Consumer Psychology

About this subject

What you'll learn

• Topics covered

  • Principles of perception, attention, and learning
  • Decision-making, heuristics, and biases
  • Motivation and personality
  • Opinion leadership
  • Psychological market segmentation
  • Impact of physical context on consumer behaviour
  • The role of culture in consumer behaviour
  • Contemporary topics in consumer psychology

• Description

  This subject considers how psychology helps us to understand consumer’s attitudes and their consumption behaviour. Module 1 overviews 10 fundamental principles concerning human perception, learning, and memory, and outlines some basic ways in which each relates to consumer behaviour. Module 2 considers consumer decision-making, with particular focus on heuristics and attitude change. Module 3 considers consumer’s personality in terms of the five-factor model and also addresses consumer innovativeness. Module 4 considers consumers as members of social groups, addressing conformity, social identity, fashion, and opinion leadership. Module 5 describes market segmentation with particular emphasis on psychographic strategies as the basis of understanding why market segments should behave the way they do. Module 6 describes psychological research on how physical retail and leisure environments can themselves influence consumer behaviour, influencing consumer’s propensity to approach these environments, their time perception, and their willingness to cooperate with calls to action therein. Module 7 addresses cross-cultural issues, focussing on how dimensions of culture correlate with various consumption attitudes and behaviours. Module 8 addresses two contemporary topics in consumer psychology, namely ethical and sustainable consumption, and trust in online retailers.

  Please Note: If it’s your first time studying a Curtin University subject you’ll need to complete their compulsory ‘Academic Integrity Program’. It only takes two hours to complete online, and provides you with vital information about studying with Curtin University. The Academic Integrity Program is compulsory, so if it’s not completed your subject grades will be withheld.

  Find out more about the Academic Integrity module.

• Assessments

  • Written Assignment (50%)
  • Invigilated Examination (50%)

• Textbooks

  For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).

• About Curtin University

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Entry requirements