The aim of this course is to enable students to identify the major theories of consumer behaviour, and to apply these

theories to understand behaviour at all stages of the consumer experience. By the end of the course, students will be able to: Describe the key components of the decision making process Illustrate the influences on how people acquire information, form attitudes, make choices, translate those choices into behaviour, and evaluate their experiences Predict what people will do in various situations, using major theories of behaviour

The course consists of 36 hours of lectures and 12 hours of classes. You should expect the course (lectures as well as classes) to be interactive and to use the reading, so come prepared. Assessment There are two forms of assessment in the course: a final exam, worth 60% of your grade, and two insight briefs, each worth 20% of your grade. The insight briefs are intended to help you develop your skills of observation and analysis, and to practice applying theory to concrete situations. Each brief should describe an insight about consumer behaviour. The insight may be based on either careful personal observation (not just anecdotes) or on articles that youve read (in which case the original article should be submitted along with the brief. Each brief should be approximately 500 words long (2 pages, 12-point font, double spaced). The briefs will be evaluated based on Their appropriate use of theory Their originality and insightfulness The clarity and precision of the writing

The briefs should be turned in at the beginning of the class on the due dates noted on the course schedule. Late submissions will lose 25% of their grade for each day they are late. More information about the final exam will be provided later in the course.

Week 1
Date July 29 Lecture Introduction and overview: What is consumer behaviour and why do we study it? What kinds of decisions do consumers make, and what processes do they go through? What influences their decisions? How can we study these influences? Whats in the head 1 Basic needs and motives Emotions and the debate over what comes first The emergence of goals (e.g., Expectancy-value theory) Self-efficacy Whats in the head 2 Nonconscious goals Categorizing goals: promotion versus prevention Construal level theory Whats in the head 3 Classical conditioning Observational learning Attitude formation and change Whats in front of the eyes What captures attention Selective preferences Motivation, ability, opportunity to process (MAO) Kenrick, D. T., Griskevicius, V., Neuberg, S. L., & Schaller, M. (2010). Renovating the pyramid of needs: Contemporary extensions built upon ancient foundations. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3, 292-314. Reading (to read before lecture) No class Class

July 30

Doing research and understanding customer motivations Case study: Saxonville Sausage

July 31

Bagozzi&Dholakia (1999) Goal setting and goal striving in consumer behaviour. Journal of Marketing, 63, 20.

Implicit associations (IAT demo and reflection associations versus goals)

August 1

Cacioppo, J. T., Petty, R. E., & Crites, S. L. Jr. (1994). Attitude change. In V. S. Ramachandran (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human behavior (pp. 261-270). San Diego: Academic Press.

Activity: concept learning

August 2

Zweig, Jason (November 19, 2009), "How to Ignore the YesMan in Your Head", Wall Street Journal (Dow Jones & Company), http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703811604 574533680037778184.html

Activity: attitude change factors in advertising

Week 2
August 5 Making decisions 1 Availability heuristic Representativeness heuristic Anchoring and adjustment ***Insight Brief 1 due August 6 Making decisions 2 Endowment effect Feelings influencing judgments Issues of price and cost (Ariely) Having influence Persuasion Reactance Habits Translating thoughts into action Theory of planned behaviour Mindsets Planning Translating thought into action 2 Desire Self-control Ego depletion Schwarz, N., &Clore, G. L. (2007). Feelings and phenomenal experiences. In E. T. Higgins & A. Kruglanski (eds.), Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (2nd ed.; pp. 385-407). New York: Guilford. Cialdini (2001). Harnessing the science of persuasion. Harvard Business Review. Case study: understanding judgment mistakes Case study (TBC): Rudy Wong, Investment advisor Group project: designing persuasive advertising Tversky, A., &Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science, 185, 1124-1131. Activity: Counteracting biases in judgment

August 7

August 8

Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist, 54, 493-503.

The intention-behaviour gap Case study (TBC): If we ran the world

August 9

Baumeister, R. F., Sparks, E. A., Stillman, T. F., &Vohs, K. D. (2008). Free will in consumer behaviour: Self-control, ego depletion, and choice. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 18, 4-13.

Free will versus determinism

Week 3
August 12 Evaluating decisions and actions 1: narrow Cognitive dissonance Social exchange Value from fit ***Insight Brief 2 due August 13 Evaluating decisions and actions 2: broad Relative deprivation Social power Self-perceptions Review and course wrap-up Exam guidance No lecture Final Examination Ashforth, B. E., &Mael, F. (1989). Social identity theory and the organization. Academy of Management Review, 14, 20-39. Research project 2 Harmon-Jones, E. (2012). Cognitive dissonance. In Pashler, H., Crane, F., Kinsbourne, M., &Zemel, R. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Mind. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Research project 1

August 14 August 15 August 16

Group review exercises and exam preparation No class No class