Prerequisite: Mkt 311, Senior Standing and MARKETING Majors Only

 

Instructor: Dr. Fahri Karakaya
E-Mail: f1karakaya@Umassd.edu
Phone: 8745
Office Hours: T-Th 1:00-2:00 P.M. and by appointment

Office: CCB, Room 329

Department Office: CCB – Second FloorDepartment Phone: 999-8446

COURSE OBJECTIVE:
To provide the students with sound theory of why consumers behave as they do, understand consumer research operations, and jargon, and apply theory and research to business problems. Special emphasis will be given to various economic and behavioral models that attempt to explain and predict patterns of consumer behavior.

COURSE MATERIAL: Required Text: Consumer Behavior (Tenth Edition)
Leon G. Schiffman, Leslie Lazar Kanuk, Prentice Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 2010.
ISBN-10: 0135053013 | ISBN-13: 9780135053010

SUGGESTED
READINGS: Selected articles from the following journals:
Journal of Consumer Research
Journal of Consumer Marketing
Journal of Marketing
Advances in Consumer Research

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GRADING SYSTEM: Percentages

IMPORTANT NOTES and COURSE POLICIES:

METHOD OF INSTRUCTION: This course will be taught using a variety of techniques. Lectures, class discussion of assigned cases, and readings will serve as the focus of instruction and learning. Students will be expected to familiarize themselves with the course materials and be prepared to respond to questions in class.

ATTENDANCE POLICY: Student are expected to attend classes regularly. Missed classes are not an excuse for missed assignments or material that is covered. Missing an unreasonable number of classes may be a cause for dismissal from the course.

No make-up exams will be given unless there has been an extenuating circumstance(s) supported by proper documentation and prior notice!
EXTRA CREDIT: Not assigned nor accepted.
LATE ASSIGNMENTS: All assignments are due on the date as noted on the course schedule, or when assigned by the professor in class. Late assignments will not be accepted and will be considered as a score of zero.

ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY:
A high standard of conduct in one’s academic experience is expected. The academic community does not tolerate any form of “cheating”, the dishonest use of assistance in the preparation of outside or in-class assignments. The principles of academic honesty are violated when a student gives or accepts aid in any graded work. Any attempt to present someone else’s work as one’s own on quizzes, examinations, reports, or term papers constitutes plagiarism. Plagiarism also includes verbal, written, or graphic presentation of borrowed material without citing its source. Any violation of this policy will result in course failure. Professor utilizes a plagiarism software to identify any misconduct. For this reason, in addition to printed copy, all projects must be submitted as MS-word files via e-mail to the professor. Failure to submit a full document will not receive any grade for project.

IMPORTANT Classroom Etiquette:
1-Do not be late to class – do not leave the class before it is finished! (major distraction!!)

2-Turn off your cell phone and all other electronic devices including your laptop computer, iPad, Ipod, etc.,- Do not text or read your messages while the class is in session!
Violation of this policy consequences: first offense – dismissal from class; second offense dismissal from the course!
3-Do not get up and walk out of the classroom while the class is in session – unless you have an emergency! (major distraction!!)
4-Do not direct your discussion to individual students and speak only after you have been recognized by your professor or discussion leader
5-All discussions in the class must be in professional manner

E-Mail Etiquette:
All e-mails sent to the professor must include student name and course title as well as the section number. E-mails must be brief and to the point. If you have an issue that will take more than a few lines to explain in an e-mail, I would suggest seeing me in person. I will respond to all e-mails within 48 hours. You must use your UMass Dartmouth e-mail account to send me e-mails.

CASE ANALYSIS: Each student will be assigned to a case analysis team. They will be required to prepare case analysis and present it to the class. The team will have 20minutes to provide the class the salient facts, their analysis of the situation, and their recommendations for action. All other teams must read the cases and post their comments as a team to mycourses site on the discussion area 48 hours before the case is due. The team presenting a case study do not post any comments, but will read the postings and include a summary to their presentation. Students are also encouraged to discuss issues in the cases by responding to other teams’ comments and vice versa.The team presenting a case must conduct external research and support their findings / recommendations with data. THE CASES ARE IN THE TEXTBOOK AT THE END OF EACH CHAPTER.

TESTS: The tests are multiple choice and reflect what we discuss in class. The questions come from professor’s lecture notes and the textbook. Therefore, it is essential to pay attention to the powerpoint slides and take notes on the materials that are not in your textbook. The lecture outlines are available in mycourses and they can serve as study guides for the test.If you fail to attend classes regularly, you are also likely to see questions on the test that you do not recognize!!

The textbook publisher has a web-site where you can take practice quizzes. Here is the link: http://wps.prenhall.com/bp_schiffman_cb_10/ or Click here
Please note that doing well in these quizzes will not guarantee you a good grade!RESEARCH PROJECT: The general aim of the research project is “learning by doing.” Teams of 3-4 students are required to conduct literature reviews on a specific topic related to consumer behavior. The topic of research must be approved by the instructor

Each project must be typed (double-spaced times roman 12 pts.), and professionally presented to the class. The project should be around 15-20 pages. All sources of literature should be referenced using the Journal of Marketing referencing style (see a copy of an article published in Journal of marketing or click here to download a sample). Failure to follow the referencing style will result in reduction of points. Furthermore, failure to reference will be a cause for plagiarism per UMASSD student handbook. Please note: The printed report turned in must be single page sided. Failure to follow the formatting instructions will result in loss of points.

