1.Contact Information:
Rutgers Office Phone: 856-225 6592 / Rutgers Fax:  856-225 6231/ Cell Phone:  856-577-8767
EMAIL: ckaufman@camden.rutgers.edu
 

2. Office Hours:  Tuesday 3:30 to 5:30 pm; Thursday 10:00 to 11:00 am and by appointment.
 

3.  Prerequisites: 52:630:201, Principles of Marketing or equivalent.
 

4.  Text: Shopper, Buyer, and Consumer Behavior, by Jay D. Lindquist and M. Joseph Sirgy. They are both noted for their research and leadership in Consumer Behavior. Their text is innovative, interactive, and well-balanced in theory, research, and practical applications. We’ll often use the text in class and will be able to pull it up interactively: http://www.atomicdogpublishing.com/home.asp

This book is innovative since it does a number of very important things in describing the field; for instance, international examples of consumer behavior are integrated throughout the text.  Thus, the text is not based on United States consumer behavior, which is the limited perspective taken by numerous other marketing texts. Instead, you will be given the opportunity to consider the consumer behaviors existing in today's global market.
 

5. Course Website:  Course notes, assignments, and useful links are found on the Course Information section: http://crab.rutgers.edu/~ckaufman/
 

6. Course Description:  Study of relevant psychological, sociological, and anthropological varia¬bles that shape intentions, activities, and motivations of those in the exchange process.  Attention to both the individual and social influence determinants of buying and consuming behaviors.  Individual, family, and group buying decision processes will be examined. Consumer behavior is a dynamic, exciting field whose study is the consumer. And it is KNOWLEDGE and understanding of the consumer that enables marketing managers to plan effective marketing strategies, to generate satisfactory product designs, to communicate clearly with target markets, and to enhance consumer quality of life.

There will be two assignments due in this course.  The individual homework supplements our text by giving you background on how the research described in our text is actually conducted. The group project challenges you to examine current topics in Consumer Analysis that are likely to be of interest to firms in today’s marketplace. The job of this course is to teach you both practical and research-oriented Consumer Analysis for use in your careers.
 

Course Evaluation
1.  Class Participation (every class!)                                                           - 10 points
2. Midterm Thursday, February 24th                                                          - 20 points
3. Homework, Tuesday March 8th  - Current Issues in Consumer Analysis - 20 points
4. Term Project Presentations -  Tuesday April 26 and Thursday April 28   - 25 points
5. Final Examination:  Thursday, May 5th:  2 to 5 pm                                  - 25 points
__________________________________________________________________
TOTAL                                                                                                       100 points
 

Course Objectives

1. To provide the student with a conceptual base for understanding the behavior of consumers within the marketing system in a society. Actual marketing research of corporations will be considered in developing the applications side of the consumer topics discussed in class.

2.  To explain and define the frameworks which contribute to understanding consumer behavior as it affects and influences business activities involving the sale of goods and services in the marketplace.

3. Sometimes consumer behavior techniques are criticized as being deceptive; in other words, they lead the consumer to buy things that they may not need or want.  Several extreme cases can be considered:  compulsive shopping, excessive dieting, substance abuse, and so forth.  These important topics will be discussed; you may find yourself involved in a business decision that requires that you consider the ethics and social responsibility of the marketing decisions which you will make.
 

Course Policies

Academic Integrity:  This class will ask you to work independently and in groups. In most cases, you are responsible for preparing your own work and documenting the work of others. Cheating, plagiarism, and other types of misconduct are not acceptable. In addition, today’s information environment has changed. Research is available on the Internet, but how can you use it and cite it properly? There are many forms of academic dishonesty, ranging from cheating, using the work of others, failing to properly cite sources, and purchasing papers from the Internet. Penalties can include expulsion from the University. “A Policy on Academic Integrity for Undergraduate and Graduate Students for Rutgers University—Camden”  was adopted by the Faculty Senate on February 10, 2004, representing both the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the School of Business.  You can read specific examples, definitions, and policies, found at this URL:

http://www.camden.rutgers.edu/RUCAM/info/Academic-Integrity-Policy.html
You might also benefit from the video found at: http://scc.rutgers.edu/douglass/sal/plagiarism/intro.html (very basic but contains reference to Rutgers own policies).
 

Attendance and Late Work:  Excessive absences will be reflected in the final grade.  Attendance is defined as being in class for the entire class.  All assignments must be handed in on time; late work will receive reduced credit.  No makeup exams will be scheduled without prior notification and a physician's excuse.
 

