Hang Seng Management College - Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) Programme
2015-16 Semester 1 - BUS3002 (Consumer Behavior) - Module Coordinator: Dr. Felix Tang
Module Syllabus for MON: 09:00-11:50 (M909), 15:00-17:50 (D407), THU: 9:00-11:50 (D410)
Instructor:
Dr. Felix Tang
(felixtang@hsmc.edu.hk) Office: D709 Tel: 3963-5134
Teaching Assistant: Ms. Candy Ng (candyng@hsmc.edu.hk) Office: D701 Tel: 3963-5514
Dr. Tang’s office hour: Mon – 12:00-13:00, Tue – 11:00-12:00, 14:00-17:00, Thu – 14:00-15:00
Module Description:
This module introduces students the key concepts and theories of consumer behaviour. The topics
encompass consumer behaviours as an individual, in groups, and under (sub-)cultural influence. The module
is also designed to give students opportunities to discuss the marketing implications and to apply their
knowledge to marketing situations.
Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. describe the concepts and theories of consumer behaviour;
2. identify plausible concepts and theories to explain consumer’s behaviour;
3. analyse, interpret and report consumer research findings for managerial decision-making; and
4. apply their knowledge in consumer behaviour to design efficient marketing strategies.
Prerequisites:
BUS2001 Principles of Marketing
Required Textbook:
Solomon, Michael R. (2015). Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being (11th ed., Global Edition). Upper
Saddle River: Pearson.
Additional Reference:
Hoyer, Wayne D., MacInnis. Deborah J., and Pieters, Rik (2013). Consumer Behavior (6th Ed., IE),
South-Western: Australia.
Blackwell, Roger D., Miniard, Paul W., Engel, James F., et al. (2012). Consumer Behavior (4th Ed.). Cengage
Learning Asia: Singapore.
Hawkins, Del. I., and Mothersbaugh, David L. (2012). Consumer Behavior: Building Marketing Strategy
(12th Ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.
Assessment Methods:
1. Class participation
2. Assignments
3. Mid-term Exam
4. Final Exam
(10%)
(30%)
(20%)
(40%)
Class Organization:
Each student is strongly encouraged to submit an information card (cue-card size) to allow the lecturer to
mass-customize learning experience.
Students are required to organize themselves into groups of 5-8 students. Each group designate a group
leader and submit a group list to the teaching assistant (Ms. Candy Ng - candyng@hsmc.edu.hk) on or
before the end of Week 6. The group list should include the name, student I.D., and email address of all
group members, the phone number of the group leader, and a group photo with each member’s name
marked on the photo.
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Module Content and Tentative Schedule:
Week
Topic
Week 1 & 2
Introduction & Perception
Week 3 & 4
Learning & Memory
Sep 25, 2015
Week 5 & 6
Presentation Workshop material due Sept 25 at 4:00pm
Self & Personality
Week 6
Presentation Workshop in class this week
Week 7
Motivation
Week 8
Attitude
Oct 16, 2015
Week 9 & 10
Mid-term Exam (Friday evening @ College hall)
Decision Making & Post-purchase
Oct 23, 2015
Consumer Diary due Oct 23 at 4:00pm
Week 11
Social Influence
Week 12
Culture
Week 13 & 14
Presentations and Closing
Final Exam Period
Final Examination
Important note:
1) Submitting assignments: It is important to submit your assignments on time. Please pay attention on the
submission requirements as outlined in the assignment page. Every students MUST keep copies (electronic
or photocopies) of all assignments submitted on this module. Late submission and incomplete submission
will result in mark reduction.
2) Voicing out: Communication is a two-way street; I am always willing to listen if you are willing to say. If
there is any problem with the module, its contents, its organization, the lecturer, and/or the students, feel
free to discuss with me after class, during office hour, or schedule an appointment with me.
3) Avoiding plagiarism: Plagiarism—stealing other people’s work and lying about it afterward—is a serious
academic offence. It involves. Students are required to submit all major assessments (e.g., written report of
group project) to Veriguide for checking. Minor offense will reduce in grade reduction while serious offense
will be reported to the school for additional actions. My advice: do not copy; cite your work properly. Please
visit the HSMC Veriguide website (http://ecampus.hsmc.edu.hk/veriguide) for more information.
4) There is no make-up mid-term exam to anyone for whatever reasons. Students with special education
needs and with valid reasons (e.g., hospitalized and missed the mid-term exam) will be assigned to write an
individual essay paper on a topic deemed appropriate by the instructor to demonstrate his/her
achievements relating to the module learning outcomes.
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Class participation:
Evaluated individually, class participation reflects a student’s effort to participate actively in various
learning activities (including asking/answering questions in class, engaging in in-class exercises,
and/or reporting your thoughts on reading assigned articles), to offer insights when participating,
and to show interpersonal and communication skills when participating.
