Taught
by Geoffrey Miller, UCLA Visiting Associate Professor, autumn 2000
Note: This is the syllabus for an UCLA
advanced undergraduate lecture course
That was taught in Autumn 2000 at University
of California, Los Angeles
Cross-listed as Communication Studies M148,
Economics M188
Enrollment: About 90 students
All lectures are available as Powerpoint
presentations,
average 2 MB (including graphics and video)
per lecture;
by request to Geoffrey Miller at University
of New Mexico:
gfmiller@unm.edu
Contents
of this syllabus:
1.
Course schedule
2.
Outline of course content
3.
Course Mechanics
4.
List of readings reprinted in the course
reader
5.
Video exerpts shown in class
6.
Term papers: possible topics
7.
Midterm Exam: instructions and questions
8.
Final Exam: instructions and questions
1 Thurs Sept 28 introduction none
2 Tues Oct 3 marketing
basics 1, 2 (pp. 3-12))
3 Thurs Oct 5 luxuries,
consumerism 3, 4 (pp. 13-34)
4 Tues Oct 10 marketing
revolution, history 5, 6 (pp. 35-49)
5 Thurs Oct 12 advertising
& biology 7 (pp. 51-71)
6 Tues Oct 17 hunters
& gatherers 8, 9 (pp.
73-95)
7 Thurs Oct 19 prestige,
status, positionals 10, 11, 12 (pp.
97-124)
8 Tues Oct 24 polygyny,
sexual economics 13 (pp. 125-150)
term
paper topics due
9 Thurs Oct 26 porn
and fantasy 14, 15
(pp. 153-183)
10 Tues Oct
31 courtship consumerism 16, 17, 18 (pp. 185-206)
11 Thurs
Nov 2 midterm
exam in-class
covers lectures 1-10, readings 1-18 (pp. 3-206)
12 Tues
Nov 7 services
& relationships 19, 20 (pp.
207-225)
13 Thurs
Nov 9 utility,
hedonism, fun 21, 22, 23
(pp. 227-249)
14 Tues
Nov 14 addictive
products, tobacco 24, 25 (pp. 253-269)
15 Thurs
Nov 16 money
& happiness 26, 27, 28
(pp. 271-283)
16 Tues
Nov 21 marketing
aesthetics 29, 30 (pp.
285-296)
(Thurs
Nov 23 No lecture: Thanksgiving holiday)
17 Tues
Nov 18 desirability,
coolness 31, 32 (pp. 297-317)
18 Thurs
Nov 30 ad
agencies, ad tactics 33, 34 (pp.
319-339)
19 Tues
Dec 5 branding,
product recognition 35, 36, 37 (pp.
341-368)
20 Thurs
Dec 7
future
marketing, revision 38, 39 (pp.
369-391)
Friday Dec 15 Final Exam
11:30 am – 2:30 pm
covers
lectures 12-20, read’gs 19-39 (pp.
207-391)
2.
Outline of course content
for ‘Marketing, Advertising, and
Human Nature’
Week 1:
Status, sex, and conspicuous consumption. Darwin and Veblen. The human drive
for display and the importance of positional goods. Evolutionary and historical
origins of consumption as a strategy of social and sexual display. How
advertising, endorsements, and sponsorship confer status n products and their
buyers.
Week 2:
Human concerns and the content of advertising. Evolved motives and preferences
in relation to advertising themes, styles, and media. Cognitive and emotional
responses to marketing communications. Why ads succeed or fail, and why
successful ads do not always lead to successful products.
Week 3:
Human diversity and market segmentation. Age, sex, intelligence, personality
traits, and family context as key variables in human motivation and consumer
behavior. Psychology vs. marketing methods of classifying people.
Week 4:
Human strategies for search and choice. How evolved heuristics for food choice,
mate choice, habitat choice, and other natural decision domains are transferred
to modern shopping behavior. How advertising influences human judgment and
decision-making.
Week 5: The
social ecology of shopping. Modern consumers vs. hunter-gatherers. Sex
differences in shopping styles. The evolutionary psychology of propitiousness,
affluence, happiness, mood, and acquisition. Cultural and peer-group influences
on consumption patterns; runaway fashions and herd effects.
