Consumer Brand Choice: The impact of product innovations and the pandemic (14266.0004)

Instructor: Prof. Dr. Werner Reinartz
Dates: see Klips
 

Content

Understanding consumers’ brand choice is one of the most fundamental and relevant issues for marketing managers because it directly affects their product’s market share and bottom line. In this seminar, we examine two important factors that influence brand choice (a) product innovations introduced to the market and (b) crises such as the current pandemic that affect consumers and their demand. 

Product innovations are a powerful tool for brands to stay relevant in the market place and retain and grow their market share. Especially in the field of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs), the competitive pressure is high and forces companies to innovate or otherwise sink into oblivion. Obviously do successful product innovations lead to significant growth in sales, but then where do the incremental sales actually come from? Various explanations are possible: Existing customers may switch to the new product to satisfy their variety seeking needs. Alternatively, new customers, that did not like the existing options may be acquired. Also, dormant customers who stopped purchasing the brand’s products for some reason may be revived. Hence, we are looking for a consumer-based answer to the question of why product innovations are successful (or not).

The pandemic has affected consumers’ purchase behavior in various and partly conflicting ways. In terms of consumers’ ability to purchase, incomes may have decreased due to job loss or reduced working hours while some consumers may also have higher budgets as they spend less on vacations and out-of-home consumption due to lock-downs. In terms of consumers’ willingness to purchase, the pandemic may cause feelings of uncertainty about the future that reduce consumption but it may also elicit feelings of entitlement to treat oneself for the hardships endured. Hence, finding out which brands (or type of brands, e.g., premium vs. discount brands, strong vs. weak brands, local vs. global brands, established vs. emergent brands) have profited from the pandemic and which have not is not straightforward. 

As such, both these factors that influence consumer brand choice offer plentiful opportunities for research and novel insights. The goal of the seminar is that students collect, analyze, and synthesize academic literature to develop (i) a conceptual framework that describes the relationships that are at work, and (ii) a set of testable propositions that show how product innovations / the pandemic may influence (drive/moderate) consumers' brand choice. 
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Content requirements (expected knowledge) 

No formal prerequisites. 

Goal (expected learning outcomes and acquired competences) 

The goal of the seminar is to become familiar with academic research and writing. Students will work in depth with research articles published in academic journals. Groups of four to five students will be assigned to specific sub-topics, which will be announced during the seminar kickoff. Working as a group, the students will have to prepare both a presentation and a term paper on their given topic. It is therefore vital that all students participate actively and are prepared for intensive team-work. After the course, students should be able to conduct literature research, assess the quality and rigor of scientific articles and write an academic paper themselves. 

Teaching and learning method (teaching competences) Workload for students 

The course will be conducted in form of a block seminar and intense group work. There will be four elements to the competence development.
Introductory session
At the beginning, there will be an introductory session. On this date, the topics will be assigned to each group. The instructors will also suggest potential research articles for the presentation. After that, there will be an introduction on how to work scientifically, the guidelines for the term paper and presentation and a discussion of an exemplary research article.
Block seminar presentations
The presentations will be held during a 1-day block seminar. On this day, each student group will present their assignment on the respective research topic. Presentations should be composed and held in German or English. It should be the result of a collaborative effort and it must be internally consistent. 
Term paper
In addition to the presentation, each group has to hand in an academic term paper. As a means of introduction, the instructors will provide some initial readings for each seminar topic in the introductory session. Apart from that, further research, especially in international journals, is expected. The term paper should be the result of a collaborative effort and it must be internally consistent.  It is therefore absolutely vital that each individual section is properly incorporated into the final term paper. The term paper can be written in English or German.
Supervisor meetings
During the term, each group has the opportunity to schedule 2-3 meetings with the supervisor to discuss their progress and potential questions.

Appraisal procedure (valuation method, check mode) 

The grade for this course will be based on the presentation and term paper. 

Note

Before registering, please make sure that you are able to attend at all course dates. Attendance at the kick-off session as well as during presentations is mandatory to pass the course.