Consumer Behaviour

Course content

• Consumer needs and motivations
• Decision making and product choice
• Personality and perception
• Consumer learning
• Attitudes and attitude change
• Communication and Consumer Behavior
• Reference Groups and Family Influences
• Social Class and Consumer Behavior
• The Influence of Culture and Subculture on Consumer Behavior
• Adoption and the diffusion of innovations

Knowledge

After finishing the course students should be able to explain the most central concepts within the field of consumer behavior, and have a basic understanding of consumer research as an academic discipline. Moreover, the students should be able to understand the complexity of the consumer decision-making process, and the variables that influence the consumer in different choice situations.

Skills

By the end of the semester, students should be able to apply different theories and models to explain and understand the processes that drive consumers towards choosing one product over another, in addition to the processes that evolves post-purchase and influence future purchasing behavior. It is also reasonable to require that students gain an understanding of different moral and ethical dilemmas that can surface when marketers are directing their activities towards consumer markets, and how knowledge on how consumers think, feel and behave be helpful in such instances.

General competence

When finishing the course, students should be able to ask critical questions to, and elaborate on, central premises and assumptions that the field of consumer behavior is based on.

The course will be taught in modules, and will be a combination of lectures, group work, case discussions, and student presentations.