2008 - Marketing Educators' Association

or she may be ready to appreciate how an understanding
of the idea of prototypicality of objects
affects consumer acceptance or rejection of a given
offering. It is much easier, however, to demonstrate
a clear and obvious application of demographics to
marketing planning. This, in turn, can be applied to
segmentation, targeting, and positioning choices
facing the firm.
Although many consumer behavior textbooks do not
devote an explicit chapter to market research, this
topic, too, demonstrates immediate applications.
Here, it is possible to focus on how behavioral,
interpretational, and perceptual phenomena
influence consumer response. The use of projective
techniques, for example, can be highlighted as a
demonstration that consumers, when asked directly,
can often not provide reliable answers to seemingly
simple questions.
The study of cultural differences and their impact –
documented by a wealth of anecdotal examples of
failed marketing efforts proved incompatible with an
unfamiliar and poorly understood cultural
environment – further demonstrates the importance
of considering the perspective and experience of the
consumer. After going through this stage, students
are likely to be more receptive to the value of
understanding topics such as attitudes, their
underlying components, and issues of saliency,
consistency, and accessibility.
COURSE PROJECTS AND ASSIGNMENTS
In a psychology course, many students may be
willing to research and write a paper on a
substantive topic in its own right as a term project.
Business students, on the other hand, tend to see
more value in projects that are more directly applied
to a specific marketing challenge. To the extent that
students can relate course issues to the success or
failure of actual products, greater appreciation is
likely. One example of an assignment that is useful
in this context is having students find a seemingly
promising product in a 99¢ store – clearly intended
to sell at a higher price – and propose hypotheses
for the apparent failure based on issues covered
throughout the term. Earlier in the term, in-class
projects may apply demographic concepts and tools
to media and other outreach planning to a desired
target market.
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The consumer information search and decision
making processes provide opportunities for
interesting assignments. I have, for example, asked
students to interview an acquaintance about a
significant decision that he or she made, contrasting
this with the theoretical model leading from problem
recognition to post-purchase behavior. This exercise
demonstrates both the usefulness of the overall
model and the more complex reality that it often
represents. As an in-class exercise, it may be useful
to discuss different promotional tools that may be
used to reach consumers in various phases of the
decision process.
USE OF TRADE AND POPULAR BUSINESS
PERIODICAL ARTICLES
Current articles in the business press often present
a complex set of conditions facing a firm, whether in
launching an entirely new product, expanding its
current market or market share, or in addressing
possibly inaccurate beliefs held by consumers. The
assignment of such articles as “cases” make
possible a class discussion of all the different
consumer behavior issues applicable to the situation
identified cumulatively by students, the interrelationships
between the phenomena, and the
sequence of marketing efforts that may be needed
to bring about desired results such as greater brand
awareness, more favorable attitudes toward the
brand, brand preference, and willingness to pay a
premium.
USE OF TRADE BOOKS AS TEXT
Many important lessons on consumer behavior can
be found in trade and popular business books. In the
past, for example, I have used Malcolm Gladwell’s
book The Tipping Point and Paco Underhill’s books
Why We Buy and Call of the Mall as textbooks. This
approach may be useful in a course structure that
emphasizes projects and assignments over exams.
Core consumer behavior issues can then be
covered in class – often in the context of examples
raised in the assigned readings.
REFERENCES
Puto, C. P. (1987). The framing of buying decisions.
Journal of Consumer Research, 14, 301-315