Consumer Behaviour

Module code: MN2121

Understanding consumer behaviour is critical to the successful execution of marketing (and to a certain extent, management) strategy and decisions. The study of consumer behaviour encompasses the processes through which individuals or groups exercise choices, purchase, use, consume and dispose of products, services, experiences and/or ideas.

In this module, you'll look at three perspectives in consumer research:

• classical perspective (cognitive-behavioural)
• historical/cultural perspectives
• political/critical theory perspectives

These research paradigms display different assumptions concerning the way in which we come to define 'consumers', how to understand their 'behaviour', how their consumption choices reflect their everyday life and in what way are the consumers engaged with the marketplace.

As a multidisciplinary subject, the module introduces you to key theories from a range of disciplines (principally marketing, psychology, anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, human geography, economics and philosophy).

Topics covered

• Consumer Motivation, Values and Attitudes
• Consumer involvement and Decision Making
• Cultural impact in consumer behaviour
• Social structures and consumption (class based consumption)
• Gender, Self and Identity and Consumption
• The Cultural Production System
• Politics and Ethics in consumption