Allgemeine Inhalte
- Term: Winter 2019-2020
- Instructor and lecturer: Dr. Sajad Rezaei
- Event Type: Bachelor Seminar
- Displayed in the timetable as: MKT. EXP
- Hours per week: 2
- Credits: 6,0
- Language of instruction: English
- Min. | Max. participants: 10 | 30
Note: In your exam regulations, differing credits may have been specified.
Seminar description
Why experiment? Experiments would help us to answer challenging topics, specific aspect of human decision-making and “commonly used to infer causal relationships” (Malhotra, 2004, p. 259). Experiment constituent a scientific method in which a hypothesis is tested and one or more independent variables are deliberately manipulated; to verify or contradict current belief and compare several possibilities in systematic manner (Venkatesan, 1967). In fact, experimental research design allow us to understand the effectiveness of different marketing tactics and strategies such as branding, consumers preferences and consumption patterns (See Effertz, Teichert, & Tsoy (2019). Therefore, experimentation in the field of behavioral research and marketing is one of the most efficient techniques for both marketing practitioners and researchers to uncover several marketing problems (Perdue and Summers, 1986; Perreault Jr and Darden, 1975).
With the rise of digital media, marketer are paying more attention to implement online medium and moving towards customer-centric methods such as online experiments. As such, the level of personalization of marketing methods has been changed. In addition, a need to discover what motivates consumers to engage with product or brand begs attention. Consumer’s attitudes and purchase decisions are however based on several factors. Positive stimuli in the environment might produce immediate approach tendencies and negative stimuli might produce instant associative and avoidance tendencies. In this seminar, numerous experimental research design can be proposed to uncover consumer’s attitudes, intention and behavior. Thus, we want to use experimental research design to examine following topics:
- Cryptocurrency Marketing
- Fashion Retailing
- Cause Related Marketing
- Emoji Characters
- Anti-Branding
- Brand Story-Telling
- Public Relations
- Odd Pricing
- Other topics related to consumer behavior or marketing are welcomed!!!
Learning objectives
The seminar allows students to experience a real-life consumer/marketing research project using online experimentations. Students will be provided with comprehensive guidance on how to set-up experiments in the seminar. As we work empirically, the seminar is bound to be time-consuming, demanding and challenging. However, it enables students to participate in cutting-edge market research paving the way for Bachelor theses. Our environment is changing quickly and drastically, thus, we want to explore marketing effectiveness. Thus, by the end of the seminar, it is expected that students will be able:
- To define and explain the concept of causality in marketing research;
- To make causal inferences and define the assuming of causality;
- To appreciate how online marketing experiments can be implemented cheaply and quickly;
- To design and conduct experiments that test and shape your business strategies.
- To define and differentiate two types of experimental validity: internal validity and external validity;
- To distinguish ethical issues involved in conducting experimentation and the role of debriefing in addressing some of these issues.
Seminar Setup and Timeline
Due to empirical nature of the seminar, it is expected that students are equipped with basic knowledge of data analysis strategies (e.g., descriptive statistics, ANOVA) and primary understanding of statistical software such as SPSS. However, students will be provided with required guidance on data coding and analysis strategies within the seminar. Following a mandatory organizational kickoff, the seminar will be held in several blocks.
Students will outline the theoretical basis during the seminar by a short presentation of literature synopsis and their experiment set up. Following the third block, students are expected to begin data collection followed by data coding and analysis (under supervision). During the seminar, students are expected to present their empirical findings followed by discussion. Students need to submit their written report for the seminar.
Grading information
Passing the seminar requires the following:
- Presentation on theoretical foundation
- Final presentation of findings
- Written report on empirical study
Each part has to be passed at least with a 4.0 in order to pass this seminar.
Please note that this seminar requires permanent participation. Course participants may not miss more than 15% of the total courses. In case of sickness, please provide a certificate from your doctor. If you decide against a participation in this course, please sign off on STiNE within two weeks after the course starts. This allows fellow students that were not admitted to the course due to capacity restrictions to participate.
Required Reading
- Malhotra, N. (2004). Chapter 7: Causal research design: experimentation, in Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation, 7th edition, Pearson/Prentice Hall.
- Venkatesan, M., 1967. Laboratory experiments in marketing: The experimenter effect. Journal of Marketing Research, 4(2), pp.142-146.
- Perreault Jr, W. D., & Darden, W. R. (1975). Unequal cell sizes in marketing experiments: use of the general linear hypothesis. Journal of Marketing Research, 12(3), pp. 333-342.
Sample of experiments
- Effertz, T., Teichert, T., & Tsoy, M. (2019). Fast food, ads, and taste in a Russian child’s mind. Psychology & Marketing, 36(3), pp. 175-187.
- Dias, J.A., Dias, J.G. and Lages, C., 2017. Can negative characters in soap operas be positive for product placement?. Journal of Business Research, 71, pp.125-132.