Course

Pricing for Marketers

Faculty
Commerce & Business Administration
Department
Marketing
Course code
MARK 4220
Credits
3.00
Semester length
15 weeks
Max class size
35
Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Course designation
None
Industry designation
PCM
Typically offered
To be determined

Overview

Course description
In business, pricing decisions are one of the last to be made and often produce unsatisfactory results. This course will focus on understanding the importance of value when considering price, particularly value as seen from the customer’s perspective. While exploring various formulations for determining price, students will look at how real business decisions influence pricing, and work with local businesses to understand how they formulate pricing strategies.
Course content
  1. The various standard methods for establishing prices and the critiques of these methods
  2. The processes that organizations have for creating pricing strategies and frameworks
  3. Managing pricing strategy and tactics in volatile and dynamic markets
  4. The need to focus on customers’ needs and the value that they perceive in your product or service
Learning activities

The course will involve a blend of lectures, discussions, videos, cases, on-line activities, and seminars. Presentations by students are an integral part of the course.

Means of assessment
Case Studies 20%
Mid-Term Exam 20%
Class Participation 10%
Term Project 30%
Final Exam 20%

 

Students may conduct research as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving humans, which can require obtaining Informed Consent from participants and getting the approval of the Douglas College Research Ethics Board prior to conducting the research.

Learning outcomes
  1. Understand the role of pricing and its determination in business situations 
  2. Explain the various methods that organizations use to determine prices 
  3. Create a pricing strategy for a new as well as an existing product or service
  4. Understand the concept of ‘value-based pricing’ and ‘contextual’ pricing
  5. Explain the impact of discounting on an organization’s margins and profitability
  6. Understand the various responses available to manage competitive pricing pressure
  7. Explain the critical role that pricing determination plays in relation to the other three Ps of marketing
Textbook materials

The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing by Nagel and Holden

Contextual Pricing by Docters et al

Value-Based Pricing by Macdivitt and Wilkinson

Free by Anderson


Or other texts as approved by the Department
Use of Commerce and Business faculty-approved calculators only

Requisites

Prerequisites

MARK 1120 (Introductory Marketing) or permission of the instructor

Corequisites

Courses listed here must be completed either prior to or simultaneously with this course:

  • No corequisite courses

Equivalencies

Courses listed here are equivalent to this course and cannot be taken for further credit:

  • No equivalency courses

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer details for MARK 4220
Athabasca University (AU) AU MKTG 2XX (3)
Capilano University (CAPU) CAPU BMKT 2XX (3)
Coast Mountain College (CMTN) CMTN BADM 2XX (3)
College of the Rockies (COTR) COTR MKTG 3XX (3)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) KPU MRKT 2XXX (3)
North Island College (NIC) NIC BUS 2XX (3)
Simon Fraser University (SFU) No credit
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU BBUS 2XXX (3)
University of Northern BC (UNBC) No credit
University of Victoria (UVIC) UVIC COM 2XX (1.5)

Course Offerings

Winter 2025