Dr Heather Kappes NAB5.04

This course is available on the MSc in International Management, MSc in Management, MSc in Management (CEMS MIM), MSc in Management and Strategy and MSc in Management, Organisations and Governance. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

For many companies, non-profit organisations, and political figures, success relies on understanding the “consumers.” What is it that they really want, and why? What information will they attend to, and what will they ignore? How do they make decisions, why do they sometimes make bad ones, and how can we help them make better ones? It can be tempting to answer these questions intuitively, based on your own experiences as a consumer. However, intuitions about human psychology are often wrong.

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. Topics include:

• Chronic and temporary sources of customer needs, desires, and motivations
• How customers search for information, acquire, and process information
• How customers allocate attention and how to attract it
• Customer decision-making processes, and the heuristics and biases that play a role
• The formation of attitudes and intentions, and processes for persuasively changing them
• Social influences on intentions and behaviour, including unconscious determinants
• Why intentions are or are not translated into behaviour, and what strategies can be used to narrow the intention-behaviour gap.

30 hours of lectures in the LT. 3 hours of lectures in the ST.

Students on this course will have a reading week in Week 6, in line with departmental policy.

Formative feedback will be provided on a short (1000 words) draft of the essay. In preparation for the oral presentation, you may request formative feedback on a draft of your slides and/or a presentation outline; this feedback may be provided in writing or face-to-face depending on your preference.

Consumer Behavior, 6th edition. Hoyer, MacInnis, & Pieters. South-Western Cengage Learning, 2010;

Consumer Behavior: How Humans Think, Feel and Act in the Marketplace. Mittal et al. Open Mentis Publishing, 2008;

Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being, 9th edition. Solomon. Prentice-Hall, 2010;

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Cialdini, Robert. Collins Business, 2006.

Exam (50%, duration: 2 hours) in the main exam period.
Essay (40%, 2000 words) and presentation (10%) in the LT.

LSE offers two courses addressing consumer behaviour: MG404 Behavioural Fundamentals for Marketing and Management and PS456 Consumer Psychology. MG404 is designed for the students of Management to complement their curriculum, and PS456 targets the (future) decision-makers and advisers in business and organisations dealing with consumers, including non-commercial.
There are some similarities in the content of MG404 and PS456. Broadly, both courses introduce the psychological foundations of consumer behaviour, and are intended to equip students to apply psychological theories to business situations. There are, however, important differences in the orientations of the two courses.
MG404 is intended for students studying management and related disciplines, who want to learn how to influence consumer behaviour (e.g., how to construct persuasive advertising or sway purchase decisions). MG404 introduces the principles of consumer behaviour that firms need to recognize for successfully marketing their products and services, and which consumers themselves can use to make optimal decisions.
PS456 provides a skillset and a toolbox of theories and methods for analysing consumer demand, finding the levers for change and building sustainable business models. For assessment, students chose a real case and write a set of (justified) recommendations to the CEO. PS456 may especially be of interest to students across a broad range of programmes who are interested in developing new modes of relationship with consumers or building sustainable business models as an alternative to the current consumer society.
The courses share some content where appropriate; other content differs in accordance with the different goals of the two courses.