Professor James Intriligator (Bangor)

Dr Gareth Harvey (Glyndwr)

© 2013, Intriligator and Harvey

Who we are

Dr James Intriligator

◦ Bangor: School of Psychology

◦ Neuroscience and Consumer Psychology

◦ Masters programmes

◦ Extracurriculars (EbD, SEA, etc)

◦ N Wales Enterprise Hub

Dr Gareth Harvey

◦ Glyndwr: Business School

◦ Consumer and Workplace Psychology

◦ Consulting

Who are YOU?!

Academic lecturers? Schools?

Academic support staff?

Students?

Others?

Particular interests/issues?

Something WE all know…

Postgraduate students need more relevant

enterprise skills training

Something WE all know…

Postgraduate students need more relevant

enterprise skills training

Context Archer and Davison (2008): "…the minor

importance employers attach to possession of a postgraduate qualification".

Psychology students have a tough time. HESA Destination of Leavers (2011-12): 68% employment for psychology relative to 89% for education and medicine.

Wilson Review (2012): "It is for universities to provide …opportunities for students to develop employability skills through the formal learning methodologies …within the university.”

“…develop employability skills

through the formal learning

methodologies …”

Question

How should employability

(or “enterprise”)

skills be taught within the

university?

“Employability” ?

“Employability”

Higher Education Authority:

“…a set of achievements,

skills, understandings and personal attributes,

that make graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their

chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community

and the economy”

“How to gain these” ?

Embedded or extracurricular?

“Extracurricular”

Some examples:

◦ Enterprise by Design (today)

◦ Social Enterprise Accelerator (poster)

Successful, but some limitations/challenges:

◦ Timetables

◦ Extra costs

◦ Only get “the usual suspects”

◦ Hard to get full engagement Students

Academic Staff

Stuart, M., Lido, C., Morgan, J., Solomon, L. & May, S. (2011).

The impact of engagement with extracurricular

activities on the student experience and graduate

outcomes for widening participation populations.

Active Learning in Higher Education. 12(3), 203-215. Doi:

10.1177/1469787411415081

“Embedded”

Integrate into timetable

Embed in curriculum

◦ Explicitly

◦ Implicitly

“Enterprise-Lessons”

Consumer Psychology

How do people hear about, engage with,

choose, purchase, use, talk about, and

dispose of STUFF.

“What is Consumer Psychology?”

• New product design

• Product / Brand perceptions

• Marketing strategy

• Development of new marketing brief

• Consumer-oriented packaging

• Use of retail spaces

• Consumer exploration of product options

• “Who are your consumers”?

• Stats (age, gender, etc)

• Psychology (“cool”, “caring”, etc)

• “What do they think about your products / services?”

Intersection of psychology, marketing, and business

High-Level Questions

Types of Specific Questions

Consumer Psychology (Theory)

Linking Psych theory with business

Psychological Issues

Perception

Attention

Motor Control

Memory

Emotion

Decision making

Business & Marketing Issues

Product design & innovation

Advertising

Shopping

Preference and choice

Brands

The marketplace

Consumer ethics

Consumer Psychology (Practice)

Applied Consumer Research

Sample projects

New product perception

Assessment of marketing strategy

Development of new marketing brief

Consumer-oriented packaging

Use of retail spaces

In-Store Advertising

Sample Sectors

High tech Food; consumer goods

Clothing Sporting equipment

Entertainment Retail

Consumer Psychology - Two sides to it…

http://thecurrentconsumer.wordpress.com/

Consumer Psychology with Business (MSc/MA)

Consumer Psychology: Applied

Belief: “The only way to get good at something

is to see/do it a hundred times”.

Belief 2: Case study method is good…but…

Belief 3: Better to work on local issues

Belief 4: Get involved and get useful!

Assignment and Deliverables

Task

Find a local company

Work with them to address a real challenge

Use (at least) two forms of data

Link to psychological theory

AND: be a consultant / meta-consultant

Deliverables

Proposal

Final Powerpoint presentation

Formal written report

How would YOU address these challenges?

See a series of projects

How might you address them?

What skills are required?

DIMENSIONS

HEALTH STORE

Dimensions Challenges

Three masters students

◦ Julian Smitter

◦ Katharina Schultz-Ebert

◦ Franziska Homann

Discussions, interviews, research

◦ “Not enough customers…”

◦ “In-store experience is not great…”

◦ “Website doing nothing…”

Dimensions Approach

“Not enough customers”

• briefing with management

arrangements

• analysing data

semi-structured interview • analysing data

focus group

• meeting with management

de-briefing

• Food stand

• Playful shop front

Appearance (shop front)

• Food tastings

• Cooking classes Marketing

• Bar Uno, Blue Sky Cafe

• Hog Soc Cooperation

Dimensions Approach

“Not enough customers”

“In-store experience”

“website”

Challenge 2: Waitrose

Waitrose: A range of challenges

The Effect of Sustainable Packaging on

Consumers’ Perceptions of Quality and Value

Applied Projects – Past 3 Years Cadbury/Kraft

Penrhyn Castle (National Trust)

Mostyn Art Gallery (Llandudno)

“Catalyst” / Total Foods

Marketing

Yo Mamma Restaurant

Us Unlimited Shop

Tyddn Mon - Menai Compost

Project

Gwynedd Museum and Art

Gallery

Communities-first students

attitudes

IT Support and Desires for

Students

Dimensions Health Food Store

Shop Viv (high street)

Ibawab (local start-up)

Ogwen Mountain Rescue

Deiniol Shopping Centre

• BBC Wales

• SmartKem (St Asaphs)

• Bangor SU Nightclub Design

• Bangor SU Communication

Strategy

• Bangor International Office

• Bangor Biocomposites

• Teras Bar

• Maes Glass

• Gelart Clothing

• Adams Clothing

• Halfords Automotive

• SPI Play

• Arquest

• PPM Technologies

• Blah-d-blah Media

• Elysium Water Technologies

What do the students think?

◦ “…made me more employable by allowing me to work with real companies and tackle their problems.”

◦ “…learned how to work with businesses…”

◦ “…learned how to plan projects…”

◦ “…learned to work together in a group…be aware of other’s needs.”

◦ “learned how to create a hypothesis and build an experiment”

◦ “learned how to find your participants and collect data”

◦ “…learned how to present results…”

◦ “…final report will add tremendously to my CV in the form of work example and portfolio.”

Summary of Skills Learned • Project Management

• Interviewing

• Scheduling

• Data collection & synthesis

• Presentation

• Writing

• Technical skills

• Consulting skills

• Content for CV

• Broader social network

• Personal Skills

Self-direction

Independence

Interdependence

Empowerment

Benefits all around

Students Gain

The University Gains

The Community Gains

Challenge: Crafting This for You?

“OK, sounds great… but, that was ‘consumer

psychology’… how can WE do that HERE?”

Things to remember:

◦ Businesses / humans want help!

◦ Businesses / humans like to help students!

◦ “University” name carries weight

◦ Assistance (free!) is a breath of fresh air

Summary

Traditional university training falls short

Enterprise education/skills needed

Extracurricular possible…but challenges

Possible to integrate

When integrated

◦ Students gain skills, CV, etc (LOTS)

◦ University gains (LOTS)

◦ Community gains

You can do it too!

James Intriligator - jamesi@bangor.ac.uk

Thanks!