Week 6: The
social psychology of customer relationships to corporations. Corporations
viewed as people: brand recognition, brand loyalty, endorsements, and public
relations. Customer frustrations arising from the non-human aspects of
corporations: limited liability, customer service problems, bureaucracy,
mergers and spin-offs, etc.
Week 7:
Marketing as a social relationship. Evolutionary social psychology,
reciprocity, trust, and fairness in relation to business transactions.
Customer-business dialogs: market research, focus groups, one-to-one marketing,
permission marketing, etc.
Week 8: Marketing
aesthetics and Darwinian aesthetics. The origins of human preferences and
aesthetics tastes; the importance of design in products and ambience in
services; the shift from a production economy to an experience economy.
Week 9:
Market research as a form of experimental psychology. The diverse methods for
revealing human needs, wants, and preferences. Difficulties of distinguishing
evolved preferences from culturally learned preferences. The challenges of
cross-cultural marketing.
Week 10: The
future of marketing. Electronic systems for rapid, iterative market research
and consumer-driven product design. New product development as an evolutionary
process. Mass customization. New genetic technologies, designer babies, the
commodification of humans, and the vanishing distinction between consumers and
products.
Marketing, advertising, and human nature
Com Std M148, Econ M188
Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:00 – 11:50 am in
167 Dodd Hall
Professor Geoffrey Miller
322 Kinsey Hall (310) 825-2456
Office hours: 10-12 am Wednesdays or by
appointment
Email: send a message to matingmind@hotmail.com; include in the
subject line the word ‘marketing’, and the message will go into my mailbox for
this course. Otherwise, it won’t reach
me.
Course web site:
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/00F/econm188m-1/
I will try to make active use of this
website; check is regularly for announcements and revisions; please contribute
to the discussion board if you have any questions or comments
Required course readings:
·
Course
reader from Course Reader Material, 1141 Westwood Blvd, 1.5 blocks north of
Wilshire, (310) 443-3303; should be available early next week; check class
announcements on class website for availability
·
Thorstein
Veblen (1899) Theory of the leisure
class. $2.50 Dover paperback from
UCLAstore testbooks should be available next week. Or, view/download a free version from:
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/VEBLEN/veb_toc.html
Optional course readings:
·
Geoffrey
Miller (2000). The mating mind: How
sexual choice shaped the evolution of human nature. Doubleday. Hardback from
UCLAstore or amazon.com on discount.
Note: the course reader will include extracts from my book, but you may
wish to read them in context.
·
Many
useful articles will be placed on reserve at the College Library for use in
writing your research papers. Their
availability will be announced.
Readings over this weekend: Read chapter 4 of Veblen. If you can’t find a hardcopy, get it from
the website above. I will try to post
my article ‘Waste is good’ on the course website Friday so you can read it
too. If that doesn’t work, read another
article by me at: http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/story/86.html. If you can’t get any of these, don’t worry;
read them later.
Syllabus: A revised syllabus will be posted on the
class website in a few days. It will
cover mostly the same material as the draft syllabus, but in a different order.
Grades, tests, and work:
Grades will be determined by a mid-term exam
(30%), a final exam (30%), a term paper (30%), and a participation score
(10%).
Exams: questions will usually ask for short
answers (specifying from one to ten sentences). The mid-term will cover the first half of the course material;
the final will cover only the second half (not cumulative). Do not miss these exams: any make-up exams
will be much more difficult and will demand longer essays. The midterm and
final dates will be announced soon.
Term papers are due in class (i.e. at 10:00
am) Thursday November 30. They are to be concisely
argued, well-researched essays of 8-12 pages (typed/printed, double-spaced,
12-point font, numbered pages, 3000 words maximum). I will offer a list of suggested topics soon, or you can pick a
different topic by arrangement with me.
Papers will be graded on composition as well as content, with higher
marks given for clear organization, good critical thinking, strong evidence,
thorough research, decisive conclusions, and a witty, engaging style. Students
are encouraged to discuss outlines and drafts of their papers at least once
with the instructor during office hours before turning in their final
drafts. I will ask each student to
write down their provisional term paper topic for class on October 24. I will grade on the assumption that students
have been planning, researching, and writing conscientiously throughout the
quarter. Plagiarism is extremely unlikely to succeed, given that most term
paper websites have very few offerings on the evolutionary psychology of
consumerism. Late papers will be marked
down automatically for every day late.
