2012/2013  KAN-CM_A213  Consumer Behaviour and Applied Statistics

English Title

Consumer Behaviour and Applied Statistics

Course information
Language	English
Exam ECTS	7.5 ECTS
Type	Elective
Level	Full Degree Master
Duration	One Quarter
Course period	Autumn, Second Quarter Changes in course schedule may occur Thursday 08.00-09.40, week 44 Thursday 08.00-11.40, week 45, 47-51 Thursday 13.30.17.00, week 46
Time Table	Please see course schedule at e-Campus
Max. participants	60
Study board	Study Board for MSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
Torben Hansen - Department of Marketing
Administration: Merete Skaalum Lassen - ml.marktg@cbs.dk
Main Category of the Course
Marketing
Last updated on 11-07-2012

Learning objectives

• Develop an advanced understanding of consumer behaviour theories, concepts and models. • Learn how to identify potentially important, and less important, aspects of a consumer-related problem setting. • Learn how to investigate potentially important aspects of a consumer-related problem setting. • Develop an understanding of the possibilities and limitations of quantitative research methods.

Prerequisite

Basic knowledge of consumer behaviour and marketing research methods (i.e. applied statistics) is required.

Examination

4 hour written exam

Consumer Behaviour and Applied Statistics: Type of test Written Exam Marking scale 7-step scale Second examiner No second examiner Exam period Winter Term Aids Open Book, Written and Electronic Aid is permitted Duration 4 Hours

Course content

In the modern marketplace, the consumer is faced with challenges such as increased market complexity, relatively scare cognitive resources and lifestyle changes. As a consequence, in the complex real world consumers often lack a comprehensive idea of what behaviour may serve their interests in the best way. Nevertheless, consumers keep on buying products and services every day, without necessarily ending up in dissonant and stressful states. Such circumstances, among others, point to the need for graduates with advanced level understanding of consumer behaviour, and how to apply this knowledge to a wide range of problem settings. This course provides students with a comprehensive understanding of consumers’ behaviour in the modern marketplace. The course takes a problem-focused approach. In so doing, the lectures will be organized around a number of up-to-date research questions such as: Why do consumers trust? Do they trust too much or too little?  Do consumers know what they think they know? When things go wrong: Whom are consumers going to blame? Why?  What are the consumer implications of the financial crisis? How can applied statistics assists in solving consumer research questions? Development of personal competences This course equips students with the competencies necessary to better understand and analyze complex problems related to modern consumer behaviour. In addition, this course enables students to develop their practical problem-solving and analytical skills. Based on real-world trends and challenges students will learn how to identify research problems, how to develop appropriate problem-focused research frameworks, how to apply these (using applied statistics), and how to provide suggestions and implications for management.

Teaching methods

The course is given in lecture form with class work and with special emphasis on the interplay between consumer theories & models and applied statistics. The discussion of such, and other, research questions will incorporate relevant consumer behaviour concepts, models and theories. In order to investigate identified research questions, the SPSS statistical package and the AMOS programme (student version) are integrated into some of the lectures. In addition to datasets provided by the lecturer, the students will participate in collecting a reasonable amount of quantitative research data.

Expected literature

Baron, R., & Kenny, D. (1986). The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182. Bloemer, J. M., & Kasper, H.D. (1995). The complex relationship between consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty. Journal of Economic Psychology, 16, 311-329. Fetchenhauer, D. & Dunning, D. (2009). Do people trust too much or too little? Journal of Economic Psychology, 30, 263–276. Gershoff, A.D. & Johar, G.V. (2006). Do you know me? Consumer Calibration of Friends’ Knowledge. Journal of Consumer Research, 32 (March), 496-503. Grayson, K., Johnson, D., & Chen, D-F. R. (2008). Is Firm Trust Essential in a Trusted Environment? How Trust in the Business Context Influences Customers. Journal of Marketing Research, XLV(April), 241-256. Hair, J.F., Black, J.R., Babin, B.J., & Anderson, R.E. (2009). Multivariate Data Analysis, 7th edition, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Hansen, T., Mukherjee, A. & Thomsen, T.U. (2011), Anxiety and search during food choice: the moderating role of attitude towards nutritional claims. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 28(3), forthcoming. Hansen, T. (2012). The Moderating Influence of Broad-Scope Trust on Customer-Seller Relationships. Psychology & Marketing, forthcoming. Hansen, T. (2012). Understanding Trust in Financial Service: The Influence of Financial Healthiness, Knowledge and Satisfaction, forthcoming. Hansen, T., Wilke, R. & Zaichkowsky, J.L. (2009), How retailers handle complaint management. Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction & Complaining Behavior, 22, 1-20. Hansen, T. (2008), Consumer Food Satisfaction: Fulfillment of Expectations or Evaluation of Performance? Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 11(2), 178-201. Ouyang, Y. (2010). A Relationship between the Financial Consultants’ Service Quality and Customer Trust after Financial Tsunami. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics, 36, 75-86. Palmatier, R.W. (2008). Interfirm Relational Drivers of Customer Value. Journal of Marketing, 72(July), 76–89. Pillai, K.G. & Hofacker, C. (2007). Calibration of Consumer Knowledge of the Web. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 24 (September), 254-267. Pillai, K.G., Goldsmith, R.E., &  Giebelhausen, M.D. (2008).General Self Efficacy, Involvement, and Consumer Knowledge Calibration. In Society for Marketing Advances Proceedings, 144-145. Weiner, B. (2000). Attributional Thoughts about Consumer Behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 27(December), 382-387.