APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2014/2015

GRA 6434 International Consumer Behavior - RE-SIT EXAMINATION

Responsible for the course
Erik B Nes

Department
Department of Marketing

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
6

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
The globalisation and internationalisation of consumer markets present businesses a plethora of opportunities but at the same time several challenges. A successful organization is a well prepared organization. For this, it is important to understand consumers’ behaviour in the global arena.

Due to the interactive and participative format of the course, the class size is limited to 40 students.

Learning outcome
The students develop, through studies of important research papers, knowledge of current issues in international consumer behaviour.
Such knowledge is pertinent for any firm operating internationally. The students become awere of some of the special challenges in conducting international marketing research and ways of overcoming such difficulties. Due to the interactive format of the course the students also develop their skills in making professional presentations, manage a discussion and participate actively in discussion of international consumer issues.

Prerequisites
Marketing Management and Consumer Behaviour at the undergraduate level is required. International Marketing Management is helpful to have had.

Compulsory reading

Collection of articles:
A collection of scientific articles from e.g. Journal of International Marketing Review, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Economic Psychology, Journal of International Business Studies, American Sociological Review. Other journals may be added to this list.

Other:
During the course there may be hand-outs and other material on additional topics relevant for the course and the examination.


Recommended reading

Course outline
- Cultural values and consumer behaviour
- Ethnocentrism and cosmopolitanism
- Brand globalness and brand value
- The impact of country image on brand image
- Emotional relationships between people and countries and its impact on consumer behaviour
- Consumer behaviour at the bottom of the pyramide
- Comparing frameworks for culture

Computer-based tools
It's learning

Learning process and workload
A course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of 160-180 hours.

36 lecture hours during which the main topics (as listed in the course outline) are given extensive and in-depth coverage. Class time will also include group discussion of problems and general class discussions. Assigned readings should be carefully studied prior to each class meeting. The lecture hours will generally have one or two groups of students present the assigned reading and manage a class discussion. The professor will integrate and summarise the discussion in concluding remarks regarding the discussion topic.

Please note that it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/It's learning or text book.


Examination
The course grade will be based on the following activities and weights:
1. A 4-hour written exam, accounting for 50 % of the grade
2. Written term paper, accounting for 50% of the grade

The 4-hour written exam will require the student to demonstrate knowledge, comprehension and application of the content of all required articles in the 2013 course syllabus (but not the recommended readings.)

The term paper will require the students to write an individual (not group work) article’ on a topic that is given by the course responsible. The objective of this term paper will be to develop a study based on an existing paper/study. The 'new' study as described in the paper is expected to extend or improve the existing work. The term paper is to resemble an academic article with an introduction, literature review, development of hypotheses and proposed methodology. The term paper should be 15-20 pages, excluding any possible attachments.

To get a final grade in the course, students need to complete and achieve a passing grade in all parts of the evaluation.

This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam elements) and one final exam code. Each exam element will be graded using points on a scale (e.g. 0-100). The elements will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades on the course site in It’s learning.

Examination code(s)
GRA 64341 continuous assessment accounts for 100 % of the final grade in the course GRA 6431.

Examination support materials
A bilingual dictionary
Examination support materials at written examiniations are explained under examination information in the student portal @bi. Please note use of calculator and dictionary in the section on support materials.

Re-sit examination
The assessment in some courses is based on more than one exam code.
Where this is the case, you may retake only the assessed components of one of these exam codes.
Where this is not the case, all of the assessed components of the course must be retaken.
All retaken examinations will incur an additional fee.

Additional information
Honour Code
Academic honesty and trust are important to all of us as individuals, and represent values that are encouraged and promoted by the honour code system. This is a most significant university tradition. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the ideals of the honour code system, to which the faculty are also deeply committed.

Any violation of the honour code will be dealt with in accordance with BI’s procedures for cheating. These issues are a serious matter to everyone associated with the programs at BI and are at the heart of the honor code and academic integrity. If you have any questions about your responsibilities under the honour code, please ask.