Course and Office Details

Course Meeting: Tuesdays/Thursdays 9:30 – 10:45 AM (PTB 170)

Office Location: PTB 232 (If on campus)

Instructor: Spencer Ross, Ph.D.

Email: spencer_ross@uml.edu

Canvas Course Section

Communication and Appointments

Best Way to Reach Me: Canvas Messaging (preferred)

Phone / Messaging: x45305, WhatsApp

Office Hours: Tuesdays/Thursdays 12:15 – 1:45 PM

📅 Calendly Appointment

“Another irrelevant offer? It’s like they have no idea where I am in the customer journey.” © marketoonist.com

GOAL 1: Understand how consumers’ behaviors advance from pre-purchase ➡️ purchase ➡️ post-purchase

• Assess the importance of consumer decision journeys as they inform marketing decisions.
• Describe the stages of the consumer decision journey.
• Critique differences between traditional and recent models of the consumer decision journey.

GOAL 2: Know the internal psychological influences that affect consumers’ marketplace behaviors.

• Recognize how cognition (such as perception, learning, attitudes, and memory) affects consumer behaviors.
• Illustrate how individual differences (such as personalities, lifestyles, and values) affect behaviors.
• Apply theoretical models to assess how attitudes are formed and affect behaviors.

GOAL 3: Know the external situational/sociocultural influences that affect consumers’ marketplace behaviors.

• Explain how sociodemographic factors (such as age, gender, ethnicity, etc.) impact consumption decisions.
• Explain how economic demographic factors (such as income, class) impact consumption decisions.
• Examine consumer identities, including those of (sub)cultures of consumption.

GOAL 4: Understand the important role of consumption in addressing consumer and societal well-being (transformative consumer research).

• Identify areas of transformative consumer behavior (e.g., health, sustainability, vulnerable marketplaces) and their relationship strategizing for marketing opportunity.
• Critique the positive and negative effects of consumption on individuals’ and society’s well-being.

GOAL 5: Know how technology affects consumer decision journeys.

• Critique the role of technology used by consumers (e.g. social media, mixed-reality, AI) in their decision-making.
• Discuss how differences in tech platforms impact consumer culture and the decision journey.

POLICY: I WILL NOT ROUND FINAL GRADES. (Unless I’ve erred in calculation, do not ask for your 89.99999 to be an A-.) All assigned work will be graded based on guidelines provided. Late work will not be graded and instead, will be given an automatic “zero” (0) grade.

Customer Experience (CX) Portfolio (15% Total: Part I = 5%, Part II = 10%)

The CX Portfolio bridges theoretical concepts with real-world marketing strategy across two submission deliverables. In Part I (5%), you’ll select a target brand (small, local, or major company) and critique an active ad/touchpoint against consumer positioning and motivational concepts. In Part II (10%), you’ll expand your analysis into a comprehensive Customer Journey Map (pre-purchase, purchase, post-purchase) and create a redesigned “print” or digital non-video touchpoint applying psychological and sensory principles that appeal to your target consumer market. Each deliverable includes a brief (~200-300 wd) rationale. You may use Canva or Adobe Express though you’re not limited to those tools. Submissions are collected via Canvas.

The point of the CX Portfolio is for you to apply a practical understanding and application of consumer decision journeys and brand touchpoints using psychological and sociological concepts in a creative, integrated, professional format.

📤 CX Portfolio Deliverables (directions on Canvas)

Consumer Ethnography (15%)

You’ll conduct an ethnographic study of a physical or digital consumer environment, observing real-world behaviors, motivations, and cultural cues through field notes and/or interviews. To verify authentic observational research, a physical hand-written field log check will occur in-class (Pass/Fail verification). You’ll then synthesize your field notes into a final, structured research memo, extracting 2-3 key behavioral insights that directly inform marketing strategy (and could be leveraged in your team project work).

The point of the consumer ethnography is to apply qualitative observational methods to evaluate consumer motivations, attitudes, and subcultural behaviors as consumers behave in active purchase and consumption settings.

📤 Consumer Ethnography (directions on Canvas, in-class print submission)

Shoebox Collage Project (15%)

As consumers, our decision journeys are affected by both internal psychological and external sociocultural processes. You’ll construct a physical shoebox collage using physical artifacts, images, and objects representing consumer psychology processes on the inside of the box and consumer sociocultural influences on the outside. Your submission must incorporate, at a minimum, 20 unique, personally relevant specifically referenced course theories/concepts alongside a fully-cited printed key. Physical shoeboxes are submitted in-person in class.

The point of the shoebox collage project is to provide a creative, tactile medium for connecting abstract consumer behavior theories and concepts from the course directly to your individual life and identity.

