Buyer Behaviour & Consumerism

Technology-driven Consumer Behaviour

• The marketing concept
• Exchange between consumers and marketers
• Customer value, satisfaction and retention
• The role of consumer behaviour and consumer decision-making

Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning

• Market segmentation and effective targeting
• Bases for market segmentation, including demographics, social class, social status, benefit, behavioural targeting, product usage and location
• Implementing segmentation strategies
• Behavioural targeting
• Positioning and repositioning

Consumer Motivation and Personality

• Dynamics of motivation
• System of needs
• Goals
• Measurement of motives
• Nature and theories of personality
• Personality traits and consumer behaviour
• Self and self-image

Consumer Perception

• The elements of perception
• Perceptual selection
• Perceptual interpretation: stereotyping
• Consumer imagery
• Perceived quality and perceived risk

Consumer Learning

• Elements of consumer learning
• Behavioural learning theories
• Observational learning
• Cognitive learning theories
• Consumer involvement

Consumer Attitude Formation and Change

• Attitudes and their formation
• Attitude models
• Changing the motivational functions of attitudes
• Cognitive dissonance

Persuading Consumers

• The communication process
• Designing persuasive messages
• Persuasive advertising appeals
• Measures of message effectiveness

Print and Broadcast Media to Social and Mobile Media

• Consumers and social media
• Consumers and mobile advertising
• Measuring media advertising effectiveness
• Traditional media’s electronic evolution

Reference Groups and Word-of-Mouth

• Source credibility and reference groups
• Credibility of spokespersons, endorsers and other formal sources
• Word of mouth and opinion leadership
• Strategic applications of word of mouth
• The diffusion of innovations
• Segmenting by adopter categories

The Family and its Social Standing

• The family as a socialisation agent
• Family decision making and consumption-related roles
• The family life cycle
• Social standing and consumer behaviour
• Measuring social class
• Social class characteristics and consumer behaviour
• Four views of consumer decision making

Culture’s Influence on Consumer Behaviour

• Culture’s role and dynamics
• Learning cultural values
• Measuring cultural values

Subcultures and Consumer Behaviour

• Culture and subcultures
• Religious, regional, generational and gender subcultures
• Cross-cultural analysis
• Localisation versus standardisation
• Global marketing opportunities

Consumer Decision Making and Diffusion of Innovations

• Consumer decision making model
• Diffusion and adoption of innovations
• Types of innovations
• The adoption process
• Product features that affect adoption

Marketing Ethics and Social Responsibility

• Societal marketing concept
• Exploitive marketing
• Self-regulation versus laws
• Provocative marketing
• Promoting social causes

Consumer Research

• Developing research objectives
• Collecting secondary data
• Designing primary research
• Qualitative research, scope of quantitative research, quantitative research data collection instruments
• Data analysis and reporting research findings