Revised: January 2015
Wesley J. Howe
School of Technology Management
Stevens Institute of Technology
MGT-648 Consumer Behavior
Prof. A. MadzharovSyllabus 8/15/2013 v1
Syllabus
MGT 648
Consumer Behavior
Spring 2015
Professor Adriana Madzharov
Babbio 627
Tel: 201-216-3339
Fax: 201-216-5385
adriana.madzharov@stevens.edu
Thursday 6:15 – 8:45 pm
Office Hours:
Thursdays 5:00 and 6:00 pm
and by appointment
Course Room:
Babbio 312
Overview
Marketing begins and ends with the consumer. The purpose of this course is to introduce
students to the study of consumer behavior. This is an interdisciplinary course that
integrates perspectives from marketing, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and
economics in order to examine the elements of the consumer decision-making process
and to enable formulation of marketing strategies.
Prerequisites: MGT 641 Marketing Management
Course Objectives
The goals of this course are for students to learn the key concepts and theories of
consumer behavior, and to develop the intellectual ability to identify applications of these
concepts and theories in formulating viable marketing strategies. This course will provide
students with the fundamental conceptual and analytical tools essential for a
comprehensive understanding of the psychological processes that characterize consumers'
consumption experiences. Students will be better able to understand how marketers
anticipate, adapt, and respond to consumer needs by applying the insight from basic
consumer behavior concepts to their marketing strategies.
Additional learning objectives include the development of:
Communication skills: students will improve and polish their oral communication skills
through the case analysis and team project presentations.
Technology role in business: Students learn how companies use technology (e.g., social
media) to understand the consumer decision-making process.
Analytic problem-solving: The course incorporates case study methodology which is
1
built on analytic problem solving.
Ethics: Students learn about the ethical issues involved with consumer data collection.
Team skills: Students will work in teams on the majority of the course tasks such as case
analysis and advertising analysis project; an online survey instrument will be used to
measure individual contributions to team performance.
List of Course Outcomes:
After taking this course, students will be able to:
- Students will gain strategic understanding of the influential and persuasive
mechanisms involved in consumer attitude, belief, and behavior change, and
will be able to apply this knowledge in addressing specific marketing
problems.
- Students will learn to examine the consumer from a managerial perspective
and to develop marketing strategies to respond to consumers’ changing
attitudes and behaviors.
- Students will be able to understand how to anticipate, adapt, and respond to
consumer needs by applying the insight from basic consumer behavior
concepts to their marketing strategies.
- Students will acquire knowledge on the current and future research
technologies for consumer insight and will be able to critically assess how
they can be used in strategy formulation.
Pedagogy
The course integrates lectures, case analysis, team projects and discussions to
focus on the implications of social science concepts for marketing strategy.
Students are responsible for all assigned readings and expected to be prepared for
cases and discussions. The lecture periods are designed to emphasize core
concepts and principles and introduce unique study materials and examples.
Lectures are not a substitute for the text. Reading the text is essential to fully
understand the material and do well on the exams.
Readings
Required Text
Schiffman, Leon and Leslie Kanuk (2010), Consumer Behavior, 10th ed., Prentice Hall
(ISBN-10: 0135053013)
Grading
Exam I
25%
Exam II
25%
Group project (Ad analysis presentation) 20%
Case analysis (in groups)
15%
2
Class participation
Class attendance
Academic research participation
5%
5%
5%
Assignments
Exams: 50% of overall grade (25% Exam I, 25% Exam II)
During the semester, students will take 2 non-cumulative exams. Exams might include
multiple choice, essay, and open-ended questions. We will review the material for each
exam in class, in the session prior to the exam. Make-up exams will not be available. In
the event of an emergency or a known conflict with the exam date, please speak to me as
soon as possible.
Group Project: Advertisement Analysis Presentation: 20% of overall grade. This project
is designed to give students a chance to apply the knowledge obtained in the class and to
improve students’ ability to work in groups, as is often required in the field of business.
