Business Administration Department
Spring,
2008
BA342 Consumer Behavior Office:
219D
Sec. A: Tues., Thurs.
1-2:15 p.m. (Duffy 207) Email:
glantos@stonehill.edu
Sec. B: Tues., Thurs. 2:30-3:45
p.m. (Duffy 207) Office
Phone: 508.565.1205 (weekdays)
Sec. C: Weds 6:30-9 p.m.
(Duffy 206) Cell
phone: 508.369.4324 (evenings,
Dr. Geoffrey P. Lantos
weekends)
Website:
http://faculty.stonehill.edu/glantos/index.htm Messages
can be left on either phone
Fax:
508.565.1444
any time
Department
Administrative. Assistant: Mrs. Carolyn AIM: glantos@stonehill.edu
McGuinness, 508.565.1463, Duffy 217,
cmcguiness@stonehill.edu
Office Hours: Mon. 1:30-4 p.m.
Tues. 9-11a.m
Weds. 10 a.m.-noon; 4-5:30 p.m.
Thurs.
10 a.m.-noon
Fri. 10 a.m.-noon
Other times by
appointment or informal drop-in
E-mail, voicemail, and instant messages 24/7
TEXTBOOK:
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
"Application
of behavior science theory and research to the consumption behavior of
individuals in society. Examines the consumer decision process and the effect
on consumer decision making of external
environmental influences (culture,
subculture, social class, reference groups, family, and personal influences)
and of internal psychological influences
(personality and lifestyle, learning, motives, perception, and beliefs and
attitudes).
Prerequisite
or Corequisite: BA340" -
This
intermediate-level mandatory marketing course provides students with (1) theory about consumer behavior (CB) and
(2) an understanding of how CB concepts can be applied to marketing management (the hunters), to our roles as
consumers (the hunted), and to everyday life.
CB uses concepts, theories, and principles from the various social
(behavioral) sciences to understand factors influencing the acquisition,
consumption, and disposition of goods, services, and ideas.
CB
is one of the most exciting areas in the study of marketing! Every day, all around us, the use of various
marketing mix tools to inform, persuade, and influence our purchase decisions
competes with other stimuli for our attention—and our hard-earned money! In studying CB, you will understand how
marketers identify and exploit various sources of influence—from learning about
the way we think and process marketplace information to how our product choices
and purchase decisions are shaped by our relationships with others, even by our
dreams and aspirations.
The
primary course goal is to provide you with a viable executive-level
understanding of CB. Knowledge of CB
principles is becoming increasingly important for marketing managers as well as
public policy makers. Quite simply, in
order to develop the goods and services that will fulfill the needs and wants
of marketplace buyers, as well as an effective marketing program (and, for
public policy makers, effective consumer protection), knowledge of those
individuals’ CB is necessary. Applications
in this course are primarily from the marketing
manager's perspective in marketing consumer goods and services, with
special emphasis on advertising and promotion as well as new product
development.
A
secondary course goal is to develop your knowledge of CB as a major
aspect of human behavior. Thus, applications
are also from the consumer's perspective
in making consumption decisions in the marketplace and in everyday decisions in
life. The course will also aid your
understanding of the human society in which we dwell.
The course is 1) descriptive—background theoretical principles are presented and discussed—and 2) applications oriented—experiential exercises are undertaken and discussed, case studies are analyzed, and examples of marketing strategy implementation of CB concepts and theories are analyzed through experiential exercises from the textbook, in-class discussions, audiovisual presentations, and student presentations.
The
course explores:
1)
A history of and an overview of current efforts in CB research, including market segmentation (various bases for segmentation are further developed
throughout the course);
2)
The consumer decision-making process;
3)
The influence of the external environment on CB, with emphasis on the social environment studied by the social
science disciplines of cultural anthropology, sociology, and social psychology;
and
4)
The influences on CB of internal
psychological factors, such as motivation, personality, perception,
learning, beliefs, and attitudes, as studied by the behavioral science
disciplines of experimental psychology and social psychology.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
The
study of CB is intended to acquaint you with what marketers need to know to
understand their task of meeting consumers’ needs and wants in the development
of marketing strategy, as well as what it means to be a consumer in a
market-oriented society. Accordingly,
the goals of this course are that you:
1)
Gain an understanding of fundamental CB concepts from both theory and empirical
research;
2)
Learn how to practically apply this
knowledge to real-world strategic marketing management decision making;
3)
Use knowledge of CB in the marketplace to become a better consumer via
heightened self-consciousness of the marketplace forces at work on you (both the
internal/psychological and external/social environments);
4)
Become familiar with the literature in and other information sources on CB;
5)
Develop your written communication skills;
6)
Enhance your oral communication and presentation skills;
7) Improve your ability to think and write critically and
creatively;
8)
Grow more aware of social and psychological influences on your everyday life;
9)
Become more familiar with the use of the Internet, e-commerce, and information
technology with respect to the changing consumer marketplace; and
10)
Integrate your Christian faith with learning (optional but encouraged).
