Professor: Eric Yorkston
Office: 353 Dan Rogers Hall
Telephone: (817) 257-5442
Fax: (817) 257-7227
E-mail: e.yorkston@tcu.edu
Office Hours: by appointment
Course Overview
The most complex aspect of marketing is understanding the mind and heart of the consumer. If consumer behavior was easy to explicate, then all products would sell as well as projected, all ads would be effective, economies would be efficient, and marketing would be a simple prospect. In actuality, consumers are frustrating and irrational and difficult to predict.
This course focuses on providing you with the basic tools to gain insights into consumer behavior. We will address:
Managerial applications of consumer behavior: What marketing strategies are likely to be effective given consumer response?
When we focus on managerial applications, we will attempt to apply tools from psychology, economics, and other social sciences to particular marketing problems. The focus will be on specific results.
Psychological applications of consumer behavior: How do humans operate in the marketplace?
When we focus on psychological applications, we will take a more general, scientific approach. We may learn about research not initially aimed toward a particular marketing problem (or marketing issues at all) that illuminates some basic aspect of human behavior that can be used to understand human behavior in a market.
Course Materials
Required Texts:
Underhill, Paco (2008), Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping (Updated and Revised for the Internet, the Global Consumer, and Beyond), Simon and Schuster: New York.
Schwartz, Barry (2004), The Paradox of Choice, Ecco: New York.
Shirky, Clay (2010), Cognitive Surplus, Penguin Press: New York
Required Blog Readings: In order to provide you with state-of-the-art exposure to opportunities and problems facing business organizations today, I will assign podcasts, articles from recent newspapers, and additional sources to supplement these materials. These will be posted and discussed on the TCUstomer Insights blog at www.tcustomer.blogspot.com. Check this regularly as it will be the student’s responsibility to read and discuss this material.
Communication
Email is especially useful with busy people like you, who may have questions or concerns during non-class time. By sending your concerns in this method, you do not have to wait until class meetings to voice your concern or get help with your problems. Please note that emails sent on weekends, after normal business hours, or during academic breaks may not be answered until the next scheduled academic class day. I am also available for in person meetings; please send me an email with proposed meeting times if you’d like to meet to chat for any reason.
Class Participation, Class Activities and Assignments
Students are expected to fulfill assignments (e.g., quiz question generation, in-class assignments and classroom discussion) in order to facilitate a better understanding of topics covered in class throughout the course. Assignments are not limited to what appears on the syllabus. Be sure to contact other students in the course if you miss a class session. The responsibility of gathering material and notes missed lies solely on the student. I will not individually review materials with any student that misses class nor will I provide a summary of the day’s material. Attendance is expected. Failure to attend will result in a substantial decrease in your class participation and assignment grade.
Laptop Policy
The use of laptops, smart phones, and other electronic devices is prohibited during class time unless explicitly noted by the professor. If you must use an electronic device please exit the classroom.
Quizzes and Exams
There will be three quizzes during the course. These quizzes will cover material from the books and blog posts. The final exam is cumulative and will consist of multiple choice and short essay questions.
Students are expected to take exams at the scheduled times. Consistent with University policy, alternate testing accommodations will be given only to students who have proof of illness or other emergency.
Course Requirements
A breakdown of the grading criteria is as follows:
Class Participation and In-Class Assignments 10%
Group Assignments 20%
Reading Quizzes 30%
Final Exam 40%
Official Absences
It is the student’s responsibility to inform me, via email, of official absences prior to the missed class, assignment, or exam.
READ THE FOLLOWING ADVISORY CAREFULLY
This syllabus represents my intentions before the semester starts. Be aware that dates and topics may change with little or no notice. Tests may be given on dates other than those appearing on the syllabus. Pay attention in class for verbal notifications of changes. If in doubt, or you have questions, please contact me.
All assignments are due at the beginning of the class on the due date specified. Due dates are subject to change. Assignments may be emailed to me but must arrive on the TCU server no later than the start of class. The instructor is not responsible for undelivered emails. Late assignments will not be accepted – even for excused absences! Additional readings may be added at the discretion of the instructor. Unforeseen circumstances may arise which mandate changes in the content of the course. Students must be flexible and remain open to new avenues of inquiry. Returned paperwork, unclaimed by a student, will be discarded after four (4) weeks and will not be available should a student make an appeal following the receipt of his or her final grade. Students are expected to adhere to the standards of academic integrity that govern students registered at TCU. Where a clear violation has occurred, the instructor may disqualify the student’s work as unacceptable and assign a failing mark.
University Instructional Attendance Policy
The University Attendance Policy is that regular and punctual class attendance is essential and no assigned work is excused because of absence, no matter what the cause. Records of class attendance are kept by faculty. When an accumulation of absences reaches the point of endangering a student’s academic status, the faculty member should report his situation to the Campus Life Office. An instructor should not assume that continued absence from class indicates an official withdrawal until notified by the Registrar.
