Curs 2011-2012
Llicenciatura en Economia
Current Issues in Commercial Management
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Course description
Consumer behavior consists of cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses of consumers to products and services, and to the marketing of those products and services. Every human being is also a consumer, which makes the study of consumer behavior an interesting research domain in itself.
We also look at the domain from two more applied perspectives. First, from a public policy perspective we look at reasoning errors consumers can make, and how they may hurt his/her consumer well being. We also look at the effects of marketing actions and stimuli (advertising, packaging, store environments, ...) and of social influence attempts, and we examine where consumer interests are hurt. The second applied perspective is that of the marketing manager: marketers who understand how consumers think, feel, and act will be able to design more effective marketing programs, and obtain a competitive advantage in the market. The course emphasizes consumer learning, judgment, and decision making, because these areas provide the most important insights for both applied perspectives.
Topic 1
Introduction - The scientific study of consumer behavior.
Topic 2
Attention and comprehension.
Topic 3
Consumer memory.
Topic 4
Consumer judgment.
Topic 5
Consumer choice.
Topic 6
Attitude formation.
Topic 7
Social influence.
Topic 8
Persuasion knowledge.
Topic 9
Consumer motivation and individual differences.
Topic 10
Segmentation.
Topic 11
Product management.
Topic 12
Pro-social consumer behavior.
Topic 13
E-commerce.
Topic 14
Sustainable consumer behavior and social marketing.
Bibliography
KARDES, Frank. "Consumer behavior and managerial decision making". Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 2002.