Mini-Report Guidelines

 

The purpose of the mini-reports is to create an opportunity for you and your classmates to discuss a wide range of consumer behavior topics and issues while working on your presentation skills.

 

There are many ways for you to achieve this goal so specifying precise requirements may be constricting.  However, since this is a graded assignment, the following guidelines should be of help to you:

 

1.  Your topic should take us into an area beyond the assigned readings.  Don’t do a summary of a topic adequately covered in your texts.  Do something different.

 

2.  Your topic should be focused.  A presentation on “The Motivations of Teenagers” would be too diffuse and superficial.  But an examination of “Epicanthoplasty—Eyelid Surgery in Asia” would be not only focused but informative and provocative.

 

3.  Your topic should capture the interest of your audience.  That is, it should provoke comments, questions, and debate among your classmates.  Personally-relevant topics will often do this.

 

4.  At some point, you should draw a connection to consumer concepts from your reading—e.g., perceived needs, needs vs. wants, age-related values, different lifestyles, etc.

 

5.  Ask yourself, “What is the issue here?”  Is there an issue (ethical or otherwise) or are you just presenting factual information?  Assuming there is some point or issue involved in your presentation, what is your own position and what is it based upon?  Are there implications for action that we should be aware of?  If so, this should be worked into your presentation at some point.

 

6.  Your time will be limited so be organized and make good use of visual aids: PowerPoint, internet sites, overhead transparencies, objects to show or pass around, etc.

 

7.  Monitor and adjust your talk to fit the time available leaving space for discussion.  Show your ability to elicit and control class participation in discussion.

 

8.  The paper turned in with your talk should cover the main information in your oral presentation.  Rigid adherence to APA format is not required, but you should cite your sources of information: magazine articles, web sites, personal experience, interviews, etc.

 

9.  This assignment is meant to be fun and involving for you.  To get you thinking, here are a few of the topics from recent classes:

 

  • The “selling” of Christian religion in Muslim and Islamic countries.
  • The funeral industry: caskets and creative repositories for the departed person’s ashes.
  • Cosmetic plastic surgery (many specific topics here from genital modification to leg lengthening).
  • Sales strategies—students have reported on techniques from their own work experience selling such products as burgers, lingerie, vacuum cleaners, and cosmetics in such settings as stores, restaurants, house parties, telemarketing, and door-to-door.
  • Societal issues—topics have ranged from the effectiveness of CAFE standards (fuel consumption limits) to recycling programs.
  • Global issues—students with international backgrounds have provided interesting cultural comparisons (e.g., Burger King vs. McDonalds marketing success in the U.S., China, and Japan).

 

10.  Topics often develop from a consideration of things you truly care about or have experience with.  If all else fails, bounce some ideas off of your instructor and see how they are received.