Course Guide. Consumer Behaviour and Branding MBIB-CONBEHB-14 MBIB-CONBEHB-14

Transcription

1 Course Guide MBIB-CONBEHB-14 Year 3 Term B, C or D Type of course: Subject matter Elective course Course coordinators: Lenka van Riemsdijk (term B) lenka.vanriemsdijk@hu.nl Elyn Doornenbal (term C and D) elyn.doornenbal@hu.nl 15 October 2015 Consumer Behaviour and Branding Hogeschool Utrecht: University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht, 2015 MBIB-CONBEHB-14 This material is subject to copyright. Copies for own or internal use are permitted.

2 Contents 1 Course Description 3 2 Course Goals and Learning Objectives 3 3 Place in the Curriculum and Related Courses 5 4 Study Burden 5 5 Pre-requisites 6 6 Exemption possibilities 6 7 Competences 6 8 Didactic Forms 7 9 Student activities 8 10 Testing and assessment 8 11 Course material and literature 9 12 Course evaluation 10 Hogeschool Utrecht: University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht 2015 Page 2/12

3 1 Course Description In the course Consumer Behaviour and Branding the student learns to recognize and understand consumer behaviour using the theories and concepts from sociology and psychology as well as to apply this knowledge in marketing strategies and brand building. The course is not only about today s consumers, but also teaches students to anticipate on the trends and develop innovative products responding to the trends. During the course the student will work on assignments in which the topics of marketing, consumer behaviour and branding will be combined. The course will be completed with a central written test and a mark for the assignments. The subjects that will be tackled in this course are consumer decision-making, motivation, perception and information processing, learning, attitude, the influence of social environment, cultural influences, integrated marketing communications, consumer trends, brand equity, brand elements, brand positioning, brand building and how to manage brands over time. 2 Course Goals and Learning Objectives It is important that a marketer is able to make a thorough analysis of his buyers before taking (strategic) decisions. As a commercial economist or an international marketing manager one should therefore be able to answer the following questions: - What are the current developments in the market? - What is the profile of my customers? - How can we explain, predict and influence the behaviour of consumers? - How can I benefit from having the results from the consumer analysis and use this knowledge to adjust my marketing mix? - What are the essential steps in building a strong brand and how can we manage our brand portfolio over time? After completing the course the student will know most of the contemporary sociological and psychological explanatory models for consumer behaviour. Student can define and apply terms, theories and models on the following subjects (for a full list of concepts and terms, see the appendix): Hogeschool Utrecht: University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht 2015 Page 3/12

4 1. Consumer behaviour and marketing Student can describe the relevance of the study of consumer behaviour for the field of marketing. 2. Consumer research Student can describe different forms and stages of consumer research and can execute a small part of research themselves. 3. Segmentation Student can define the term market segmentation and the criteria for effective targeting of segments. 4. Decision-making Student can describe how consumers make decisions. 5. Motivation Student can describe and apply different motivation theories (e.g. Maslow, positivenegative) and define motivational research. 6. Perception Student can describe how consumers perceive marketing stimuli and they can explain how the marketer can influence consumer s perceptions. 7. Learning Student can describe and apply learning theories: behavioural learning theories and cognitive learning and information processing. Student can describe the marketing implications of learning theories. 8. Attitude formation and change Student can describe different attitude models and theories. Student can describe how attitudes are formed and can be changed, e.g. by applying the Cialdini s principles in marketing communication. 9. Reference groups and family influences Student can describe and explain why families are important for marketers. Student can explain how marketers can make use of reference group influence. Hogeschool Utrecht: University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht 2015 Page 4/12

5 10. Culture and subculture Student can describe and apply the following terms and models: enculturation and acculturation, terminal values and instrumental values, subcultures, age cohorts. 11. Branding Student can recognize different types of brands and explain the brand building process. Student can define and apply the following concepts: customer-based brand equity, points of parity, points of difference, brand mantra and brand elements. Student can explain the importance of brand reinforcement and brand revitalization in managing brand portfolio over time. 12. Communication Students can describe and apply different communication models and theories. Students can describe various strategies marketers use to pursue interactive communication with consumers, combining the insights from the consumer behaviour theories and branding literature. 3 Place in the Curriculum and Related Courses The course Consumer Behaviour and Branding is taught in year 3 of the International Business & Management Studies / International Marketing Management programme. The course is related to all the Marketing courses in the first, second and the third year. 4 Study Burden Total study burden in hours per student = 5 EC (European credits) x 28 hours = 140 hours Total hours: Tutorials (14 x 150 minutes) 35 Studying the literature (14 x 3 hours) 42 Group assignments (6 x 6 hours) 36 Preparing for the exam + taking the exam hours Hogeschool Utrecht: University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht 2015 Page 5/12

