Consumer Behaviour

MBM401B Consumer Behaviour

Spring 2024

Autumn 2024
  • Topics

    A successful marketing strategy must be based on knowledge about consumer behavior. For marketers, the key to successful development of marketing tactics is to understand how consumers think and feel (consumer psychology), how they make their decisions, and what are the main antecedents influencing consumers´ decisions. If a company does not have this insight, their marketing strategy will likely fail, and competitive advantages will evaporate. In a branding perspective, insight into consumer behavior is critical for the understanding of how to position products and services in a market and how to build positive, strong and unique brand associations. The main topics covered in the course are consumer psychology, the process of making decisions, and strategies for influencing/improving decisions made under high and low effort.

    Themes:

    Consumer psychology (Motivation, perception, knowledge, attitudes, memory and retrieval)

    Consumer decision making (problem recognition, information search, judgments and decision, postdecision processes)

    The difference between high-effort and low-effort decisions and how to influence them

    Customer journeys "Nudging" - help consumers to make decisions that are in line with their long-term goals

  • Learning outcome

    After completing the course, students should:

    Knowledge

    • Have knowledge about how consumers make decisions about the acquisition, use, and disposition of goods, services, or other offerings
    • Have knowledge about the psychological core, and how it influences consumer behavior
    • Have knowledge about the differences in decision-making under high and low effort
    • Have knowledge about how consumer behavior is influenced by culture
    • Have knowledge about consumers' adoption processes of innovations
    • Have knowledge about new consumer trends (e.g. sharing economy, sustainable consumption, the experience economy etc.)

    Skills and competence

    • Be able to use knowledge about consumers' decision making to develop marketing strategies and tactics
    • Be able to develop specific strategic interventions to influence how consumers make decisions under high and low effort
    • Be able to analyze and deal critically with various sources of information about consumers and markets, and to use this information to structure and formulate scholarly arguments
    • Be able to use relevant methods for consumer research and scholarly work in an independent manner
    • Be able to carry out an independent, limited research or development project under supervision and in accordance with applicable norms for research ethics
    • Be able to communicate about academic issues, analyses and conclusions in the field, both with specialists and the general public

  • Teaching

    Plenary sessions and group meetings (physical). There will be no recording.

  • Required prerequisites

    None.

  • Credit reduction due to overlap

    None.

  • Compulsory Activity

    Multiple choice test

  • Assessment

    Written group-based term paper (60%) and oral presentation of the term paper (40%)

    The term paper assignment will be handed out at the start of the semester, and students work with the term paper continuously throughout the term.

    Term paper and oral exam are in English.

    Groups should consist of 3-6 students.

  • Grading Scale

    A - F

  • Computer tools

    None.

  • Literature

    Hoyer, W. D., MacInnis and Pieters, R. (2013). Consumer Behavior, International edition 7th edition, South-Western, Cengage Learning, US.

    Selected articles.

Overview

ECTS Credits
7.5
Teaching language
English.
Semester

Autumn. Will be offered autumn 2023

Course responsible

Professor Siv Skard, Department of Strategy and Management