Marketing

Marketing Concepts (Marketing 801)

David J. Burns, D.B.A.
Mentor: Peter Bycio, Ph.D. (Management and Entrepreneurship)

Background

As an outcome of the thirty-second General Congregation (GC32), Decree Four, Our Mission Today: The Service of Faith and the Promotion of Justice, was published. Although some confusion existed over the meaning of the word "justice" in Decree Four, most agree that it includes social justice - "to change the structures of society which were depriving people of their human rights" (Tripole, S.J. 1994, p. 9). Calvez, S.J. (1991) states that although economic injustices are particularly pervasive, injustice includes any threats to "human life and its quality." Similarly, Dulles, S.J. interprets justice as "the dismantling of unjust social structures, to conscientization, and to the building of a new and better society" (1989, p. 21). Indeed, Tripole, S.J. states "human beings cannot enter into union with God unless they enter into union with one another, and the degree to which they are alienated from one another will be reflected in an analogous alienation from God" (1994, p. 55). Hence, a commitment to justice is an integral part of evangelization as can be noted in the life of Ignatius. Justice, therefore, includes social justice, but it includes much more - the furthering of social justice leads to justice in all things.

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Materialism and Macro Marketing

Mee-Shew Cheung, Ph.D.
Mentor: Philip Glasgo, Ph.D. (Finance)

This course is designed to introduce marketing to the undergraduates who have not formally studied the area previously. It serves as a vehicle by which students can become familiar with the area of marketing. It provides a basis for future study in marketing and a better understanding of the business world and the role which marketing plays therein.

With my participation in the Ignatian Mentoring Program, I made the following changes to incorporate a missiondriven teaching component that stresses the need for discernment and responsible action. With this inclusion, the course content is broadened to a macro level.

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Personal Data Collection: Marketer and Consumer Perspectives

David M. Houghton, Ph.D. (Marketing)
Mentor: Alan Jin, Ph.D. (Management & Entrepreneurship) 

Course Information:

Principles of Marketing (MKTG 300) is the introductory marketing course for students who have no previous experience with the field. In many cases, this course is the first business course that students take. Through a broad survey of marketing topics, this course introduces students to many aspects of business and consumerism that they have not yet considered.

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An Investigation of Compulsive Buying in a University Setting

Vishal Kashyap, Ph.D.
Mentor: Peter Bycio, Ph.D. (Management and Entrepreneurship)

Course Information (MKTG 300 -Principles of Marketing):

Marketing involves exchanges. The activities involved in marketing products, services, and ideas are examined within a framework of customer management. Topics include global marketing environment, market analysis and segmentation, consumer behavior, product development and management, pricing, promotion, and distribution. Marketing is examined from its role as a central function of business and non-profit organizations, and from its dominant role in a market economy.

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Reflection into Students' Views on CSR as Consumers

Russell Lacey, Ph.D.
Mentor: Michele Matherly, PhD (Accountancy)

The emergence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reflects the widely held perspective that firms that enjoy enormous power in terms of controlling the bulk of society's resources have an ethical and social responsibility to go beyond economic and regulatory imperatives. Broadly defined, CSR represents a firm's activities and status relative to its societal or stakeholder obligations (Brown and Dacin, 1997). As a social bonding source, CSR represents a multi-dimensional reflection of its corporate values, including those shared with consumers of its products and services. Some of the basic tenets of CSR include giving back to the community, respecting the environment, being good to your employees and partners, and to do no harm. Despite the unprecedented lack of trust in the corporate world, John Mackey, CEO and founder of Whole Foods posits that "Well-run, values-centered businesses can contribute to humankind in more tangible ways than any other organization in society." (Mackey and Sisodia, 2013, p. xi).

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Consumer Communities Do Well, But Can They Do Good? An Ignatian Mentoring Project

Dr. James Loveland, PhD

Mentor: Dr. Mina Lee, PhD (Management and Entrepreneurship)

Problem Introduction.
Over the last decade, the relationship between consumers and brands has become a focal point of both academic research and corporate activity. Consumers are more demanding of their brands, and actively consider not only factors such as product quality, but also the nature of the firms that make their products, and the types of consumer-brand relationships that might be engendered by choosing one brand over another. For example, many consumers want to know that their brands are engaging in prosocial behaviors and supporting causes important to them (cf. Bhattacharya and Sen 2004); many consumers also participate in brand and consumer communities, so that they can build relationships with their fellow consumers (e.g. Muniz and Guinn 2001) . These communities also represent a significant strategic asset for firms, and so many firms have accepted the reality that building relationships with consumers, and focusing on these relationships from a customer-centric perspective (Fournier 1998) provides an important means of building customer loyalty, for addressing consumer concerns, and for communicating the different prosocial activities that the firm is engaged in. Ultimately, these communities have the potential to create firms which must be accountable to their constituents, and to create organizations that can take pride in enacting social change.

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Pricing in the Age of AI: Ethical Challenges of Algorithm-based Pricing

 Sudipta Mukherjee, PhD
Mentor: David Randolph (Accountancy)

Algorithm-based pricing is becoming increasingly popular (Bertini and Koenigsberg,
2021). In principle, it involves the practice of setting prices based on the forces of supply and
demand. As such, its profit-maximization intent should translate into company profits without
necessarily endangering consumer welfare. However, in practice, it can have several downstream
consequences that are potentially harmful for consumers, and thus poses profound ethical
dilemmas (Federal Trade Commission, 2014; Martin, 2019; Tanner, 2014). This project will
focus on identifying some of the most prominent ethical issues associated with algorithm-based
pricing, and how marketers can address these issues for long term firm success and consumer
welfare.
Existing research on algorithm-based pricing has three main streams of consumer-welfare
related concerns: (a) predatory differential pricing, (b) price gouging during crises, and (c) price
transparency. We briefly outline each of these over the next few sections.

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