to find "professional consumer
detectives" (a sort of expert opinion approach) for various target markets
(e.g., to learn about tennis players, talk to professionals who have
frequent or intense contact with them, such as coaches, trainers, and
sporting goods salespeople). You (or one of your students) can lead a
student through part of an in-depth interview or several students through a
focus group on a subject of interest to students (e.g., music, sports, and
fashion always hit their hot buttons), and have students critique it
afterward. Find an example or two of specific uses of projective
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techniques not found in your textbook and try them out on students to see
what you can learn about their "deep thoughts."
Secondary research is one of the dullest subjects to teach. Rather
than drone on about all of the different information sources, have student
teams go on a "scavenger hunt" in your library and/or on the Internet
during a class period to see who can find the most of a list of twenty or so
specific pieces of information you request (e.g., Coca-Cola's market share
last year, growth rate of the personal computer industry, etc.).
Discussing the different types of survey error can be deadly if you
don't have interesting examples. Scan other textbooks and the popular
press for these. A form of marketing research students can all relate to is
student course evaluations. These can be used to discuss such issues as
auspices bias (students are often kind to their professors), extremity bias
(they often "strongly agree" or "strongly disagree" with all Likert items),
and social desirability bias (some students claim they study more than
twelve hours per week for this course!).
It is easy to draw them into a discussion of questionnaire design since
most mistakes result from lack of understanding of human psychology.
For instance, in discussing memory error ask how many can recall things
like the losing vice presidential candidate in the most recent election or
the loser in the last World Series. Try to draw out areas where they might
be subject to social acceptability bias (e.g., dating and drinking behavior).
Involve them by having them analyze actual questionnaires that you've
received in the mail (many of these are more full of holes than a piece of
Swiss cheese) or that your colleagues in industry pass along to you.
Another killer topic is measurement. Have them come up with conceptual and operational definitions of intriguing and controversial constructs such as "alternative music" and "sexual harassment." In order to
demonstrate the importance of precision in formulating an operational
definition, I ask students to imagine I'm a Martian (not hard for many of
them) and have no concept as to how to heat a cup of water using a hot
pot. I do exactly as they tell me to do. For instance, if they tell me to
plug in the hot pot, I put the plug in an unlikely place, such as the
overhead machine outlet. When they tell me to plug it into the wall, I
pretend to keep my finger on the prongs and get electrocuted, and when
I'm instructed to pour the water out of the cup (presumably into the pot)
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most of it ends up on the floor (bring paper towels!). To illustrate validity
I bring a dartboard and darts, have several students give it their best shot,
and then discuss the accuracy of their efforts in terms of validity (hitting
or being near the bulls eye) and reliability (being consistent in where the
darts land).
The subject of sampling can be spiced up by bringing a bucket of
marbles to class. After telling students that, despite what they might
think, I haven't lost them yet, I note how there are different kinds of
marbles: large and small, solid color and multicolor, clear and opaque. A
la "Sesame Street" I pretend that they are people to be sampled, and
illustrate concepts such as sampling units and population elements,
random error, and the various sampling methods (convenience, quota,
etc.). Hamming it up a bit, talking to the marbles and such, makes it
amusing for students.
Interviewing and fieldwork is a pretty Mickey Mouse topic. Rather
than regurgitating material in the textbook, have them get involved in the
classroom. Pick a topic, have the class brainstorm a list of, say, ten questions on the topic, improve their wording and sequence according to the
guidelines for good questionnaire design, and ask students to pair off for
conducting interviews. They interview each other for ten or fifteen
minutes each, then summarize each other’s answers for the class and critique each other’s interviewing style.
I tell students that editing, coding and keyboarding data is about as
much fun as peeling potatoes and onions -- it might even make you want
to cry. I share some of the editing problems I encounter with my student
evaluations (circling two response categories, questions answered in the
wrong place, etc.) and how I deal with them. I also give them a postcoding exercise in which I pick a topic they can all relate to (e.g., likes
and dislikes regarding cafeteria food) and have them write their openended responses to a few questions. After class, I write out the verbatims,
put them on a transparency, break them into groups, and have each group
come up with a postcoding scheme. The different ways various groups
postcode is a good illustration of the subjectivity of research.
Data analysis is probably the most difficult topic to make palatable.
My best advice here is to collect lots of interesting and amusing
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examples, stay interested and enthused yourself (fake it if you have to!),
and don't take it oh-too-seriously.
