LAHORE UNIVERSITY OF

MANAGEMENT SCIENCES SULEMAN

DAWOOD SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

(Consumer

Behavior) (Dr

Adnan Zahid)

COURSE
OUTLINE
Spring 2013

Instructor: Adnan Zahid

Room No:
Ofice
Hours:

Email:
Telephone:
Secretary/
TA

Adnan.zahid@lums.edu.pk

COURSE OVERVIEW

The story goes like this ..

Once upon a time, there lived six blind men in a village. One day the villagers told them,
"Hey, there is an elephant in the village today."
They had no idea what an elephant was. They decided, "Even though we would not be able to
see it, let us go and feel it anyway." All of them went where the elephant was. Everyone of
them touched the elephant.
"Hey, the elephant is a pillar," said the first man who touched his leg.
"Oh, no! it is like a rope," said the second man who touched the tail.
"Oh, no! it is like a thick branch of a tree," said the third man who touched the trunk of the
elephant.
"It is like a big hand fan" said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant.
"It is like a huge wall," said the fifth man who touched the belly of the
elephant. "It is like a solid pipe," Said the sixth man who touched the tusk of the
elephant.
They began to argue about the elephant and everyone of them insisted that he was right. It
looked like they were getting agitated. A wise man was passing by and he saw this. He
stopped and asked them, "What is the matter?" They said, "We cannot agree to what the
elephant is like." Each one of them told what he thought the elephant was like. The wise man
calmly explained to them, "All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it
differently because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the
elephant has all those features what you all said."
I think the moral of the story is that you are the blind men, the consumer is the elephant, and
the features are the different facets of consumer behavior. Or maybe by the end of the course
you have the wisdom from the theories you have discussed in class, thus you are the wise
man. Or you are the elephant and the wise man at the same time. Hmmm.
I am interested in an understanding of consumers as individuals, social beings, culture
bearers, and families. Not just in what they purchase but what they think, feel, say, and do not
say. To answer these questions I will borrow from a variety of disciplines.
This course provides you with (1) theory about consumer behavior (CB) and (2) an
understanding of how CB concepts can be applied to marketing management, to our roles as

COURSE OVERVIEW

consumers, and to everyday life and personal development.

The primary course goal is to provide you with an understanding of CB, which is important
for marketing managers as well as public policy makers. A secondary course goal is to
develop your knowledge of CB as a major aspect of human behavior (yours specifically), and
appreciate the role consumption plays in our society today, both its positive aspects, and the
ethical challenges it poses.
Objectives:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Understand the importance of studying consumer behavior.

Understand how insights about consumers can lead to effective marketing
Come out of this course with a better understanding of yourself.
Understand the world better.

CB is an elective course that enhances the students understanding of the discipline of

marketing. Ideally, it should have an introductory marketing course as a prerequisite. It adds
variety to our current stable of elective courses, and is very relevant to business graduates.
While the structure of the course presented below holds well, expect some additional
readings. I will try and use the next few days to add those readings to the outline, and
get them included in the course pack.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
There are no prerequisites for the course.
Your mission if you choose to accept it is to be active and committed
participants. The nature of the course is such that the experience will
be adorned with four moons (get it?) if you bring in your personal
experience into class. The carrot for you is that you will get CP points;
so if you bring me an interesting advertising campaign, product, idea
(could be in the form of a newspaper article, website, facebook page
etc.) that I can share with the class you will be given credit for it. So
throughout the semester keep an eye out for such interesting tid-bits,
you will find numerous I assure you, all you have to do is look.

RECOMMENDED TEXTBOOKS/SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS ( if Applicable)

Course Pack
The course pack should be available early next week. Get it.

RECOMMENDED TEXTBOOKS/SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS ( if Applicable)

COURSE ASSESSMENT/GRADES
Grading Instruments
The following instruments of evaluation shall be used to assess individual
performance.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

Attendance + Class
Participation
Individual
Assignment
In Class Exercises / Quizzes
Group Presentations
Group Project
Final Exam

10
%
20
%
15
%
5%
20
%
30
%

a) The quizzes will be unannounced, and frequent. They will serve two purposes, first
they will ensure that you read the assigned material, and secondly test your
understanding of the key concepts introduced in the readings.
b) Individual Assignment: Remember I said you can be the wise man and the elephant at
the same time; this assignment is exactly about that interpretation of the story. This
individual project will help students apply the theories learn reflexively. Thus gaining
a deeper understanding of the concepts, their strengths and weaknesses, and give you a
better understanding of themselves.
c) The group project will have you analyzing a consumer segment, and devising a
marketing strategy for that segment, giving you a very thorough applied flavor.
d) The final exam will test your ability to synthesize the frameworks, so you develop and
exhibit a holistic understanding of CB.

