Psychology for Consumer Studies

Course Coordinator: Dr Tess Pak, BA (CUHK), PCPsych, Mphil, PhD (HKU), CPsychol (BPS), Registered industrial-organizational psychologist (DIOP, HKPS)

Aims
Through comprehensive coverage and learning activities, this course aims to develop students' understanding of psychological influences on consumer behaviour and their application in marketing.

Contents

• Introduction to consumer behavior
• Consumer perception
• Consumer learning and memory
• Consumer motivation and affect
• The self on consumer behavior
• Psychographics: Personality, lifestyles, and values
• Consumer attitudes and persuasion I
• Consumer attitudes and persuasion II
• Consumers as decision-makers
• Buying, using, and disposing
• Groups and Networked Consumer Behavior
• Income and social class, Subcultures
• Cultural influences on consumer decisions

Learning Support
Lectures and seminars:
Weekly lectures are to be conducted to help achieve the learning outcomes of this two-semester course. While the lectures will impart the perspectives, concepts, theories and new research findings to students systematically, students are expected to participate actively in class discussions to critically appraise the arguments.

Online Learning Environment (OLE):
The OLE supports students' learning with its resourceful library of lecture notes, supplementary readings and hyperlinks to useful websites. The discussion board therein also facilitates the communication among students and instructors about their ideas, reflections, difficulties and solutions.

Assessment
Course assessment is based on continuous assessment and examination:

i. Mid-term quiz (30%)

ii. Individual essay assignment (20%)

iii. Final examination (50%)