While implementing these ideas probably won't elevate Marketing
Research to the status of favored marketing course on your campus, it
might make students a little more at ease, interested, and involved, and
might even improve a tad your own marketing research (student
evaluations).
Mark A. Mitchell, University of South Carolina Spartanburg
Stephen J. Taylor, Palmetto Council of the Boy Scouts of America
REPLICATION OF A NATIONAL STUDY
FOR LOCAL USE: THE CASE OF THE
BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA
Introduction
A university is (and should be) an integral part of the surrounding
community. Increasingly, experiential- or application-based learning
exercises are being incorporated into university course offerings. Many
not-for-profit service organizations within your local marketplace are
seemingly in constant need for assistance without the ability to pay for
such work. These organizations provide an excellent opportunity for
experiential learning and professional service to be combined effectively.
It is not uncommon for national studies to be commissioned for larger
not-for-profit service organizations that seek to document their positive
contributions to society. For example, the National Council of the Boy
Scouts of America (BSA) commissioned Louis Harris & Associates to
conduct a study evaluating the influence of Scouting on the values and
achievement of men and boys in the United States of America. However,
local branches of the BSA typically raise resources in their local communities. Further, some funding sources such as the United Way or private foundations may wish to see results of local research to validate the
social contributions of these organizations. As such, the stage is set for a
win-win partnership by replicating the national study at the local level.
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Integrating a replication of a national study, such as the Louis Harris
study, into your course will simultaneously satisfy the following needs:
 The local BSA council’s need for local research results for
funding, recruiting, and promotional efforts.
 The instructor’s need for an experiential learning project
integrated into a class.
 The student’s need for experiential learning as a means to
differentiate students during their job search activities.
 The University’s need for community service.
Organizing for Success
The Boy Scouts of America commissioned Louis Harris & Associates
to study the influence of Scouting on its past, present, and future participants. These results have been disseminated in summary form to local
councils of the BSA. Working with these summary results, you can
create self-administered questionnaires to be used to replicate the Louis
Harris study. In particular, the study focuses on the influence of Scouting
on the values and achievement of two groups: boys (age 12-17) and adult
males (over age 21). As such, developing two separate self-administered
questionnaires allows a comparison of boys with/without Scouting
experience and adult males with/without Scouting experience. For our
replication, each self-administered questionnaire consisted of two parts:
Part One - a series of attitudinal statements (created from summary
results of the Louis Harris study) to which the respondents reported their
relative level of agreement or disagreement using a Likert Scale (1 =
Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Indifferent/Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 =
Strongly Agree).
Part Two - personal characteristics such as age, level of education (adults
only), and an inventory of youth activities to identify other group
involvement (e.g., youth baseball, soccer, church group).
Data Collection
In order to identify the influence of Scouting on participants, four
separate samples are needed:
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 Boys with/without Scouting experience.
 Adults with/without Scouting experience.
Due to all-too-common time and money constraints, divide data
collection as follows:
 Deliver self-administered questionnaires to your local BSA council for data collection of boys and adults with Scouting experience. The data can be collected at a pre-arranged Scouting
function.
 Use students for data collection of boys and adults without
Scouting experience. The data can be collected using random or
convenience sampling techniques. For our replication, we found
the convenience sampling technique to be very time-efficient by
allowing each student to collect a predetermined number of usable
instruments from within their work, social, or family network.
Student Applications and Accountability
This project can be administered in a Principles of Marketing,
Consumer Behavior, Marketing Research, or Marketing Management
course. The project is developed over the life of the term with the final
output delivered to local BSA leaders at the end of the term, thus
satisfying the university’s service mission. A critical success to such a
replication is the students’ accountability to the client. As such, it is
imperative that students meet with local council leaders throughout the
replication. Further, it is important for the students to present their
research results to the client in person to allow for the open exchange of
information. This brings closure to the project and fully illustrates the
marketing research process to all participants. Finally, students are
encouraged to include their participation in the project on their resumes as
an example of experiential learning throughout their degree programs.
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Rosa T. Cherry
Williamsburg Technical College
SEGMENTATION ASSIGNMENT
To illustrate the principle of market segmentation, use this assignment. Complete ONE of the following activities and bring to class next
time:
1. Bring 5 cigarette ads from the same manufacturer. Note how this
major manufacturer offers a variety of brands to appeal to different
target markets. Write up your analysis of the segment being targeted
in a short paragraph. Your grade will depend on how well you relate
this to the book’s discussion of segmentation.
