TYBMS Sem 5 Syllabus of November 2015 Exam: Special Studies in Marketing

Special Studies in Marketing is an elective subject of TYBMS Sem 5 (Mumbai University exam). Special Studies in Marketing covers the main topics /areas like Consumer Behaviour, Communication Process with reference to advertising, Types of media and media planning, Brand and Branding Strategy Development.

Here we present the detailed syllabus of Special Studies in Marketing:

Unit 1 – 15 lectures

Consumer Behaviour:

1. Definition of CB
2. Why study consumer behavior
3. Research perspectives on consumer behavior
4. Decision making model
5. Factors affecting consumer behavior – psychological, personal, social, cultural
6. Touch upon theories of motivation – Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Mclleland’s theory
7. Understanding perception and stages in perception, beliefs, attitudes
8. Concept of age and family life cycle (FLC), occupation, economic situation
9. Understanding personality and self concept
10. Lifestyle identification – attitudes, opinions, interests – AIO statements
11. Types of buying behavior and consumer involvement
12. Stages in adoption process / diffusion of innovation

Unit 2 – 15 lectures

Communication Process with Reference To Advertising:

1. Definition of communication
2. Models of communication
3. Traditional response hierarchy models – AIDA, Hierarchy of effects, innovation adoption, information processing.
4. Communication model for rural and urban communication.

Integrated Marketing Communication:

1. Definition and features of IMC
2. Advantages / relevance of IMC
3. Components of IMC

Objectives for IMC with reference to DAGMAR objectives:

1. Importance/ value of objectives,
2. Promotion objective, communication objective, sales objectives
3. DAGMAR

Ad agency – structure, functions and evaluation:

1. Definition of advertising, features and functions of advertising
2. Definition of ad agency
3. Structure of ad agency
4. Functions of ad agency.

Advertising budget:

1. Definition of advertising budget
2. Definition of advertising appropriation
3. Methods of budgeting / advertising budgeting methods.

Unit 3 – 15 lectures

Types of media and media planning:

1. Media – print and broadcast – types, advantages
2. Support media – OOH media, in-store media, transit advertising, promotional, products marketing, yellow pages advertising, advertising in movie theatres, product placement in movies and on TV, in flight advertising, miscellaneous

Media Planning:

1. Definition of media planning
2. Terms to be studied under media planning – reach, frequency, GRP, coverage,  BDI, CDI, TRP, CPM, CPP / CPR / CPRP
3. Process of media planning
4. What are the factors that media planners must consider?
5. Problems in media planning
6. Media research
7. Media scheduling – definition, methods

Measuring the Effectiveness of Advertising:

1. Testing process for advertising effectiveness
2. Tests for measuring effectiveness of advertising
3. Essentials for effective testing of advertisements

Unit 4 – 15 lectures

Brand and branding strategy development:

1. Definition of brand and brand positioning
2. Positioning strategies
3. Guidelines for effective positioning
4. Brand image – definition, strategy for brand image development

Other Brand Building activities:

1. Public Relations – Definition, how to build corporate image through PR Corporate advertising, importance of PR
2. Sales promotion – definition, sales promotion tools – for consumers and dealers, importance of sales promotion
3. The Internet – Importance of the internet as a tool of IMC
4. Direct marketing – Definition, Role of direct marketing in IMC, Tools of direct marketing
5. Personal Selling – Definition, Role / importance of personal selling, relationship marketing
6. E-Commerce

The list of reference books of Special Studies in Marketing is as follows:

1. Advertising and Promotion – Belch and Belch
2. Advertising Management – Aker and Myers
3. Advertising, Marketing and Sales Management – Thakur D
4. Advertising Management – Mohan M
5. Advertising Management – Rathor B
6. Advertising – Chahan M
7. Projects – Prasanna Chandra
8. Consumer Behaviour – Schiffman, L G Kanuk
9. Best Practice Cases in Branding : Lessons from the World’s Strongest Brands – Keller Kevin Lane
10. Strategic Brand Management – David Accar
11. Strategic Brand Management – Noel Katscrer
12. Building Strong Brands – Mike Keller
13. Consumer Behaviour – Stephemen Kanuk
14. Consumer Behaviour – Noudon and Della Vieta