Students gather donations for teen families — and learn about consumer behavior

Would you be more likely to donate to a charity if an authority figure told you to? Or would you feel motivated if your peers donated, too?

Those are just two of the questions students in Anderson College of Business and Computing Assistant Prof. Mycah Harrold’s Consumer Behavior course sought to answer this semester for a good cause. In conjunction with their course, students conducted a donation drive to help support Denver’s nonprofit Florence Crittenton Services, part of a nationwide network that offers resources to teen families. Throughout the course, students studied what motivates consumers — and gathered enough donations to fill a Florence Crittenton van to capacity with diapers, clothes and other essentials for young families.

Ellen Van Steenkiste, an exchange student from Belgium studying business at Regis, said the course contributed to the sense of community on campus.

“It feels really great, especially now during Christmas time, Thanksgiving. It's amazing to be able to help people,” she said. “It makes you feel good and creates a sense of community because everyone has tried really hard to get all those donations.”

Throughout the course, students studied the psychology of consumption. The class was split into groups that represented seven levers — or principles — of social influence, including “liking,” which finds that we’re more likely to say yes to someone we like. Then, students designed a campaign, with flyers attached to their donation boxes, based on their lever. Students assigned to the liking lever, for instance, placed their donation box in the St. John Francis Regis Chapel with an image of Mother Teresa front and center. One group, unity, called upon the Regis community to come together for the drive. That box gathered 260 donations.

The students decided they would support the charity as they learned — something that supported Regis’ Jesuit mission.

Harrold, who has been teaching at Regis for two years, said there are several approaches she could have taken to teach this course. But leaning into Jesuit values and serving others adds another layer of learning.

“We’re giving them a chance to get their feet wet as marketers and kind of experience how challenging this is, but for a common goal,” she said. “I think that just adds this extra element of, ‘No, we're learning but in the service of other things.’ And it makes me feel good. And I think it gets them a little bit more engaged.”

Sophomore Stefan Bissonette Gutierrez said the approach was one of the best experiences he’s had in the classroom. He connected the course to the Jesuit value of Men and Women For and With Others.

“There’s a whole van of stuff that will go to people who need it,” he said. “So, even though it’s just a class, we’re still doing something.”

Junior Armando Armas agreed.

“It was cool doing something in the world, rather than just lectures,” he said.

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