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
You
will achieve the first three objectives when you 1) carefully read and study
the textbook and 2) attend lectures, participate in class discussions, and
review and reflect on what you learn in the classroom. You will fulfill the second, third, and fifth
goals if you 3) complete one or two short written and oral experiential
applications exercises, plus the fifth goal if you do a periodical article
review. You can also accomplish the
second, third, and fifth objectives if you choose to complete a term paper in
lieu of the short written assignments.
The sixth objective should be achieved when you 4) participate in
classroom discussions and an in-class team presentation, and if you choose the
debate assignment. The seventh and
eighth objectives will be realized through most course activities. The ninth goal will be accomplished when you
do experiential applications exercises involving the World Wide Web. Finally, you will attain the final goal if
you elect to pay attention to opening class devotions from
The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick
Warren and participate with me in evaluating course material from a
Christian worldview as informed by the Scriptures. The
experiential exercises, periodical article assignment, classroom debate, term
paper project, and in-class team presentation assignment are detailed in
separate handouts.
CLASSROOM FORMAT
Class
sessions will involve a variety of teaching techniques. Much of our class time will be spent
discussing the various experiential applications exercises from the textbook,
and each of you will participate in a team presentation of one of these
exercises. Some class time will also be
devoted to lecture on and discussion of material related to the assigned
textbook reading. I will present the
topics in a supplemental (to the assigned readings) and illustrative manner (using
transparencies, DVDs, CDs, pass-arounds,
product samples, website visitations, etc.), and these presentations will be
integrated with classroom discussions of the topical material and assigned
work. Informal dialogues on the
experiential applications exercises and on short cases (distributed in your
handout packet) will strengthen your analytical and decision-making
skills. Some students might opt to participate in an
in-class debate relating to a controversial public policy issue, the resolution
of which requires knowledge of CB.
Just
as you expect me to come to class prepared to discuss the assigned topic(s) for
the day, I expect you will come to class prepared to participate in the
discussion (active learning is more productive than passive learning). In order to get ready for active classroom
involvement, I expect you to read the assigned material and to work through any
assigned experiential applications exercises and cases prior to attending
class, so that you are better prepared to raise questions, to answer my
questions, and to intelligently contribute to class discussions.[1]
STUDENT EVALUATION
You will decide within certain
parameters what your workload will be and how you will be evaluated. Student evaluation will be based on
performance on each of the course requirements in the following heaviest-possible-workload
standard
grading plan. Note: This is “choose-your-weight” grading. Each student using
this plan will select his or her own weight for each course requirement
within the ranges shown in the third column below. For instance, you can count the first exam as
low as 13%, as high as 23%, or any percentage point in between (e.g.,
18%). Percentages must add up to 100%.
Relative
Requirement Dates of Completion Importance
(1) Exams
Exam #1 March
28 13-23%
Exam #2 April
10 13-23%
Final Exam Sec. A: Mon., May 5, 9 a.m. 19-29%
Sec.
B: Tues., May 6, 1:30 p.m.
(2) Written Assignment(s) or Debate
(a) Two Written Experiential Group #1 – 2/5, 4/1
Applications Exercises (from the Group #2 – 2/7, 4/3
textbook) Group
#3 – 2/14, 4/8 12-24%
(6-12%
Group #4 – 2/19, 4/15 each)
Group
#5 – 2/21, 4/17
. Group
#6 – 3/11, 4/22
Group
#7 – 3/13, 4/22
Group
#8– 3/18, 4/24
Or Or
(b) One Experiential Applications Choose one of the two due dates for 12-24% (6-12% Exercise and One
Periodical
one written exercise for your group above. each)
Article Review
Your Periodical Article Review is
due on the due date for your group’s
other written assignment (See (2) (a)
above).
