University of International Business and Economics

2014-2015 1




MKT202-1

2012
1
84




2014 8 20
________________


1
Objectives

Consumer behavior has been becoming an increasingly important part of marketing. Therefore, it
is highly necessary for the business students to understand why and how consumers make their
purchase decisions. The objective of this course is to not only introduce basic principles of the
discipline to you, but also help you make more effective marketing strategies.

Contents

Internal factors that influence consumer behavior
External factors that influence consumer behavior
Consumer decision making process
Marketing applications

Textbook

Consumer Behavior, 9th Edition, Leon G. Schiffman & Leslie Lazar Kanuk,
2009
Corresponding Chinese Version:
10 LGLL2011

References

( 11 )
2011
2007
R8
2009
2009
Journal of Marketing
Harvard Business Review

Assessment

Quizzes /Participation 10%
Case Analysis (teamwork) 10%
Topic Discussion/Report (teamwork) 20%
Final Examination 60%

2
Rules for Attendance

1. Every attendee must be punctual for every lesson, being sure not to be late, and not
to leave before class ends.
2. By UIBE rules, deduction from the final grade shall be made for absence from class. A student
is no longer entitled to the final examination if he/she has been absent, for whatever reasons given,
for over one third of the total class hours, or absent without any notice for over 6 hours.
3. Students must be attentive in class hours; eating and chatting whatever irrelevant to the lesson
are not allowed.
4. During class hours, everyone in class must make sure his/her mobile phone is either off or mute.

Study Group

The class is to be divided into several study groups. Each group should consist of no more than 5
students. Students are not allowed to change their groups during the semester. Each student should
actively participate in all assigned teamwork.

Grading of the teamwork will be based upon the following factors:
evidence of wide reading on and around the issue;
ability to integrate readings and discussion with your own views;
a critical evaluation of the topic and issues relevant to it;
conceptual understanding demonstrated;
originality of ideas;
the overall organization and style;
in-class presentation.

Topic Discussion (Teamwork)

Choose one of the discussion topics in advance with the permission of lecturer. You are required to
present the discussion results in the class in 12 minutes. In addition, you should hand in a brief
written report with no more than 2000 words after presentation. Your results should be based on
your primary research (at least 5 possible target consumers) and secondary research. Contents of
presentation, communication skills, and logic of summary are basic considerations.
NOTE: Materials in the topic presentation should be relevant, not controversial and no sex
appeal in the class. If there exist above and other controversial problems, the lecturer has the right
to end the presentation.

Quizzes

There are 2 quiz-exercises during the semester. Students are required to submit the filled in
3
quizzes on TAS before the due time. Any late exercises are not accepted.

Case Analysis

Each team is required to submit a report of case analysis in 2000 words on due time and discuss it
in class by requirement.

Requirements for Home Work

All submitted paper work should be typed, and in A4, single-spaced, 12 font size. And it must include
footnotes and a bibliography. All the paper work should be submitted both in electric from on TAS
and written form by the due date in class. Any late submission will automatically lead to 0 mark.

Note

Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Non-referenced or incorrectly referenced quotations will be penalised.
Any assignments found to contain disproportionate amount of similar wording and contents, will
result in penalties to both parties concerned.

Schedules

Week Subject Readings Discussion Topics
1 Introduction Ch 1
2 Consumer Motivation Ch 4 Topic 1
3 Personality and Consumer Behavior Ch 5 Topic 2
4 Perception, Learning and Attitudes I Ch 6-8 Topic 3
5 No Class
6 Perception, Learning and Attitudes II Ch 6-8 Topic 4
7 Perception, Learning and Attitudes III Ch 6-8 Topic 5
8 Perception, Learning and Attitudes IV Ch 6-8 Topic 6
9 Communication and Consumer Behavior Ch 9 Topic 7
10 Consumer Reference Groups Ch 10 Topic 8
11 Family Influences Ch 10 Topic 9
12 Social Class and Consumer Behavior Ch 11 Topic 10
13 Culture and Consumer Behavior Ch 12-13 Topic 11
14 Cross-Cultural Consumer Behavior Ch 14 Topic 12
15 Personal Influence Ch 15 Topic 13
16 The Diffusion of Innovation Ch 15 Topic 14
4
17 Consumer Decision Making, Review Ch 16 Topic 15
18 Review
Please note that since the lecturer may spend more or less time on a particular topic, the actual schedule of topics may
vary slightly from the above one.

Discussion Topics:

Topic 1 Choose a luxury product (e.g., personal computer). Interview at least five
consumers who have recently purchased the product. Use both quantitative and
qualitative methods to determine the motives behind the purchase of this product.
Discuss any differences in motives identified between quantitative and qualitative
methods. How marketers might use this information in the marketing of this
product.
Topic 2 Analyze and describe the different brand personalities of three typical consumer
goods brands in China. What are the major advantages and disadvantages of the
brands? Are they successful in building their brands?
Topic 3 What are the implications of figure-ground relationships for print ads and for
online ads? How can the figure-ground construct help or interfere with the
communication of advertising messages?
Topic 4 Construct two-dimensional perceptual map of UIBE and other two comparable
universities you considered to apply for two years ago. Find out the attributes that
were most influential in your selection. Discuss the finding results.
Topic 5 Identify two recent advertisements that are based on low-involvement learning and
two that are based on high-involvement learning. Based on your knowledge of
consumer learning, justify and analyze your selection.
Topic 6 Find two recent advertisements, one mainly based on the affective component and
the other basically on the cognitive component. Discuss the approach of each ad in
terms of its copy and illustration and what effect it creates in terms of attitude. Also,
discuss why the marketer might have taken that approach in each advertisement.
Topic7 Find three typical ads using humor appeal, fear appeal and two-sided message. Do
you think the communication processes are effective? Analyze the advantages and
disadvantages of the communication methods.
Topic 8 How the celebrities change our consumer behavior? Why they can change our
behavior? In which situations, (in terms of product characteristics, consumer
situations, strength of reference group) are consumers easily affected by the
celebrities?
Topic 9 What was the traditional family structure in China? What major structure changes
have been taken place? Choose a product/service category and discuss how these
changes as well as economic development have influenced the marketing practices
of these products.
Topic 10 Define the concept of middle class in China. Find out two recent ads which focus
the middle class as their target market. Discuss the characteristics of middle class
consumption behavior in China.
Topic 11 Discuss your own generations lifestyle in the perspective of consumer behavior.
5
Which kinds of products are typically influenced by your generation. What kind of
marketing appeals are most effective? Explain.
Topic 12 Compare the cultural similarities and differences among China, United States, and
India (or other two countries). How can a company in China capitalize on the
findings when it plans to enter the foreign markets?
Topic 13 Is opinion leadership effective in China? Why? How can marketers create opinion
leadership? Take a product category (e.g. Starbucks) which has taken advantage of
the opinion leadership for example.
Topic 14 Describe how a manufacturer might use the knowledge of the five product
characteristics that influence the innovation to speed up the acceptance of its
product (e.g. Google eyewear).
Topic 15 Identify two recent purchases of your group members: one considered to be a
typical high involvement purchase and the other a low involvement purchase.
Using your knowledge of consumer behavior, discuss the decision making process
that appears to be associated with each type of decision (include in your discussion
the factors that seemed to influence the discussion).