When a student is absent to represent the University (as in athletics, band, chorus, national or state meeting of organizations represented at TCU), then official University absence may be granted by the Campus Life Office. Faculty/staff who wish to have an activity sanctioned for official University absence status must submit the names of all students, including date and hours absent from campus, to the Campus Life Office no later than one week prior to the date of the activity. The Dean of Campus Life reviews and approves the request as appropriate and forwards the names for publication and distribution to all faculty through the TCU Weekly Bulletin. Faculty is required to permit students to make up work missed because of official university absences.
Serious illness or family emergencies may be verified by the Campus Life Office but are not considered official absences. Illnesses that will be verified are those involving hospitalization, or catastrophic accidents or illness. When a serious illness or emergency has been verified, each instructor should assist the student to make up any missed work. Time lost through such absences should NOT prejudice class standing. Faculty members should specify the appropriate time frame for making up missed work.
Students who miss an instructional experience are expected to meet with faculty to discuss their absence as soon as possible. Faculty may permit a student to make up missed work or assess a penalty for class absence.
Academic Conduct Policy
In order to encourage and preserve the honor and integrity of the academic community, TCU expects its students to maintain high standards of personal and scholarly conduct.
In instances of cheating during an exam, quiz, or other assignments, the instructor shall have the right to suspend the student(s) who is(are) cheating from further work on the exam, quiz, or assignment, and deny the student(s) credit for the exam, or exercise.
All instructors or proctors shall the right to examine materials in the student’s possession during quizzes and exams.
Cheating is defined as:
1) Copying from another student’s test paper, quiz, report, abstract, or any other application exercise
2) Using, during a test or quiz, material and/or devices not authorized by the instructor
3) Collaborating with or seeking aid from another student during a test, quiz, or abstract without permission
4) Knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting, in its entirety or in part, the contents of a test or other assignment unauthorized for release
5) Substituting for another student, or permitting another student to substitute for oneself, to take a test or other assignment or make a presentation
Plagiarism is defined as the appropriation, theft, purchase, or obtaining by any other means another’s work, and the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of that work as one’s own offered for credit.
Collusion is defined as the unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing work offered for credit.
Students with Disabilities
Texas Christian University complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 regarding students with disabilities. If you require accommodations for a disability, please contact the Coordinator for Students with Disabilities in the Center for Academic Services, located in Sadler Hall 11, or at 817.257.7586.
Adequate time must be allowed to arrange accommodations and accommodations are not retroactive; therefore, students should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible in the academic term for which they are seeking accommodations. Each eligible student is responsible for presenting relevant, verifiable, professional documentation and/or assessment reports to the Coordinator. Guidelines for documentation may be found at http:/www.acs.tcu.edu/DISABILITY.HTM.
Students with emergency medical information or needing special arrangements in case a building must be evacuated should discuss this information with their instructor/professor as soon as possible.
Date | Day | Topic | Class Activity | Reading Due | Assignment Due |
8-Mar | Tuesday | Intro to Consumers | Course Overview / Exposure | ||
10-Mar | Thursday | Reaching the Consumer | Getting Attention / Increasing Processing | ||
15-Mar | Tuesday | SPRING BREAK | |||
17-Mar | Thursday | SPRING BREAK | |||
22-Mar | Tuesday | Perception | Psychophysical Properties of Perception / Product Downsizing | POC: CH 1-4 | |
24-Mar | Thursday | Perception | Prospect Theory / Behavioral Pricing | ||
29-Mar | Tuesday | Categorization | Developing Categorization Structures & New Product Development | WWB: CH 1-20 | |
31-Mar | Thursday | Categorization | Category Management at Point of purchase, Competitive Analysis | Group Assignment QUIZ on WWB | |
5-Apr | Tuesday | Why We Buy | In Field Environmental Analysis at Barnes & Noble | ||
7-Apr | Thursday | Why We Buy | Retail Environment & Shopper Behavior (Llisa Lewis: B&N General Manager) | Group Assignment | |
12-Apr | Tuesday | Memory | Branding, Endorsements, and Brand Image Management | ||
14-Apr | Thursday | Attitudes & Attribute Models | Conjoint Analysis, Attribute Differentiation, Positioning | ||
19-Apr | Tuesday | Decision Making | Store Visit | POC: CH 5-8 | QUIZ on POC |
21-Apr | Thursday | Decision Making | The Decision Making Process, Systematic vs. Heuristic Processing | Group Assignment | |
26-Apr | Tuesday | Cognitive Surplus | Memes, Social Media, Online Behavior | CS: CH 1-7 | QUIZ |
3-May | Tuesday 8:00 – 10:30 | FINAL EXAM |