Course Withdrawals:  April 18 - last day to withdraw for all courses for Spring 2005 without academic penalty. Don’t just disappear if you decide to drop the class! University records must be updated.
 

Incompletes and Problems:  If you find that you are having trouble completing course work or need further explanation of class topics, please schedule an appointment with the instructor.  If you need this class for graduation, you should be sure that your performance is up to standard throughout the course. It is too late to wait until the last week of classes to ask for help.  Office hours are held throughout the entire semester for this purpose. "Incompletes" will only be given through prior consultation with the instructor, under extreme circumstances.
 

Participation:  You are expected to participate in class; just sitting there isn't enough.  Your contributions are expected to help the class learn and understand the topics under consideration.  Negative participation (talking, unnecessary interruptions, etc.) will result in deductions from the participation component of your grade. Here is where excessive absences come in; you can’t participate if you are not in class.
 

Preparation:  Assigned chapters and cases should be read prior to their discussion in class.  Web assignments MUST be read prior to class.  Class meetings will organize retail concepts, clarify the material and correlate real examples from the business world. Handouts, notes, and films will be included on examinations.
 

Testing:  You are expected to be in class at the scheduled exam times.  The instructor MUST be notified IN ADVANCE if you are unable to take an exam on time.  Make up tests are given only in the case of an extreme emergency or serious illness.  Substantiation is required.

 
Reading Assignments - Linked with In-Class Discussion

Week 1 – January 18, 20:
Class Procedures:  syllabus, assignments, information sheet
Chapter 1: Introduction; CB and Marketing management, read chapter 1
Topics:  total product concept, market segmentation
EKB model – taking the model apart, relate to real world examples
In class:  describe self as a market segment
Go over Homework
Chapter 2:   Decision making, product recognition and information search
Discuss new methods of consumer search via the Internet
 

Week 2 – January 25 and 27
Chapters 3 and 4
How do consumers evaluate product attributes?
Alternative evaluation and choice of products and outlets
What brands do you buy, what attributes are important? Which retailers do you patronize and why?
Brand Loyalty. Word of Mouth and Complaint Behavior. Consumption and Post-Purchase Behavior
Video: Why We Buy
Food and Brand lab-testing what consumers eat, Prof. Brian Wansink’s site on food research: http://www.consumerpsychology.net/
 
 

Week 3 – February 1 and 3
Chapters 5 and begin Chapter 6
Begin Psychological Influences on Consumer Behavior – Individual perspectives
Semiotics, Symbolic Consumption, Self-Image, Personality
Revlon, how do we define beauty?  http://www.revlon.com/, http://www.revlon.com/information/halle/default.asp
Personality Traits and Consumer Analysis – see page 158, measures of traits related to CA
Market Mavens, Opinion Leaders, and innovativeness
Lifestyles, Values, and Psychographics – how can we measure lifestyles?
Means Ends Chains and Laddering
 
 

Week 4 – February 8 and 10
Finish Chapter 6
Lifestyles and Psychographics –  What are product constellations?
Learning to use the VALS typology. Go to SRI VALS and find out which consumer type you are. How can consumer analysts use this information? The URL is:  http://www.sric-bi.com/VALS/
Begin Chapter 7:  Memory, Learning, and Perception
What is the structure of memory:  sensory, short-term, and long-term memory
How do consumers learn and remember products and services?
Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, generalization, discrimination; Cognitive learning
What can marketers do to enhance consumer learning?
Begin Perception – Sensory perception, Gestalt Theories of Perception, cues
 

Week 5 – February 15 and 17
Finish Perception – look alike products, product deception, unsafe products
Perceiving products from other countries – unfamiliar product cues can be confusing
Risk reduction and price perceptions
Read chapter 8: Motivation, Mood, and Involvement
Use of Maslow’s hierarchy in Consumer Analysis
Types of motivational conflict and applications to consumer decision making
Campbell Soup’s “Tasty Tuesday” Promotion and recipes to help busy cooks address conflict:   http://www.campbellkitchen.com/index.asp
What are motives for shopping in catalogs (p. 244). Extend to motives for online shopping.
Consumer emotions, use of emotions in advertising, moods, high and low involvement
 

Week 6 – February 22 and 24th
February 22nd:   Review for Midterm, time to finish up topics
Hand out selection sheets for Term Project, Go over methods, form groups

February 24th – Hand in topic and group selection sheet
Midterm Exam, covers chapters 1 to 8, class discussions, videos, handouts
 

