Business Administration Department

BA342 Consumer Behavior

Dr. Geoffrey Lantos Spring 2008

CLASSROOM DEBATES

Overview

Knowledge of consumer behavior can be applied not just by marketing managers but also by public policy decision makers regarding many controversial issues at the macromarketing level. These issues are not only fundamental to public policy but also germane to your lives as consumers, concerned citizens, and future marketing practitioners. In fact, a dominant share of society’s controversial business issues involves marketing since this is the most publicly-visible business function. Therefore, during the semester, in lieu of the two written assignments or a term paper, you may choose to participate in a four person, two-team debate on one of these controversial public policy issues.

Debate consists of reasoned arguments for or against a given proposition. Each debate will involve four discussants, will include audience participation, and will last for about 34 minutes. In the standard grading plan, your debate grade will be worth 12 to 24% of your final grade, depending on your individualized weights.

Objectives

Debate is an important skill to develop. In the widest sense, debate takes place in various settings in life, including the business world. Analyzing and presenting a compelling, persuasive case is much like selling a product, and a crucial component of marketing management involves analysis, persuasion, and the selling of ideas. Debate also sharpens one’s abilities for decision-making under pressure, listening attentively, and thinking quickly on one’s feet.

Specifically, by participating in a classroom debate, you will:

· Improve your ability to effectively orally communicate.

· Learn to find and use rational and sound arguments for or against controversial issues.

· Gain experience supporting your arguments with carefully documented evidence.

· Learn the fundamentals of research and how to use the results of this research to support your conclusions.

· Develop skill in reflective thinking and reasoning, and sharpen your ability to perceive the fallacious and shallow reasoning of others.

· Become able to organize your thoughts logically and present your ideas clearly and concisely.

· Learn how to defend your ideas from the attack of others.

· Acquire attitudes of open-mindedness, fairness, and tolerance for the viewpoints of others.

· Develop your ability to work cooperatively with other persons (teamwork).

· Improve your professional presentation skills.

· Learn that not all opinions are equally valid and how to search for the truth.

Format of Debates

Each debate will involve a proposition, which formally states a judgment or opinion of a controversial nature, and it is worded in a declarative sentence, e.g., "Resolved: Beer and wine advertising should not be permitted in the broadcast media." A list of CB debate propositions follows on pp. 4 and 5. The affirmative team supports the debate proposition during the entire debate, and the negative team opposes it. Each team will consist of two persons. I will act as moderator.

We will use the Michigan Plan for cross-examination debates. Cross-examination (or cross-questioning) debate involves two teams, affirmative and negative, that support and oppose a debate proposition. It also includes questioning periods. During these periods the opposing debaters cross-question each other for several purposes: to clarify obscure points in the opposition's case, to expose errors in facts or opinions, and to obtain damaging admissions.

The Michigan Plan allows for audience (class members) participation and will follow this format:

1. The affirmative speaker presents the affirmative case ...........……… …6 min.

2. The first affirmative speaker is cross-examined by the second

negative speaker ................................................…………………….…..4 min.

3. Questions from the audience are put to the members of the

affirmative team ................................................………………………...5 min.

4. The first negative speaker presents the negative case ...........…………...6 min.

5. The second affirmative speaker cross-examines the first negative

speaker .........................................................…………………………….4 min.

6. Questions from the audience are put to the members of the

negative team ...................................................…………………… …….5 min.

7. The second negative speaker summarizes the negative case ........………2 min.

8. The second affirmative speaker summarizes the affirmative case ..….….2 min.

34 min.

Audience participation offers the debaters on both sides considerable challenge of their knowledge of the proposition and ability to answer unanticipated questions. It assures lively audience interest and enlivened and intensified debate.

