Most marketing action is aimed at consumers. Without an understanding of the consumer, the application of marketing tools is unlikely to yield the desired outcomes. This module develops a useful, conceptual understanding of consumer behaviour as a main consideration in marketing. The course addresses the topic mainly from a psychological perspective and offers first-hand experiences in a consumer research project. Overall, the course provides frameworks that enable students to address the issue of understanding consumers responsibly, systematically, and creatively.

After successful completion of this course students:

1. have extensive knowledge of the interdisciplinary research area of consumer behavior and its diverse fields of application.
 
2. are able to adequately use the internationally used English terminology.
 
3. understand the dynamic interplay of factors that influence consumer behavior and the resulting complex challenges for marketing practice.
 
4. have gained a sound and theory-based understanding of themselves and others as consumers and can derive adequate action needs (e.g., market research needs, customer journey implications, awareness of ethical challenges, impact analysis requirements) from this reflection.
 
5. are able to conduct effective group work. 
 
6. are able to locate relevant academic and practitioner literature, critically review it, and translate it into recommendations for action.
 
7. are able to understand and present empirical research in a concise and relevant manner.
 
8. are able to analyze case studies and derive deep cross-contextual insights from them.

As this is a highly interactive course, regular attendance and in-class participation are expected. Students are expected to communicate necessary absences such as due to illness in advance and to be present during the final exam. Participation will be evaluated multiple times in each session (see assessment section).

Each session consists of an integrated blend of lecture and seminar elements. Interactive elements intend to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the topic area and the ability to detect and transfer learned concepts to practice. To achieve this goal, a mixture of case studies, discussions, and hands-on exercises is used.

Marks will be awarded for the following components:

10% In-Class Participation

20% In-Class Presentation (Theory-Practice Dialogue)

40% Homework

30% In-Class Assignments

0 - 59 points: failed (5)

60 - 69 points: sufficient (4)

70 - 79 points: satisfactory (3)

80 - 89 points: good (2)

90 - 100 points: excellent (1)

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