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MKT46130

Academic Year 2024/2025

Consumer Behavior (MKT46130)

Subject:
Marketing
College:
Business
School:
Business
Level:
4 (Masters)
Credits:
8
Module Coordinator:
Dr Suhas Vijayakumar
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to certain important concepts of consumer behavior and decision making. This course is particularly designed for students of the various MSc Marketing Programs- with focus on equipping them with necessary knowledge and to encouraging them to engage in critical thinking and strategic application of behavioral sciences.

In this course, we will visit various core concepts, theories, and constructs related to consumer behavior, which shape contemporary marketing practices in the marketplace. By understanding various nuances of consumers’ decision making, and, the rationale behind what may at times seem to be counterintuitive behavioral tendencies and responses, students will be positioned to better anticipate and react to various influences on consumers’ decision making. In addition to learning from theory, we will also engage in exercises and activities designed to help the students internalize and critically apply knowledge of consumer behavior to solve actual and/or hypothetical problems.

[Note: A detailed and updated Module Outline will be shared with the enrolled students upon commencement of the module]

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

• Understand certain fundamental theories of consumers’ behavior and decision making.
• Understand concepts of Attitudes and Persuasion.
• Understand and leverage tenets of Prospect Theory and Mental Accounting.
• Understand certain interactions between the society and consumers’ conceptualizations of themselves, in influencing consumers’ actions and choices.
• Develop the ability to leverage knowledge of consumer behavior, to anticipate and take action to solve problems in today’s marketplace.

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Specified Learning Activities

100
Autonomous Student Learning

100
Lectures

24
Total

224

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
The module consists of weekly sessions on Wednesdays and Thursdays (depending upon the cohort) spanning 2 hours. Each session will be a mixture of instructor-led delivery, as well as student involved class participation. Take home exercises and tasks will also be assigned to students after the lecture sessions as a part of continuous ongoing class participation activities. Students will also work in assigned groups throughout the course of the term towards completing their group projects- particularly the middle of the term assignment and the end of term final project. The module expects students to learn primarily through the lectures and class activities, aided supplementarily through self-study driven by their personal interests.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Group Work Assignment: Middle of the Term Group Assignment.
Details will be elaborated in module outline.		 Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7 Graded No

20

 No
Participation in Learning Activities: Class Participation
Details will be elaborated in the module outline.		 Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12 Graded No

20

 No
Group Work Assignment: Final Group Project
Details will be elaborated in Module Outline.		 Week 11, Week 12 Graded No

40

 No
Exam (Open Book): Final Exam consisting of 20 MCQs, to be answered in 60 minutes. Further details and specifications of learning materials allowed (single A4 paper) will be elaborated in module outline. End of trimester
Duration:
1 hr(s)
 Alternative linear conversion grade scale 40% No

20

 No

Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Online automated feedback

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

Each session will have an assigned list of readings. The list consists of textbook chapters, web articles, as well as research articles that have appeared in psych, econ and marketing journals. A detailed session-wise reading list will be shared at a later date upon commencement of the module.
[Note: Most of the research articles can be searched for and accessed through the UCD library.]

Other than the curated articles in the reading list, the instructor would suggest the following as an accompanying book. We may refer to a few chapters from time to time; the book may be useful for students without a prior Marketing or Consumer Behavior background to pick up on some basics, and, the book may also be helpful for the group project for some students.

Book: ‘Consumer Behavior’ (Seventh Edition) by Hoyer, Macinnis and Pieters; Cengage Learning’.
[Note: The UCD Blackrock library has a few copies of this book.]
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