INSTITUTE of BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

College of Business Management

Department of Marketing

General Information
Faculty: Shah Muhammad Saleem
Title: Consumer Behavior Email:shah.saleem@iobm.edu.pk
Code: MKT 509 Office: ext 246
Pre-requisites: Phone:0300-8252413
Consultation time:
Course Specifications
Program(s) on which the course is given BBA (H), MBA
Major or minor elements of Programs BBA (H), MBA
Department offering the Program College of Business Management
Department offering the course Marketing
Date of upgraded specification approval Dec 2021

Course Description
This is core marketing course. The course begins with providing an orientation on the concept
of consumer behavior and its evolution with changing times with a focus on emerging
segmentation and targeting. The course progresses on analyzing the consumer as an
individual and discusses theories and marketing applications based on motivation,
personality, learning, attitude and communication. The course concludes by intensively
analyzing consumer decision making and the ethical and social responsibility of marketers.

Course Objectives
At the end of the course, the student should:
1. Have the background and tools for a comprehensive understanding of consumer behavior
principles
2. Students will be able to apply the marketing and consumer behavior concepts in evaluating
a research based term project.
3. Students will develop the ability to understand what entails consumer decision-making in
terms of product and brands.

Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)

Knowledge Outcomes:   

PLO1: Conceptual Knowledge and in-depth exposure to functional areas in business

management
PLO2: Entrepreneurial mindset
PLO3: Conceptual knowledge leading to innovative industry driven projects

Skill / Attitude Outcome:

PLO4: Leadership and Social Skills

PLO5: Creative skills
PLO6: Critical thinking and application of conceptual knowledge
Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) Aligned Program Learning Outcomes

CLO1: Conceptual Knowledge

1) To understand the tools for a

comprehensive understanding of
consumer behavior principles
2) Study the internal dynamics of
consumers and analyzing the ‘invisible PLO1
self’ of the consumer and how
information is registered, absorbed and
deciphered
3) Learn about dynamic process of
consumer decision and the ethical and
social considerations that impact it.

CLO2: Intellectual/Creative skills:

1) Analysis: can analyze with guidance using PLO5, PLO6

given classifications/principles
2) Synthesis: can collect and categorize ideas
and information in a predictable and
standard format
3) Evaluation: can evaluate the reliability of
data using defined techniques and/or tutor
guidance
4) Application: can apply given tools/methods
accurately and carefully to a well-defined
problem and begin to appreciate the
complexity of the issues
CLO3: Critical thinking and application…
through experiential learning: PLO2, PLO3
1) Application of skills: can operate in
predictable, defined contexts that require
use of a specified range of standard
techniques
2) Autonomy in skill use: is able to act with
limited autonomy, under direction or
supervision, within defined guidelines
3) Students will be able to apply the
consumer behavior concepts through the
experiential based learning term project as
well as classroom experiential exercises.

CLO4: Leadership and Social Skills:

1) Group working: can work effectively with PLO4, PLO6
others as a member of a group and meet
obligations to others (for example, tutors,
 peers, and colleagues)
2) Learning resources: can work within an
appropriate ethos and can use and access a
range of learning resources
3) Communications: can communicate
effectively in a format appropriate to the
discipline(s) and report practical
procedures in a clear and concise manner
4) Problem solving: can apply given
tools/methods accurately and carefully to a
well-defined problem and begins to
appreciate the complexity of the issues in
the discipline

Course Teaching and Learning Activities

Assessment Brief Description Weight Aligned Course
Techniques Learning Outcomes
Quizzes Quizzes will be taken as it is a good 5%
gauge of student’s interest and CLO1, CLO2
understanding in the subject.
Assignments Assignments will make students 5% CLO3, CLO4
prepared and ready for exams and
tests and gives a way to solved
various unseen problems These
assignments will be graded.
1st Mid Term test Students will be checked in a 15 %
controlled environment for CLO1
independent understanding of the
core concepts
2nd Mid Term test Students will be asked to 15 %
demonstrate the acquisition of CLO2
certain skills or knowledge.
Research term report This is culminating activity that will 30 %
help integrate all concepts discussed CLO3, CLO4, CLO5
in class either by conceptual
application on a brand/service OR
by conducting consumer research
Final exam Students are expected to analyze and 30 %
apply concepts and principles CLO2, CLO3
learned in class.
Total 100 %
3. Course Contents

Sessio
Topic/Lesson Activities
n

Week 1

Class and course introductions.