Or Or
(c) Term Paper Project Proposal – 2/7 22-34%*
Progress
Report – 3/13
Finished
Paper – 4/24
*With
a 10% deduction from another course requirement with the lowest grade. Your preliminary weights, if you choose to do
a term paper, should add up to 110% so I can later deduct ten percentage points
from your lowest grade.
Or Or
(d)
Classroom Debate Debate proposal – 2/7 12-24%
Debate
date to be determined
by debaters and professor
(3) In-Class Team Presentation
In-Class Team Presentation Team #8 – 2/7 4-10%
of an Experiential Team #7 – 2/7
Applications Exercise Team #6 –2/12
Team #5 – 2/21
Team #4 – 2/21
Team #3 – 2/26
Team #2 – 4/1
Team #1 – 4/17
(4)
Classroom Participation and Each class session 10-20%
Attendance Total: 100%
Instead of the
above standard grading plan you may choose one of the following five nonstandard
grading options, each of which evaluates you on exams and on the
in-class team presentation plus neither or only one of the other two requirements,
i.e., (1) written assignment, term paper, or debate and (2) classroom
participation. In order of increasing
workload, these options are:
Option 1: Exams and
in-class team presentation
only
(1) Exam #1 – 20-30%
Exam #2 – 20-30%
Exam #3 - 28-38%
(2) In-Class Team Presentation –
11-17%
Option 2:
Exams, in-class team presentation, and one written assignment
(1) Exam #1 – 19-29%
Exam #2 – 19-29%
Exam #3 - 26-36%
(2) In-Class Team Presentation – 6-12%
(3) Written
assignment (Experiential Applications Exercise or
Periodical Article Review) – 9-15%
Option 3:
Exams, in-class team presentation, one written assignment, and class
participation
(1) Exam #1 –
15-25%
Exam
#2 – 15-25%
Exam #3 - 20-30%
(2) In-Class Team Presentation – 5-11%
(3) Written assignment (Experiential
Applications Exercise or
Periodical
article review) – 8-14%
(4) Class Participation – 11-21%
Option 5: Exams, in-class team presentation, and two written assignments or debate or term paper
(1) Exam #1 – 15-25%
Exam #2 – 15-25%
Exam #3 - 23-33%
(2) In-Class Team Presentation –
4-10%
(3)
Two written assignments (2 Experiential Applications Exercises or
one Experiential Applications Exercise and
one periodical article review) – 18-30%
(9-15% each)
OR
Debate
– 18-30%
OR
Term paper project 28-40%**
**With a 10% deduction from
another course requirement with the lowest grade. Your preliminary
weights should add up to 110%.
You must let me
know your individualized grading plan by Jan.31. After that date you are locked in to your
plan—no changes permitted! The default
plan is the heaviest-possible-workload standard grading plan.
GRADING POLICY
The formal grading
system serves two purposes--motivation and evaluation. General criteria used in grading performance
on the above course requirements include mastery of course material, oral and
written expression skills, originality/creativity, critical thinking skills,
and problem-solving ability. Specific criteria for each course requirement can
be found in a separate handout describing that requirement.
Examinations
Material included in
examinations will be based primarily on material covered in classroom lectures
and discussions. This includes class
discussions of conceptual material from videos and from case discussions (not factual
information from these materials, such as names and dates). Secondarily,
exams will cover assigned readings in the textbook. There is much more material in your textbook
and related assignments than is possible to cover and develop in detail in
class. Our class discussions will touch
on and further develop only the most important and conceptually difficult
issues. Thus, although tests will place
primary emphasis on topics that are covered in both the assigned readings and
class, exams will also cover the core material and key concepts from your
assigned reading and end-of-chapter review questions and assigned experiential
exercise questions not reviewed in
class. Pay
special attention to each assigned chapter’s learning objectives, key terms,
and end-of-chapter questions. You should integrate the
lectures, class discussions, and assigned reading to
best prepare for exams.
The first two exams
will each focus on material from the particular one-third of the course just
covered. The third exam will cover both
material covered in the third section of the course (approximately two-thirds)
and in the first two sections of the course (approximately one-third).