Students will form groups of 2 or more and work together to create a thorough analysis of
a TV commercial as an application of the consumer behavior concepts learned in class.
Each team will choose one TV commercial (presented at the Super Bowl 2015) that
reflects a consumer behavior concept (i.e., motivation, personality, or attitudes). The goal
of this analysis is for students to demonstrate how the selected advertisement is a realworld reflection and application of a basic, theoretical concept(s) of consumer behavior.
Groups will give a 30-minute PowerPoint presentation about their commercial.
Presentations will take place on selected dates at the end of the semester. All group
members are expected to present and presentations must stay within the allotted time. All
groups must: (1) email me their slides prior to their day of presentation; (2) provide me
with a printout of their slides on the day of the presentation.
Detailed guidelines for the project and evaluative criteria for the presentations are attached
to this syllabus and will also be posted on Canvas. Group formation will take place on the
first day of class.
To ensure the participation of all group members in the project, at the end of the semester,
all students will be asked to individually and anonymously provide an evaluation of the
contribution of every group member.
Case analysis (in groups): 15% of overall grade. All students will analyze the cases
following the chapters in class and will come up with answers and solutions to the case
questions. The objective of this task is for students to apply the consumer behavior
concepts learned from the chapters. Case analysis will be evaluated based on how well
this is done and on the depth of the presented analysis. Specific case analysis guidelines
are attached to this syllabus and will also be posted on Canvas.
Each group will present several short consumer behavior cases to the class. Once the
groups are formed I will randomly schedule the presentation dates for the teams. Groups
will prepare for these case presentations in class, so make sure to always bring your
laptops. Evaluative criteria for the presentations are attached to this syllabus and will also
be posted on Canvas.
Case presentations will last 15 minutes and will be followed by a class discussion.
Although only one team will present in each session, all groups are expected to work on
3
and prepare a case analysis so that everybody can actively participate in the discussions.
Class participation: 5% of overall grade. Students are expected to attend and actively
participate in the class sessions. Students should come to class ready to discuss the
material being covered and are encouraged to share their viewpoint on the topic. Class
discussions are essential for learning the material – you are expected to actively listen and
you might be called to answer a specific question during the lectures and discussions. My
goal is to create an open environment in which you feel comfortable and able to share
your opinions and engage in class discussions.
Attendance: 5% of overall grade, calculated as follows: number of attended classes by the
student/total number of sessions for the semester*100. You are expected to attend all
sessions. Attendance will be recorded at every session. Punctuality: You are expected to
be in class a few minutes before the scheduled start time. Lateness will not be tolerated.
Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each session. If you show up late for class,
your lateness will be recorded as absence.
In cases when an unpredictable situation has prevented from being on time or from
attending class, you must notify me by email; failure to do so as well as frequent excused
lateness and absences will compromise your attendance participation portion of the grade.
Academic research participation: 5% of overall grade. As a student in consumer
behavior you are eligible to participate in academic research conducted by Stevens
marketing faculty and doctoral students. You can earn up to 5% course credit for
participating in 3 research studies, each up to 40 minutes long. Research studies often
involve filling out one or more questionnaires that examine consumer behavior. By
taking the role of a consumer, you have the opportunity to learn how researchers explore
different aspects of consumer behavior that you study in this course. The research studies
will be scheduled throughout the semester and you will be notified of the dates ahead of
time. At the end of the semester, time will be allocated to discuss the research studies and
learn how the questionnaires tap into different aspects of consumer behavior (e.g.,
attitude, motivation).
Participation in these studies is voluntary. If you choose not to participate in the research
studies, you can still get this 5% grade portion by completing a written assignment. The
assignment involves creating three short consumer questionnaires (of 1 typed page each)
that tap into different aspects of consumer behavior.