2. Bring 5 car ads from the same manufacturer. Same instructions as in
#1 above.
3. Visit your local supermarket. Make a list of all the brands of cereal
offered by a single company. Note what markets are being targeted
for each. Write up your analysis in a short paragraph. Your grade will
depend on how well you relate this to the book’s discussion of segmentation.
4. Visit your local supermarket. Make a list of all the brands of toothpaste offered by a single company. Same instructions as #3 above.
Sanjay S. Mehta
Sam Houston State University
USING MARKETING RESEARCH CLASS TO
GET STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND
ADMINISTRATORS INVOLVED IN
CONDUCTING INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH
Today's competitive educational environment demands an everincreasing responsiveness from universities to be marketing oriented. No
institution, large or small, private or public, can afford to neglect
customer needs and wants. Many universities hire "consultants" to help
TOPIC III. MARKETING RESEARCH AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
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them serve customers better. The labor, drive, curiosity, and knowledge
of students and faculty are excellent assets to universities. Students often
become tired of studying abstract topics without seeing how the
knowledge can be applied. This is especially true among senior
undergraduate and graduate students who wish reassurance that what they
are learning is in fact valid and useful outside the classroom. Presenting
these students with "real world" problems is often a challenge for faculty
members. One solution to providing senior undergraduate and graduate
students the opportunity to solve real world problems is by conducting
institutional research.
Also, increasing legislative input into the faculty evaluation and
performance system (e.g., post-tenure review) coupled with the dominating "publish-or-perish" philosophy, has compelled faculty members to
look for alternatives, besides teaching and service, to secure promotion
and tenure. One possible alternative for faculty members is to be actively
involved in institutional research. Involving students in the collection and
analysis of primary data coupled with solutions to real world problems
give faculty members an excellent opportunity to publish and disseminate
research.
While the term institutional research has disparate interpretations,
here it means "research done for the betterment of the institution." In the
past, I have conducted studies for the university public relations office,
the College of Business Administration, the university library, students'
union, and computer services. All of these studies were conducted in
conjunction with students of marketing research classes. These studies
have led to several publications in conference proceedings and academic
journals.
The institutional research project begins with an administrator (e.g.,
public relations officer, dean of the college, director of computer
services) approaching the faculty member for some assistance in data
collection and statistical analysis in an area the university can improve
upon. The administrator provides the managerial questions that the
professor fine-tunes before sharing it with his/her students. The students
collectively develop the instruments for the study, using standard
questionnaire development procedures and word processors. The
administrator is requested to evaluate the instrument to ensure that it
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answers all of the research questions and/or objectives. After completing
the institute's human subject approval requirements, a pretest is conducted
using a small representative sample from the population. Reliability and
validity should be checked before the instrument is distributed on a larger
scale. The students are instructed to collect data using one of many
probability sampling techniques (e.g., stratified sampling). This may
involve distributing the instruments through mail, telephone, or personally interviewing potential respondents. The students are then taught
to edit, code, and input the data into the computer (e.g., spread-sheet).
The professor shows the students how to check the data and perform
some of the requisite tests (e.g., frequency, cross-tabulations, Analysis of
Variance, t-test, regression analysis). The students, in teams or alone,
write a report summarizing the findings of the study. The faculty
member, along with student(s), may present the findings to the
administrator through a formal presentation.
Conducting institutional research provides faculty members another
tool to bring real life problems into the classroom. It does so at a level
where the student is somewhat experienced in the arena (i.e., the university) she or he is asked to perform. The institutional research project
helps bind students more closely to the university because they feel they
have played a part in improving the university. The institution benefits
from identifying the needs and wants of its "target market" and validating
its very existence. The results of the study may be presented at
conferences and/or published in proceedings and journals, which benefits
the faculty member toward promotion and tenure. Finally, the collection
of quality institutional research can help universities pass regional and
national accreditation inspections. It is a true "win-win" situation for all
parties involved.
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Amy Risch Rodie
University of Nebraska at Omaha
DISCOVERING THE INFLUENCE OF CONSUMERS’
BRAND SCHEMAS ON PREFERENCE
AND PURCHASE INTENT
The purpose of this team project is to investigate the affect of brand
associations on consumers' product preference and purchase intent.
