Undergraduate Marketing Curriculum

MGT 3300 - Marketing Management
This course presents and develops the primary marketing variables that are used in designing an overall marketing program. A systems approach is taken with the variables managed to optimize overall results. Restricted to students with 30+ credit hours.

Not all electives are offered every semester. This list may shrink or grow as time progresses. For specific information about classes, pre-requisites, professors, days/times and classroom locations go to Oscar. Browse MGT elective course descriptions by concentration or certificate area:

MGT 3310 - Marketing Research

This course is designed to introduce you to the concepts, methods, and applications of marketing research. Basically, the role of marketing research in the business world is to help marketing managers make sound decisions. Thus, the various concepts and techniques you learn in this class will help you develop and carry out marketing research projects and implement findings in order to improve marketing practices. This course has an applied orientation; therefore, you will be expected to participate in discussions of class materials, cases, and current events.

MGT 3312 - Pricing Strategy and Analytics

What is the “right” price to charge for that forthcoming version of the iPhone in the market? What price should Apple charge for music download on iTunes Plus? What factors influence firms’ pricing decisions in today’s marketplace? For most firms the “right price” is determined by margin requirements, matching competitive prices, or rules of thumb. However, most firms in today’s market have recognized the shortcomings of such a reliance on thumb rules and have implemented the sophisticated techniques at their disposal to inform pricing, advertising, and promotion decisions.

This course aims to expose students to proven concepts, techniques, and frameworks for assessing and formulating pricing strategies. The first three weeks of the course will establish a foundation for effective pricing decisions by discussing key economic, analytical, and behavioral concepts associated with costs, customer behavior, and competition. The rest of the course will (a) introduce students to advanced pricing techniques that aim to create additional value, including dynamic pricing, segmented pricing, pricing structures, and promotions, and (b) highlight practical applications of these approaches within a variety of specific industry contexts.

The course is quite quantitative in nature and takes into consideration the role of consumer behavior, economics and management science in determining pricing policies. This course will be especially useful and applicable to anyone who will be directly or indirectly involved in pricing decisions and will be particularly valuable to those who intend to work in general management, marketing, and consulting.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course you will have learned how to:

• Determine the appropriate value of a product or service to various consumer segments
• Estimate demand and price sensitivity for a product in the market
• Understand the psychological impact of pricing on consumer decisions/actions in the marketplace
• Determine the appropriate role of costs in pricing
• Identify and develop opportunities for price customization
• Integrate pricing into an overall marketing action plan

MGT 3313 - Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing has become one of the most significant channels of marketing for organizations of all types. Evolving changes in consumer behaviors and social platforms provide a very challenging, yet opportunity-rich environment for thoughtful marketers to drive deeper customer engagement, brand advocacy, enhanced customer loyalty, and support for numerous additional business goals.

This course will explore elements including:

• Social listening
• Influencer identification and management
• Social channel selection/rationale
• Social data analysis

In addition to providing exposure to the functional and strategic components associated with social media marketing, this course will also impart practical knowledge through real-world case examples and a real-world project/campaign.

MGT 3325 - Product Planning

This course examines the critical role that product managers and brand managers play in modern organization. Students will learn about the diverse issues involved in the management of a product portfolio, and they will explore applications in a range of industries including consumer products, technology, and services. Topics include the new product development process, product portfolio strategy, brand and product positioning, and the development of product marketing plans.

MGT 4303 - Personal Selling and Sales Management

The relationship between companies and their customers has changed profoundly in recent years. Customers no longer look to their suppliers as just sources of products and services; increasingly, they demand that their suppliers add significant value to their business. Management 4303 is intended to provide students with a basic understanding of the tools and techniques that make for successful relationship selling in B2B sales. Among the core topics covered are understanding buyer behavior; prospecting for potential customers; planning the sales call; communicating the sales message; understanding best practices in selling that lead to exceeding customer expectations. These topics will be covered at a high level in a lecture format, with a special emphasis on "learning by doing”; a large portion of classroom time will be devoted to role playing and a semester project.

MGT 4304 - Strategic Brand Management

Strategic Brand Management is an advanced elective that addresses important brand decisions faced by an organization. The basic objectives of the course are 1) to increase the understanding of the important issues in planning and evaluating brand strategies; 2) to provide the appropriate theories, models, and tools to make better branding decisions, and 3) to provide a forum for students to apply these principles. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding psychological principles at the customer level that will improve managerial decision-making regarding brands.

MGT 4308 - Advertising and Promotions / Integrated Marketing Communications (Previously taught as MGT 4803 Advertising and Promotions. Credit not allowed for both).

This introductory course examines the role of advertising and promotion as an integral component of the marketing mix and relates it to other components of the marketing task and overall strategic marketing. The dynamic nature of advertising and promotion as a communication tool is introduced.

MGT 4309 - Services Marketing (Previously taught as MGT 4803 Services Marketing. No credit allowed for both).

Looking ahead, the service sector of the U.S. economy is large and growing, accounting for over 80 percent of GDP and over 80 percent of total jobs. But the marketing of services is very different from the marketing of tangible goods. To successfully market services, new strategies, tactics, and frameworks are required, ones not usually covered in traditional marketing courses. This course will:

• Present the key strategies and tactics of successful service marketing
• Extend the basic marketing frameworks (e.g. the 4 Ps) into the service arena
• Introduce entirely new topics specifically applicable to service marketing, Learning will be student-centric and highly interactive, with in- and out-of-class projects, both individual and team-based, case studies, Q&A with executive speakers.

