MKT3812 was a 3K Marketing Module that I took to fulfil my Marketing Specialization. This was a module only offered in Semester 2, and was a relatively small (~30 students) class taught by Prof Lim alongside a TA.
If you are taking a second major in economics, I highly recommend taking MKT3812 alongside EC3101, because both modules teach similar contents relating to game theory.
Some of the main topics covered included:
- Static Games: Pure & Mixed Strategy, Cournot Model, Bertrand Model, Stackelberg Model, Subgame Perfect Equilibrium.
- Dynamic Games: Strategic Commitments, Complements & Substitutes
- Repeated Interactions: Pricing Dynamics & Pricing Competition
- Aymmetric Games: Price Discrimination,Screening and Signalling.
Btw all these contents are also covered in EC3101 LOL. As I took both modules in the same semester, it felt like I was learning the same concepts for both classes, though EC3101 was more maths-heavy in the game theory concepts. This really helped solidify my understanding of the topics + studying for EC3101 felt like I was studying for MKT3812 too :D.
The grading criteria for MKT3812 are as follows:
Individual
- Class/Forum Participation (Individual) 15%
As this was a game theory class, the fun part of MKT3812 was that we got to play various games in class (relating to game theory ofc). Class participation comes in the form of active participation in class games, PollEv, forum posts. Every week before class, Prof Lim likes to do a recap of what was done the previous class through PollEv, so if you are taking this class, make sure that you do a quick glance through of your lecture notes before class! For Forum posts, the TA randomly posts questions relating to the topic of the week, etc Give a real-life example of strategic complements/ substitutes. A relatively easy component to score and easy to answer if you have done a bit of readings/ studying!
2. Test 1 (Week 5) 25%
Test 1 was an open ended 5-questions exam covering the first half of the semester, done through a hybrid format (workings on pen-and-paper + keying answers in examplify). Prof Lim provides multiple mock test papers and solutions before Test 1. As far as I remember, we had a couple of exercises and mock tests on Pure Strategy + Mixed Strategy Nash Equilibrium. We were expected to complete them before class ( + Submit on Luminus (optional) for her to look through), as she will go through the solutions in class.
Similar questions from the mock tests came out for Test 1. As mentioned earlier, I took EC3101 in the same semester as well. Therefore, I also studied EC3101 materials + did the problem sets on Nash equilibrium (you can easily find them on the NUS BOX folders). If you feel that the mock tests and exercises are not sufficient, I advise you to look out for EC3101 problem sets as practice materials too.
Everyone did pretty well for Test 1, I believe the average was around 21/25.
3. Test 2 (Week 11) 30%
Test 2 was also similar to Test 1, though it was a paper-and-pen exam. Content were not cumulative, and we were only expected to study for topics after recess week. (Repeated Interactions and Asymmetric Games).
Since the class did well for Test 1, I remember Prof Lim stating that she will make Test 2 harder. Regardless, we were still given a lot of practise materials and mock papers to study for Test 2. In fact, some of the questions from the mock paper (though modified), came out for Test 2. Likewise, I recommend you to go the the EC3101 BOX folder and download some problem sets for practise.
Group Project
The group project task us to examine a marketing-related issue or situation of strategic relevance with an Asian flavour, using the game theory framework. We were expected to showcase game theory concepts, for instance PROPs framework or any other game-theoretic framework developed throughout the course.
Some examples of past projects were on Shopee & Lazada, Guardian & Watson, LiHO & GongCha.
4. Proposal (Group) 5%
This is a 1-page group proposal regarding your proposed topic and project scope. There wasn’t a fixed template or guideline about what this proposal should contain, therefore, my group just placed a short summary of our project idea and the game theory tools that we will employ:
- Introduction
- Background of Company 1 and 2
- PROPS framework
- Prisoners’ Dilemma
- Bertrand Model (if any)
- Long term interactions (Pricing Dynamics)
- Long-Run Analysis
P.S. This was the flow that my group adopted. You dont have to follow this flow as it very much depends on your chosen topic as well as the game theoretic framework that your group wish to adopt. Regardless, I’ll be placing this here for your reference as my group got full marks for this component.
5. Presentation (Group) 20%
Instead of a live presentation, we were expected to film our presentation and upload it on LumiNUS by week 12. (as there were no classes in Week 12) Since there were no actual report to be done except for the short 1-page brief above, we were expected to showcase the group idea using game theoretic frameworks, through our presentation. As the class will be expected to critique our presentation in Week 13, we were told to make our presentation as clear and concise as possible. The project will be assessed primarily by its accuracy, novelty of the examples, and the delivery of the presentation.
A few weeks later, Prof Lim will release the final grade of the project as well as critique (if any) through email. Not sure how the others fared, but my group got A+ overall with somehow 0 critiques from our classmates.
6. Critique 5%
After every group has submitted their project video on LumiNUS, we were expected to write a short 1-page critique on any group, stating their strengths and weaknesses. This was in Week 13 and there were no classes for the week.
Thoughts:
Though this may sound biased (I am an econs major afterall), I really enjoyed this module, especially time spent playing games in this class HAHA. It really helped that there were a lot of overlapping content between MKT3812 and EC3101, which made it so much easier to study for this module. The project component was also quite chill, in fact, my group procrastinated until Week 11 to do the slides and record the presentation, and we still fared well for the overall project component. As mentioned earlier, even the tests were rather manageable, as long as you grind through the mock papers (+ pro tip: do some EC3101 problem sets) I do find this module really manageable, though it might not be the same for non-econs students. In fact, do take note that MKT3812 do contain maths and calculations, though not as intense as in EC3101. Do read up on other reviews on MKT3812 as well before making your decision 🙂
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