These issues are explored by conducting a series of taste tests using a
product category's most prominent or "prototype" brand along with
another "off" brand from the same product category. Teams do most of
their work outside the classroom but some class time is needed, including
about 20 minutes for each team to make plans on the day the project is
assigned and about 45 minutes on the due date for written student
responses and a class-wide debriefing/discussion. There are three main
components to this project: (I) collecting the data, (II) compiling the
results, and (III) discussing the findings. The project is as follows.
I. Collect Data
1. Form teams of three or four students. Teams meet and choose a
product category (cookies, crackers, cereal, chips, etc), the
product category's prototype brand, and an off brand (the more
"off", the better). Plan to purchase enough of both brands for
each participant to sample. Make sure all team members use the
same brands!
2. Develop a feedback sheet for participants' responses so that all
team members use the same form to collect data. Make sure it
provides (1) a way to identify the "condition" and (2) a place and
space for each element of data.
3. Collect the data. Each team member is responsible for collecting
data from 12 participants. Ideally, each student will collect data
from four participants in each of the three conditions described
below. However, a student who has the opportunity to collect
data from a group of participants (who would therefore all be in
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the same condition) may do so. Make sure ALL team members
collect data from the same number of participants.
Conditions:
Condition B: "blind": each brand is presented to the participant
in a zip-lock baggie. (label bags in order to distinguish the
brands, e.g., “M”and “N”.)
Condition PP: "prototype/prototype": the prototype brand is
presented to the participant in its own, original package. The
participant samples the brand right from the package. Make sure
the price is not visible on the package. Likewise, the off-brand
is presented to the participant in its own, original package. The
participant samples the brand right from the package. Make sure
the price is not visible on the package.
Condition PO: "prototype/off-brand": the prototype-brand is
presented to the participant in the off-brand's package and vice
versa. The participant samples the brand right from their
packages. It is very important that the participants in this
condition do NOT suspect the switch. Make sure the price is not
visible on the package.
NOTE: The data from all participants (36 for a three-member team
and 48 for a four-member team) will be compiled and recorded
together. Verify that the same number of participants are in each of
the three conditions.
A. IF you collect data from participants in groups, prevent them
from talking, making comments or "faces", or otherwise communicating with each other during the taste test. (Difficult task!)
The data you collect should reflect each participant's own
response.
B. Allow each participant to participate only once, in ONE condition.
C. Ask each participant to initial their feedback sheet (no names
please.)
D. Ask participants examine the two brands very carefully and
thoroughly. Participants should record all observations about each
brand detected by their five senses and/or the most noticeable differences between the two brands. Try to get at least four observations/differences.
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E. Ask participants to indicate which brand they prefer.
F. Condition B only: AFTER they record their brand preference,
tell participants the brand names and prices of both brands.
G. Conditions PP and PO: AFTER they record their brand
preference, tell participants the prices both brands. In both PP and
PO, quote the appropriate price for the package (that is, the price
for the brand participants believe they are sampling.)
H. Ask participants to assume their purchase decision is limited to
just these two brands. Between these two, which brand would s/he
would buy the next time the product is purchased?
I. Ask participants to identify the one factor that was most
influential on the purchase decision.
J. Important: Debriefing: Once the participant has completed the
entire experience (and ONLY then--NOT before) tell him/her
about the project, the three conditions, and which condition s/he
was in. Be very careful not to make the person feel foolish, but
explain about the importance of brand associations and cues and
that you are investigating how strong is the influence packaging,
price, and other cues on consumers' choices. This step is
especially important for the PO condition, but is important for all
participants. Talk about this issue as a team and agree on what
you will say to participants. Do not skip this step!
II. Compile Results (this section must be typewritten):
A. B Condition:
1. Based on the data for the B Condition (only), what are the
four or five most commonly stated observations about either
brand and/or differences between brands?
2. What percentage of participants preferred the prototype?
What percentage of participants preferred the off brand?
3. What percentage would buy the prototype? What percentage
would buy the off brand?
4. Based on the data, what factors most strongly influence
purchase?
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B. PP Condition:
Answer questions II. A. 1-4 based on the data for the PP
Condition (only).
C. PO Condition:
Answer questions II. A. 1-4 based on the data from the PO
Condition (only).
III. Discuss Findings (this section must be typewritten):
Review the results in sections II. A - C. Thoughtfully discuss whether
or not your findings support one or both of the following hypotheses.
Explain.