1 Consumer behavior is interdisciplinary; that is, it is based on concepts and theories about
people that have been developed by scientists in such diverse disciplines as psychology,
sociology, social psychology, cultural anthropology, and economics.
2 Consumer Behavior: Meeting Changes and Challenges

Orientation on the study of Consumer behavior and its interdisciplinary linkages. The
study of consumer behavior enables marketers to understand and predict consumer
behavior in the marketplace; it is concerned not only with what consumers buy but also
with why, when, where, and how they buy it.
Skilled marketers make the customer the core of the company’s organizational culture
and ensure that all employees view any exchange with a customer as part of a customer
relationship, not as a transaction.

Book chapters
Chapter 1, Technology Driven Consumer Behavior

Suggested Articles

1.1 What we Really know about Consumer Behavior? (John Deighton, 2011, HBR)
1.2 Kick Ass Customer Service (Matthew Dickson, Lara Ponomareff, Scott Turner, &
Rick Delisi, 2017, HBR)
1.3 Stop Trying to Delight Your Customers (Matthew Dixon; Karen Freeman; Nicholas
Toman, 2018, HBR)
1.4 Changing Consumer Behavior a Challenge For Sustainable Business Growth,
(Sunanda Sharma & Dr. Kashmiri Lal, 2012)

Video
What Consumers Want, TED Talk
(https://www.ted.com/talks/joseph_pine_on_what_consumers_want

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand what consumer behavior is and the different types of consumers.

2. Understand the relationship between consumer behavior and the marketing concept,
the societal marketing concept, as well as segmentation, targeting, and positioning.
3. Understand the relationship between consumer behavior and customer value,
 satisfaction, trust and retention.
Week 2
Consumer Research

The field of consumer research developed in part as an extension of the applied field of
marketing research and as part of the scholarly interests of academicians pursuing a
more basic understanding of consumers. In both cases, the goals have been to enlarge the
understanding of consumers.
Consumer research can also be divided in terms of a qualitative or quantitative
perspective.
The consumer research process begins with secondary data collection and goes on to
develop the primary research plan focusing on research instruments, sampling and data
collection and interpretation

Book Chapter
Chapter 15, Consumer Research

Articles

2.1 Research: Consumers Prefer Products Created by Mistake (Daniella Kupor; Rosanna
K Smith; Taly Reich, 20 Sept, 2017, HBR)

Case Study
3&4 2.1 : Kellogg’s-New products from Market Research
Scenario
2.2 Listening begins at Home (James R. Stengel, Andrea L. Dixon, & Chris T. Allen, 1
Nov, 2003, HBR)
2.3 Advertising Testing among Hispanics

Video
Consumer Psychology and Research towards Consumer Buying Behavior:
https://youtu.be/aGfdubLAtY8

Learning Outcomes

1. Highlight the steps in the consumer research process.

2. Emphasize on setting specific research objectives as the first step in the design of a
consumer research project.
3. Appreciate the purposes and types of secondary consumer research that is available
for making decisions or planning future consumer research.
4. Instill specific features and applications of different research methods to be carried
out in consumer research studies.
5. Follow how each element of the consumer research process adds to the overall
outcome of the research study.

5,6 &7 Week 3 & 4

Motivation and Defense Mechanism
Motivation is the driving force within individuals that impels them to action. This
driving force is produced by a state of uncomfortable tension, which exists as the result
of an unsatisfied need. All individuals have needs, wants, and desires. The individual’s
subconscious drive to reduce need-induced tensions results in behavior that he or she
anticipates will satisfy needs and thus bring about a more comfortable internal state.
Motivation can be either positive or negative.
 All behavior is goal oriented. Goals are the sought-after results of motivated behavior.
The form or direction that behavior takes—the goal that is selected—is a result of
thinking processes (cognition) and previous learning (e.g., experience).
Failure to achieve a goal often results in feelings of frustration. Individuals react to
frustration in two ways: “fight” or “flight.”