No handwritten papers or email-only submissions. I may however ask for
an email version to check the word count and the references, so save your paper
on your computer, and save a hardcopy as well.
Participation score: This will depend on (1) asking
questions in class, (2) posting questions, comments, and answers on the
discussion board, (3) coming to office hours to discuss course material and
your term paper topics, (4) suggesting interesting/useful links to add to the
course website, and (5) other extra-credit options to be announced soon.
Miscellaneous but important points:
·
Class
attendance is very important, as my lectures will complement rather than repeat
the course readings. Also, I will use a
fair amount of web and video material.
Without regular attendance, good exam performance is unlikely.
·
However,
taking notes in class is not so important.
I will try to post all of my Powerpoint lecture material on the course
website for your reference.
·
Readings
for each lecture should be completed before the lecture. I will sometimes ask for volunteers to give
2-minute summaries/critiques of particular readings in class; good summaries
will yield good participation scores.
4. List of readings in the course reader
1. Miller, Geoffrey (2000). Marketing. In J. Brockman (Ed.), The greatest inventions of the last 2,000 years, pp. 121-126. New York: Simon & Schuster.
2. Miller, G. F. (1999). Waste is
good. Prospect, Feb., pp. 18-23.
3. Frank, Robert (1999). ‘Luxury
spending’ chapter. From Luxury fever. Princeton U. Press.
4. Twitchell, James (1999). Chapter 1, ‘Attention Kmart shoppers’. From Lead us into temptation: The triumph
of American materialism. Columbia
U. Press.
5. Packard, Vance (1960). Chapters 1-3, ‘City of the future?’, ‘The
nagging prospects of saturation’, and ‘Growthmanship’. From The waste makers. New York: Van Rees Press.
6. Keith, Robert J. (1960). The
marketing revolution. Journal of
Marketing, January, 35-38.
7. Miller, Geoffrey (2000). How
to advertise fitness. Exerpts from
chapters 4 and 5 of The mating mind: How sexual selection shaped the
evolution of human nature.
Doubleday.
8. Cashdan, Elizabeth
(1989). Hunters and gatherers: Economic
behavior in bands. In S. Plattner (Ed.),
Economic anthropology. Stanford
U. Press.
9. Ridley, Matt (1997). Exerpt on Conservation instincts. From The origins of virtue. Penguin.
10. Barkow, Jerome (1989).
Exerpts on prestige from Darwin, sex, and status. U. Toronto Press.
11. Frank, Robert (1999). Exerpts on relative position. From Luxury fever. Princeton U. Press.
12. Haviland, William
(1987). Exerpt on potlatch. From Cultural anthropology. Harcourt Brace.
13. Betzig, Laura (1992). Roman polygyny. Ethology and sociobiology, 13, 309-349.
14. Malamuth, Neil (1996). Sexually explicit media, gender differences,
and evolutionary theory. Journal of
Communication, 46(3), 8-31.
15. Ellis, Bruce & Symons,
Don (1990). Sex differences in sexual fantasy: An evolutionary approach. Journal of Sex Research, 27, 527-556.
16. Miller, Geoffrey (2000). Exerpt on courtship in the Pleistocene. From The mating mind: How sexual
selection shaped the evolution of human nature. Doubleday.
17. Illouz, Eva (1997). Exerpts on dating. From Consumering the romantic utopia: Love and the
contradictions of capitalism.
Berkeley, CA: U. California Press.
18. Illouz, Eva (1997).
Exerpts on consumerism. From Consumering
the romantic utopia: Love and the contradictions of capitalism. Berkeley, CA: U. California Press.
19. Samli, A. Coskun (1992). Exerpt on developing consumer-friendly
services. From Social responsibility
in marketing. Westport, CN: Quorum Books.
20. Levitt, Theodore (1986). Relationship management. From The marketing imagination. New York: Simon & Schuster.
21. Dawkins, Richard (1995). God’s utility function. Scientific American, November, 80-85.
22. Packard, Vance (1960). Chapter 15, ‘Hedonism for the masses’. From The waste makers. New York: Van Rees Press.
23. Holbrook, Morris B. &
Hirschman, Elizabeth C. (1982). The
experiential aspects of consumption: Consumer fantasies, feelings, and
fun. Journal of Consumer Research, 9,
132-140.
