Consumer Behavior MKTG 3113:80 Suppliment

It is a lot easier to memorize something you understand than to understand something you have memorized.

Some Issues:

Some Issues: 1. Grades

Grades are a complex issue! On one hand, students care about grades,,,,, But some students don’t care about learning!!! But grades supposedly measure performance, especially learning,,,,,

This is just a bit backwards….

So… grades measure what?

Suppose you took a Spanish class!

Very few people in the real world care what grade you got in this class.

They don’t really care that you took a Spanish class at all!

But they DO care if you can speak Spanish! And for very good reasons……

million: Estimated Hispanic population of the United States. Half of all people... added to the nation's population is now Hispanic. People of Hispanic origin are the nation's largest ethnic or race in America. Hispanics constituted 16 percent of the nation's total population. 133 million: The projected Hispanic population of the United States in Hispanics will constitute 30 percent of the nation's population by that date.

Question: So.. will this student get more respect if:

Question: So.. will this student get more respect if: 1.She got an A in Spanish, but can’t read or speak Spanish. 2. She got a C- in Spanish, but she can both read and speak Spanish?

If you got a good grade in Spanish and you can’t speak or read Spanish,

your reputation will actually go down.

Beyond an interview & HR records: 1.No one will care what your grade is…

1.No one will care what your grade is… 2. People (employers) only care whether you can speak Spanish, not whether you got an A in Spanish.

Another problem with grades: Everyone you are competing against already has a degree… So the advantage of the degree for all actual job seekers is wiped out!

Your future employer cares about three things:

Your future employer cares about three things: What you know. What you can do. Can they trust you.

She doesn’t really care about your grades!!!

But many students don’t care about: What they know. What they can do. Whether they can be trusted.

But they really care about their grades!!!

So… How do we learn and understand something?

Memorizing is wonderful! It makes life a lot easier if you are good at memorizing.

BUT…there is a big difference between Memorizing and Learning !

There is also a difference between Learning and Understanding

Unlike certain distinctions, these differences are very important in the study of consumer behavior!

An example: Stevens’ Scales In MR

A definition is given….

And an example is given: Example given: “Your height in inches is a ratio scale.”

5. What is the best example of a ratio scale? a. today’s temperature b. your height in inches c. your gender d. UNI’s basketball ranking 6. What kind of scale is the distance between Cedar Rapids and Cedar Falls? a. nominal b. interval c. ordinal d. ratio 7. What kind of scale is produced if your height was measured from your knees rather than from the floor? a. nominal b. interval c. ordinal d. ratio

5. What is the best example of a ratio scale? a. today’s temperature b. your height in inches c. UNI’s basketball ranking d. your gender About 80% correct…. Students wrote this down and memorized it for the next test or quiz.

6. What kind of scale is the distance between Cedar Rapids and Cedar Falls? a. nominal b. interval c. ordinal d. ratio Less than 40% correct…. Students didn’t write this down, but the answer is obvious is you know what a ratio scale is.

7. What kind of scale is produced if your height was measured from your knees rather than from the floor? a. nominal b. interval c. ordinal d. ratio About 25% correct…. Students didn’t write this down, but the answer is obvious is you understand what a ratio scale is.

This response is: Almost perfectly random…

In other words: the students had memorized a lot about scales, BUT They did not know or understand what the concept of scales was all about. They had not learned what a scale is.

Another example from a Marketing Research class

A t-test is a basic statistic:

On an exam: About 80% will give a correct example (if the example was given in class)… About 70% will give a correct definition if asked…. About 60% of the students will be able to calculate the correct answer if they are given some data and told to use a t-test…

BUT: If asked to match a stat with a situation… 8. A researcher needs to know if the profits in one store is different from the profits of another, or whether the differences are due to chance. This researcher would use which statistic to answer the question: a)A F-test b)A Chi-sq test c)Multiple regression d)A t-test The correct answer will be chosen at random.

Again: the students had memorized a lot about a t-test, BUT They did not know how a t-test was used. They had not understand what a t-test is.