Presentation Workshop:
To brush-up marketing student’s presentation skill, a presentation workshop is organized in week 6.
Students are free to present any topic, for 1-min. A template will be available on ecampus for
download (around week 3). Please prepare your presentation topic and script by using the
template; the presentation material should be submitted to the Department of Marketing pigeon
hole at Block D, 7/F on or before Sept 25 at 4:00pm. The actual presentation will be conducted in
class on week 6, with Ms. Candy Ng as the facilitator. The presentation workshop is
assessment-free, so as to provide a non-stressful environment for students to learn from the
facilitator, the instructor and/or other students. Class participation score will be given to those who
participated; bonus participation scores will be given to excellent presenters.
Assignments:
Individual Consumer Diary and Reflection (10% of the module assessment)
Due week 8 (Oct 23, 4:00pm), by email [using your college email address] to
candyng@hsmc.edu.hk, email title as: CB Consumer Diary #1/2/3
To facilitate in-depth discussion of the multi-facet aspect of consumer behaviour, each student is
require to submit a consumer diary of 500-1,000 words (plus at least two photos)(in MS Word
format) or a 5-10 min video (in mpg or avi format) to share your thoughts and feelings on:
(1) morning ritual (e.g., on a typical day, what you do, with which products and
brands between opening your eyes in the morning and leaving home… and why…)
OR
(2) customer relationship (e.g., discuss your relationship with a company/brand
(avoid phone and computer, if you can) that you have purchase/patronage for
more than 1 year and with multiple purchases, how it start and develop…)
OR
(3) any consumer ethics related activity or dark-side consumption (e.g., compulsive,
additive, illegal, questionable behavior by consumers)(e.g., your thoughts or
feelings on your/others’ counterfeit consumption…)
Be as specific and as detailed as possible on your thoughts (e.g., what you think, why you are
thinking that...), your feelings (e.g., what you feel, why are you feeling that way...), and your
actions (e.g., what you do, why you do it...)
The assessment is mainly based on effort (i.e., detailed documentation of your consumer behaviors,
thoughts, and feelings) and following simple instructions. All collected materials (without grades) will be
released to all CB students in week 9, for academic purpose.
If you have difficulty submitting over email due to file size issue (for videos without compression), you may
opt for in-person (e.g., via USB flash drive) submission to Ms. Candy Ng at D701. You are strongly advised to
setup an appointment with Candy and submit your work early to prevent missing the deadline if you submit
your work this way.
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Group Project (20% of the module assessment)
Due week 13 or 14
Marketing in essence is about satisfying customers’ needs. We need to understand our customer (or target
market) in great details before we can create winning and effective marketing strategies. The purpose of
this project is to help students to gain in-depth knowledge on a consumer behavior topic that they are
interested in.
Topic:
(1) Any topics relating to consumer ritual, or
(2) Any topics relating to understand or building customer relationship, or
(3) Any topics relating to consumer ethics or dark-side consumption, or
(4) Any topics relating to extreme sport or electronic sport, or
(5) Any extremely interesting and insightful consumer behavior phenomenon
Task: research on the selected topic using consumer diary (for topic 1-3) and other sources of information,
analyze the selected topic using relevant CB concepts and theories, and design a few effective marketing
strategies based on your findings.
Requirements:
1. Prepare three deliverables:
a) A PowerPoint report - no limitation.
b) A presentation - 20 min, including Q&A period.
c) An executive summary - no more than 500 words, excluding the references.
2. Submit a soft-copy of the PowerPoint report (i.e., your PowerPoint slides) and the executive summary
at least 1 day before your scheduled presentation day. Submit a hard-copy of the PowerPoint report
and the executive summary to the instructor before the presentation begins.
Assessment:
Presentation
Summary
Content: research and analyze the phenomenon with relevant concepts/theories
/40
/10
Application: design effective marketing strategies based on your findings
/20
/5
Organization: report in an easy-to-understand, creative and professional way
/20
/5
Total score:
/80
/20
Proposed Assessment criteria
*All assessments will be made based on the assessment rubrics.
Note:
Pick an interesting, non-mainstream CB related phenomenon.
The presentations will be scheduled on Week 13 and 14. The order will be based on a random draw.
Getting a head start in group project is very important.
It is a good practice to meet regularly with your group member and get everything done early.
You are encouraged and expected to do a lot of secondary data collection about your topic. Primary
data collection is not necessary.
You are recommended to have additional readings. Additional merit will be given to support by
academic journals. Please make proper citation and referencing in your report.
Use table and chart wisely.
Late penalty is 10% per day.
As more and more marketing companies are moving towards PowerPoint reporting, the oral
presentation part of this assignment is weighted heavier to reflect on this industrial practice. Please
invest more time and effort into the presentation and the associated PowerPoint slides.
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