CLASS-MANAGEMENT POLICY
The students are expected to attend the class Get excited about CB (I
will try not to be a hindrance), and attend the classes with a genuine
desire to learn.

While the lecture method (with significant class interaction) will be used primarily,
it will be supplemented with a range of teaching methodologies especially a range of
cases. Therefore, it is important that students read carefully and internalize the
following, both from the learning point of view and from the evaluation perspective
(i.e., from examination/grading point of view).

The students are expected to come to the class fully prepared. This means that they
are expected to have read the assigned reading(s) carefully, and are prepared to
answer questions from the instructor, as well as comment on the answers and
comments made by their peers.

The evaluation of class participation will be made on the basis of both the quality
and quantity of a students input (response to questions, quality of questions, quality
of comments on other comments etc.).

If a student needs to be absent from a class, he or she must inform the instructor and
the TAs in advance of the class and seek approval (unless it is an emergency).
Otherwise, see below. If the student is late, even by one minute, he or she will lose
0.5% of the marks. It is important to note that if a student requests for leave through
a petition, signed by a faculty member, and abiding by all the rules, it will be up to
the instructor to accept or reject it. The decision will be made based on the
attendance, class participation and general behavior of the student. In any case,
since this is a class participation based course, a maximum of two absences may be
allowed. Under no circumstances will a third absence be allowed. Under no
circumstances will the student be exempted from the mid-term or final exams for cocurricular or extra-curricular activities.

You will be allowed two absences without a grade reduction, but the total number
of allowed absences, before you are disallowed from taking the final exam will be
5. So, a total of 5 absences, the first two free of cost, the 3rd will cost you a grade
reduction of 2%, the 4th a further grade reduction of 3%, and the 5th will cost a
grade reduction of 5%.

If a student misses a significant number of classes, the rules of the School of Business
will apply and he or she will be deemed to have withdrawn from the course.

Lectur TITLE OF
e
CASE/LECTURE
No.

READING MATERIAL

Learning outcomes

Lectur
e
No.
Week
1

Week
2

TITLE OF
CASE/LECTURE
Introduction
Topic:
Introduction to
the course;
Introduction to
Marketing.
What is
consumer
Research?

Topic: Culture
and
Consumption

Week
3
Topic: Consumer
Motivation

READING MATERIAL

Learning outcomes

Excerpt from: The adventure

of the
Blue Carbuncle: Sherlock
Holmes by Conan Doyle

Students should be able get a

macro
view of the area of consumer
behavior, and also understand
the structure of the course, and
the nature of the
assignments/projects.

JCR article: What is

consumer
Research?

Culture and Consumption: A

Theoretical Account of the
Structure and Movement of the
Cultural Meaning of Consumer
Goods JCR article

1 Chapter 7: Consumer
Motives, Goals, and
Involvement

1.

Understand how
culture impact
consumer behavior
2.
Understand the
types of meaning
associated
with
consumption
3. Understand how meaning
is
produced

1.

Identify classic
approaches that account
for human motivation,
and derive implications
for consumer behavior.

1.

Students will be
introduced to the
linkages between
perceptions, and
marketing stimuli.

1.

Understand the role

consumption plays in the
life of the consumers.

Week
4
Case: Perception

1 Chapter 8: Perception:
Worlds of sensation

Week
5&6
Topic:
Consumption
and the Self

1. JCR: How
consumers
consumer Douglas
Holt
2. JCR: Possessions
as an

Lectur
e
No.
W
eek
7&8

TITLE OF
CASE/LECTURE
Topic: Taste
formation

Week
9&
10
& 11

Topic: Social
Class

Week
12
Topic: Gender &
Age

READING MATERIAL
1. Does cultural
Capital structure
consumption
Douglas Holt
2. The role of aesthetic
taste in consumption
1.

Learning outcomes
1.

Understand the black

box of the consumer
mind better.
2. They should be able to
understand how
preferences are
confgured in specific
ways.

TBA
1.

Students should be
able to understand
the impact of social
class on consumer
behavior.
2. Appreciate how each
class over determines
the consumer identity
projects of individual
consumers.

1. JCR: Man of action

Hero
2. In Class assignment
1.

Week
13 &
14

Topic: Using
consumer
insight for
Marketing
better

Subtopic 1: Cultural
Branding
VW Case Douglas Holt
In Class Assignment
Sub Topic 2: Creativity

Understand the
impact of gender on
consumer identity.
Appreciate that
competing discourses
on gender vie with
each other, and
consumer choices
express gendered
identity.
2. Understand that Age
is an important factor
in consumer behavior.
Here the focus is
primarily on
appreciating the
biography of the
individual weighing in
the zeitgeists he/she
has lived through.

1.

In these sessions
students will be able