Each exam will consist of a format emphasizing application of concepts learned. Each exam will include the following types of questions: (1) short definitions/explanations and examples of concepts, (2) conceptual/descriptive short answer questions, and (3) situational applied problem-solving questions. See the exam template handout and practice exams from a previous semester on my website. The latter will be covered in peer tutor-led review sessions, which will be conducted outside of regular class time to help you review the material, answer your questions, and master my exam style. All examinations from this semester remain in my office after being graded and reviewed in class; feel free to stop by and review/discuss them with me any time during the semester.
No make-up
examinations will be administered except under unusual circumstances. If something prevents you from attending an
exam or from turning in an assignment on time, you are expected to notify me
and alternative arrangements will be made BEFORE
the exam or class period during which the assignment is to be submitted. If you are unable to contact me directly, please
leave a voice mail or email message as to where you can be contacted. A
written medical excuse will be accepted as a legitimate reason for missing an
assignment or exam and being allowed to take a makeup exam or turn in a paper
late. Compelling reasons, such as illness or death in the immediate family, are
generally acceptable while, for example, outside activities or more than one
exam in a day, are not. (Please plan
accordingly.) If I am not contacted in
advance, I will reserve the right to assign a failing grade for the exam
missed.
If class is cancelled
on a scheduled exam day, the exam will be given the next scheduled class day.
I
strongly recommend that any student who earns a test score below 75 on the
first (or any other) exam see me within a week of getting that test back for a
private tutorial session. This will help
us diagnose why you did poorly, set goals for the next exam, and determine
study strategies to help you improve your grade for that following exam.
Written Papers
Requirements
for written papers are as follows:
1. All written material must be typed (double-spaced, standard margins, 10-to-12 point font
size, 8½" x 11" white paper).
2. The assignment’s title, your student
identification number for this course (no names please—student numbers will be
assigned),
the course name and number plus section letter (A or B), and the professor’s
name should appear on the cover page.
3. Papers received after the due date will
be penalized 5 points (out of 100 points) for each weekday that they are late, unless (a) prior arrangements have been
made with me (including taking an Incomplete for the semester) or (b) unusual
unforeseen circumstances arise. In such
situations, the grade on the late assignment might be adjusted downward,
depending on the situation. If you are
absent from class when your assignment is due, you may e-mail me your paper (as
an attachment in MS-Word format), fax it to me at 508-565-1444, or drop it off
at my office by 6 p.m.
4.
If you have a writing problem or if English
is not your native language, please come see me so we can work on such
problems.
5.
I am available during office hours or by
appointment to discuss and review outlines or drafts of your assignments. You may also seek assistance from the
professional tutor in the
6. See your Holt Handbook for help
with formats. You may select any
referencing format you wish, but be consistent in your usage of a format.
7. Other more detailed requirements are
explained in separate handouts explaining each assignment.
You
will have an optional opportunity to revise any of your written assignments to
improve your grade. You will have one
week after receiving your graded paper to improve it according to my
suggestions on each of the grading criteria.
You are to hand in both the original graded paper and the revision. I will then average the grade of the original
and the revision together. For instance,
a paper that earns a 70 the first time and a 90 on the revision would receive
an 80. (Note: I usually return papers
during the class following the class in which they were handed in).
Classroom Participation
In general, the class
sessions will be treated as scheduled business meetings: Come prepared to
participate in the class activities. I
will reserve the right to hold pop quizzes any time the class as a whole
appears to be unprepared for class. If
you are attentive and appear to be prepared and interested, pop quizzes will be
unnecessary. Any pop quiz grades will be
factored in as part of your three exam grades.
Also, if the class overall appears poorly prepared for class, I might
warn you to be prepared to turn in as homework answers to textbook Review
Questions or In-class Applications Exercises questions.
It is vitally
important that you play an active role in the learning process. As a result, your participation in class
discussions will be encouraged, expected, and rewarded (quality, not just
quantity!). The "4 P's" of
student classroom involvement are: 1) Preparation (read the assigned material),
2) Presence (attend class), 3) Promptness (don't be late and thereby disrupt
class), and 4) Participation (get actively involved).
