PSY 203

Consumer Psychology

Usama Waheed

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Why do we buy the things we buy? Why do we love the brands we love?

Our relationship with the world around us is tied to our consumption – the consumption of
products and brands, but also of ideas and identities. This course is organized around the idea
of understanding our consumption patterns based on their psychological underpinnings. What
are the external and internal influences that affect how we behave? What is are the
psychological, sociological and contextual factors that influence us? How do marketers use this
information to shape our decision making process?

EVALUATION:

10% class participation

30% reflection papers

30% midterm assignment

30% final assignment

 COURSE STRUCTURE

Week Topic Readings

1 Introduction, class overview N/A

CB Insights (2018, June 7) What Is Psychographics? Understanding

Understanding consumer
2 The ‘Dark Arts’ Of Marketing That Brought Down Cambridge
research
Analytica.

Holt, Douglas B. "How consumers consume: A typology of

3 What is consumption? consumption practices." Journal of consumer research 22.1 (1995):
1-16.

Cognition

Yoo, C.Y. (2008). Unconscious Processing of Web Advertising:

Attention, perception and
4 Effects on Implicit Memory, Attitude Toward the Brand, and
priming
Consideration Set.

Giorgios Halkias (2015) Mental Representations of Brands, A

schema based approach to consumers organization of market
5 Memory and schemas
knowledge. Journal of Product and Brand Management Vol 24,
issue 5, pp438-448
6 System 1 and System 2 Chapter from Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

The Self

Belk, Russell W. "Possessions and the extended self." Journal of

7 Construction of the self consumer research 15.2 (1988): 139-168.

Rebecca Trump, Merrie Brucks (2012). Overlap between mental

representations of self and brand. In Journal of Self and Identity,
8 The self and the brand
Vol 11 pp 454-471

-Schembri, et al. (2010) Brand Consumption and Narrative of the

Self

Belk, Russell W. "Extended self in a digital world." Journal of

9 The modern-day self consumer research 40.3 (2013): 477-500.

Applications

Applications of consumer
10 Duhigg, “How Companies Learn Your Secrets”
research

Malone & Fiske (2013), The Human Brand Ch.1

11 Emotion and brand-building
 Emotion and narrative- Margaret mark and Carol Pearson (2001). The hero and the outlaw.
12
building Building extraordinary brands through the power of archetypes.

Pine, B. J., & Gilmore, J. H. (1998). Welcome to the experience

Emotion and experience-
13 economy. Harvard business review, 76, 97-105
building

14 Wrap up

Additional reading list:

Yoo, C.Y. (2008). Unconscious Processing of Web Advertising: Effects on Implicit Memory, Attitude Toward the
Brand, and Consideration Set.

Video/article on Unskippable Labs from the Think With Google blog

Think with Google (2016), “How People Use Their Devices: What Marketers Need to Know”

Chapter from Hit Makers by Derek Thompson

Berger, Jonah, and Katherine L. Milkman (2012), “What Makes Online Content Viral?” Journal of Marketing
Research, 49 (2), 192–205.

Vogel, E.A., Rose, J.P, Roberts, L.R., Eckles, K. (2014). Social Comparison, Social Media, & Self-Esteem. Psychology
of Popular Media Culture, 3(4), 206-222.

Janasson-Boyd, C.V. (2012). Touch matters: Exploring the relationship between consumption and tactile interaction.
Social Semiotics, 21,531-546.

Drenten, J. (n.d.). Snapshots of the self: Exploring the role of online mobile photo sharing in identity development
among adolescent girls. In Close, A. (2012) Online Consumer Behavior.
Strubel, J., Petrie, T.A., Pookulangara, S. (2016). “Like” Me: Shopping, Self-Display, Body Image, & Social
Networking Sites. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 1-18.

Escalas, J.E. & Bettman, J.R. (2005). Self-construal, reference groups, and brand meaning. Journal of Consumer
Research, 32,378-389.

