Learning

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MN 20546: Consumer Psychology | Term 1 2019–20 Lectures: Weeks 1–11

Sec. A: Tues, 14:15–16:15 (4E 3.38) Sec. B: Fri, 11:15–13:15 (5W 2.4)

Seminars: Weeks 2, 4, 6 Sec. A: Fri, 10:15 (8W 2.20), 11:15 (8W 2.20), 12:15 (8W 2.20)

Sec. B: Tues, 9:15 (CB 4.5), 10:15 (CB 4.5), 14:15 (8W 2.13) Instructor: Dr. Sam Johnson ([email protected]) Seminar Leader: Mrs. Zarema Khon ([email protected]) Learning Objectives: Whatever direction your career takes you, one thing you can be sure of is that you will be dealing with people—a lot. This module asks: How do people work? Using cutting-edge research in cognitive and behavioral science, you will learn how humans make choices. Our core objectives are:

1. To understand the psychological processes guiding human behavior, with particular emphasis on consumers’ psychology.

2. To apply behavioral science to business decisions, especially marketing decisions, so that you can translate ideas into practice.

3. To think critically about quantitative evidence about consumers’ behavior.

Assessment: This module is assessed by coursework (30%) and exam (70%). More details about each of these assessments is provided at the end of the outline. Coursework (30%). The coursework for this unit will be a consulting report (750–1250 words). You have a choice of several different options for this assignment, which are linked to different lectures and therefore to different due dates ranging from 1 Nov to 6 Jan. All options require some data collection and synthesis of theory and practice. By 25 October, you will commit to one of these options and due dates. These deadlines are binding, and changes to your project that would affect your due date need to be supported by a sound argument and approved by me. I aim to return feedback within 2 weeks of your deadline. If you feel you could use the feedback to write an improved report, you will have the option to write a second report on a different topic, and your final coursework mark will be the average of the marks for the two reports. Exam (70%). The exam will be composed of short answer and multiple-choice questions. Content will be drawn from lectures, seminars, and required readings.

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Seminars: Seminars meet in Weeks 2, 4, and 6 and are designed to help you with your coursework project. Students in Section A have lectures on Tuesday and seminars on Friday, whereas students in Section B have lectures on Friday and seminars on Tuesday. Seminar allocations are being made by the timetabling office. These assignments have been posted to Moodle. You must attend your assigned seminar each week. Class Preparation Guides: The week prior to each class period (beginning with Lecture 2), a class preparation guide will be posted to Moodle. This guide will include a series of thought questions and exercises to prepare you for the following week’s lecture session. These also double as study guides, as they are designed to focus your attention on the content that is most likely to appear on the exam. Moodle: This unit is supported through Moodle, the University's virtual learning environment. We will regularly post announcements to Moodle. By default you should receive these announcements by email, but it is your responsibility to check the unit’s Moodle page regularly for announcements and materials. Questions: There are three ways you can ask questions to Zarema and myself. First, we encourage you to use the module’s Piazza website (see below). If you email a question that might be relevant to other students, Zarema and I will generally post our answers to Piazza anyway, so it saves time for everyone if you put your question there directly. Second, if your question is straightforward, you can ask us before or after class; I always try to arrive a few minutes early and stay a few minutes late for questions. Third, you can attend office hours. This is the best option if you have a complicated question. Out of fairness to all students, neither Zarema nor I will give feedback on drafts of coursework, although we are both happy to discuss ideas with you. Piazza: This term we will be using Piazza for class discussion. The system is highly catered to getting you help fast and efficiently from classmates, Zarema, and myself. Rather than emailing questions to Zarema and myself, I encourage you to post your questions on Piazza. We both check Piazza regularly and usually answer questions within 24 hours. This website is fantastic for several reasons. First, if you want to ask a question about lecture or reading content but don’t feel confident enough to bring it up in class or office hours, you can ask it on Piazza (anonymously to your peers if you like), so that I can respond to your question and other people with the same question can see my answer. Second, if you want to ask a question about the coursework, I can give transparent answers that everyone can see, which helps to ensure that things are fair. Third, one of the most exciting features of this website is that students can contribute and discuss answers to one another’s questions, and we strongly encourage you to do so. You can sign up for the Piazza forum at piazza.com/bath.ac.uk/fall2019/mn20546. Required Readings: Psychology: The Comic Book Introduction (by Grady Klein and Danny Oppenheimer) is the “textbook” for this module. This book provides background on basic psychology concepts so that we can focus lectures on more advanced or more applied topics. Other readings will be posted to Moodle, which will be a combination of press or scientific articles, chapters in textbooks or popular science books, videos, and podcasts.

