CONSUMER BEHAVIOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL

The following describes the expectations and format for the consumer behavior research
proposal. Choose a consumer behavior topic of interest to you. Get topic approval from
me by September 25th. Your proposal must be typed, double spaced. Please use the
MLA guidelines for writing format and citing your sources. If you are not familiar with
this format, see the “Citation Guide” on the library web page. Your proposal should
include:

I. Title page of your paper, your name, who it is presented to (Dr. Retha Price),
and the date.
II. Table of Contents – Include major and minor headings and page numbers.
III. Introduction – Give a brief overview of your consumer behavior topic. This
section should be no more than two pages.
IV. Statement of the Problem – This section should include an explanation of the
gaps or limitations of previous research as it applies to your topic. What areas
have not been covered adequately from your initial reading of the literature?
Often times journal articles will have a section discussing limitations of their
study and suggestions for future research. You can use this as a starting point.
Make sure you discuss why your topic is important and how this study will be
valuable to your field of study.
V. Literature Review – In this section you should include a complete survey of
prior research on your topic. This section is important because it provides
background for your research and it documents the fact that your research is
unique because it has not been covered in the past. This section must show
what has been overlooked by other scholars in the field. If nothing has been
overlooked in your topic area, then there is no reason to conduct your research
study. Reference to key articles and texts should be made throughout the lit
review to show that you understand their relevance to your research area.
VI. Hypotheses – Formulate hypotheses based on the literature review. For
example, propose how one variable might influence or be associated with
another variable (i.e., Targeted banner ads will be positively associated with
attitudes toward the company). Remember, these hypotheses must be based
on your understanding of the literature.
VII. Methodology – This section should include a description of the research
methodology. How would you go about your data collection? Would you use
an experiment or survey or observation? How would you select your sample?
The articles you read in your literature review should give you some ideas
here. You need to demonstrate an awareness of the methodological tools
available to you and show some understanding of which would be suitable for
your research.
VIII. Bibliography

Note: Make sure you use scholarly journals for your literature review. Examples of
journals you might wish to use include: Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of
Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, and Journal of Consumer Behavior. Your
final paper should be around 20 pages.