MAB1 Consumer Behaviour

• Topics

  This course is an introduction to consumer behavior theories and their application in marketing strategies. Students will develop an understanding of how consumers think, feel, and act in the marketplace. Through a combination of theoretical frameworks and practical cases and exercises, students will develop an understanding of the consumers’ decision-making process, and how this is influenced by internal factors (psychological processes) and external factors (social and cultural conditions). The course addresses emerging topics in the field of consumer behavior, such as ‘digitalization of the customer journey’ and ‘sustainable consumer behavioral change’.

  Broadly, the course is divided into three main parts: 1) The psychological core of consumers, 2) The consumer decision-making process, and 3) The social and cultural influences on consumer behavior. The key questions that are addressed in each par are as follows:

  1. The psychological core of consumers

  • How do consumers perceive and interpret information?
  • How is information stored in, and retrieved from, memory?
  • What motivates consumers to make decisions?
  • How do consumers’ self-concept, personality and values influence decisions?

  2. The consumer decision-making process

  • How do consumers form attitudes, and how are attitudes influenced by marketing communication?
  • What are the steps in the decision-making process?
  • What are the boundaries for rational decision-making?
  • What are the simplifying strategies that consumers use to make decisions?
  • How can marketers "nudge" consumers to change their behavior?

  3. The social and cultural influences on consumer behavior

  • What is the influence of groups on consumer behavior?
  • How do families make decisions?
  • What is the role of social media in consumer behavior?
  • What is the role and influence of social class in consumer behavior?
  • How does culture (and subcultures) influence consumer behavior?

• Learning outcome

  Knowledge

  Upon course completion, the students will be able to:

  • Explain market segmentation.
  • Understand the stages of consumers’ decision-making process.
  • Explain how consumers perceive, learn from, and store information.
  • Understand what drives motivation to make decisions.
  • Understand attitude formation.
  • Describe different types of decisions and decision-making rules.
  • Understand social and cultural influences on consumer behavior.
  • Describe emerging trends in consumer behavior (e.g., digital technology, sharing economy, sustainability).
  • Discuss ethical issues in marketing and consumer behavior.

  Skills

  Upon course completion, the students will have developed the skills of:

  • Dividing a market into subsets of consumers with common characteristics that can be targeted with specific marketing mix strategies.
  • Categorizing and analyzing decisions making processes.
  • Creating a customer journey map.
  • Creating a plan for influencing consumers’ decisions.
  • Evaluating the ethical aspects of consumer behavior.

  General competence

  Upon course completion, the students will be able to:

  • Apply knowledge about consumer behavior in practical cases.
  • Develop reports on findings from consumer behavior analyses.
  • Identify emerging phenomenon and analyze their implications for consumer behavior.

• Teaching

  The course uses a combination of plenary lectures, group workshops and supervision.

• Compulsory Activity

  Individual test for course approval.

• Assessment

  Oral group presentation in English. The presentation will last 15 minutes, followed up by a 10 minutes discussion with the assessors. The group size is restricted to 3-6 students. All group members receive the same grade. 

• Grading Scale

  A-F

• Literature

  Course curriculum will be available in Leganto.