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Optional Readings: The Art of Thinking Clearly (by Rolf Dobelli) is recommended as a supplementary text. This book contains brief, entertaining examples of common errors in thinking that consumers, managers, or anybody else can fall prey to. Other optional readings will be posted to Moodle. You will also want, of course, to consult additional sources on your own to inform your project.

Seminar and Lecture Schedule

Week Session Sec. A (Tues)

Sec. B (Fri)

Topic

1 L 1 Oct 4 Oct The Sciences of Behavior Module Overview; Complex Systems; Behavioral Research

2 L 8 Oct 11 Oct. Motivation Needs; Goal-Pursuit; Personality

S 11 Oct 8 Oct Qualitative Research Techniques

3 L 15 Oct 18 Oct NO CLASS Use class time to collect qualitative data (Bonus lecture to be re-scheduled)

4 L 22 Oct 25 Oct Perception & Action Attention; Perception; Usability

S 25 Oct 22 Oct Quantitative Research Techniques I

5 L 29 Oct 1 Nov Learning Conditioning; Information Search; Memory

6 L 5 Nov 8 Nov Thinking Heuristics; Intuitive Theories; Cognitive Style

S 8 Nov 5 Nov Quantitative Research Techniques II

7 L 12 Nov 15 Nov Decision-Making Value; Risk; Time

8 L 19 Nov 22 Nov Emotion Affect; Sensory Marketing; Aesthetics

9 L 26 Nov 29 Nov Attitudes Attitude Structure; Attitudes & Behavior; Persuasion

10 L 3 Dec 6 Dec Communication Language; Signaling; Word-of-Mouth

11 L 10 Dec 13 Dec Self & Other Morality; Metacognition; Reference Groups

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Coursework Details

Overview: The coursework will be an individual consulting report of 750–1250 words. The objective is to apply the ideas and tools discussed in class hands-on to a real product. You will imagine you have been hired by an organization to make a strategic recommendation. This will require (i) collection of qualitative data to generate ideas; (ii) an analysis that integrates ideas from consumer psychology with some quantitative data (you will be given a choice of several options to help you decide what to focus on); and (iii) a recommendation based on your analysis. Product: For this project, identify a specific product marketed by your client. You may choose a product from any of the following broad categories. (Keep in mind that the project is more fun to think and talk about if you pick a more interesting or unique product!):

• Goods (e.g., Crest toothpaste, Starbucks latte, Apple iPhone, Bosch freezer, Zappos shoes, Peter Max paintings, antique spoons sold on eBay, custom guitar straps sold on Etsy) 


• Services (e.g., dentistry, BSc degree, online brokerage, Dropbox Pro, budget flights) • Experiences (e.g., a J.K. Rowling movie, a resort vacation in Cambodia, a trip to a museum) • Charity (e.g., a donation to Oxfam, volunteering at a homeless shelter) 
 • Ideas (e.g., “climate change is important”, “free markets generate prosperity”) 
 • Policies (e.g., Brexit, nationalizing U.K. railroads, banning plastic straws) • People (e.g., electing Donald Trump or Liberal Democrats, hiring you for a consulting job)

Other appropriate topics may not fit into these categories; feel free to inquire. Project: Once you have decided on a product, you will carry out the following steps: 1. Qualitative Data

Interview (individually or as a group) at least two actual or potential customers. Try to identify a problem with the product’s marketing (broadly construed—this could include the firm’s STP strategy, issues with any element of the marketing mix, etc.) where an understanding of the customer’s behavior can be relevant. Examples will be given in the Week 2 seminar. In your report, write about 100–200 words explaining what the problem is, using comments made by your respondents to motivate your argument.

2. Psychological Analysis

Use (i) ideas from lectures, readings, and the broader research literature and (ii) some quantitative data to generate some insight around the problem you identified. Ideally, you should use consumer psychology principles to generate a hypothesis, collect some data to test the hypothesis, and explain how your data bears on your hypothesis. You can of course use material from the lectures, but ideally you would also include some literature that was not covered directly in class or the required readings. You have many options for what to focus on. At the end of this outline is a list of potential options you may choose. These each correspond to material covered in a particular week of class, and will be discussed in more detail during that class period, along with other potential options. Depending on which week’s material you choose to focus on, the due date will vary between 1 November and 6 January.