📤 Submit Shoebox In Person (directions on Canvas, in-class submission)

Course Engagement and Exit Card Checks (15%)

Engagement is evaluated on active, meaningful contribution during class discussions, workshops, and Canvas discussions— not passive attendance. Course engagement is a function of: (in-class active participation + outside-class on Canvas) * (volume) * (quality). Both inside and outside of classtime, I encourage us to work hard to create and maintain a supportive, respectful, and empathetic environment.

While you must be present in classes to be able to participate in them, I guarantee attendance alone will not earn a full 15% engagement mark. Your involvement and participation are vital to the success of yours and your peers’ learning experiences; consistency and quality matter.

To support a low-tech classroom environment and assess individual comprehension without digital distractions, 5-6 unannounced physical index card “exit checks” will be administered at the end of select class sessions. These quick paper prompts evaluate active listening and core concept application (2 pts = thoughtful/accurate, 1 pt = partial, 0 pts = absent/blank).

The point of course engagement and exit checks is to foster active critical thinking, oral communication, and consistent reading comprehension without relying on digital devices during lecture.

Manning BeHub Research Credits (5%)

You’re required to complete 5.0 research credits through the Manning BeHub‘s SONA research platform. All studies are administered via this platform. To watch a short video explaining how to register and use SONA – click here. The first time you ever access the website, you’ll need to “request an account” to register as a participant and answer a few questions, including selecting my course from the list. From that point forward, you’ll use your UML SSO credentials to log in (no need for a new username or password).

If you prefer to complete an alternative credit task, you can do that as well– these alternative assignments will be opened up on SONA later in the semester.

The point of participating in research studies is to expose you directly to business academic data collection methods, while supporting ongoing faculty research in business science.

📤 BeHub Research Participation Platform (SONA)

Team Insight Report (Research) (15%)

Working in teams of ~5, you’ll investigate a Transformative Consumer Research (TCR) topic focused on a real-world behavioral bottleneck (e.g., distracted driving, digital well-being, financial literacy, vulnerable consumer access, etc.). Your team will conduct primary research (interviews/surveys), analyze behavioral barriers, and propose actionable marketing or policy interventions. There will be a 1-page Research Outline and Data Summary check-in due around 2/3 of the way through the course. The final submission includes:

• 1-page Executive Summary highlighting the consumer bottleneck, key empirical findings, and proposed intervention.
• 5-minute research deck delivered during live in class, along with your Public Service Announcement (see below).
• Raw data and audit appendix containing verifiable primary research artifacts such as interview transcripts, timestamped observation logs, and anonymized raw survey data.

The insight report demonstrates agency-level skills in primary research data synthesis, behavioral intervention design, and collaborative oral/written presentation skills.

📤 Team Insights Report (directions on Canvas, in-class print submission)

Team Insight Pitch (Public Service Announcement) (15%)

Your team will translate your TCR research insights into a ~2 minute video Public Service Announcement (PSA). Using course concepts (e.g., framing, social norms, affective appeals, sociocultural references, etc.), you’ll need to persuasively communicate your message to a target audience. It should also include a call-to-action (CTA) for the target consumer.

The PSA represents the creative execution of your strategic insights and will be screened live in class with your research. You may use tools like (but not limited to) OBS Studio, Canva Video, Adobe Express, or social media video editing tools.

These will be screened in class along with your brief research presentation.

The PSA evaluates your team’s ability to translate abstract behavioral research into creative, persuasive, visually engaging visual media targeting real behavioral change.

📤 PSA Video Link (directions on Canvas)

Team Project Peer Evaluation (Online Link) (5%)

A Qualtrics peer evaluation link will be posted during the final week of class. Completing the peer evaluation by the day after our last class is required; failure to submit earns an automatic zero “0” score for your own evaluation component, as I use your peers’ scores to calculate your own evaluation grade.

If you can’t be bothered to give your peers their scores, I won’t be bothered to calculate your score.

🔗 Open Qualtrics Evaluation (URL TBA)

Assignment Name	Weight	Due Date & Time	Where to Submit
CX Portfolio (Part I)	5%	Tuesday, Sep 22	Canvas Upload
CX Portfolio (Part II)	10%	Tuesday, Oct 20	Canvas Upload
Ethnography In-Class Field Log Verification	—	Tuesday, Oct 27	Print, In Class
Consumer Ethnography Final Memo	15%	Tuesday, Nov 10	Print, In Class
Team TCR Research Outline Check	—	Thursday, Nov 19	Canvas Upload
Shoebox Collage Project	15%	Tuesday, Dec 8	In-Person, In Class
Team TCR Report and PSA Video	30% (15% + 15%)	Thursday, Dec 10	Print, In Class (Report) Canvas (Video and Deck) and Class Screening
Project Peer Evaluation	5%	Friday, Dec 11	Qualtrics Link
Manning BeHub SONA Research Credits	5%	End of Classes (Dec 11)	SONA Platform
Course Engagement and Exit Cards	15%	Ongoing / Unannounced	In Class