Week 7 – March 1 and 3rd
Chapter 9 – Beliefs, Affect, Attitude, and Intention: what do consumers know and how do they feel?
Beliefs are established through product positioning – attribute, benefit, price, application, user, etc.
Affect:  how we feel about the beliefs we have about products
Perdue Farms:  http://www.perdue.com/
Working through the Fishbein model and using to change consumer’s responses to products
Theory of Reasoned action and its applications

Chapter 10 - Communication and Persuasion
What is the basic communications model? Encoding and decoding
What are hierarchy of effects models?
Choosing an effective source for your message
Jared from Subway:  http://www.subway.com/subwayroot/index.aspx
Appropriate tone and theme, effectiveness of themes
Comparative messages, counterarguing
Consider Target’s ads using the “Target Dog” :  http://www.target.com
 

  Week 8 – March 8 and 10th
March 8th - Homework Due, in-class discussion of findings
Finish up topics on communications
March 10th – discussion of findings, group worktime
 

March 15th – Spring Break
 

Week 9 – March 22 and 24th
Begin Sociological (group) influences on Consumer Decision Making
Chapter 11 and 12:  How does one’s cultural heritage affect their consumer behavior?
Culture is learned, shared, remains the same yet changes; recognizing ethnocentricity;
High and low context cultures, collectivism, acculturation and consumer acculturation
The structures and processes in culture
Values, beliefs, rituals, artifacts, “languages”, time and culture
Consider gifts given on business trips to other countries:  http://www.executiveplanet.com/

Chapters 13:  Subcultural Groups:  ethnicity, age, religion, geography
Current accurate information on size, growth, and change within subcultural groups in the U.S. are found at the U.S. Census Bureau’s web site: http://factfinder.census.gov
http://factfinder.census.gov/jsp/saff/SAFFInfo.jsp?_pageId=tp9_race_ethnicity
Can we identify specific consumer needs, decision making patterns, values, and behaviors within ethnic subcultures?  Can we identify specific consumer needs, decision making patterns, values, and behaviors within age subcultures?
 

Week 10 – March 29 and 31st
Finish Chapter 13

Chapters 14:  Social Class and Reference Group Influences
What is social class? How do we measure it?  Is it related to consumer behavior?
Discuss “Living Room Scale” – how would we adapt this scale for today’s consumers?
Computerized Status Index
Reference Group influences – how do other people influence consumers?
Types of reference groups, reference group influence on brands and on products
Types of power: social, legitimate, referent, coercive, and expert
 

Week 11 – April 5 and 7
Chapter 15:   Families and Households
Who’s at home in today’s households?  How does that affect consumer behavior?\
Delayed childbirth, two-income families, single parent families, gay households
Census Bureau reports stay at home parents increases
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/003118.html
What is the impact on consumer decision making? Syncratic, autonomic, husband and wife dominant
 

Chapter 16:  Begin Special Topics in Consumer Analysis
Public Policy and Consumer Advocacy, what are the rights of consumers?
Do consumers use the information that they are given – e.g. nutrition labels?
Can consumers with disabilities shop?  Do they really have the same choices that nondisabled persons do?
National Organization on Disability:  http://www.nod.org/
Access guidelines:  http://www.access-board.gov/adaag/html/adaag.htm
Checking web sites for color blindness: http://www.vischeck.com/vischeck/
 

Week 12 – April 12 and 14th
Finish Public Policy topics

Read Chapter 17
Consumer Behavior and Society – what is U.S. consumer culture like?
Materialism, Compulsive shopping, Impulsive shopping, shoplifting, ethics, quality of life
Subway and the Fresh Pledge to counteract childhood obesity: http://www.subway.com/subwayroot/index.aspx
 
 

Week 13 -  April 19 and 21st
April 19 -  Group worktime – mandatory attendance, schedule for presentations
April 21 – Review for final exam
 

Week 14 – April 26 and 28th
Term Project Presentations – follow directions!
 

Final Examination:  Thursday, May 5th:  2 to 5 pm

 Homework:  “Current Issues in Consumer Analysis
A Literature Review and Identification of Industry Trends

Due Tuesday, March 8, 2005:  20 points

This assignment simply requires that you research a cutting edge topic in Consumer Analysis and present your findings in class.  What is being studied? What do we want to know?  What are researchers discussing?  What is a “hot topic” in the field? What is an issue you may be working on in your career?

1. First, take a look at the course readings on the next page. Select a topic that you’d like to learn more about and email it to me for approval by Tuesday, January 25th.

2. Read the reserve article that discusses your topic. Identify 3 additional articles/sources of information that can help you to learn about your topic.  Go to the library and research your topic.  Or access relevant periodi¬cals through Library searches on the Internet.