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In your report, write about 500–700 words that (i) use consumer psychology concepts to motivate your hypothesis, (ii) explain your data (no need for formal statistical tests, but please provide a figure or table summarizing your data), and (iii) critically evaluate your hypothesis (it’s fine if your hunch was wrong!).

3. Strategic Recommendation

Use your analysis to make a strategic recommendation. In your report, write about 150– 350 words explaining your recommendation, why you think your analysis supports it, and why it would help your client to achieve their goals.

Report FAQ: What is the word limit?

The word limit is 750–1250 words. This does not include cover or title pages, references, figures or tables, or (optionally) any appendices. Reports outside the word limit but within a 5% buffer will not be penalized as long as the writing is concise.

When, where, and in what file format is my report due?

Your report is due to Moodle as a PDF file by 11:59pm on the date given in the table below. How should I format the report?

I am not fussy about format (as long as it’s presentable and consistent), but it’s hard to go wrong with single-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman type and APA referencing style. If you need to make a graph, Excel can make nice ones.

Can I include appendices? What would I want to include?

Yes, but this is not required and your report must stand independently of them. That is, your appendices can supplement your overall story and provide more details, but your report must present a coherent narrative on its own. In this sort of assignment, students sometimes submit transcripts of interviews, methodology details (e.g., lists of questions asked in a survey or materials used in an experiment), more detailed quantitative analysis of the data, or mock- ups of potential recommendations (e.g., a proposed alternative layout for a store or a storyboard for an ad). Such appendices can be helpful if they help to flesh out (but not replace!) arguments from the report. However, they usually do not make a large contribution to an assignment’s mark and you can get an excellent mark without including any appendices.

What background should I assume that the reader has?

Keep in mind that this is supposed to be a report for a consulting client. You can assume your client knows basic things about marketing (e.g., you don’t have to define the term “segmentation”), but you should assume no background in psychology. Write in a way that your roommate or grandmother could understand; avoid technical terms as much as possible, and if you use psychology jargon be sure to define it.

Feedback and Second Attempt: I will endeavor to get your work back within 2 weeks of your deadline. If you don’t like the mark you get the first time, you may submit a second report, corresponding to a different option in the table below. (Keep in mind that you need to follow the relevant deadline, so your options become more constrained as the semester goes on). You may

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use the same product and rely on the same qualitative (but not quantitative) data, although you will likely want to present these data differently since you are now focusing on a different problem. If you submit a second report, your final coursework mark will be the average of the marks for the two reports, even if the second mark is lower than the first. Options for Psychological Analysis: There are numerous ways that consumer behavior can be helpful for marketers. You may choose from any of the following topics for your project. More detailed suggestions will be provided in class on the weeks when this material is covered. If you are interested in an aspect of consumer psychology not covered below (whether covered in class or not), feel free to discuss other possibilities with me.

Material from… Deadline

Potential Topics Sec. A (Fri)

Sec. B (Mon)

Week 2 Motivation

1 Nov 4 Nov What needs does the product satisfy? What personality traits are associated with this product or its use?

Week 4 Perception

8 Nov 11 Nov How well does the product’s in-store placement or advertising draw attention? How well can consumers use the product or navigate the retail environment?

Week 5 Learning

15 Nov 18 Nov What do consumers know about the product and how do they learn it? Are the product’s advertisements memorable?

Week 6 Thinking

22 Nov 25 Nov What heuristics do consumers use to assess this product’s key attributes? What mental models do consumers use to think about this product?

Week 7 Decision-Making

29 Nov 2 Dec How do consumers choose between this product versus its competitors? How do consumers determine whether the product is a good use of money?

Week 8 Emotion

6 Dec 9 Dec What emotions does the product, its advertising, or retail environment evoke? How well does the product’s marketing provoke interest or aesthetic pleasure?

Week 9 Attitudes

13 Dec 16 Dec What are consumers’ attitudes toward the product? Do they match behavior? Does the product’s advertising successfully persuade consumers?

Week 10 Communication

6 Jan 6 Jan How do consumers use this product to signal? How well does the product or its advertising generate word-of-mouth?

Week 11 Self & Other

6 Jan 6 Jan What moral judgments or behaviors does this product provoke? What reference groups do consumers look to as they evaluate the product?

Exam Details

The exam will include multiple-choice and short answer questions. Questions cover concepts from lecture, seminar, and readings, with emphasis on concepts that overlap between lecture and readings, or are emphasized in the weekly preparation guides. Questions will be answerable without having completed optional readings, but these are strongly recommended as supplements to improve your understanding.