A multiple touch points approach: Teaching marketing to connected students

Authors

Stephen Fanning

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publisher

MAG Scholar

Faculty

Faculty of Business and Law

School

School of Business

RAS ID

19720

Comments

Fanning, S., Cripps, H. & Lambert, C. (2015 June-July). A multiple touch points approach: Teaching marketing to connected students. Paper presented at the MAG Scholar Global Business, Marketing and Tourism Conference 2015, Porto Business School, Portugal.

Abstract

Higher education is evolving from the traditional face-to-face on-campus lecture to a more blended on-campus and online approach. Partly, this new approach is due to the availability and accessibility of new technologies; however, it is also driven by the need to accommodate students who have been socialised in a world of abundant and easily accessible content; a world where social media is central to their lives. It may appear that having online classes is the answer, however, increases in higher education tuition fees have resulted in many students managing study, work, and social commitments. Therefore, a traditional on-campus or online approach does not always provide the ideal model. This paper presents a new ‘multiple touch point approach’ one that is more compatible with contemporary students’ lives. A multiple touch point approach is similar to the approach adopted by omni-channel retailers to today’s connected consumers. Omni channel retailers recognise that consumers are now quite comfortable crossing between traditional and online platforms. Therefore, rather than ask consumers to choose a platform, omni-channel retailers welcome and encourage cross channel behaviour. They also encourage the use of technology to increase consumer engagement and increase the collective knowledge of consumers. When academics adopt a multiple touch point approach they allow students to employ the most suitable platform for their present situation. For example, a student could catch up on a missed lecture online and then attend a face-to-face lecture on-campus. The multiple touch points approach employs technology beyond the distribution of content and whilst the multiple touch point approach fosters learning at an individual level it also harnesses technology to improve the collective learning of the student body. One way to increase collective learning is through increased student engagement with the content. One method to increase student engagement is through crafting assessments that replicate the communication styles of social media. The paper also provides insights for marketing practitioners on the building of engaging content and online communities.

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