H1: Brand schemas influence consumers' brand preference.
H2: Brand schemas influence consumers' purchase intent.
On the due-date, give teams time to provide written responses to the
following:
As a team, briefly discuss and summarize all of your observations
about the following topics. Turn in one paragraph about each.
1. Your observations about the process of collecting data.
2. Your observations about participants reactions / comments
about the project.
3. Your observations about the similarities / differences in the
findings among the three conditions.
4. Other observations and thoughts regarding the project.
Facilitate a discussion, prompting students to discuss their findings as
well as the challenges of data collection. This process (1) advances
students' understanding of the research process and (2) allows teams
who found that brand schemas influence brand preference and/or
purchase intent to share their findings (and enthusiasm) with teams
whose data did not support the hypotheses.
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Felicia G. Lassk
Western Kentucky University
UTILIZING AN INTERNET PERSONALITY TEST
IN THE CONSUMER BEHAVIOR COURSE
An interactive assignment that integrates personality testing and the
WWW is the use of the Kiersey Temperment Sorter in a class presentation
on personality. The Kiersey Temperment Sorter is located at http://www.
kiersey.com/cgi-bin/Keiresy/newkts.cgi. The 70-item personality test is
based on Carl Jung's psychological types. The class is held in the computer lab. Each student accesses the URL and completes the personality
test in approximately 20 minutes. This assignment enables students to
learn about their own personality type. The web site includes information
about each personality type including leadership styles, career recommendations, and celebrities that are categorized under each personality type.
After the students print out the information, like personalities are grouped
together. These students then discuss the appropriate marketing strategies
that would be successfully utilized in marketing a product to someone
with their personality type. Each group presents their results to the class.
Pj Forrest
Mississippi College
PRINT AD PROJECTS FOR
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
If you use a managerial approach to teaching Consumer Behavior--this is the concept, this is what you do with it---you might find the use of
Print Ad Projects very helpful. This project has evolved over the years
from me asking the students to bring in a single magazine ad that related
to the topics we were discussing in class that day, to requiring a portfolio
of ads that illustrates each of the topic areas we cover.
One of the main benefits for the student in using this project is
simple---"A picture's worth a thousand words." For example one under-
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graduate would not be convinced that the automobile market specifically
targeted women. I handed her a Chevy ad, which showed a young woman
and the phrase "This is not my boyfriends truck." In gathering ads that are
examples for the various consumer behavior concepts, the students are
forced to look at dozens of ads in a critical thinking manner. They must
analyze both the ads they chose to use and the one’s that are unsuitable for
the topic they are trying to illustrate.
Over the years I have kept the "best of" ads from the student projects,
and as a result I now have a thick folder of ads for every chapter in the
text. After I lecture on a topic, I whip out a bundle of ads which illustrate
the concept and show them how it is used. It is much easier to create
understanding when you can show them the differences in ads which use
latent motives vs. manifest motives, or a series of ads that are directed at
each of the VALS 2 lifestyle segments. Generational marketing is also a
very interesting one which illustrate the changes which must be made
when advertising to Boomers, Generation X or the Echo Boom. And you
would be amazed at the true depth and breadth of the "Where's your
mustache" milk campaign-I must have 50 different print ads.
Depending on the size of the class I sometimes use this as an
individual project or a group project. Sometimes I require a presentation,
and sometimes I have them turn in a portfolio of ads. This project has
been a major contribution to the learning process in my consumer
behavior classes and has made them more interesting---for the students
and for me.
Karen H. Smith
Southwest Texas State University
ILLUSTRATING EFFECTS OF SCHEMAS ON
CONSUMER INFORMATION PROCESSING
Schema theory deals with knowledge that people have about concepts
and how that knowledge affects their information processing (thinking).
Five activities are described below; each is followed by an “explanation” and key concepts are shown in bold. Make two booklets following
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the details below. Distribute booklet 1 to half of your students (referred
to as B1 students) and booklet #2 to the other half (B2 students).
Activity #1 (give students 10 seconds)
For each concept listed, write down the first thing that comes to mind
when you see that word. Please consider one word at a time. Booklet #1:
airlines, delta, priest, bishop; Booklet #2: river, delta, chess, bishop.