Book Chapter
Chapter 3 Consumer Motivation and Personality
Article
3.1:The Elements of Value (Eric Almquist, John Senior & Nicholas Bloch, 1 Sept, 2016,
HBR )
3.2: Got Milk campaign, “From memorable to motivational”

Video
3.1 Delving Inside the Consumer's Mind (Martin Lindstrom, World of Business Ideas)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAAihnJEbDE)
3.2: Motivation by Gail Tom :https://youtu.be/fjdVCxn67Yc
3.3: Consumer Decision Making Process: https://youtu.be/V6g03FsPF-k

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand the types of human needs and motives and the meaning of goals.
2. Understand the dynamics of motivation, arousal of needs, setting of goals, and
interrelationship between needs and goals.
3. Learn about several systems of needs developed by researchers.
4. Understand how human motives are studied and measured.
5. Understand how people deal with unfulfilled motives using defense mechanism

8&9 Week 4 & 5

Personality

Personality can be described as the psychological characteristics that both determine and
reflect how a person responds to his or her environment. Although personality tends to
be consistent and enduring, it may change abruptly in response to major life events, as
well as gradually over time.
Three theories of personality are prominent in the study of consumer behavior:
psychoanalytic theory, neo-Freudian theory, and trait theory. Marketers are very
interested in the link between personality and consumer behavior.
Each individual has a perceived self-image (or multiple self-images) as a certain kind of
person with certain traits, habits, possessions, relationships, and ways of behaving.
Consumers frequently attempt to preserve, enhance, alter, or extend their self-images by
purchasing products or services and shopping at stores believed to be consistent with the
relevant self-image(s) and by avoiding products and stores they perceive are not. With
the growth of the Internet, there appear to be emerging virtual selves or virtual
personalities. Consumer experiences with chat rooms sometimes provide an opportunity
to explore new or alternative identities.

Book Chapter

Chapter 3 Consumer Motivation and Personality

Article
4.1 What Marketers Should Know About Personality-Based Marketing (Christopher
Graves & Sandra Matz, 2 May, 2018, HBR)
4.2: How To Define Your Brand Personality (Fabian Geyrhalter, 18 June, 2015,
 FINIEN)
4.3: Building a Brand Personality That Resonates - Why and How to Do It (Aaron
Agius, 31 March, 2016, Louder Online)
Video 1:

4.1: Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory on Instincts: Motivation, Personality and

Development: https://youtu.be/7vFf5CS27-Y
4.2 Character Profiles/personalities of M&M Characters: https://youtu.be/vCayoRqsUZ8
4.3: Anthromorphism Local example: https://youtu.be/WRuV_GhN06k

Case
DOVE : Using Social Media for Social Viral Campaign by M. A. Malathi
Sriram, 2013

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand how personality reflects consumers’ inner differences.

2. Application how Freudian, neo-Freudian, and trait theories each explain the
influence of personality on consumers’ attitudes and behavior.
3. Understand how personality reflects consumers’ responses to product and marketing
messages.
4. Understand how marketers seek to create brand personalities-like traits.
5. Appreciate how the products and services that consumers use enhance their self-
images.

Experiential Exercise or Case Study

Cafe Coffee Day: Brand Transformation through Repositioning

(Ashita Aggarwal Sharma & Lulu Raghavan, 19 August, 2016, Ivey Publishing)
10 Learning Outcomes
1. To involve the students physically and emotionally in the application of
Consumer Behavior so far covered in the course

11 & Week 6
12 1st Hourly
13-14 Week 7
Consumer Perception

Perception is the process by which individuals select, organize, and interpret stimuli into
a meaningful and coherent picture of the world. Perception has strategy implications for
marketers because consumers make decisions based on what they perceive rather than on
the basis of objective reality.
Consumers perceive most sensory stimuli above the level of their conscious awareness;
however, weak stimuli can be perceived below the level of conscious awareness (i.e.,
subliminally).
Consumers’ selections of stimuli from the environment are based on the interaction of
their expectations and motives with the stimulus itself.
Just as individuals have perceived images of themselves, they also have perceived
images of products and brands. The perceived image of a product or service (how it is
positioned) is probably more important to its ultimate success than are its actual physical
 characteristics.