6 5 Pre-requisites There are no pre-requisites. However, the student needs to know the basic marketing models and theories, so the completion of at least the first-year Marketing course (or an equivalent for the exchange students) prior to the Consumer Behaviour and Branding course is strongly recommended. Additionally, a very good comprehension of the English language is necessary. 6 Exemption possibilities See study guide under paragraph Exemptions. Additional information can be found in article 40 of the Education and Test Regulations. 7 Competences The following competencies are covered by this course: IBMS competencies DC6 The ability to perform a country analysis on macro, industry and micro level, to conduct an international market survey in order to assess foreign market opportunities and competition. The ability to formulate market-entry strategies, to draft an international marketing plan and to implement, co-ordinate and control the international marketing programme. Level 3 The ability to create, change and implement a strategic international marketing plan which includes an analysis of the international environment of the company s position. The plan contains strategies in product development, pricing, distribution and international advertising and promotion 1. 1 Due to the specialized character of this course, students will only focus on the product and branding strategy, complemented with the communication strategy. Hogeschool Utrecht: University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht 2015 Page 6/12

7 DC 11 The ability to actively contribute to a group product or results, as well as procuring a constructive co-operation climate/environment. Student s role will be that of a mentor, facilitator. Level 3 The ability to encourage others to obtain results through co-operation by sharing ideas and giving in to the wishes of others, when necessary to progress as a group. The ability to fulfil an exemplary role within the team. The ability to provide new ideas to improve results collectively. DC 13 The ability to apply relevant scientific insights, theories and concepts, to combine several subjects, to gather information and draw conclusions in a methodical and reflective manner. The ability to act carefully and punctually and to produce output that is literate, numerate and coherent. Level 2 To be able to work in a more complex situation and to systematically execute a research, report on the findings and to translate them into useful conclusions. IMM competencies DC 2 Market research. Designing, implementing, interpreting, testing and evaluating market research. DC 4 Strategy and policy. Developing marketing strategies for a national or international company and being able to build and substantiate the choices made. DC 10 Social and communicative competence (interpersonal, organization). Professional product: - Research report with a proposal for brand design 8 Didactic Forms The course takes 7 weeks 2. Every week there are two tutorials for this course. In general, during the first 150-minutes tutorial, the weekly topic on consumer behaviour 2 Please note that the schedule can be adjusted due to holidays, availability of (guest) lecturers etc. Always check the SharePoint site for the most up-to-date course schedule. Hogeschool Utrecht: University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht 2015 Page 7/12

8 will be introduced by the lecturer and the students will present their weekly assignment. During the second 150-minutes tutorial, the focus will usually be on the branding literature and the students will prepare for the written exam, i.e. by practising with the multiple-choice questions. Further details can be found in the weekly schedule. Every week, starting in week 2, students have to finish the weekly group assignment, in teams of 3-5 students, depending on the class size. There are 5 weekly group assignments in total, which have to be finished in weeks 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, respectively. In week 7, the weekly assignments will be merged into a final report. The instructions for the weekly assignments are published on the SharePoint website in a separate document. All the relevant documents can be found on the SharePoint website: On this website, you can find announcements, PowerPoint slides from the tutorials, relevant articles, weekly assignments, practice exam and interesting links for further reading. 9 Student activities The activity scheme/course schedule can be found on SharePoint, in the document weekly schedule Consumer Behaviour and Branding. 10 Testing and assessment Form of testing Weighting Min. Grade ASSIGNMENT 50% 5.5 WRITTEN EXAM 50% 5.5 TOTAL 100% 5.5 The written exam is weighted at 50%. It consists of 40 multiple-choice questions. The weighting of the assignment is 50%. It consists of a written final report (80%) and a final presentation (20%). A minimum grade of 5.5 from each partial exam is required in order to pass the course. Hogeschool Utrecht: University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht 2015 Page 8/12

9 If you have not obtained a sufficient score for an exam or partial exam, you have to register for the resit at the first opportunity provided to do so (in the next term). The resit of the written exam is a new written exam, in the next term. The resit of the assignment is as follows: teams who didn t get the minimum grade for the aggregate assignment (handed in in the form of final report), but completed at least 4 out of the 5 weekly assignments on time, get the chance to improve their assignment, in the next term. Teams or individual students, who completed less than 4 weekly assignments, must retake the course to pass the assignments. This means participating in a new team, with another brand, during the next period when the course if offered. For all the assignments, the APA format for the use of references has to be used. Models and theoretical concepts discussed in chapters 1-5, 7-11 and chapter 13 from the required book Consumer Behaviour, A European Outlook will be tested with the written exam. Also, the Cialdini s six principles of persuasion and all the brandingrelated topics discussed during the tutorials have to be studied for the written exam. The full list of topics which need to be studied for the written exam, can be found on SharePoint in the document called Learning objectives. Furthermore, a full-size practice exam is available on the SharePoint site, so that the student can test whether he/she is well prepared for the exam. 11 Course material and literature Book (required): o Schiffman, L. G., Hansen, H., & Kanuk, L. L. (2012). Consumer behaviour: A European outlook. 2 nd Edition. Pearson Education. ISBN Book (recommended): o Keller, K. L., Apéria, T., & Georgson, M. (2011). Strategic brand management: A European perspective. 2 nd Edition. Pearson Education. ISBN: Article (required): o Cialdini s six principles of influence Hogeschool Utrecht: University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht 2015 Page 9/12

