Consumer Behavior

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Hours: 45
Prerequisites: none
Office hours: to be communicated the first day of class

Course Description
This course will deepen in the knowledge of the consumer and their behavior from the marketing perspective. Students will get familiarized with the terminology of the subject and with the main sources of information on consumption and consumers. Topics covered will include: Consumer research and analytics, study and analysis of purchasing, neuromarketing, decision processes and main variables that affect the consumer and their relationship with brands and products.

Learning Objectives
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to know how to investigate and analyze consumption behaviors and other variables that influence the purchase decision process, as well as consumer loyalty.

Formative Activities
During the course, directed activities will be developed. These activities will consist of individual works of the students in which they must demonstrate the correct understanding of the concepts exposed and the ability to reflect critically on them. Group practices will be carried out on individual behaviors, consumption habits, consumer behavior at the point of sale and online shopping habits. 

• Individual Activity 1: Market segmentation for a consumer product.
• Individual Activity 2: Essay on the conflict of values in consumer activities at home: "gig economy".
• Individual Activity 3: Creating communication messages for the consumer.
• Group Practice 1: Essay on internal factors that determine the purchase of a luxury product.
• Group Practice 2: Analysis of the purchase process.
• Group Practice 3: The Apple tribe. Analysis of the iPhone consumer insights.
• Group Practice 4: Creating messages for a CSR campaign.
• Group Practice 5: Creating a Blog and link it to Google Analytics.
• Group Practice 6: Conducting an online survey. Learning how to design a questionnaire and seeking information about the target market by posing the appropriate questions. The subject will be connected to a brand name and the results will be used in the final Project.
• Group Practice 7: Analyzing the blog created with Google Analytics. Highlighting the main metrics and the improvement proposal. Conclusions.

Methodology
The majority of the course syllabus follows the main methodological guidelines of the Communicative Approach, based on the core principles of procedure conception and constructive acquisition of knowledge. The methodology is based on the teaching-learning procedures, focused on the learner, which encourages active participation and results in the development of general and specific competencies that prove knowledge, capacities and attitudes for their future professional careers.

Evaluation
The form of assessment is based on the core principles of the educational assessment, i.e., an active and participative teaching-learning process focused on the learner. The instructor uses numerous and differentiated forms of assessment to calculate the final grade received for this course. For the record, these are listed below. The content, criteria and specific requirements for each assessment category will be explained in greater detail in class.

Grading system
In the Spanish educational system, it is required to quantitatively express the result of each student’s evaluation. In order to do so, Nebrija faculty uses different strategies and instruments such as: papers, exams, tests, projects, selfevaluation activities, etc. In order to issue a final grade for the Spanish Plus programs the following scale is established:

• 30 % Attendance and active participation in class
• 30% Daily work/ Papers/ Essays
• 40% Exams/ Final papers or projects*

Therefore, the final grade is the average between attendance and participation, daily work and exams, presentations, projects and essays. Active participation in class is evaluated by means of different activities such as:

• Activities and exercises correction;
• Reflection upon the different contents in the course;
• Oral activities (individual, in pairs or in groups). Fluency, correction, adequacy and r elevance are taken into account;

Daily work makes reference to any activity or task that is done inside or outside of the classroom, whether during the class time or at any other time.

Exams/ Final papers or projects
The course includes a midterm and a final written exam on theoretical concepts and course facts. If a student, unjustifiably, does not do or submit an exam, paper or project, it will be graded with a ‘0’.
* A minimum grade of 5 must be obtained in a final exam/ final project in order to pass the course.

Warning on plagiarism
When writing a University paper or essay and reference is made to certain authors, it is mandatory to cite them by means of a footnote or a direct reference. In no case it is acceptable that a student uses a text, no matter how brief it is, written by somebody else without putting it in inverted commas, as this means s/he is trying to make it look as his/her own. This is called plagiarism and in a university context it could be penalized with expulsion.

Bibliography
Basic bibliography

• Solomon, Michael R., Consumer Behavior (Pearson, 2017). Complementary bibliography
• Alonso Rivas, Javier, Consumer Behavior (ESIC Ed., 2013).
• Fernández de la Puente-Campano, Jaime, Directivo TM: Develop your personal Brand as a Director with surprising Marketing tools (Self-edited, 2017).
• Salmon, Christian, Storytelling: Bewitching the Modern Mind (Ed. Península, 2008).
• Schiffman, León G. / Wisenblit, Joseph, Consumer Behavior (Pearson, 2015).

Other resources

• Consumer behavior Index, January 2018, KANTAR Millward Brown.
• MERCADONA: Renewing the success model, José Luis García del Pueyo (Harvard Deusto, 2017)

For a PDF version of this syllabus, please contact your ISA Madrid Site Specialist.