STCO 426 Creating Affiliate Loyalty in a Digital Age

This course is designed to familiarize students with the principles of customer relationship strategies and the means by which organizations develop loyal customers and/or affiliates.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

The purpose of this course is to give the student clear understanding and application tactics for the practices used in creating and cultivating loyalty between organizations and customers. In doing so, the student will gain further understanding for utilization of promotional and interactive communications and new media practices in furtherance of the organizational-affiliate relationship. 

Textbook readings and PowerPoint presentations

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Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (4)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student is required to provide a thread in response to the provided prompt for 3 of the discussions and a video for Discussion: Student Video Introduction. The student must then post 2 replies to classmates’ threads for each discussion. Each discussion has distinct requirements.

Discussion: Student Introduction Video

The student will record a 1-minute video introducing himself/herself to classmates. Each of the 2 replies must be at least 150 words. 

Discussion: Communicating Benefits to Customers: Starbucks Using Digital Technology

The student will respond to the provided prompt with 1 thread of at least 300 words. The student must support his/her assertions with at least 1 scholarly citation and 1 biblical reference in APA format. The student must also reference the provided video at least 2 times in the thread. Each of the 2 replies must be at least 150 words and include at least 1 scholarly citation or 1 biblical reference in APA format. 

Discussion: Shaping Customer Expectations – Chick-fil-A

The student must post 1 thread of at least 200 words. Each of the 2 replies must be at least 100 words. In the thread, the student must support his/her assertions with at least 1 scholarly citation and 1 biblical reference in APA format. Each of the 2 replies must be at least 150 words and include at least 1 scholarly citation or 1 biblical reference in APA format. 

Discussion: AI Crisis Response Simulation

The student will use artificial intelligence to respond to the provided prompt. The prompt must include the original AI-generated content and the student’s edited version, a 24-hour communication plan, and a 200-word reflection. Each of the 2 replies must be at least 100 words. 

Homework Assignments (7)

The student must complete 7 homework assignments. Some homework assignments contain a video to watch before answering questions, while some contain ad images. Each assignment has tabs to click through when answering the questions.

Applied Learning: Target Marketing to Build Customer Base Assignment

This assignment places the student in the role of a marketing specialist. The student will use the information gleaned in this class up to jump into a real-world simulated environment and help grow a company’s customer base through strategic service marketing decisions. The student will analyze the organization, identify target customers, and develop practical strategies that address customer expectations, service design, communication, pricing, and relationship management.

Quiz: Chapters 1-4

This quiz covers the first four chapters of the textbook. It focuses on the customer and both their expectations of what services they should get and how they perceive those services once they receive them.

Quiz: Midterm

This midterm quiz assesses the student’s understanding of how customer expectations and perceptions shape service experiences and overall satisfaction. It evaluates key concepts related to listening to customers through research, managing customer relationships, and effectively responding to service failures through service recovery. The quiz also measures the student’s ability to apply principles of service innovation and service design to create meaningful and high-quality service experiences.

Quiz: Final

The final quiz builds on the midterm quiz by building on the student’s understanding of how service strategies are designed, delivered, and sustained. It touches on employee and customer roles in service delivery, managing demand and capacity, integrated service marketing communications, and the pricing of services. This quiz also covers the financial and economic impact of services as well as the role of artificial intelligence and robotics and how it impacts service experiences. The quiz contains 100 multiple-choice questions, has a time limit of 3 hours and 20 minutes, and allows 1 attempt.