24. Bartecchi, Carl E.,
MacKenzie, Thomas D., & Schrier, Robert W. (1995). The global tobacco
epidemic. Scientific American,
May, 44-51.
25. Hartley, Robert F.
(1998). Tobacco: An industry
beleaguered. From Marketing mistakes
and successes (7th Ed.). Wiley.
26. Frank, Robert (1999). Chapter 5, ‘Does money buy happiness?’ From Luxury fever. Princeton U. Press.
27. Myers, David G. & Diener,
Ed (1996). The pursuit of
happiness. Scientific American,
May, 70-72.
28. Miller, Geoffrey (2000). Social implications of the new happiness
research. From edge.org online
discussion forum.
29. Thornhill, Randy (1998). Exerpt from ‘Darwinian aesthetics’. In In G. Cardew (Ed.), Characterizing human psychological adaptations, Ciba Foundation
Symposium 208. John Wiley.
30. Miller, Geoffrey (2000). Exerpts on aesthetics. From The mating mind: How sexual
selection shaped the evolution of human nature. Doubleday.
31. Packard, Vance (1960). Chapter 7, ‘Planned obsolescence of
desirability’. From The waste makers. New York: Van Rees Press.
32. Frank, Thomas (1997). Chapter
1 exerpt. From The conquest of cool:
Business culture, counterculture, and the rise of hip consumerism. U. Chicago Press.
33. Schudson, Michael
(1986). Exerpt from Chapter 2, ‘What
advertising agencies know’. From Advertising,
the uneasy persuasion: Its dubious impact on American society. New York: Basic Books.
34. Bly, Robert (1985). Chapter 4, ‘Writing to sell’. From The copywriter’s handbook: A
step-by-step guide to writing copy that sells. New York: Henry Holt.
35. Ogilvy, David (1987). Chapter 11, ‘Should advertising be
abolished?’ From Ogilvy on
advertising. New York: Vintage.
Twitchell, James (1999). Exerpt on ‘The branding of experience’. From Lead us into temptation: The triumph
of American materialism. Columbia
U. Press.
36. Borges, Bernhard, Goldstein,
Daniel G., Ortmann, Andreas, & Gigerenzer, Gerd (1999). Can ignorance beat the stock market? In G. Gigerenzer & P. Todd. (Eds.), Simple heuristics that make us smart, pp. 59-72. Oxford U. Press.
38. Todd, Peter & Miller,
Geoffrey (1999). From Pride and
Prejudice to Persuasion: Satisficing in mate search. In G. Gigerenzer & P. Todd. (Eds.), Simple heuristics that make us smart, pp. 287-308. Oxford U. Press.
39. Pine, Joseph (1999). Chapter 3, ‘The emerging system of mass
customisation’. From Mass
customisation: The new frontier in business competition. Harvard Business School Press.
Note: The midterm will cover readings 1-20;
the final will cover 21-39
For research papers, many other optional
readings will be available on reserve in the college library
5. Video exerpts shown in class
Short
clips from the following movie and television videos were shown in class to
illustrate particular lecture points and themes
In the Wild: Orangutans with Julia Roberts (1998, PBS): consumerism in
relation to primate behavior and the natural world
Boiler Room (2000, Giovanni Ribisi, Ben Affleck):
selling organizations to prospective employees, the ethics of selling financial
products
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000053V9A/ref=bxgy_sr_img_a/107-8360818-0337364
Slacker (1991, Richard Linklater): counter-culture
alternatives to consumerism
Gentlemen prefer blondes (1953, Marilyn Monroe, Jane
Russell): costly signalling theory, diamonds as reliable love-indicators
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6302484383/ref=bxgy_sr_img_a/107-8360818-0337364
Quest for Fire (1982, Everett McGill, Ron Perlman):
Pleistocene hunter-gatherer life
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6300247465/ref=bxgy_sr_img_b/107-8360818-0337364
Jefferson in Paris (1995, Nick Nolte, Thandie
Newton): sexual and reproductive markets; Thomas Jefferson’s children with his
slave-woman Sally Hemings as a case study in polygyny
Gattaca (1997, Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman): the rise
of genetic markets, the marketing of genetic engineering
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0800103661/ref=bxgy_sr_img_a/107-8360818-0337364
Blade Runner (1982, Harrison Ford, Sean Young): ‘basic
pleasure models’ and the prospects of bio-engineering androids to serve male
sexual fantasy markets
The Pornographer (1999, Doug Atchison): the contemporary
porno market; its psychology and ethics
Star Trek: Voyager (1995, exerpts from episodes 68
and 69 ‘Scorpion’): male viewer preferences and the replacement of elfin ‘Kes’
by buxom Borg woman ‘Seven of Nine’
Clan of the Cave Bear (1986, Daryl Hannah):
Pleistocene sexual fantasies and exoticism
Star Trek: The original series (1966, episode 25, ‘This side of
paradise’): Kirk/Spock and ‘slash fiction’ as a window into female sexual
fantasies and preferences
Notting Hill (1999, Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant): romantic
comedy as a hybrid genre appealing to both male and female sexual preferences
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0783241569/ref=bxgy_sr_img_a/107-8360818-0337364
Boxing Helena (1993, Julian Sands,Sherilyn Fenn): male
preferences and the commodification of women
Total Recall (1990, Arnold Schwarzenner, Sharon Stone):
from the service economy to the entertainment economy; perils thereof
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000JGEK/ref=bxgy_sr_img_a/107-8360818-0337364
You’ve Got Mail (1998, Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan): what does
‘good service’ mean in the book market?
