MKT 8030 - Market Research in Sustainable Product Design

(3 units)

Traditionally, surveys have been used to identify customer needs and these have been directly translated into product attributes. However, increasingly it is recognized that customers are not always able to articulate their requirements. Although they are able to suggest improvements to existing products, it is particularly difficult for them to identify breakthrough product characteristics. Therefore, this course will concentrate on presenting leading-edge concepts of market research and sustainable product design and giving extensive hands-on experience in identifying the hidden product differentiators. Specifically, the course aims to: explain the link between market research and sustainable product design; cover innovative market research techniques; give students experience of applying methods such as Repertory Grid and ethnographic approaches in real sustainability business contexts; and show how to apply the results of market research into innovative sustainable product design.