Specifically,
classroom participation grading will be based upon:
a)
Volunteering answers to my questions and/or
being called upon by me to answer my questions;
b)
Asking me questions indicating awareness
of and interest in the topic under lecture/discussion and/or asking questions that
challenge my and other students' thinking;
c)
Participating in discussions of lecture
material, experiential applications exercises, cases, videos, and team
presentations;
d)
Relating your own relevant personal
experiences, examples, and insights regarding the discussion topic;
e)
Being able to spot an occasional
"red flag", i.e., a statement or conclusion I present that
contradicts the assigned reading;
f)
Participating as an audience member during
debates (if held); and
g)
Attendance.
In addition to
soliciting your voluntary participation, I will frequently "cold
call" on quiet students, even those who opt not to be graded on class
participation. Please keep in mind that
there is a difference between not being prepared to respond and simply wishing
to be less verbal. Students who show a
pattern of not being prepared will be downgraded.
After each class
period I will grade you on a one-to-six scale for your daily participation:
1=100, 2=90, 3=80, 4=70, 5=60, 6=50.
Criteria I will consider in evaluating your classroom performance
include mastery of content, communication skills, interaction (constructive
criticism and building on and reacting to others' ideas), creativity
(generation of insights and applications), and attitude (enthusiasm and
interest). Always remember: It is
okay to be wrong when you participate but it is not okay to not
participate! I value your efforts equally
with the "correctness" of your thoughts.
Although I recognize that some students are naturally shy and/or reluctant to speak out in a classroom situation, it is important that quiet students overcome these characteristics and actively participate in class, since oral communication and ability and willingness to participate in discussions and to respond extemporaneously to questions are vital in the business world as well as in life. Hence, shyness and/or reluctance to speak out will not be accepted as excuses for poor oral classroom participation. If you are quiet and have trouble speaking up in class, see me: We can develop some ways for you to improve your class participation grade (e.g., write out answers to Review Questions and/or questions in the assigned In-Class and/or Written Applications Exercises, define the key concepts, and/or answer case questions).
Regarding attendance,
since the success of this course depends in part upon active participation by
class members, you must be regularly present to participate in the classroom
discussions. Attending classes reflects
your personal commitment to learning and your willingness to participate in and
contribute to your own and your classmates' development of good marketing
skills. Therefore, attendance will be
taken and will be factored into your class participation grade. Two unexcused missed classes are acceptable
and will not count against your final class participation grade. More than two unexcused absences will lower
your class participation grade by three points for each additional missed
class. A medically-excused absence, in
writing, does not count as a missed class.
You may miss a limited number of classes due to varsity sports
obligations. However, work-related
absences (e.g. business trips, working extra hours, etc.) do ordinarily count
as missed classes unless your supervisor provides me with a compelling written
reason. If you miss a class, you are
responsible to get notes (find an attentive and generous classmate who will
allow you to copy notes—mine are undecipherable), important announcements,
handouts, etc. If you are unavoidably
late to a class you should notify me immediately after class so that you will
be marked late instead of absent.
Chronic tardiness will result in a lower class participation grade.
Course Grade
All work evaluated
will receive a numerical grade. Final
course letter grades will be assigned to the following schedule:
Letter/
Grade Definition Percent
4.0 A Outstanding 95-100
3.7 A- 90-94
3.3 B+
87-89
3.0 B
2.7 B- 80-82
2.3 C+
77-79
2.0 C
Satisfactory 73-76
1.7 C-
70-72
1.0 D Passing but 60-69
unsatisfactory
0.0 F Failure <
60
N.B. The letter/definition column is defined in The Hill Book. For instance, a "B" is considered a
superior grade, not just a good
grade.
Final
numerical scores will be a weighted average of individual numerical grades, determined by multiplying the relative weights by the
numerical grade earned for each course requirement. There will be no curves on individual course exams or on other graded course
projects. At the completion of the
course, the course average will be computed for the class as a whole. If the final class average turns out to be
less than 75, points will be added to each student's numerical grade so that
the final class average is a 75. If this
average is greater than a 75, no adjustment
will be made.
In
fairness to all students, no
individual will be allowed an opportunity to do additional work for extra
credit in the course to make up for poor grades, missed exams or assignments,
or other problems. Consequently, you
should plan your study needs and time well in advance in order to earn the
grade you wish when the standard opportunities are available. There are a sufficient number of requirements
in this course for you to make up points should you do poorly in a given area.
