Findlay Marketing: MKTG-370

MKTG-370: Consumer Behavior 

Professor Ashley Stadler-Blank 

With Findlay Market (Spring 2022) and The Store (Fall 2022) 

Findlay Market, Ohio's oldest continuously operated public market, is one of the Cincinnati community’s greatest sources of pride. The Market serves a diverse group of consumers, including long-term residents who enjoy the convenience of shopping, to thousands of visitors from the region who enjoy the diversity of merchants who call the Market home. Last spring, Professor Ashley Stadler-Blank and her Consumer Behavior class partnered with the Market to grow economic inclusivity, addressing specific consumer markets that provide value for all customers. This fall, Professor Stadler-Blank’s class is turning their focus to the Xavier community by pairing with The Store, Xavier's student-run food pantry, to promote food security and provide more value to the Xavier community. 

While working with Findlay Market, Professor Stadler-Blank and her students utilized both primary and secondary research, conducting interviews and intercept surveys as well as using marketing databases to research Findlay Market, public markets, food categories and trends, and demographics. The students completed a brand audit for Findlay Market and formulated a recommendation to enhance consumer value. They later developed creative content to promote this formulated recommendation and presented it to Findlay Market in a PechaKucha presentation. 

When working with The Store this fall, Professor Stadler-Blank's students will work as consultants to help The Store address a specific marketing problem they face related to increasing donations, connecting to additional resources, recruiting volunteers, and reducing the stigma tied to food insecurity. 

Building community within the classroom is of great importance to Professor Stadler-Blank. She says, “[community] means taking care of each other,” and fosters a community among her students by creating a space where they can get to know each other as individuals and where curiosity is encouraged. Her course emphasizes education as a two-way street and rewards alternative viewpoints and collaboration among students.  

 Professor Stadler-Blank’s course allows students the opportunity to “engage with community leaders to learn more about the community they are a part of,” she says. Professor Stadler-Blank believes “community is being a part of something and working together to make that thing the best it can be,” and her course focuses heavily on improving oneself, one’s community, and the relationship between the two.  

Her students grow in several other ways as well. In addition to developing the technical and soft skills they need to be successful professionally, they will develop curiosity and creativity by thinking about business problems in new and unique ways as well as gaining exposure to unconventional areas of marketing. They will learn about careers in marketing and network with local Cincinnati marketing professionals as a part of learning more about the Cincinnati community, the needs of the community, and how to take care of themselves and others in the community. 

Professor Stadler-Blank says, “The great thing about community-engaged learning is that students are developing/building professional skills they need to be successful post-graduation while working to make their community a better place.”