GSM 532 Consumer Behavior
Why do we buy? This course is designed to examine consumer psychology and behavior in order to inform marketing decisions. Firms today are overwhelmingly adopting a customer focus, striving to better understand consumer behavior in order to be competitive. The consumer purchasing process serves as the foundation for the many decisions we make in the practice of marketing, from new product and brand development, to pricing strategy, to channels of distribution, to selection of advertising messages, and to how we manage our customer relationships. The course takes a multidisciplinary approach to address these marketing issues, bringing emerging theory and research from the fields of anthropology, sociology, psychology, economics, and neuroscience to bear on our understanding of consumer psychology and subsequent purchase behavior. In today's consumer culture, whether online or offline, what and how we consume is a central aspect of who we are, how we relate to others, and how we create meaning in contemporary life.