Duhigg, “How Companies Learn Your Secrets”

Pine, B. J., & Gilmore, J. H. (1998). Welcome to the experience economy. Harvard business review, 76, 97-105

Kardes, et al: Understanding Consumer Behavior Research

MREB (2012) Illuminating the Unconscious

Malone & Fiske (2013), The Human Brand Ch.1

Keitzman, et al. (2011) Social media? Get Serious by Kietzmann

Schembri, et al. (2010) Brand Consumption and Narrative of the Self

Mulyanegara, et al, The Big Five and brand personality

Dittmar (2008) To have is to be?

Avery, J. & Keinan (2015) Consuming Brands.

Aaker (2008) Brand it or loose it.

Mitchell (2002), Selling the brand inside article

Levy (1959). Symbols for sale. Harvard Business Review, 37, pp 117-124

Keller (1993). Conceptualizing, Measuring and managing consumer based brand equity,
Giorgios Halkias (2015) Mental Representations of Brands, A schema based Approach to consumers organization of
market knowledge. Journal of Product and Brand Management Vol 24, issue 5, pp438-448

Bobby J. Calder (2013). Branding and the psychology of Consumer behavior. Chapter 1 pages 3-13 in Psychology of
Branding. Douglas Evans Editor. Psychology Research
Progress

CB Insights (2018, June 7) What Is Psychographics? Understanding The ‘Dark Arts’ Of Marketing That Brought
Down Cambridge Analytica. Link

Edelman, D. & Singer, M. (2015, November) Competing on Customer Journeys. Harvard Business Review Online
Edition. Link

Magids,S, Zorfas, A & Leemon, D. (2015, November).The New Science of Customer Emotions: Harvard Business
Review Online Edition. Link

Nielsen (2017) When Emotions Give a Lift to Advertising. Report. New York, NY: Author Pardot (2014) Using
Psychology to Increase Conversions. Pardot LLC, Atlanta

Chip Walker and Belle Frank (2015). Secret Relationships: Understanding consumer’s hidden feelings about brands.

Margaret mark and Carol Pearson (2001). The hero and the outlaw. Building extraordinary brands through the
power of archetypes.

Gregory Ciotti (2014). The Psychology of Color in marketing and branding. Entrepreneur magazine. May 15th 2014.
Link

Ted Talk: Design is in the details. Link

S. Spiegel, H. Nguyen, M Caravella, (2012). More than Fit: Brand Extension Authenticity. Journal of Marketing
Research Vol XLIX pp 967-983.

Rebecca Trump, Merrie Brucks (2012). Overlap between mental representations of self and brand. In Journal of
Self and Identity, Vol 11 pp 454-471

Jing Wang and Pankai Aggarwal (2015). Befriending Mr Clean: The Role of anthropomorphism in consumer brand
relationships.
R. Batra, A. Ahuvia, & R. Bagozi (2012). Brand Love. In Journal Of Marketing. Vol 76, pp 1-16.

Paul Bloom (2010). How Pleasure Works. Chapter 1, 2, 4. W.W. Norton and Company. NY.

Holt, Douglas B. "How consumers consume: A typology of consumption practices." Journal of consumer
research 22.1 (1995): 1-16.

Belk, Russell W. "Possessions and the extended self." Journal of consumer research 15.2 (1988): 139-168.

Belk, Russell W. "Extended self in a digital world." Journal of consumer research 40.3 (2013): 477-500.

Kirmani, “The Self and the Brand”

Berry et al., “Managing the Total Customer Experience”

ScienceDaily, “Do We Buy Cosmetics Because They Are Useful or Because They Make Us Feel Good?”

ScienceDaily, “Misery Is Not Miserly: Why Even Momentary Sadness Increases Spending”

ScienceDaily, “Subconscious Encounters: How Brand Exposure Affects Your Choice”

North, Hargreaves, & McKendrick, “In-Store Music Affects Product Choice”

Psychology Today, “Copy That”