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6305368139/ref=bxgy_sr_img_b/107-8360818-0337364
Barbarella (1968, Jane Fonda): the ‘orgasmatron’, the
psychology of pleasure, and the 1870s marginal utility revolution in economics
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6300216047/ref=bxgy_sr_img_a/107-8360818-0337364
The Game (1997, Michael Douglas, Sean Penn): service
industries, personally customized entertainment
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6304765789/ref=bxgy_sr_img_a/107-8360818-0337364
Brainstorm (1983, Natalie Wood, Christopher Walken):
thrills and perils of the experience economy
Strange Days (1995, Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett):
experiences and entertainment
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/630398021X/ref=bxgy_sr_img_a/107-8360818-0337364
Existenz (1999, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law):
computer games, virtual reality, existential psychology of consumption
The Matrix (1999, Keanu Reeves, Lawrence Fishburn):
can we escape from consumerism?
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000K2SC/ref=bxgy_sr_img_a/107-8360818-0337364
Trainspotting (1996, Ewan McGregor): addictive products;
heroin addiction: consumerism or anti-consumerism
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6304297912/ref=bxgy_sr_img_b/107-8360818-0337364
The Insider (1999, Russell Crowe, Al Pacino): ethics of
marketing addictive products such as tobacco
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004RFDW/ref=bxgy_sr_img_a/107-8360818-0337364
The Fountainhead (1949, Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal): the
arrogance of modernist architecture vs. the natural biophilic preferences of
the masses
Jerry Maguire (1996, Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr.),
sports marketing, selling people, marketing charisma
Glengarry Glenn Ross (1992, Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon):
salesmanship
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6302732875/qid=1003860385/sr=2-1/107-8360818-0337364
How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989, Richard E. Grant, Rachel
Ward): stresses of creativity in ad agencies
Fight Club (1999, Brad Pitt, Edward Norton), how to
make good soap
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004W5UA/ref=bxgy_sr_img_b/107-8360818-0337364
6. Possible term paper topics and term paper
details, for
Positional goods case study. Focus on one particular type of good or service for which
companies have developed a wide spectrum of products that have different
‘quality’ or ‘status’ levels. What
product features and marketing strategies have developed to differentiate the
high-status products from the lower-status products, and how do these appeal to
the human psychology of rank, status, and privilege? Possible product types to analyze might include: airline service
classes (first, business, economy), residential single-family house design,
automobiles, wristwatches, men’s suits, engagement rings, resort hotels,
university educations.
Prehistoric marketing. How ancient was the human trade in goods and services? Assess the anthropological, archaeological,
and evolutionary psychology evidence for prehistoric economies. What were the earliest forms of marketing,
and in what ways is modern marketing ‘natural’?
Sexual content case study. Focus on one particular type of product that appeals to the
sexual interests of a particular market segment (as determined by age, sex,
sexual orientation, etc.). Analyze how
human sexual psychology has influenced the historical development of the
product type, and the marketing strategies for the product. Avoid the classic cases of hard-core porn
for adult men and romance novels for women.