Preparation for Debate

Both team members should work together in researching the subject, in writing up the opening six-minute case and the closing two-minute case, in assembling a list of potential cross-examination questions to ask the opposition, and in compiling a list of responses to potential cross-examination questions asked by the opposition. You may not collaborate with the opposing team members in this preparatory work—this would constitute cheating! Your opening and closing should discuss the cluster of issues arising from the proposition being debated, giving support in evidence of your own position. Arguments should be both factual and logical but may also be emotionally persuasive.

Important: On the day prior to your debate (or any time before that), each team should submit to me a list of references in the form of a bibliography. References should look at both sides of the issue.

Your debate should be done in professional dressy attire (i.e., men – suits or jackets, and ties or other appropriate professional dress); women – dresses, suits, dress slacks and blouse, or other appropriate professional dress).

Evaluation of Discussants

Individuals on each team will be evaluated separately with the assumption that each member participated equally in background preparation work. I will grade each team on the following criteria:

Relative

Criterion Importance

1. Preparation/Content

*Attention-getting opening

*Clear central idea and purpose

*Identification of key points/issues

*Validity of argument - logical, persuasive, effective reasoning and conclusions drawn from

evidence presented

*Evidence - honest use of sufficient, specific, accurate, relevant and interesting evidence,

and reference to sources where appropriate

*Audience appeal

*Clear conclusion

*Easily handles defense of cross-examination arguments

*Clear and penetrating cross-examination of opponents

*Ability to respond to audience questions concisely and accurately

*List of references (submitted in advance of the debate) 70%

2. Organization

*Logically organized and clear presentations (introduction, body, and conclusion); smooth flow of

discussion

*Teamwork - cooperation of team members in presenting a unified constructive case and

assistance of each other in handling audience questions 15%

3. Delivery, Oral Skills, and Style

*Poise and body action, animated, projection, eye contact, relaxed, confident

*Voice audible, expressive, forceful, and pleasant

*Articulation and pronunciation

*Language - clear, varied, economical

*Extempore abilities - able to adapt in manner and content to opponents and audience

*Interesting - conversational, variety, humor, genuine, sincere

*Pacing - not too slow, not too fast

*Attitude - courteous to opponents, moderator and audience; willing to yield

*Persuasiveness

*Enthusiasm

*Ability to stimulate and answer questions

*Use of visual aids, graphics, handouts, etc. 15%

100%

Propositions to be Debated:

1. The consumer movement (consumerism) has been more harmful than helpful to American business and society.

2. Food safety laws are obsolete and should be rewritten. (You may focus on issues like avian influenza, e-coli bacteria, genetically modified crops, Salmonella, allergens, etc. if you wish.).

3. Seat belt laws are a good way to save lives.

4. Air bags (alternative: side-impact air bags) should be mandatory in all new automobiles.

5. The national 55 M.P.H. speed limit of the 1970s and 1980s was a good way to save lives and conserve energy and should therefore be reinstituted. (Note: 3, 4, and 5 may be combined into the general argument "Highway safety laws are a good way to save lives.")

6. All-terrain vehicles (ATV’s) are dangerous and need to be strictly regulated or else banned.

7. War toys ("action figures") should be strictly regulated or banned.

8. Labeling of fast foods' ingredients/nutritional value should be mandatory, not just voluntary.

9. The federal government should set the interest rates banks can charge credit card users.

l0. The federal government should help the private sector by subsidizing consumer databases.

11. Subliminal advertising is a danger to U.S. consumers and needs strict regulation.

12. The requirement for a mandatory bottle deposit system is good legislation for Massachusetts and other states that have it.

13. Toy safety laws have been helpful to consumers.

14. Consumer boycotts against sponsors of TV shows with supposed excess sex, violence, profanity, and anti-Christian stereotyping have been effective.

15. To solve our drug crisis, drugs should be legalized.

16. Marketers of "sin" products (tobacco, alcohol, gambling, pornography, etc.) should not target minority (e.g., Black, Hispanic, elderly) consumers.

17. The federal government should establish a mandatory uniform rating system to identify video games containing graphic scenes of violence or sex rather than relying on the voluntary Entertainment Software Rating Board System.

