Theory X Practice Assignment

by Gigi Taylor

At the beginning of the semester, I assigned 15 different consumer behavior theories to students working in groups of 3.  I asked each group to become the "experts" on the theory, then to teach the theory to the rest of the class through a short presentation. Given that account planning is about understanding consumers,  I wanted students to become familiar and understand some of the most powerful, useful theories of consumer behavior.

In addition, I asked each group to interview people talking about experiences that demonstrate the theory. The objective of this part of the assignment was to demonstrate how consumer theories are the practical, lived experiences of everyday life.  I wanted students to see how theory and practice are linked. I also wanted students to get experience collecting qualitative consumer research via one-on-one interviews.  Storytelling is a part of advertising research, as much as it is part of advertising, journalism or general communication. Account planners tell their research stories through direct quotes, consumer artifacts, and multi-media tools (video, audio and pictures).

All the student projects are posted in the following series of entries. Each entry includes a very brief synopsis of their theory followed by their YouTube videos creations.  The YouTube videos were embedded in the PowerPoint presentations that each group presented in class.

Here are the theories of consumer behavior presented by the students:

• Product Dispersion
• Consumer Loyalty and Readiness Status
• Behavioral Segmentation
• Consumer Culture
• Attitude Change
• Relationship Marketing
• Age Segmentation
• Hierarchy of Needs
• Cognitive Dissonance (Buyer's Remorse)
  
• Psychographics
• Consumer Habits
• AIDA
• Opinion Leadership and Reference Groups
• Involvement
• Diffusion of Innovations