Salil Khetani

I find teaching fulfilling and I am passionate about marketing. I have therefore combined the two and made it my career! I have four years of experience in higher ed and seven years of industry experience in sales and marketing. My specific research interest within the field of marketing is in the field of Consumer Behavior. I am interested in studying the societal impacts on individuals that form their attitudes about products.

Courses Taught

• Marketing (MKT 200) – Introduction course to marketing that covers a broad range of marketing topics to get students acquainted with the field of marketing.
• Consumer Behavior (MKT 325) – Covers various aspects of understanding consumer psychology through established consumer theories with a focus on application of those theories.
• Personal Selling (MKT 345) – Covers the entire cycle from lead generation to closing the sale. Through graded roleplays and a sales pitch contest, students are taught the behavioral and managerial aspects of a salesperson’s profession.
• Digital Marketing (MKT 350) – Getting students acquainted with the latest practices in marketing which are largely of digital nature. The course is divided into 4 modules: customer engagement, e-commerce, digital advertising, and analytics.
• Integrated Marketing Communication (MKT 410) – Covers both traditional (Advertising, PR, Sales Promotions) and digital (Social Media, Content Marketing, Display Advertising, SEO) aspects of communication with the target customers.
• Managerial Marketing (GSB 551) – MBA course that that focuses on the managerial aspects of marketing by training students in critical as well as creative thinking to make effective, professional, and ethical decision makers. Strong emphasis on classroom participation through case discussions and interactive lectures.

Service

• Faculty Co-Advisor for the student organization – 'Berg Enactus at Heidelberg University. ‘Berg Enactus is a part of the international organization, Enactus that supports and rewards student entrepreneurs for taking on projects that benefit the society and the environment. My task is to guide students to take up and implement projects to tackle community problems such as homelessness, human trafficking, disability awareness, and water quality.
• Faculty Co-Advisor for the Business Students Advisory Group (BSAB) I am a co-advisor to a select group of student leaders who are representatives of students in the school of business.
• Associate Editor for the peer-reviewed journal – Business Perspectives and Research

Publications

• Banker, Sachin, and Salil Khetani (2019). “Algorithm Overdependence: How the Use of Algorithmic Recommendation Systems Can Increase Risks to Consumer Well-Being”, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing.
• Co-authored an article – Overcoming Mask Reactance that appeared in The Hindu Business Line (National and mainstream newspaper in India) Newspaper on August 10, 2020.

Teaching Philosophy

The keyword I keep in mind while teaching students or designing a course is “enabling”. I believe students will enjoy the class and gain the maximum out of it if I can enable to think on their own, form opinions, and do not feel shy to express them in class. This feeling of empowerment will encourage them to show up to class with a positive frame of mind. I also believe that there are no wrong opinions in marketing or business if you can justify them. Keeping this in mind, my efforts will be to create an environment within class where students feel comfortable and empowered to apply marketing concepts.

Salil Khetani CV