Whether you decide to receive the 5% credit from the research studies or from the
alternative (questionnaires) assignment, you will still participate in and benefit from the
research studies discussion conducted in class.
Class Policies
Personal electronic devices: Cell phones must be on silent. You may use tablets and/or
laptops to take notes only. If you are using them for any other purpose during the class, I
may ask you to turn them off. If you are to use a voice or video recorder to record the
lecture, you must check with me beforehand.
Office: I encourage you to meet me frequently for clarifications and feedback. I will be
available before and after the class sessions, and during office hours. You can also email
4
me to set an appointment.
Student information sheet: All students need to fill out and submit a student information
sheet with a picture. All students must submit to me both a print out and an electronic
copy with pictures via Canvas no later than January 29th. Please, put your name in the
subject line of the electronic submission.
Ethical Conduct
The following statement is printed in the Stevens Graduate Catalog and applies to all
students taking Stevens courses, on and off campus.
“Cheating during in-class tests or take-home examinations or homework is, of course,
illegal and immoral. A Graduate Academic Evaluation Board exists to investigate
academic improprieties, conduct hearings, and determine any necessary actions. The
term ‘academic impropriety’ is meant to include, but is not limited to, cheating on
homework, during in-class or take home examinations and plagiarism.“
Consequences of academic impropriety are severe, ranging from receiving an “F” in a
course, to a warning from the Dean of the Graduate School, which becomes a part of the
permanent student record, to expulsion.
Reference:
The Graduate Student Handbook, Academic Year 2003-2004 Stevens
Institute of Technology, page 10.
Consistent with the above statements, all homework exercises, tests and exams that are
designated as individual assignments MUST contain the following signed statement
before they can be accepted for grading.
____________________________________________________________________
I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on
this assignment/examination. I further pledge that I have not copied any material from a
book, article, the Internet or any other source except where I have expressly cited the
source.
Signature _________________________
Date: _____________
Please note that assignments in this class may be submitted to www.turnitin.com, a webbased anti-plagiarism system, for an evaluation of their originality.
Course/Teacher Evaluation
Continuous improvement can only occur with feedback based on comprehensive and
appropriate surveys. Your feedback is an important contributor to decisions to modify course
content/pedagogy which is why we strive for 100% class participation in the survey.
5
All course teacher evaluations are conducted on-line. You will receive an e-mail one week
prior to the end of the course informing you that the survey site
(https://www.stevens.edu/assess) is open along with instructions for accessing the site. Login
using your Campus (email) username and password. This is the same username and password
you use for access to Canvas. Simply click on the course that you wish to evaluate and enter
the information. All responses are strictly anonymous. We especially encourage you to clarify
your position on any of the questions and give explicit feedbacks on your overall evaluations
in the section at the end of the formal survey that allows for written comments. We ask that
you submit your survey prior to end of the examination period.
Course schedule
Topic(s)
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Introduction and
Consumer Behavior:
Meeting Changes and
Challenges
Consumer Research
Process
Market Segmentation
and Strategic
Positioning
Consumer Motivation
Reading(s)
Class exercises
(cases)
HW
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Using Secondary Data
in Targeting
Consumers
Benefit Segmentation
in Oral Care Market
Wall Street Journal
article
Chapter 4
The Product Collection
at New Product Works
Wall Street Journal
article
Chapter 5
Hello Starbucks!
Group Project Topic
Chapter 6
Perception and Product
Placement
Wall Street Journal
article
Chapter 7
HSBS’s Different
Values Campaign
Chapter 8
The Not-So-Extreme
Sport
Wall Street Journal
article
Company’s website
and products
Target market profile
Research the company
Chapter 3
Exam I
Personality and
Consumer Behavior
Consumer Perception
Consumer Learning
Consumer Attitude
Formation and Change
Exam II
Guest lecture –
marketing executive
Field trip –
observation of
consumer behavior in
the retail environment
Group Project
Presentations
Group Project
Presentations
6
7