Explanation: A schema is knowledge in memory that is structured
around a focal concept (such as airlines). Cues from a stimulus (e.g., a
name or a picture) activate selected pieces of knowledge that are needed
for processing. . In Activity #1, you retrieved and wrote down knowledge
about each concept. Each word acted as a cue or prime (as priming a
pump gets the water going), activating knowledge from memory. In
addition to the prime from the word itself, previous words can act as a
prime to get you thinking along a certain line (context effects). Ask
students what they listed for delta; B1 students tend to list words related to
airlines and B2 students to land/rivers. Repeat this for bishop; B1 students
tend to list words related to Catholicism and B2 students to chess.
Activity #2 (10 seconds)
Describe the typical accountant (B1) or computer expert (B2). Write
each descriptor on a separate line.
Explanation: Students may list things such as "wear glasses, boring,
smart" for accountant and "nerd, smart, rich" for computer expert. Once
retrieved (remembered), this knowledge influences the processing of
incoming information. For example, upon meeting an individual who is
an accountant, the "accountant schema" will affect interpretation of what
the individual says and/or does. A stereotype is a specific type of
schema, where we make generalizations about individuals (i.e., specific
examples of the schema) based on prior knowledge in the schema.
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Activity #3 (1 minute)
Reproduce the "washing clothes passage" from Bransford and
Johnson (1972). Type "The Washing Clothes Passage" above the passage
in B1, but omit the title in B2.
Explanation: Ask B2 students what the passage was talking about;
most will have no idea, but might guess such things as "organizing."
Females are more likely to know the passage is about laundry than males.
B1 students will be wondering why the other students don't know what the
passage is about. Without the schema, the passage is difficult to
comprehend.
Activity #4 (2 minutes)
List ten breeds of dog and ten fast-food restaurants. Rank (from 1 to
10) each dog on how typical it is and how much you like the breed among
dogs listed. Repeat for fast-food restaurants.
Explanation: An instance is an example of the schema (labrador or
McDonald's). Instances vary in typicality (dachsund versus labrador) and
liking; however, typicality tends to be positively correlated with liking
(i.e., typical dogs are the most-liked).
Activity #5 (90 seconds)
Give students 1 minute to read the new product description (new fruit
juice with attributes nonalcoholic, slightly sweet, best served cold,
carbonated and high preservative (B1) or all natural (B2) from Stayman,
Alden, and Smith (1992). Give students 30 seconds to answer: "Check the
product category YOU think best fits the product based on the description
you read," with choices of fruit juice, soft drink, bottled water, and sports
drink."
Explanation: Instantiation is the interaction of prior knowledge
(schema) and a new instance; that is, how a new instance fits in with
previous instances. The first three attributes are congruent with a fruit
juice schema, but carbonation is incongruent. The combination of
carbonation and high preservative (B1) is extremely incongruent with the
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schema; many students may switch schemas, perceiving the product to be
more similar to a soft drink, rather than a fruit juice).
References
Bransford, J.D. and Johnson, M.K. (1972). Contextual prerequisites for
understanding: Some investigations of comprehension and recall.
Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, Vol. 11(Dec),
717-726.
Stayman, D.M., Alden, D.L., and Smith, K.H. (1992). Some effects of
schematic processing on consumer expectations and disconfirmation
judgments. Journal of Consumer Research, Vol 19(Sep), pp. 240-255.
Kim McKeage
University of Maine
STUDENTS PRACTICE MAKING
MARKET/PRODUCT GRIDS ON THEMSELVES
This in-class project has students use a segmentation scheme that they
have already studied. This could include:
 VALS
 Lifestyle
 Price Sensitivity
 Quality Sensitivity
 Attributes/Features Desired
 Involvement
 Demographics
 Geographic region
 Product Usage (Heavy vs. Light Users)
If students wish to use VALS, I instruct them ahead of time to get on the
internet and access the VALS survey online so that they can determine
their type.
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On the day when we do this exercise, students form groups of 5-8
persons. The group is instructed to pick a product category. I recommend
the following categories to them as items they might be familiar with:
 Automobiles (cars, trucks, SUVs, etc.)
 Athletic Shoes
 Recreational Products (Sports equipment, hiking gear, etc.)
 Entertainment Products (Movies, CDs, etc.)
 Food (packaged, grocery, or restaurants)
 Computer Software/Hardware
 Clothing
Students then have to describe which market segments are represented
in their group according to the segmentation scheme(s) they choose to use.