10 12 Course evaluation The course will be evaluated in written form at the end. There are two evaluative moments: during the last class and after the written exam. During the last class, the lecturer evaluates the course with the students. Here, students have the opportunity to give their opinion and tips on the content and form of the course. Besides the class evaluation, students will fill in the FEM evaluation forms handed to them at the end of their written exams. 13 Appendix Learning objectives 1. Consumer behaviour and marketing Students can define the term consumer behaviour and they can describe the relevance of the study of consumer behaviour for the field of marketing. Students can describe the different stages in the development of marketing: production concept, product concept, selling concept, marketing concept and societal marketing concept. Students can describe the three drivers of successful relationships between marketers and consumers: customer value, customer satisfaction, customer retention. 2. Consumer research Students can describe different forms and stages of consumer research (positivism, interpretivism, qualitative research, quantitative research, primary research, secondary research). Students can construct attitude scales and they can execute a small quantitative research. 3. Segmentation Students can define the term market segmentation and the criteria for effective targeting of segments. They can describe the different segmentation categories (geographic, demographic, psychological, psychographic, sociocultural, use-related, usage-situation, benefit and hybrid segmentation) and they can apply them on a case. Students can describe the different segmentation strategies (concentrated marketing, differentiated marketing, counter-segmentation strategy, mass marketing) and they can motivate why to choose for one of those strategies in a case. Hogeschool Utrecht: University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht 2015 Page 10/12

11 4. Decision-making Students can describe the different the levels of consumer decision-making (extensive problem-solving, limited problem-solving and routinized response behaviour). Students can describe the four views of consumer decision-making (the economic, the passive, the emotional and the cognitive view). Students can describe a model of consumer decision-making including the three major components (external influences, process and output) and the terms evoked set, inept set and inert set. Students can describe the consumer decision rules (affect referral, compensatory, non-compensatory decision rules). 5. Motivation Students can describe and apply the following terms and theories: motivation (positive and negative), needs (innate, physiological, biologic, acquired, psychological, psychogenic, secondary), goals (generic and product-specific), hierarchy of needs (Maslow) and motivational research. 6. Perception Students can describe and apply the following terms and theories: perception, sensation, thresholds (absolute, differential, just noticeable difference and Weber s law), Gestalt psychology, perceptual distortion (physical appearances, stereotypes, first impressions, jumping to conclusions and the halo effect), consumer imagery, perceived risk (functional, physical, financial, social, psychological and time risk). 7. Learning Students can describe and apply the following terms and theories: the elements of consumer learning (motivation, cues, response and reinforcement), behavioural learning theories (classical conditioning and instrumental conditioning), cognitive learning and information processing. Students can describe the marketing implications of the learning theories. 8. Attitude formation and change Students can describe and apply the following terms and theories: attitude, tricomponent model, multi-attribute models (the attitude towards object model, the attitude towards behaviour model, the theory of reasoned action model and the theory of planned behaviour model), cognitive dissonance theory, self-perception theory, footin-the-door technique. Students can describe how attitudes are formed and can be changed. They can apply the Cialdini s principles in marketing communication to change consumers attitudes. Hogeschool Utrecht: University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht 2015 Page 11/12

12 9. Reference groups and family influences Students can describe and apply the following terms and models: reference group (membership, symbolic, normative, comparative, indirect), family, household, socialisation, family life cycle and the family decision-making process. 10. Culture and subculture Students can describe and apply the following terms and models: enculturation and acculturation, Rokeach Value Survey, terminal values and instrumental values, subcultures, age cohorts (baby boomers, generation X, generation Y, generation Z). 11. Branding Students can describe and apply the following terms: corporate brand, individual brand, endorsed brand, private brand, manufacturer s brand, brand equity, customer-based brand equity, unique selling proposition, points of parity, points of difference, core brand values, brand mantra, various types of brand elements, permission marketing, one-to-one marketing, experiential marketing, lovemark. Students can describe the steps in the brand-building process, using the customer-based brand equity pyramid. Student can explain how to measure brand recognition and brand recall and name the advantages of strong brands. Student can explain the importance of brand reinforcement and brand revitalization in managing brand portfolio over time and write a proposal on brand revitalization. 12. Communication Students can describe and apply the following terms and models: communication model, models of advertising, sleeper effect. Students can describe and apply the involvement theory, the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and the routes of persuasion (central and peripheral). Students can describe various strategies marketers use to overcome psychological noise: repetition, contrast, teasers, customised advertisements and floater ads. Hogeschool Utrecht: University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht 2015 Page 12/12