APPROACHES TO DEVELOPING A COLLEGE COURSE ON
CONSUMER SATISFACTION
ABSTRACT
Consumer satisfaction is now constantly
measured and assessed both online and in
face-to-face encounters between marketers
and customers. The attainment,
measurement, and analysis of consumer
satisfaction have grown to ubiquity in the
overlapping worlds of the consumer and of
the marketer, yet the topic is relatively
uncovered by marketing educators in
contemporary university marketing
curricula. Three approaches to developing a
consumer satisfaction course are presented:
a stand-alone course on consumer
satisfaction, a curriculum-wide integration
of consumer satisfaction material, and an
integration of two courses. Using this third
approach, a masters-level course integrating
a consumer satisfaction course with a
course on social media marketing, is
proposed. The structure for the course
based on Richard Oliver’s four-phase
purchase decision model is recommended.
Administrative and faculty issues are
discussed.