18. The TV Parental Guidelines system for rating TV shows, which flags violence, sexual content, and coarse language, is good for society and in the best interests of advertisers.

19. Commercial sites on the World Wide Web that focus on children should either be strictly regulated or else banned.

20. Marketers should not target the gay and lesbian market because this is controversial, immoral, and/or will alienate some consumers.

21. The states should be able to collect sales taxes on sales made over the Internet.

22. We need federal legislation to ensure online privacy by protecting Web surfers’ personal data from Internet “cookies” and online profiling techniques (which use technology that secretly collects data on online consumers and logs it into a database, enabling surfing and buying habits to be linked with identifying information).

23. Multi-level marketing is not a legitimate marketing practice and should be curtailed.

24. Product and brand endorsements by charitable organizations put the public confidence at risk and can erode

the integrity of the cause.

25. Mass customization (not mass marketing or even targeted marketing) is effective and efficient and

will therefore be the wave of the future.

26. Brand loyalty is dying and should not be considered as a marketing objective.

27. School classrooms should be marketing-free zones.

28. Marketing of credit cards to college students is wrong and should not be done.

29. Schools should not sell soft drinks or unhealthy snacks in vending machines.

30. Marketers and advertisers of sugary and fatty foods are contributing to the problem of childhood obesity and should stop marketing to kids or else be more severely regulated.

31. A “Twinkie tax” should be levied on unhealthy junk food to subsidize more healthful foods and

fund public-awareness campaigns.

32. U.S. prescription drug regulation is ineffective and needs to be overhauled.

33. The U.S. social security system should be refurbished so that citizens have the choice of making their own retirement investment decisions using individual investment accounts as part of Social Security.

34. The sale or rental of excessively violent or sexually explicit video games to children under 18 should be prohibited or else more heavily regulated.

35. Cell phones should be banned from vehicles (or, alternatively, only headset cell phones should be permitted in vehicles).

36. Buzz marketing—hiring people who will spread the word about a marketer’s product with evangelical zeal e.g., Proctor and Gamble’s Tremor program)—is deceptive because consumers believe ordinary people, not corporate shills, are discussing the product, and so it should be banned.

37. Product placements (integrating brands into movies, TV shows, video games, novels, and other forms of entertainment) victimize audience members (especially children) by obscuring the lines between ads and content.

38. Viral marketing/advertising—marketing techniques that seek to exploit pre-existing social networks to produce exponential increases in brand awareness, through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of a computer virus (i.e., getting consumers to spread a marketing message online by making it entertaining or interesting, such as via viral videos, blogs, seemingly amateur websites funny video clips, and interactive Flash games) should be clearly labeled as advertising so that consumers are not deceived and understand that they are the subjects of marketing.

39. The legal minimum drinking age should be lowered to 18 nationally.

40. Spring break tour promoters encourage underage drinking and other risky behaviors and so should be more strictly regulated.

41. The Plan B “morning-after” pill is dangerous and should be banned.

42. Wal-Mart’s business, labor, environmental, and social standards should be more heavily regulated.

43. Gifts from drugmakers to doctors damage physician-patient trust and should be banned.

44 Smoking should be outlawed in all public venues.

45. Legislation should be passed to make more “green” consumer behaviors (recycling, conservation, use of

mandatory, not just voluntary.

46. Financial services advertising (e.g., for subprime mortgages) needs stricter regulation.

If you have a controversial marketing public policy issue that requires knowledge of consumer behavior other than those listed above which you'd like to debate, let me know. You might find ideas and information from The Journal of Consumer Affairs and The Journal of Public Policy and Marketing. If you are interested in participating in a debate, let me know the issue (or issues) and the position you'd like to take: pro (agree with a statement above), con (disagree with the above statement), or no preference, and mention any other class member who is willing to work with you (if any). Please let me know by Thursday, February 7). Debates will be held toward the end of the course on a date convenient for debaters and for the course schedule.