MAT 305: Understanding Consumer Behavior
23 February 2004 — 28 February 2004
Old Main 403 Canisius College from 5:30pm — 8pm Daily
| Instructor: | Sangeeta Singh Associate Professor School of Marketing Norwegian School of Management Trondheimsveien 2 0506 Oslo, Norway |
An important part of the successful marketing of products, services, and ideas is understanding the potential consumers. The field of consumer behavior developed from the need to understand these consumers and has been defined as the study of how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources (time, money, effort) on consumption-related items. It includes the study of what they buy, why they buy it, when they buy it, where they buy it, how they buy it, how often they buy it, and how often they use it.
Marketers recognize the importance of understanding why and how individuals make their consumption decisions, as it helps them in making improved strategic marketing decisions. If marketers understand consumer behavior, they are able to predict how consumers are likely to react to various informational and environmental cues, and are able to shape their marketing strategies accordingly. Understanding consumers provides marketers with a greater competitive advantage in the marketplace.
One of the several tools used by marketers to understand consumers behavior is multivariate analysis which is broadly defined as any statistical method that simultaneously analyses multiple measurements on each individual or object under investigation. Multivariate techniques help marketing researchers examine multiple relationships existing in the marketplace, and to obtain a more complete and realistic understanding for decision making.
This course will be structured as follows:
Topic 1. Introducing students to the field of consumer behavior: the aim being to familiarize them with consumer decision making processes, the internal and the external influences on this decision making, and the need for understanding the consumers behavior.
Topic 2. Marketing research: including a brief overview of the marketing research process, and a description of the basic tenets of marketing research.
Topic 3. Multivariate analysis: students will be introduced to the various multivariate techniques which may be used to understand consumers’ behavior, with a detailed emphasis on one or two techniques. Each of the techniques will be elaborated upon by outlining the basic assumptions made in applying the technique, the situations in which it may be applied, its application, the interpretation of the results, and the managerial/practical implications of the outcomes.
Biographical Information: Prof. Singh is an Associate Professor in the Department of Marketing at the Norwegian School of Management where she has been employed since August 1997. Singh has been a frequent lecturer in France both as a one year visiting professor at the Ecole Superieure de Commerce et Management (ESCEM) in Tours and as a short term lecturer for individual courses at ESCEM, Tours and ESSEC, Paris. In addition, Singh has given invited lectures at Uppsala University in Sweden, ESSEC in France, and SUNY Brockport.
Prof. Singh has been the recipient of a research grant of NOK 600,000 (approximately USD 80,000) from the Norwegian Research Council for the years 1998 and 1999. Her current research interests include cross-cultural comparison of consumer behavior, impact of ethnic identity on consumers’ product evaluations and customer loyalty in frequently purchased goods. Singh has published in “Advances in Consumer Research”, an prestigious journal in her field, and has contributed a chapter (“Understanding Norway for Franchising Potential”) to the book Franchising in Western and Northern Europe (CCH Publishing).