GC UNIVERSITY FAISALABAD

FACULTY OF ECONOMICS & MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

LYALLPUR BUSINESS SCHOOL (LBS)

Course Specifications

Consumer Behavior
MKT-501

Fall – 2019-20

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 COURSE SPECIFICATIONS
Basic Information
Course Title: Consumer Behavior
Course Code: MKT-501
Course credits/week: Theory: 03 Lab: Nil Total: 03
Pre-requisite(s): Principles of Marketing /
Marketing Management
Co-requisite(s):
Program(s) on which the course is given: BBA-5thSemester (E-A&E-B)
Is the course major or minor element of the program: Major: Minor:
Department offering the program: Lyallpur Business School (LBS)
Department offering the course: LBS (Marketing)
Academic year/level: 3
Revision #:
Last revised on (date): 25.08.2019

Overall Aims of the Course

Course Description:

How does who do what and why? The field of consumer behavior attempts to explain
and predict the ways in which consumers think and behave in given situations. How do
consumers interpret advertising information? Why do people buy? Why not? Who and
what are consumers relying upon for information? How can marketers predict
behaviors from attitudes? How do consumers make decisions? How do we consume
and dispose of products? To answer these questions, consumer behavior draws heavily
on the disciplines of psychology, economics, sociology and anthropology. In this course,
you will survey the relevant theory and learn how to apply these concepts to real world
marketing situations. Class-time discussion of theory always will be supported with
examples drawn from past and current business practices as well as consumers’
everyday lives; we will be considering the social, ethical, regulatory, environmental and
Technological contexts in which consumers think and act.
Consumer Behavior investigates the manner that people interact with products and their
marketing environment. This can include the purchase of products (a new stereo), the
consumption of services (Disneyland), or the disposal of goods (eBay). Since we are all
consumers in the market place in some form consumer behavior can also tell us
something about ourselves. As a result, I think, consumer behavior (or CB) is one of the
most interesting topics in Marketing. Understanding consumers enables marketers to
more effectively meet the needs of buyers in the market, and be more successful in the
market.

This course stresses understanding, application, and generalization rather than

memorization. In every field that you are studying, the body of accepted knowledge is
growing and changing at an increasingly rapid rate. Because your success as a marketer
will depend in part on your ability to find out about new knowledge and apply it to
your own marketing problems, your performance in this course will be evaluated in
terms of how well you are able to integrate textbook theory with business facts to arrive
at explanations and recommendations. During this course we will explore, many social,
cultural and marketing factors that influence the selection and usage of products and
services.

Course Objectives are:

 To gain a better understanding of yourself as a consumer
 To learn the concepts and theories that underlies consumer behavior.
 To gain a deeper understanding of how the consumer contributes to the success
of a brand or firm
 To learn how to implement these theories and concepts into effective marketing
strategies
 To intelligently express your insights into consumer behavior in informal
discussion, formal presentation, and written prose
The study of Consumer Behavior will help you to understand how to apply concepts
like learning, personality, motivation, perception, attitudes, communication and
decision making in the following ways;

 The psychologies of how consumers’ think, feel, reason and select between
different alternatives (e.g. brands, products);
 The psychology of how the consumer is influenced by his or her environment
(e.g. culture, family, signs, media);
 How consumer motivation and decision strategies differ between product that
differ in their level of importance or interest that they entail for the consumer;
and
 The behavior of consumers while shopping or making other marketing decisions;
 Limitations in consumer knowledge or information processing abilities to
influence decisions and marketing outcome
 How marketers can adapt and improve their marketing campaigns and
marketing strategies to more effectively reach the consumer.

You will learn how to apply consumer behavior concepts in tailoring your marketing
and brand strategies to be able to promote your brand and persuade your customer to
purchase it. The application of this information will be in the fields of;

 Developing the product and improving it

 Determining a price point for the brand
 Designing promotional strategies especially advertising, direct marketing
techniques, promotions. Etc.

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this course, the student will be able to:

 Understand and discuss critically how consumers think, feel, reason, and select
between different alternatives (e.g., brands, products) and how marketers can
 adapt and improve their marketing to more effectively reach the consumer
 Critically assess the nature and scope of consumer behavior.
 Describe and critically discuss key consumer behavior terminology, concepts and
theories.
 Understand and critically discuss the complexities of consumer behavior and its
relevance to marketing practice.
 Demonstrate that they can move beyond simple description of consumer
behavior to analysis and evaluation of consumer behavior using key concepts
learnt during the course
 Demonstrate their ability to independently research collate, analyses and
synthesis material on an emerging issue within the field of consumer behavior

Class Format & Weekly Work Plan:

Consumer behavior is a concept based and discussion-driven course, thus the vast
majority of our classes will be focused on concepts, articles & case discussions.

Our weekly class Instructions and discussions will follow this format:

1st – 2nd Week

Chapter – 1: Buying, Having and Being (Page 05 – 30) (Consumer Behavior (Buying,
Having and Being) by Michael R. Solomon, 11th Edition)
Class Activity 1:

Sharing any of the personal shopping behaviors of consumer goods; Electronics, Personal Care
Products, Accessories and clothing / Footwear etc.

