For­brugerad­færd

Course content

The overall goal of the course is for students to gain a deep, fundamental, both theoretically and managerially relevant, understanding of consumer behaviour, based on psychological, sociological, economic, and cultural perspectives. Moreover, students’ analytical skills are trained by analysing cases, examples, and anecdotes based on the application of theoretical models, concepts, and constructs, and by discussing their commonalities, differences, and potential ambiguities. In addition, students of this course acquire the skills and abilities to contextualize their expert knowledge in consumer behaviour and its study in relation to marketing as a business function, and in relation to the wider context, including society, the environment, and the individual. Overall, this course takes a market-driven perspective on business and management with a focus on the consumer, leaving room for critical reflection of its implications, both more generally and from an ethical perspective.

More specifically, the course will deepen consumer behaviour knowledge gradually in order to build up the foundation based on which students can critically assess the knowledge in relation to the broader context. The course starts with the individual decision-maker, addressing decision-making processes, perceptual processes, learning and memory, attitude and persuasion models, and identity and personality. It then moves on to approach the individual decision-maker embedded in a context influenced by others, addressing the role of groups, social processes, and culture. Considering the ever-increasing role that technology takes in changing the ways and extent of consumption (and as such, business), the course also addresses the digital consumer to touch upon the applicability of well-known theories and the rise of new phenomena currently being studied. Lastly, the course deals critically with the general and ethical implications that (the study of) consumption has vis-à-vis marketing as a business function and the wider context, including environment and society, and vice versa, in order to extend students’ understanding and assessment of critical challenges ahead.