However,
I will add points to your lowest weighted grading requirement (in most grading
plans this is the in-class team presentation) for the following “extra credit” contributions
to classroom materials, if I consider
them useful:
A five-to-ten minute introductory
office visit during the first two weeks of classes (2 points)
New product or package sample (2
points)
Interesting advertisement (1 point)
Videotape/DVD
on a marketing issue (e.g., segments of "20/20," "60
Minutes," “Dateline,” and other news magazine TV shows) (2 points)
Interesting
article on CB (1 point)
Very
interesting examples of concepts discussed in class or in the textbook (1 point)
Sponsor
("Today's class is brought to you by ....") (1 point)
Corridor
conversation question (1 point)
Great
unanswered question (goofy or serious) (1 point)
Part
III (applied) test question and answer (1 point)
Recommending
a guest speaker (marketing professional) who agrees to speak to a class or to the
Marketing/Management Association (3 points)
Making
a brief oral presentation of an experiential applications exercise (let me know
your desire to do this at least one week in advance of the exercise’s due date)
(3-5 points).
Attending
a relevant educational event on or off campus (2 points)
(Limit
of one of each of the above per student customer.)
Some general hints on how to
succeed in this course, based on prior years' course student evaluations: Keep
up with the readings (many students like to outline them) and assignments; come
to class regularly, take good notes, and review the notes within the next day
or two (i.e., don't cram for exams at the last minute); actively participate in
class discussions; study in advance and thoroughly for exams, using the class
lecture/discussion outline and transparency packet as well as your classroom
notes and the textbook; print out old tests from the course website
early in the semester and work on them throughout the semester; and attend
optional review sessions.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
You
are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic honesty in all
aspects of your work. The Hill Book defines academic dishonesty as follows:
a. Plagiarism: presenting of another's words, ideas, data, film or
art work, computer programs, or laboratory results as
if it were one's own, failing to acknowledge or document the source. (This requires endnotes and being aware of what
constitutes Internet plagiarism.)
b. Cheating: giving or receiving, or
attempting to give or receive, unauthorized assistance or information in an assignment
or examination.
c. Fabricating data (e.g., on written
experiential applications exercises or the term paper).
d. Submitting the same assignment in two or
more courses without prior permission of the respective instructors.
e.
Employing another person to write a paper
or sit for an examination. (You are encouraged to discuss assignments with
other students, but the written work is to be your own.)
Cheating
outside the classroom can include sharing work of another student (including
students from prior semesters) without acknowledgment, copying words out of a
book or cutting and pasting from the Internet without proper citation, doing
less than one’s share in a team presentation without letting that be acknowledged,
using a single paper (or modification thereof) for more than one class,
falsifying a bibliography, writing a paper for someone else, borrowing or
copying another student’s paper, and turning in a paper purchased from a
commercial firm or website. If you have
any questions on such ethical issues, please see me.
I
work under the assumption that my students are honest. However, if you are caught violating this
academic honesty policy, I will give you a zero (not just an F) for the
assignment. This would significantly
lower your numerical course average. If
it happens a second time, you will fail the course. I don't anticipate any problems here. Honesty pays in the long run.
PROBLEMS
If
you are having any difficulties, personal or academic, that are interfering
with your work in the course, please come see me. If we cannot work out a solution in terms of
your performance in this course, I will work with you to see that you get
whatever kind of assistance you may need.
But, please talk to me when the problem first starts affecting your work,
not at the end of the course as an explanation for poor course
performance. Please consider me a
resource and a mentor. I will be happy
to meet with you at any time during office hours, by appointment, or on a
casual drop-in basis (if I’m not tied up), to get to know you, discuss career
or personal goals, academic or personal issues, or anything else you want to
talk about. Always feel free to “let me
know if I can help you.”
To
assist you outside of class with the course, there will be a peer tutor/teaching
assistant: Rebekah Tuch, a senior marketing major. She will conduct review sessions before exams
and at other times when students feel the need; and will be available to help
you individually or in small groups with any material with which you are
encountering difficulties. You may make
arrangements to meet with her at a mutually convenient time through the Center
for Academic Achievement, Duffy 109.