3rd – 4th Week

Chapter – 2: Decision Making and Consumer Behavior (Page 37 – 67) (Consumer
Behavior (Buying, Having and Being) by Michael R. Solomon, 11th Edition)

5th – 6th Week

Chapter – 3: Cultural Influences on Consumer Decision Making (Page 80 – 118)
(Consumer Behavior (Buying, Having and Being) by Michael R. Solomon, 11th Edition)
 CASE STUDY
How McCain spots and responds to the changes consumer bevior
and external environment: A McCain Food Case Study

Note: The instructor would provide case study- it would be uploaded on the portal
prefereably.

7th - 8th Week

Chapter – 5,6&7: Perception, Learning, Moemory and Self (Page 172 – 289) (Consumer
Behavior (Buying, Having and Being) by Michael R. Solomon, 11th Edition)

Class Activity 2:

Bringing different products assigned to the multiple groups of students and discussing their
motivation to decide and buy those products. Exploring inside out the personal buying behaviors.

Mid Semester Examination

10th Week – 11th Week
Chapter – 5 & 6: The Self: Personality and Lifestyle (Page 196 – 305) (Consumer
Behavior (Buying, Having and Being) by Michael R. Solomon, 11th Edition)

Class Activity 3:

Downloading different advertisements presentely on-air on electronic media, discussing the

appeals being tried to influence consumer’s buying decisions.

12th Week – 13th Week

Chapter – 07 & 8: Groups and Situational Effects on Consumer Behavior (Page 352 – 390)
(Consumer Behavior (Buying, Having and Being) by Michael R. Solomon, 11th Edition)

14th Week – 15th Week

Chapter – 9,10&11: Consumers as Decision Makers: Buying, Group Influence and
Opinion Leaderships (Page 350 – 459) (Consumer Behavior (Buying, Having and Being)
by Michael R. Solomon, 8th Edition)
Theories in Cosumer Behavior
Note: The instructor would provide case study- it would be uploaded on the portal
prefereably.
16th Week – 17th Week
Chapter – 13&16: Consumers Cultures and Subcultures, Social class and lifestyles (Page
455 – 484) (Consumer Behavior (Buying, Having and Being) by Michael R. Solomon, 11th
Edition)

CASE STUDY

Fair Lovely: Creating and responding the changes in consumer

bevaior and market demand
Note: The instructor would provide case study- it would be uploaded on the portal
prefereably.
Final Semester Examination

Weekly Course Objectives:

Week Module Intended Learning Objectives
Students would be understanding and learning the following concepts
Buying,  Consumer Behavior is a process
Having and  Understanding Wants, Needs and Demands
1–2 Being  Web is changing the consumer bevaior
& Class  Motivations to consume are complex and varied
Activity 1

 Understanding Consumer Decisiom Making process

Decision
 Cognitive decision making
Making and
3–4  Habitual decision making
Consumer
 Affective decision making
Behavior
Cultural  Culture is a society’s personality
Influences on  How we distinguish between high culture and low
5–6 Consumer culture
Decision  Successful products in one culture may fail in other
Making
How do products appeal to our senses
Translation of stimuli into meaning
Perception,
Subliminal Advertising is controversial
Learning,
7–8 How consumers learn about the products
Memory and
Classical vs instrumental learning
Self Activity 2
How do products help us to retrieve memories from our past
 The  To understand the credibility and influence of reference
10 - 11
SelPersonality groups.
, Lifestyle and  To understand the persuasive power of spokespersons,
Reference endorsers, celebirities, salespersons, vendors and media.
Groups  To understand the dyamics of opinion leadership and
word-of-mouth.
 To understand word-of-mouths online prevalence,
strategic applications, and perils.
 To understand how consumers adopt innovation over
time.
Groups and
 Factors at the time of purchase influencing consumer
Situational
decision
12 – 13 Effects on
 To understand how families make purchase decesions.
Consumer
 To understand the family lifecycle.
Behavior
Consumers as  To understand the consumer decision-making process
Decision and consumer decision journey.
Makers:  To understand the dynamics of buying gifts.
Buying,  To understand how new products gain acceptance and
14 – 15
Group how individuals decide whether or not to adopt them.
Influence and
Opinion
Leaderships
 To understand cultures dynamics and impact on
consumer behavior.
Consumers
 Consumer Behvior from diferent social class
16 – 17 Social Class
 To understand the means to study cultural values.
and Lifestyle

Required Learning Resources

Text Book(s):
(Title, Author, Edition, Publisher)
Reference Book(s):
(Title, Author, Edition, Publisher)
Michael R. Solomon, “Consumer Behavior”
“Consumer Behavior” (11th Edition) PEARSON
Publisher.
Leon G. Schiffman, Joseph Wisenblit, S. Ramesh
Kumar, “Consumer Behavior” 12th Edition PEARSON
Publisher.