They must also develop a market/product grid to describe how to target
different products (within their chosen category) toward the different
market segments represented within their group. The product positions
can be for existing products or imagined products (especially if no existing
product fits a position they want). Students must discuss the general,
overall “position” of the product and, for fantasy products, how they
would accomplish that positioning. For example, if they want to position
an athletic shoe as a “performance” (overall position) shoe, they might
show advertisements with sports professionals using the shoe under
demanding circumstances. To get credit on the exercise, students must
write up a complete market/product grid with their accompanying notes.
Some of the groups present their solution to the class.
This exercise quickly shows students the limitations of using only
demographics to describe their customers, and really clarifies the process
of segmentation and positioning for them.
Rosa T. Cherry
Williamsburg Technical College
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR ASSIGNMENT
To illustrate and emphasize the decision process, use this assignment.
Choose two goods or services that you or your family has purchased
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recently--one costing less than $25 and one costing more than $125.
Explain the decision-making process for each purchase and the reasons for
each purchase. Write this information in good form. Bring to class and be
prepared to discuss the findings. Your grade will depend on how well you
relate your descriptions to the information in our text.
This often brings some surprising stories and offers numerous
teaching opportunities!
Laura A. Williams
San Diego State University
A PERSONALITY, LIFESTYLE,
AND VALUES PROFILE
Exercise Overview
This exercise is designed to supplement class discussion on consumer
personality, lifestyles, and values. It is a two-part assignment, whereby
students are asked to first create a collage and then to analyze the images
in the collage and explain how these images represent their personality,
lifestyle and values. The collages are then used during class discussion to
illustrate a number of topics, including dimensions of self (i.e., actual self,
social self, and ideal self), personality traits (e.g., inner/outer directed,
materialism, etc.), brand image/personality characteristics, activities,
interests, and opinions, and personal values.
The Assignment
Students are given a handout with the following information and
instructions.
Project: Personality, Lifestyle, and Values Collage and Profile
Assignment Instructions: Create a personality, lifestyle, and values
profile of yourself in the form of a collage. To do so, consult a variety of
sources (e.g., magazine ads, direct mail, photographs, or any printed
medium) and identify multiple images (e.g., products, people, places, ad
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copy) which you believe best represent your personality, lifestyle, and
values. Compile these images in a personal collage. Write an explanation of why the images that you selected represent your personality, lifestyle and values.
The guidelines for the collage assignment include the following:
 The collage should fill an 8.5 X 11 sheet of paper. No larger or
smaller.
 Your interpretation of the collage should typed. It should include a
description of why the images portrayed in your collage represent
your personality, lifestyle, and values.
To illustrate the technique, I bring examples of extraordinary collages
from past semesters. Students are encouraged to be very creative with this
exercise and to feel free to express themselves by selecting whatever
format best captures their personality, lifestyle and values. Past examples
of exemplary creativity have been collages with multiple layers or 3-D,
designed to represent various dimensions of self, and hidden flaps to
depict aspects of their personality that are not easily or readily known to
others.
Benefits to the Student
The greatest benefit of this exercise is that students get the opportunity to apply consumer behavior principles to their lives. By examining
the images selected to depict their personality, lifestyle, and values,
students are required to define themselves using consumer behavior
concepts. For example, during class discussion, each student is asked to
identify an item on their collage that depicts their actual self, ideal self,
and social self. In addition, students discuss the brands, retail outlets,
media outlets, and other marketing-oriented images that are included on
their collages. Students are given the opportunity to explore how and why
they identify with these marketing images.
It is also interesting to encourage students to compare their collages.
Students are often surprised to see how much their collage differs from
fellow classmates. For example, the more materialistic student will have
compiled a number of products, brands, or materialistic goods and will
define their ideal self in terms of possessions. The outer-directed student
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will have several pictures of friends and family and will depict social
relationships as integral to their definition of self. Fixated student
consumers will dedicate their entire collages to a specific product category
or interest.
It is further enlightening for students to examine the proportion of
verbal versus visual images on their collages. Many students may discover that they are dominant visualizers or verbalizers. Students should
also be encouraged to analyze what words or images represent their personal values. Finally, it is also beneficial to explain to the students how
this technique could be used by marketing managers to study brand
images. An interesting variation of the assignment is to ask students to
construct collages of a product or service and discuss the managerial
implications of the information.
In summary, the personality, lifestyle, and values collage enables
students to exert their creativity and to have the opportunity to develop a
portrait of themselves that can be analyzed using consumer behavior
principles.