Question on a marketing test: “What are the four parts of the marketing mix?” Over 80% correct.

Question on a marketing test: “What are the four parts of the marketing mix?” Over 80% correct. Question on next test: “What are the four parts of the promotional mix?”

Question on a marketing test: “What are the four parts of the marketing mix?” Over 80% correct. Question on next test: “What are the four parts of the promotional mix?” Only 35% correct.

WHY?

1. Trick question……. No The class had just spent the last eight lectures on promotion.

2. Very bad teaching…. Maybe But students got other material correct, the average grade was NOT 35%.

3. Students are not smart…. No Research has found that modern students are smarter than students in the past.

4. Memorization of old tests, but No thinking……. No learning……. No understanding. Highly likely!

Another example: Recently, a CB class was asked the following question on an exam: How many children must an average woman have to maintain a stable population growth? a) less than 1 b) between 1 and 2 c) between 2 and 3 d) between 3 and 4 Almost 75% of the class got it wrong! The percent expected by random chance. WHY?

How many children must an average woman have to maintain a stable population growth? a) less than 1 b) between 1 and 2 c) between 2 and 3 d) between 3 and 4 In fact 67% of the class got it wrong, even after having this short power point on the class website for an entire semester!

Even though the slides where available for an entire semester, there was no requirement that anyone read it for an assignment or for a grade, therefore, few people bothered to even look at it. The majority of students who do worse in CB than they expect will never ask me a question, unrelated to their grade, in the entire semester.

You will need to study differently for this course. Understand the material, pay attention, ask questions, look things up. Bottom line:

Old Chinese Proverb

Tell me…

Old Chinese Proverb Tell me… and I forget.

Old Chinese Proverb Tell me… and I forget. Show me…

Old Chinese Proverb Tell me… and I forget. Show me… and I may remember.

Old Chinese Proverb Tell me… and I forget. Show me… and I may remember. Require me to do…

Old Chinese Proverb Tell me… and I forget. Show me… and I may remember. Require me to do… and I understand.

LOGIC

What is knowing?

Descartes wrote: “Our inquires should be directed not to what others have thought, not to what we ourselves conjecture, but to what we can clearly and perspicuously behold and with certainty deduce; for knowledge is not won in any other way.” Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650)

Descartes is saying: We can only know something through our own experience, and through logic. We can’t rely on guesses and authority. Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650)

Giambattista Vico (1668 – 1744) Vico suggests: “The criterion and rule of the true is to have made it.” The principle states that truth is verified through creation or invention and not through observation.

Giambattista Vico (1668 – 1744) Vico states: If we can’t use something, then we don’t know it. We know something when we can do something with what we think we know.

There is a difference between: 1. Knowing about something…. and/or 2. Knowing how to do something…

Remembering: can the student recall or remember the information? define, duplicate, list, memorize, recall, repeat, reproduce state Understanding: can the student explain ideas or concepts? classify, describe, discuss, explain, identify, locate, recognize, report, select, translate, paraphrase Applying: can the student use the information in a new way? choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ, illustrate, interpret, operate, schedule, sketch, solve, use, write. Analyzing: can the student distinguish between the different parts? appraise, compare, contrast, criticize, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, examine, experiment, question, test. Evaluating: can the student justify a stand or decision? appraise, argue, defend, judge, select, support, value, evaluate Creating: can the student create new product or point of view? assemble, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, write

In business, it could be argued that both types of knowledge are valuable. Both are important: Emphasis on one without the other leads to problems. “Knowing that” tends to rely on ideology. “Knowing what” tends to put more trust in tradition.

For example, “ How should people be paid ?” “ Knowing something ” may encourage a company or government officer to insist that there be “equal pay for equal work.” This is ideology. It could guide or correct very little, because there are many reasons which determine salary including other ideologies.

For example, “ How should people be paid ?” “ Knowing how to do something,” May predispose a company to pay workers in a traditional fashion that has worked well in the past, but which should be replaced by a better system.

Modified Bloom’s Taxonomy Remember: It is a lot easier to memorize something you understand than to understand something you have memorized.