Other possibilities might include: beauty contests, phone chat lines,
single’s bars, dating agencies, sperm banks, single’s resort hotels, escort
services, cosmetic surgery, men’s or women’s magazines, romantic comedy films.
Service marketing given psychological
diversity. Many service industries must appeal to a
wide variety of customers, but customers may differ in many psychological
dimensions (e.g. age, sex, ethnicity, intelligence, occupation, education,
extroversion, self-confidence, interests, religious and political beliefs).
Identify one specific service industry, and analyze some ways in which the
service could be customized for customers who vary along a specific
dimension. Simple example: how should
restaurant staff change their behavior depending on customer extroversion and
chattiness? More interesting service
industries to consider: financial planning, personal fitness training,
bodyguards, wedding planning, divorce lawyers, travel agents, drug rehab
programs.
Psychopharmaceutical case study. Focus on one particular type of drug product that affects the
human brain and behavior (e.g. alchohol, tobacco, caffeine, marijuana, Prozac,
Viagra, Ecstasy, or ‘Smart Drugs’). How
have the drug’s distinctive psychological effects influenced product
development and marketing, including the development of associated service
industries and establishments (e.g. bars, smokeshops, coffee houses, dance
clubs, psychotherapy offices)?
Consumption and happiness. Does money buy happiness, or is happiness inherited genetically,
or what? Assess the current evidence
about the influence of income and consumption on subjective well-being within
societies, or across societies, or across history. Discuss implications for marketing and advertising.
Entertainment economy. Compare and contrast the marketing of physical goods, services,
and entertainments (e.g. theme parks, movies, TV, books, computer games). Focus on a particular area of consumption
that spans all three types (e.g. gun manufacturing vs. private security
services vs. paintball games). Are the
target markets, marketing strategies, and advertising media for these three types
of products converging or diverging, and how will new technologies affect this
convergence or divergence?
Aesthetics case study. Focus on one particular type of product that has some aesthetic
dimension (e.g. visual, auditory, taste, smell, or tactile appeal). How have human aesthetic tastes and
preferences influenced product design, packaging, and advertising for this
product class? Be specific; cite
research on the preferences if possible.
Examples of possible product types to consider: houses, computer input
devices (joysticks, trackballs, mouses), condoms, skiwear, restaurant design,
children’s books, mobile phones, perfume.
What is ‘cool’? What
makes some products and ads ‘cooler’ than others? Consider the psychology of exclusion versus conformity, imitation
versus individuality, rebellion versus enthusiasm. Focus on teens and young adults, and on a particular type of
product that is designed and marketed to be cool.
Shopbots and shopping agents.
What are the challenges and opportunities for developing software
products that embody the preferences and tastes of individual consumers, and
which might do shopping (e.g. via the Internet) on behalf of individuals? Review the state of the art in shopping
agents, and their likely development over the next couple of decades.
Mass customisation via Internet marketing. What are the prospects for designing and delivering customized
products and services to individual consumers via the Internet? Focus on a particular type of product, and
identify some technically feasible ways it might be worth customizing to fit
individual preferences.
Future of consumerism. If modern consumerism is a development of
the 20th century, is it likely to persist in its current form, or
will it gradually give way to different ways of using excess production
capacity, of advertising social status, or of driving technological
innovation? Assess the future of
consumerism in relation to its historical development, in relation to the
constants and variables of human nature, and in relation to the long debate about
the pros and cons of consumerism.
·
Provisional
term paper topics should be reported to me (in writing in class, or by email)
on or before October 24.
·
Term
papers are due in class (i.e. at 2:00 pm) Tuesday December 5. Late papers will be marked down, with exceptions only in extreme
cases.
·
Please
read these instructions carefully and repeatedly – at least once now, once
before submitting your topics, and again before submitting your term
paper! Careful attention to these
instructions is your best investment of time to get a good grade.
The papers should be concisely argued,
well-researched essays of 8-12 pages (typed/printed, double-spaced, 12-point
font, numbered pages, 3000 words maximum).
Make sure there is a cover sheet that clearly states your name, Bruin ID
number, paper title, topic (from above list, if appropriate), and class name
‘Marketing’. No handwritten papers or
email-only submissions please. I may
however ask for an email version to check the word count and the references, so
save your paper on your computer, and save a hardcopy as well.