The following outline must be followed in writing the research report:

I- TITLE PAGE title of your paper and your names

II- TABLE OF CONTENTS – major and minor heading and page numbers

III- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Summary of your research and findings

IV- INTRODUCTION: Give a brief introduction of the research topic

V- LITERATURE REVIEW: literature review includes theories, and related studies
previously conducted by other researchers in the area being researched. You need to
have major and minor headings in this section of the paper and integrate the previous
research findings.

VI- DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: write conclusions and make recommendations
for future research (areas that have not been researched).

VII- MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS (Discuss how business executive scan utilize the information you have in your paper to improve their businesses)

In writing the research report, it is important to synthesize, compare and contrast information, findings of researchers, and relate the findings to the course concepts. This is a very critical issue and will definitely effect your grade.

SOME GOOD LITERATURE AND DATA SOURCES

• UMass Dartmouth Electronic library Resources (PROQUEST GLOBAL and MINTEL )
• Google Scholar: http://www.google.com/ – select the more tab, then scholar or click here
• The Internet Marketing Research web site at Umass dartmouth — http://www.umassd.edu/marketresearch
  

TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE – SPRING 2015
Consumer Behavior (MKT 431)
Dr. Fahri Karakaya

G1*= Case assignment for group 1 and others are similarly numbered

Note: Additional assignments will be provided as time permits.
The Instructor reserves the right to make modifications to this syllabus.

EVALAUTION OF CASE ANALYSIS
Problems
1.1
-Case analysis demonstrates full recognition of multiple problems in the case (5 points)
-Case analysis does not recognize the problems. (0 points)

1.2
-The problems mentioned were based on the facts in the case. (5 points)
-The problems mentioned were not based on the facts in the case or skewed the facts in
the case in some way. (0 point)

Knowledge
3.1
-The analysis recognizes that there might be more information available than is present in the case- it raises questions about information that might be missing or ambiguous. (5 points)
-The analysis does not demonstrate the problem-solver’s recognition that more information might be needed to analyze the case- no questions are asked about missing information. (0 point)

3.2
Knowledge from personal experience Knowledge from empirical research
Knowledge from theoretical research
-The analysis considers adequate information from information sources (if appropriate). (5 points)
-The analysis does not consider adequate information from information sources. (0 point)

3.3
-The analysis uses facts from the case. (5 points)
-The analysis does not use facts from the case. (0 point)

3.4
-The analysis uses facts from outside of the textbook. (5 points)
-The analysis does not use facts from the related case materials. (0 point)

3.5
-The facts the analysis highlights from the case are used accurately. (5 points)
-The analysis does not use any knowledge of this kind. (0 point)

3.6
-The knowledge the case uses seems to be related to the problems identified as most important.
(5 points)
-The knowledge the case uses does not seem to be related to the problems identified as most
Important. (0 point)

Recommendations
4.1
-The analysis proposed recommendations that seemed reasonable. (5 points)
-The analysis proposed recommendations that did not seem reasonable (0 point)

4.2
-The recommendations proposed seem feasible. (5 points)
-The recommendations proposed do not seem feasible. (0 point)
4.3
-The recommendations proposed seem deal with the problems deemed the most important. (5 points)
-The recommendations proposed do not seem to deal with the problems deemed the most important. (0
point)

Total Points: 55=100%

 

STUDENT PRESENTATION ASESSMENT
Organization
1.1
-Student presents information in logical, interesting sequence which audience can follow, provides clear preview of what they will cover at beginning, and provides strong summary/conclusion of main points (5 points)
-Audience cannot understand presentation because there is no logical sequence to the information presented, no preview or summary offered (0 point)
Subject Knowledge
2.1
-Student demonstrates full knowledge (more than required) by answering all class questions with explanations and elaboration. (5 points)
-Student does not have grasp of information. (0 point)
Graphics
3.1
-Student’s graphics explain and reinforce screen text and presentation, overall design of slides is simple, clear, and powerful. (5 points)
-Student uses superfluous graphics or no graphics; slides are poorly designed. (0 point)
Eye Contact
4.1
-Student maintains eye contact with audience, seldom returning to notes; engages with specific audience members often. (5 points)
-Student reads all of report with no eye contact. (0 point)

Audience Engagement
5.1
-Student uses an original or humorous opening to interest audience, projects enthusiasm and sincerity, and language is suitable for the audience. (5 points)
-Language is not suitable for the audience, opening is trite or dull, and student demonstrates no enthusiasm and/or sincerity. (0 point)

Total Points: 25=100%

 

EVALUATION OF RESEARCH PROJECTS
1.1
-Establishes and maintains clear focus; evidence of distinctive voice and/or appropriate tone
(20 points)
-Limited awareness of audience and/or purpose (0 point)

1.2
Depth and complexity of ideas supported by rich, engaging, and or pertinent details; evidence of analysis, reflection and insight (20 points)
Minimal idea development, limited and/or unrelated detail
1.3
Use of references indicate substantial research; references appropriate to topic and of high quality (10 points)
Few references (0 point)
1.4
Journal of Marketing Referencing style has not been followed. (5 points)
Journal of Marketing Referencing style has not been followed. (0 point)
1.4
Careful and/or suitable organization demonstrating solid logic. (10 points)
Random or weak organization. (0 point)
1.5
-Variety of sentence structure and length; Precise and/or rich language. (5 points)
Incorrect or lack of topic and/or transition sentences. Incorrect and/or ineffective wording and/or sentence structure. (0 point)
1.6
No errors in grammar or format (5 points)
Errors in grammar and format (e.g., spelling, punctuation, capitalization, headings). (0 point)

1.7
Has performed extensive literature review on the topic (20 points)
has not performed extensive literature review on the topic (0 point)

1.8
The paper considers areas related to the topic (5 points)
The paper considers areas related to the topic (0 point)

Total Points: 100