MRKT 204 – Consumer Behavior

Overview
This course requires students to undertake a research project that involves research on a consumer behavior topic of their
choice. The purpose of the project is to gain a deeper understanding of the concept or theory they select and see the
complexity of drawing insights from real consumer activities and behaviors. In many cases, the results of the project may not
completely or thoroughly support the theory or may completely contradict the theory. This is common and further illustrates
the complexity of predicting human behavior generally. In cases where the results of the research contradict what we believe
the written project should explore why the results may be unexpected or how the results might be explained using a different
theory.
Particulars
•Students will complete the projects individually.
•Students may choose any topic they wish either developing a project on their own or using one of the guiding topics
outlined below.
•Projects will typically involve library research as well as field research in which consumers are directly studied.
•Written reports of research projects are due by Thursday, August 2nd.
•As business writing is concise, these reports are not to exceed three single-spaced pages.
•Supporting documentation for the conclusions drawn including the project’s data, the sample from which it is drawn,
data analysis, and references must be presented in an Appendix. Written reports are expected to be well organized,
well written, clear descriptions of what was done as well as what the findings imply. The research projects are
expected to be carefully designed, executed, and analyzed.
•Late papers and un-typed papers will receive no credit.
Project Outline
Introduction – this should be a brief (100 word) summary of the topic
Theory or concept under study – this is a description of the concept or theory. This should include a deeper study of
the concept using at least two references in addition to the course textbook. Students should review the literature
exploring or examining the concept and describe “what is known” about the concept or theory under study. This
section of the report should be approximately three pages in length excluding and visuals or attachments.

Research question – this should be a concise, one or two sentence, description of the intent of your research. You
should also include any expectations or predictions you have for what you will find and justify the prediction based
on the review of the concept in the previous section. This should be approximately one to two pages in length.
DUE: Sunday, July 19th
Methodology – this is an explanation of what you did that includes an explanation of how you collected data, who you
spoke to (your sample) and an outline of the questions you ask (survey, interview, etc.)
Results – this is a description of what you learned from your research. It is not where you try to answer your research
question or evaluate how well your results match your expectations but simply a summary of your findings
Analysis and Conclusions – this section should take your results and compare them to the expectations you had about
what you would find or predicted. It should also include a discussion of what you learned about the topic through
the project
Appendices – this should include any additional material used in your study like mock-up ads, surveys, etc.

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The below list is a series of sample topics. Students are encouraged to explore and identify their own topic outside of
the below list but may use the below topics if they are of particular interest. Topics are organized by course topic.
Only basic methodology of a study is presented for each topic. Students must develop their own review of the
concept(s), develop research questions and predictions, conduct the study and report on the results.
Motivation, Ability and Opportunity
Choose a brand or product category for a product or service that you suspect fills hedonic and/or symbolic needs in
addition to the obvious functional needs. Interview an adult consumer to uncover their motivations for purchasing
or using this product/service. First, ask them directly why they buy or use the product. Then, indirectly probe any
other motivations or associations they may have.
Exposure, Attention, and Perception
Reconstruct a local retailer and document the interiors of several stores. Recall the traffic flow in these stores and
how it is impacted by store design. Discuss what other classmates recall about the interiors of each of the stores.
Which elements of store design are people conscious of? Which ones have an impact on their behavior and images
of stores without their conscious awareness?
Categorizing and Comprehending Information
Choose two leading brands in the same product category. Conduct interviews with consumers to discover the
associations contained in their schemas. Probe to find out functional, symbolic, and hedonic associations. Describe
how the products seem to be positioned with respect to one another. Discuss brand image, brand personality, and
any perceived functional differences between them.
Memory and Retrieval
Present pictures of “classic” products that have high nostalgia value. Show these pictures and allow for free
association. Probe to continue their associations. Analyze the types of memories that are evoked, and explain useful
ways these associations might be employed in the product’s promotional strategy.
Attitude Formation and Change: High Consumer Effort
Select a consumer attitude to explore. Create a survey based on TORA. Calculate Aact and SN for each person in
the class. Run a regression to identify relative predictive power of Aact or SN. Discuss results for managers or
public policy makers who want to increase or decrease this behavior.
Attitude Formation and Change: Low Consumer Effort
Present an image of a product that neither has an identifiable brand name or logo. Make up a fictitious band name.
Present two advertisements for your product that differ on only one aspect. Divide the class in half. Show the first
ad to half and the second ad the other half. After they have looked at the ad, ask them to write a brief description of
their opinion of your brand. Content analyze the responses and suggest how the advertisements created different
brand images. What might this mean for marketing managers developing brand images?
Problem Recognition and Information Search
Locate five people who just made (or are about to make) a complex, expensive purchase (e.g., car, house, computer).
Ask questions about their search process to enable you to make a chronological list of all the information sources
consulted during the decision process. Include all types of information sources: friends, nosy acquaintances, ads,
books, magazines, salespeople, personal observation, etc. As part of the chronology, find out which brands they
acquired information about, what types of information they acquired, what sources of information were used, what
role each source of information played, how much time was spent on various aspects of the search. After the
interview, draw a summary timeline of the search process for that person. Check back with the person to make sure
it is accurate and comprehensive. Discuss to assess why they searched the way they did. Discuss how and why the
five people differed in their search processes.
Judgment and Decision Making: High Effort
Identify people who see themselves as being very health conscious in the foods they purchase and other people who
see themselves as being very price conscious in the foods they purchase. Get them to elaborate on how they choose
food products. Attempt to determine all the rules and strategies they use for making product choices.

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