guest article by Mark Rosenbaum
Although some reality-based television programs are mindless, sexually provocative programming, this conclusion does not hold true across the board for the programming genre. Students who watch reality programming are often able to think beyond the surface entertainment to perceive the underlying political, client, relational (i.e., patterns of cooperation and defection; Salter, 2012), strategic (Strauss, 2011), and marketing (Silverstone, 2007) messages. In addition, social marketers have concluded that television viewing may positively improve consumer socialization (O’Guinn & Shrum, 1997), by showing how reality programming can be directed toward transforming human and societal well-being. For example, Ganeshasundaram and Henley (2009) find that 93% of respondents who watched the reality program Supernanny perceived it as useful in terms of changing their behaviors and their children’s behaviors in positive ways.
Audiences tend to find the setting and situations of reality programs novel enough to be stimulating but familiar enough to produce “an imaginary participation” in them (Rose & Wood, 2005, p. 290). Therefore, educators can transform their courses from an instructor-centered focus on teaching to a learner-centered model focused on creative-based problem solving (Silverstone, 2007; Strauss, 2011).
The Apprentice seems to be the most extensively researched reality program for enhancing marketing curricula. The Apprentice series focuses on teams engaged in product promotion, so its usage in management and advertising courses is widespread. Some schools opt to base assignments on specific episodes. For example, educators from National University show The Apprentice in advertising classes to help students understand the practical applications of marketing concepts (Silverstone, 2007). Likewise, Eisner (2006) used the show in an undergraduate management course to facilitate student presentations, in-class discussions, memo submissions, essay writing, and career development events.
Other marketing educators (e.g., Schoenbachler, Fredericks, & DeMoranville, 2004) have successfully modeled marketing capstone courses using The Apprentice. Indeed, because marketing can be conceptualized as “the process of offering creative solutions to consumer problems” (Titus, 2000, p. 225), Strauss (2011) contends that an undergraduate marketing capstone course that parallels The Apprentice in format is opportune pedagogy for professional schools because it actively engages students with real marketing problems.
Incorporating Reality Television into Retailing and Services Marketing Courses
This article expands on Strauss’s (2011) perspective by arguing that reality business programming may also benefit students enrolled in undergraduate retailing and services marketing courses by helping them learn how to solve problems that retail organizations regularly confront. Table 1 shows the reality programming the author incorporated into lecture discussions and individual homework assignments for an undergraduate retailing and services marketing course, respectively, at a large midwestern university and a hospitality-focused college in Romania.
| Table 1.Reality Television Guide for Undergraduate Retailing or Services Marketing Courses | ||
| Reality Program | Program’s General Concept | Recommended Uses for Course Topics |
| Bar Rescue | Jon Taffer, a nightclub expert, assumes managerial responsibilities at struggling bars. | Failures typically stem from owners and employees not understanding their roles and permitting their bars’ physical environment to become unwelcoming. |
| Caught Red Handed | Follows undercover store detectives in service settings. | Students learn how a team of undercover store detectives helps large stores discover and handle shoplifting suspects. |
| Hotel Hell | Gordon Ramsey consults withstruggling hotels and implements solutions. | Gordon’s direct and forward perspectives add real-life experiences to services marketing courses, especially those that cater to hospitality students. |
| Hotel Impossible | Anthony Melchiorri, a hotel consultant, consults on struggling hotel properties. | Owners are usually oblivious to negative comments from TripAdvisor.com. Opportunity to blend online commentary with real-life examples. |
| Restaurant Impossible | Robert Irvine turns around faltering restaurants in two days with only $10,000. | Episodes show that owners often lack experience or are resistant to change. Many failures stem from servicescape and product issues. |
| Kitchen Nightmares | Award-winning chef, Gordon Ramsey, consults with struggling restaurants. | Episodes show that owners and management often ignore problems in service delivery, until bankruptcy nears. |
| Mystery Diners | Undercover operatives go into restaurants, bars, and food establishments with hidden cameras to perform surveillance. | Each episode highlights happenings when the owner/manager is away. The show highlights the importance of service training and mystery shoppers. |
| Tabatha Salon Takeover (seasons 1–3) | Tabatha Coffey assumes managerial responsibilities at struggling hair salons. | Stresses the importance of the physical environment in a service-intensive industry. |
| Tabatha Takes Over (season 4) | Tabatha Coffey assumes managerial responsibilities at small service organizations. | Shows the challenges of operating small businesses. Failures typically stem from owners not understanding their business. |
| Undercover Boss | A firm’s chief executive officer goes undercover on the front line to discover strengths and weaknesses. | The service-oriented episodes can be used to show that most frontline problems do not reach top management. Most problems stem from service intermediaries (i.e., franchise owners) not adhering to corporate policies. |
Although other reality shows can also be employed in retail and services courses, all the reality programs illustrated Table 1 are based on focal characters solving problems in retailing organizations, such as restaurants, bars, hair salons, hotels, and family-owned businesses. The table also provides insights into each show’s purpose and the typical problems solved by the expert consultant host. Overall, by selecting an array of different reality shows, educators can easily intertwine reality business programming into retailing and services marketing curricula.
The discussion has offered support for the contention that reality business television programming has merit in retailing and services marketing business curricula. The following section presents an assignment that marketing educators can employ to encourage students to engage in critical thinking when analyzing a reality business program and then discusses students’ reactions to the assignment.