MGT 4311 - Digital Marketing (Previously taught as MGT 4803 Digital Marketing. Credit not allowed for both).

Digital Marketing has evolved from radio, print, and TV to include the online/Internet channel and has grown significantly in recent years. The pace of new technology development and the ways consumers are interacting with various technologies has also been growing rapidly. Assembling the right mix of tactics to support an organization’s overarching marketing strategy poses great opportunities and challenges for large and small businesses alike. Additionally, the evolution of marketing analytics provides the potential for powerful changes in the way an organization manages its marketing efforts. This course will explore elements including:

•    Digital marketing strategy
•    Social media
•    Search engine optimization
•    Conversion rate optimization
•    Paid search advertising

MGT 4331 - Consumer Behavior

The major purpose of the course is to introduce the students to the major concepts, theories, and techniques that make up the area of consumer behavior. The very basis of the marketing concept is the satisfaction of consumer needs and wants. Consumer behavior studies the “why” of marketing – why consumers prefer certain products and services. The students will also learn about the techniques that marketers use to understand and influence consumers’ desires, and how their actions influence (in both positive and negative ways) our daily lives.

MGT 4335 - International Marketing

The objectives of this course are: (1) to introduce the student to an understanding of the environmental factors affecting international marketing and the similarities and differences versus domestic marketing; (2) to provide the knowledge and skills needed for the administration of the international marketing function, and (3) to introduce and evaluate the impact of recent environmental changes on international business and marketing.

MGT 4803 - Advanced Topics in Marketing

1. To familiarize you with academic research in judgment, decision making, and consumer psychology with a special focus on social psychology to help you appreciate some of the key psychological processes that potentially influence consumer behavior.
2. To give you a strong foundation for critical thinking in the area of consumer behavior.
3. To relate issues in consumer behavior with managerial decisions and brand strategy

The focus of this course is on understanding current theoretical and methodological approaches to various aspects of consumer behavior, as well as advancing this knowledge by developing testable hypotheses and theoretical perspectives that build on the current knowledge base. Importantly, we will endeavor to transfer the theoretical knowledge to practical implications for brand managers, with the goal of suggesting ways to develop effective tools for strategic brand decisions.

MGT 4803 - Sustainable Marketing

As a result of increasing environmental and social consciousness, firms are increasingly making sustainability a strategic priority. This course examines the ways in which firms adapt their marketing strategies to meet business as well as societal needs. Students will explore how firms are applying environmental and socially sustainable business practices to the marketing mix (products, pricing, promotional activities, and distribution), and they will learn how to analyze the risks and opportunities associated with sustainable marketing practices.

MGT 4803 - Understanding Markets with Data Science

This course studies social networks and social media by using data science to understand how individuals interact with each other, and how firms and organizations may gain insights and design policies that better serve consumers across various markets. In particular, we will explore the nature of the networked marketplaces, investigate how they are formed and maintained, and study the kinds of economic behaviors that result from different network structures.

Furthermore, to understand how networked individuals influence one another, we will study the conversations by which they communicate. We will focus on the tools used by data scientists to understand consumer sentiment, demand, etc., and make informed recommendations.

After taking this course, students should be able to:

• Investigate networked data through visualization and network statistics
• Understand models of network formation
• Understand how information flows in a network
• Measure network effects
• Extract useful information from textual communications, including sentiment analysis
• Develop appropriate managerial recommendations based on all of the above, including product design, recommendation, pricing, and the underlying IT system design

The prerequisites for this course include an introductory probability and statistics course, and basic familiarity with linear algebra. This course will also teach the analytical software R.

In today's highly competitive business environment, where buyers have a wide range of product choices, it is increasingly important to closely match company capabilities and market opportunities. An understanding of the complex, interdependent nature of the global marketplace and its inherent technologies is essential in managing a market-driven business. Marketing is the activity of business that is primarily responsible for developing the sales revenue of the firm. As such, marketing is concerned with developing new products and services and improving the existing offering to develop a steady and profitable sales stream. There are many supporting activities that have an impact on sales, including personal selling and promotion and developing good trade relationships for which marketing is responsible. The marketing of technology-based products is growing in importance along with international aspects of marketing, and these subjects are addressed.

The Scheller College of Business offers a Concentration in Marketing to business administration majors. After completing MGT 3300 students must take six advanced marketing courses and earn a grade of "C" or higher in all courses to complete the concentration.

In today's highly competitive business environment, where buyers have a wide range of product choices, it is increasingly important to closely match company capabilities and market opportunities. An understanding of the complex, interdependent nature of the global marketplace and its inherent technologies is essential in managing a market-driven business. Marketing is the activity of business that is primarily responsible for developing the sales revenue of the firm. As such, marketing is concerned with developing new products and services and improving the existing offering to develop a steady and profitable sales stream. There are many supporting activities that have an impact on sales, including personal selling and promotion and developing good trade relationships for which marketing is responsible. The marketing of technology-based products is growing in importance along with international aspects of marketing, and these subjects are addressed.

The Scheller College of Business offers a Certificate in Marketing to both Business Administration and Non-business administration majors.  To qualify for the Marketing Certificate, students must earn at least a "C" in MGT 3300 and must earn a "B" average in MGT 3310 and the three electives.