Please choose from the suggested topics
above, or arrange a different topic with me (by email, phone, or visiting
during office hours.) For each of the
topics above, you don’t necessarily need to answer the precise questions
posed. It’s OK to raise and address
other issues; just be clear about what the paper’s focus is and what your
argument is, and make sure you support your argument with some sort of
evidence. Or, don’t be shy about
suggesting a different topic if you like!
Term paper topics can be submitted by email or on hardcopy; they are
easily revisable with prior approval from me (just email, phone, or come to
office hours if you want to change topic).
Papers can approach the topic in a variety
of ways, but they should all make an argument, and advance a thesis. That is, you should make a case for a
particular point of view, way of thinking about the evidence, or conclusion. Don’t spend six pages wandering around a
topic, then state a claim, and then spend the last two pages trying to argue
for it. Your claim should be in your
first few sentences, preferably your very first sentence – then the rest of the
paper should make the argument. For
example, a good opening sentence would be ‘Internet marketing of
mass-customized services raises three main problems compared to Internet
marketing of mass-customized physical goods.’
A bad opening sentence would be ‘This paper will examine different ways
of marketing things over the Internet, including both goods and services, from
the viewpoint of mass customization.’ The good opening advances a specific
claim; the bad opening does not. If
appropriate, please include illustrations, photocopies, advertisements, product
design details, etc.
In grading papers, I will be assessing
composition, content, and research. I
will be looking for (1) clear and interesting arguments, (2) evidence of decent
scholarly research in the topic area, (3) use of facts in supporting arguments,
(4) understanding and applying the principles of marketing, advertising, and
psychology to the topic, (5) clear writing style and (6) good
organization. I will grade on the
assumption that students have been planning, researching, and writing conscientiously
the term paper throughout the quarter.
Plagiarism is extremely unlikely to succeed, and will be taken seriously
according to UCLA’s established disciplinary procedures. Late papers will be marked down
automatically for every day late. The
only exceptions will be for medically certified illness or other extreme and
documentable contingencies.
Students are encouraged to discuss outlines
and drafts of their papers at least once with me during office hours before
turning in their final drafts. Students
who take the trouble to do this are very likely to score higher on their paper
grades, because they will be more likely to avoid common pitfalls, to get
useful pointers to reference sources, and to improve their argument structure.
References should be included at the end of
the term paper. Please don’t include
more than about 15-20 references. They
should follow standard scientific reference format, e.g.
For books:
Miller, G. F. (2000). The mating mind: How sexual choice shaped the evolution of human
nature. New York: Doubleday.
For journal papers:
Miller, G. F., & Todd, P. M.
(1998). Mate choice turns cognitive. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2(5),
190-198.
For chapters in edited books:
Miller, G. F. (2000). Marketing.
In J. Brockman (Ed.), The greatest
inventions of the last 2,000 years,
pp. 121-126. New York: Simon
& Schuster.
Please don’t cite sources unless you’ve
actually read them (avoid ‘Author, date, cited in … Some Other Author, some
other date).
For grad students only (everybody else ignore this
paragraph): Graduate students taking the course for graduate credit should
write longer, better-researched papers appropriate to their level of knowledge,
scholarly ability, and writing skill.
Aim for about 4500 words maximum, no more than 30 references, same
formatting instructions as above. Feel
free to include figures, charts, data, if appropriate. Obviously, you may find it convenient to
write the term paper in such a way that it could be submitted for journal
publication as a review or commentary piece, if you are motivated to get some
publications.
For ‘Marketing, Advertising, and Human
Nature’ M148/M188
Notes on the midterm:
·
The
midterm will be in class on Thursday November 2 10:00 – 11:50 am. I will be at a conference in England the weekend before that
(from Thursday afternoon through Monday evening), so it will be difficult to
reach me for questions then. Please
read this soon so we can resolve any concerns that might arise.
·
The
midterm will consist of 15 short-answer questions (out of which you should pick
10 to answer), and 10 longer-answer questions (out of which you should pick 5
to answer). Thus, you will only have to write
a total of 15 answer, and will have considerable flexibility about which
questions you choose. You should cross
out the questions you do not wish to answer; be careful to check that you have
written the right number of answers.
·
The
10 short answers will be graded on a 5-point scale (worth a total of 50
points). The 5 longer answers will be
graded on a 10-point scale (worth a total of 50 points). Thus, the exam overall will be graded on a
100 point scale.
·