Reality Television Assignment for Retailing and Services Marketing
The author developed the following assignment to encourage undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in a services marketing course and undergraduate students enrolled in a principles of retailing course to engage in critical thinking, which is simply “the ability to analyze and evaluate information” (Duron et al., 2006, p. 160). The assignment incorporates Bloom’s (1956) theory of critical thinking, which identifies three domains, or categories, of learning: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective. Within the cognitive domain, Bloom identifies six successive stages of learning, including the lower-order learning of knowledge, comprehension, and application and the higher-order learning of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Nentl & Zietlow, 2008). The stages were modified in the 1990s, which resulted in the six categories being changed from noun to verbs and in a slight rearranging of the categories (Forehand, 2005). This revision yielded Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy.
Table 2 illustrates the proposed reality business program assignment that incorporates each of the six categories and which the author employed in undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in both the United States and Romania. In the following section, each of the assignment’s questions is discussed in more detail on the basis of Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy.
Remembering
In this learning stage, students show knowledge by remembering or retrieving previously learned material. Thus, in the proposed assignment, students are asked to list at least 10 problems that are causing service failures at Company X. Instructors fill in “Company X” with an actual firm highlighted in a particular reality program.
Understanding
In this stage, students are asked to demonstrate their ability to grasp conceptual meaning (Nentl and Zietlow, 2008) by explaining what is happening. Thus, in the assignment, the instructor asks students to explain their previous answer by classifying each of the problems listed into the service mix—namely, to recognize problems as related to issues with people, processes (i.e., operations), or physical environmental stimuli. This question permits students to differentiate problems by categorizing them into the service mix components, which are typically under managerial control.
Applying
In this stage of learning, students are encouraged to apply knowledge from a retailing or services marketing theory, framework, or classroom discussion to explain why several of the problems are occurring in the episode. For example, students may be asked to “use examples from the servicescape framework or the gaps model (Zeithaml et al., 2013) to explain why many customers are avoiding the bar.” In summary, instructors ask students to use concepts discussed in class to explain why a focal retail organization is experiencing service failures.
Analyzing
This stage of learning requires students to break down a complex problem into different parts and to determine the relationships between those parts (Nentl & Zietlow, 2008). Thus, the corresponding question on the assignment asks students to examine each of the 10 problems they listed and to analyze in-depth why the problem is occurring.
Evaluating
At this higher level of learning, students are asked to combine parts to form a new whole—namely, to recommend a solution to a problem. Thus, the next question asks students to develop management strategies for solving each of the problems listed in the first question.
Creating
At the highest level of learning, students are asked to construct or to create something new, essentially to combine parts to form a new whole. For example, in the assignment, a student is asked to do the following:
Imagine that you are a manager of a service-oriented firm, such as a retail, hospitality, transportation, financial, insurance, or food/beverage organization. Develop a set of procedures that you design and you will adhere to, which will help prevent you from encountering problems and issues that you just witnessed in this episode.
Students are encouraged to keep a journal during the semester to record their answers to this question so that they can evaluate how they are developing as future managers.
| Table 2.Reality Television Programming Assignment and Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy |
| Level of Learning | Learning-Level Goal | Reality Assignment Question |
| Remembering | Remember previously learned information. Use verbs such as define, list, or recall. | List at least 10 problems that are causing service failures at Company X. |
| Understanding | A student’s ability to explain ideas or concepts. Use verbs such as classify, describe, discuss, explain, or identify. | For each of the problems you listed in the previous question, classify the problem into the service mix. |
| Applying | A student uses the information in a new way. Use verbs such as choose, demonstrate, solve, use, or write. | Use theory x, framework x, or a particular aspect of a class discussion to explain why several of the problems in Company X are occurring. |
| Analyzing | A student distinguishes between the different parts. Use verbs such as examine, compare, contrast, or differentiate. | Examine each of the 10 problems you listed and analyze why the problem is occurring. Please make sure that you offer an in-depth analysis for each of the problems you listed in question #1. |
| Evaluating | A student creates a variety of ways to solve a problem. | Develop management strategies for solving each of the problems listed in question #1. |
| Creating | A student creates a new product or a point of view. Use verbs such as construct, create, design, or develop. | Imagine that you are a manager of a service-oriented firm, such as a retail, hospitality, transportation, financial, insurance, or food/beverage organization. Develop a set of procedures that you design and you will adhere to, which will help prevent you from encountering problems and issues that you just witnessed in this episode. |
Summary
Although this study focuses on retailing and services marketing courses, the reality television assignment put forth in this article can be applied to other marketing courses, including consumer behavior, advertising and promotion, and marketing strategy. Any reality television show that focuses on understanding distressed service and retail businesses (e.g., failing hair salons, restaurants, bars, hotels), consumer crime (e.g., shoplifting), or specific industries (e.g., restaurants, pawn shops, used cars) can provide marketing students with a means to apply marketing concepts to real-life situations and to acquire experience by self-reflecting how they would confront and solve dilemmas posed in reality programs.
Mark S. Rosenbaum, Ph.D.
Fulbrighter
Kohl’s Corporation Professor of Retail Marketing
Northern Illinois University
References
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