 S.Ramesh Kumar,Ande Teja & Syed Hussain,

“Exploring Category Benefits for Brand Building-
Articles/Journals/Periodicals:
Kaya and The Beauty Care Market, ”IIMB-
(Title, Publisher)
Harvard Business School Case Series.2017 ,Text
Book Page No.590-604.
  S.Ramesh Kumar & Mithun Sivagurunathan,
“Sustaining an Ethnic Soft Drink-Paper Boat:
Brand Positioning and Consumer Behaviour,
”IIMB-Harvard Business School Case Series.2012
,Text Book Page No.605-613.
Facilities Required for Teaching and Learning
-White Board
-Multimedia

Assignments Schedule & Quiz

No. Week Assigned Week Due QUIZ TESTS
Three surprise quiz tests will be
1 3 4
conducted during the semester, best of
2 6 7 two will be counted for final grade. There
3 11 12 will be no makeup of these tests.
4 14 15
Examination / Weighting of Assessments & Quizzes
Quizzes + Assignments + Class Participation + Projects 20 %
Mid-semester examination 30 %
End-semester examination 50 %

Grading Criteria
Letter Grade Percentage Marks
A 80 -100 EXCELLENT
B 65-79.99 GOOD
C 50-64.99 SATISFACTORY
D 40-49.99 PASS

Instructor Responsibilities:
In keeping with the format of this class, I see myself as your immediate
supervisor. In that sense, I plan to mentor each of you so that you learn how to
make the best decisions possible, to understand and apply key marketing
concepts, and to prepare you to become productive employees upon graduation.
I will do my best to help each of you grow into the best marketer you choose to
become. Thus, besides class time -- where I will often put you on the spot -- I
expect there will be many times we will communicate outside of class, and I will
do my best to help you in a timely fashion.

Dress Code:
Formal business attire only (Dress Trouser, Shirt, Tie, Dress Shoes) Jeans and
Joggers NOT ALLOWED.
Not sure what this dress code means? Read When Job-Hunting: Dress for
Success.

Student Responsibilities:
You are expected to arrive to class on time, professionally dressed, and
prepared for the day. You should be fully prepared to discuss and debate the
course material assigned for that date. You are expected to participate at all
levels and offer objective praise and criticism of your classmates’ analyses and
conclusions. This course is not for the meek or timid. You must contribute to the
greater understanding of Consumer Behavior. This course is a combination of
doing (homework), thinking, and discussing.

Class Participation and Individual Conduct

You should make every effort to attend each class meeting. In addition, it is
important that you prepare for each class by reading the relevant book chapters
before the class session in which it will be discussed. You will also be expected to
participate in class discussion and complete in‐class exercises that will be based
on these reading assignments. Your participation grade will be based on
contribution and attendances (be punctual, attend classes, come prepared by
doing the readings, show initiative in the discussion). Note that students who
only “show up” should not expect even an average score. You must be present in
class in order to receive credit for in‐class exercises, quizzes, participation, etc.
Eating, sleeping, reading, texting, listening to or working on unrelated materials,
sidebar conversations, or “multi‐tasking” using a computer or other electronic
device is not permitted. Laptops (and similar devices) may be used in class for
course related activities such as taking notes. Students may bring drinks such as
water.

General Expectations & Classroom Etiquettes.

In terms of performance in this class, I have very high expectations and

anticipate outstanding work from each of you. I hope for a very positive
experience for us all. Keep in mind that if you do not deliver outstanding work
then you will be graded to reflect this. I ask that you contact me directly and
immediately if you ever have any questions or concerns regarding the class, any
particular assignments, or your grade(s). I am always willing to help.
I do ask that all students be respectful and courteous to other class members as
well as the professor. This includes turning off cell phones and other electronic
devices before class begins and arriving to class on time, as walking in late is
disruptive to other classmates and the professor. Those who walk in late will
likely not receive attendance credit for that day.

Useful Tools / Advice:

This course is time and labor intensive. Be certain to schedule enough time in
your weekly planning to accommodate.
You need to have good access to the Web and an e-mail account.
Please always do your best work.

Etc.:
It is expected that all work you submit for a grade in this class be original and
prepared for this class only.

I am always willing to see my students and will go out of my way to schedule

meetings. Please make sure that if you make an appointment that you keep it.
Finally, as will quickly become apparent, e-mail is by far the easiest and most
reliable method to reach me.

Contact Details:
Ahmad Sohail Khan Lecturer
Lyallpur Business School (LBS),
Faculty of Economics & Management Sciences,
GC University, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Office Hours Monday 10:00 am to 1:30 PM
Phone(Mob): 03466111999 E-Mail: ahmadsohailkhan@gmail.com
Course Specifications Developed By: Reviewed By (Assistant Professor Marekting
Faculty):
Ahmad Sohail Khan Dr. Rizwan Shabbir
Date:03-09-2019 Date: 13-09-2019