PERSPECTIVES ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR - 2024/5

Module Overview

Consumer Behaviour is evident in everyday life, therefore knowledge and understanding of this subject can be beneficial to personal decision-making as well as to marketing and strategy formulation, both in offline and online environments. The module Perspectives on Consumer Behaviour deals with a range of theoretical, practical techniques in understanding and researching consumer consumption behaviour and how such an understanding can be used to create successful and viable marketing strategies. This module gives students the opportunity to explore theories and leading-edge research findings and apply knowledge by conducting small group discussion and/or activities. Thus, reflective, and critical applications of relevant behavioural, cognitive, and socio-cultural approaches to consumption are discussed.

Module provider

Surrey Business School

Module Leader

ZANASI Filippo (SBS)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

• Introduction to consumer behaviour


• Psychological and personal factors influencing consumer behaviour


• Sociological factors and consumer behaviour


• Individual learning and decision-making in the context of consumer behaviour


• Global and cultural elements of consumer behaviour


• Consumer behaviour in the digital era (e.g. neuro-marketing, AI and consumer behaviour)


• Ethical and sustainable consumer behaviour

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Individual essay in lieu of Group Project.

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding on various consumer behaviour theories, and to critically apply these to investigate consumer behaviour phenomena.

• The group project allows students to reflect on their own behaviour as consumers and explore how they can utilize consumer behaviour perspectives for strategic marketing purposes while safeguarding consumer interests towards responsible marketing practices. Successfully completing the coursework requires persistence to engage in a reflective and analytical process that is needed for generating, applying and evaluating consumer behaviour perspectives.


• The exam involves practical problem-solving and analytical skills through which students are invited to solve and/or analyze marketing challenges and connect theory with practice.

The assessment strategy focuses on evaluating students' critical understanding of consumer behaviour topics and applications, and also provides an opportunity to work with, and to learn from, peers. The assessment components test the outlined learning outcomes.

The summative assessment for this module consists of:

• Group project report (addresses learning outcomes: 2, 3, 4, & 5)


• Online Exam (addresses learning outcomes: 1, 2, 3, & 4)

Formative assessment

Students will receive the assignment topic in the first weeks of the module and are expected to familiarise themselves with it. Prior to the assignment, lecture/workshop time will be spent discussing the assignment requirements, the assessment criteria, and the feedback process. Workshop time devoted to preparing students for the assessments aims to empower students to build self-evaluation into assessment process and to create space for students to reflect on own performance whilst receiving relevant guidance.

Feedback

Verbal formative feedback will also be provided in workshops dedicated to guide the preparation of the assignment. Furthermore, lecture/workshop time will be devoted to preparing students for the exam.

Module aims

• Develop an interdisciplinary and theoretically informed understanding of consumer behaviour
• Examine the managerial significance of consumer behaviour theory
• Enable students to illustrate multifaceted aspects of consumer behaviour in examining marketing problems/challenges

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to enable students to gain deep knowledge of key consumer behaviour concepts and theories, and their application to marketing situations and strategies.

The teaching and learning methods are based on the delivery of lectures and workshops through which students demonstrate the application of theory, team-working, professionalism, confidence and communication skills. Lectures are designed to illustrate and explain theoretical concepts, models and applications of consumer behaviour. Next, such relevant consumer behaviour perspectives are further elaborated and applied in workshops, which aim to demonstrate the practical applications of theoretical concepts/models and the research methods used to study consumer behaviour, as well as to support the assignment and the exam.

Students are encouraged to be active participants in workshops, enabling them to develop as informed, confident, and engaged independent learners. Students are also expected to extend their reading beyond the lectures and to make use of additional material provided to support each topic. Student coursework provides an opportunity for self-directed and peer-supported learning which also aims to maximise student learning by drawing on their own experiences and contributions to group project discussions.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: MANM546

Other information

Employability: This module provides students with a working knowledge of practices and approaches used by marketers in practice and in research. Students are equipped with theoretical and practical problem-solving skills, and transferable competencies that allow them to analyse and explain marketing cases from a consumer behaviour perspective. This is of value to employers as it contributes to understand complex marketing situations and make informed decisions.

Resourcefulness and Resilience: The approach of this module is one where students are experiencing the methods of assessment from both the consumer perspective and the researcher/marketer perspective. As a cohort, students in their group will be sharing consumer behaviour experiences, providing support and empathy, and supporting each other practically. Through these processes students are able to draw upon and develop their own resourcefulness and problem solving and building their own confidence and self-efficacy.

Digital Capabilities: Students will develop the capacity to manage information as well as to communicate with one another and to work collaboratively for their group project using SurreyLearn, Microsoft Teams, and other project management and document sharing platforms. As with all modules, students are expected to engage with online material and resources via SurreyLearn, and other digital platforms. Moreover, sessions dedicated to recent developments to Consumer Behaviour also contributes toward an understanding of how the digital world influences this marketing field and how this knowledge can inform the formulation of marketing strategies.

Sustainability: The module aims to promote reflection on consumer behaviour theories and applications in order to encourage students to analyse real-life marketing situations and apply sustainable business thinking. Ethical and sustainable dimensions underpin this module thus allowing students to explore how consumer insights can inform and lead towards sustainable marketing practices.

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2024/5 academic year.