3. Prepare a short writeup (3-5 pages) discussing your findings. It should contain the following items:

a. A statement of the topic and a discussion of its importance to firms.

b. A short summary of each article in your own words.  This should explain why the topic is important, what each article is about, and its implications.

c. A summary section. What do you think? What are the implications for business?

d. A copy of the article you judge would be the most valuable for the class to read.  Present your argument about why this article is important for the class to read. I will select the best for the class’s use in further assignments.

d.  A complete and CORRECT bibliographic reference, including the authors' name, title of arti¬cle, source
     document, reference volume or year, publisher, pages, etc. If you are citing an EMAIL source, please
     give me the HTTP or your method of finding the source.

e.  Be prepared to talk briefly on what you found on the day that the assignment is due. This is a great
     way to contribute to your participation grade!
 
 

Term Project:  A detailed handout will be given in class.
 

Compulsive Consumption:  Thomas C. O’Guinn and Ronald J. Faber (1989), “Compulsive Buying:  A Phenomenological Exploration,” Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 16 (September), 147-157.

Impulsive Purchasing:  Kaufman-Scarborough, Carol and Judy Cohen (2004), “Unfolding Consumption Impulsivity:  An Existential-Phenomenological Study of Consumers With Attention Deficit Disorder”, Psychology & Marketing, Vol. 21(8), 637-669.

Consumption Rituals:  “’We Gather Together’:  Consumption Rituals of Thanksgiving Day,” Journal of Consumer Research, 18 (June), 13-31.

Elderly Consumers:  Linda L. Price, Eric J. Arnould, and Carolyn Folkman Curasi (2000), “Older Consumers’ Disposition of Special Possessions,” Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 27 (September), 179-201.

Gift Giving:  Tina M. Lowrey, Cele C. Otnes, and Julie A. Ruth (2004), “Social Influences on Dyadic Giving over Time:  A Taxonomy from the Giver’s Perspective,” Journal of Consumer Research, Volume 30 (March), 547-558.

Hispanic Shopping Behavior:  Kaufman, Carol Felker and Sigfredo Hernandez (1991), "The Role of the Bodega in a U.S. Puerto Rican Community," Journal of Retailing, Volume 67, Number 4 (winter), 375 396.

Multitasking and Advertising:  Pilotta, Joseph J., Don E. Schultz, Gary Drenik, and Philip Rist (2004). “Simultaneous Media Usage:  A Critical Consumer Orientation to Media Planning,” Journal of Consumer Behavior, 3(3): 285-292.

Nostalgia:  Holbrook, M.B. and R.M. Schindler (2003), “Nostalgic Bonding: Exploring the Role of Nostalgia in the Consumption Experience,” Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 3 (2), in press.

Perception of Color and Web Use: Kaufman-Scarborough, Carol (2001), “Accessible Advertising for Visually-Disabled Persons:  The Case of Color Deficient Consumers,” Journal of Consumer Marketing, Volume 18 (Summer), Number 4, 303-316.

Perception and Scent:  Morrin, Maureen and S. Ratneshwar (2003). “Does It Make Sense to Use Scents to Enhance Brand Memory?” Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 40 (4), 10-25.

Perception and Shape: Wansink, Brian and Koert van Ittersum (2003), “Bottoms Up! The Influence of Elongation on Pouring and Consumption Volume,” Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 30 (December), 455-463.

Subcultural Influences: Penaloza, Lisa  (1994), Atravesando Fronteras/Border Crossings,” Journal of Consumer Research, 21 (1), 32-55.

Time Perception and Use:  Kaufman, Carol Felker, Paul M. Lane, and Jay D. Lindquist (1991), "Exploring More than 24 Hours a Day:  A Preliminary Investigation of Polychronic Time Use," Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 18, Number 3 (December), 392 401.

Name _______________________________________
 

Best way to reach you:     Tel:   _________________________________
                                        Email: _________________________________
                                        RU EMAIL:  ________________________________________
 

Can you receive attached files?
 

Other Marketing courses taken in the past?
 
 

Any Marketing experience or skills?  In which areas of Marketing can you be considered a “Resident Expert”?  (feel free to brag a little)
 
 

What are your goals for this course?  Is there any skill in particular which you would like to acquire?
 
 

What do you view as an important consumer research question – for your company, in general, or in an area of your interest?
 
 

What would you like to learn in this class? Any specific topics of interest?
 
 

Employment (be as specific as you want): ________________________________________________
 

Approximate Hours per Week______________________________________________
 

Who are your company’s customers? _______________________________________
 

Any expected absences?? ________________________________________________