Book Chapter
Chapter 4, Consumer Perception

Article
5.1: What Brands Need To Understand About Consumer Perception (Alfredo Fraile,
Sept, 2017, Brand Quarterly)
5.2: Understanding and Managing Customer Perception (Dagmar Recklies, 28 January,
2015)
5.3: Inside the Mind of the Chinese Consumer (William McEwen, Xiaoguang Fang,
Chuanping Zhang & Richard Burkholder, 2006, HBR)
5.4: Torment your Customers
Video

5.1: Perception: https://youtu.be/PnGaKYUAtQw

5.2: Thresholds: https://youtu.be/O_nY1TM2RZM
5.3: Just Noticeable Difference and its application: https://youtu.be/bIOdygap24s

Case
Dove Evolution of a Brand (Harvard Business School, 25 March, 2008)

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand the sensory dynamics of perception and its elements

2. Appreciate the components of consumer imagery and their strategic applications
3. Understand positioning of products and services
4. Understand how Brand ambassadors are chosen
5. Deduce how consumer imagery is applied in setting up a retail store

15 & 16 Week 8
Consumer Learning
Consumer learning is the process by which individuals acquire the purchase and
consumption knowledge and experience they apply to future related behavior. Although
some learning is intentional; much learning is incidental. Basic elements that contribute
to an understanding of learning are motivation (drives), cues, response, and
reinforcement.
There are two schools of thought as to how individuals learn—behavioral theories and
cognitive theories. Both contribute to an understanding of consumer behavior.
Measures of consumer learning include recall and recognition tests and attitudinal and
behavioral measures of brand loyalty. Brand loyalty consists of both attitudes and actual
behaviors toward a brand, as both must be measured. For marketers, the major reasons
for understanding how consumers learn are to teach them that their brand is best and to
develop brand loyalty.. Brand equity refers to the inherent value a brand name has in the
marketplace.

Book Chapter
Chapter 5, Consumer Learning
Article
6.1 Keep it, Shave it, cut it: A Closer look into Consumers' Video viewing Behavior
(Kelly School of Business, 2018)
 6.2: What We’re Following in Consumer Behavior (1 October, 2010, HBR)
6. 3: To Keep Your Customers, Keep It Simple (Patrick Spenner & Karen Freeman,
May, 2012, HBR)

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand the process and four elements of consumer learning.

2. Explore with the class the study behavioral learning and understand its applications
to consumption behavior.
3. Evaluate information processing and cognitive learning and understand their
strategic applications to consumer behavior
4. Appreciate consumer involvement and passive learning and understand their
strategic affects on consumer behavior.
5. Gain insight on how consumer learning and its results are measured.

17& 18 Week 9
Consumer Attitude Formation and Change

An attitude is a learned predisposition to behave in a consistently favorable or

unfavorable way with respect to a given object (e.g., a product category, a brand, a
service, an advertisement, a Web site, or a retail establishment). Each property of this
definition is critical to understanding why and how attitudes are relevant in consumer
behavior and marketing.
Of considerable importance in understanding the role of attitudes in consumer behavior
is an appreciation of the structure and composition of an attitude. Four broad categories
of attitude models have received attention: the tricomponent attitude model, multi-
attribute attitude models, trying-to-consume attitude model, and attitude-toward-the-ad
model.
How consumer attitudes are formed and how they are changed are two closely related
issues of considerable concern to marketing practitioners. When it comes to attitude
formation, it is useful to remember that attitudes are learned and that different learning
theories provide unique insights as to how attitudes initially may be formed
These same factors also have an impact on attitude change; that is, attitude changes are
learned, and they are influenced by personal experiences and the information gained
from various personal and impersonal sources. The consumer’s own personality affects
both the acceptance and the speed with which attitudes are likely to be altered.

Book Chapter
Chapter 6, Consumer Attitude Formation and Change

Article
7.1: Track Customer Attitudes to Predict Their Behaviors (Werner Reinartz & Rajkumar
Venkatesan, 11 Sept, 2014, HBR)
7. 2: Don’t Persuade Customers — Just Change Their Behavior (Art Markman, 10 Feb,
2014, HBR)
7.3: Change Consumer Behavior with These Five Levers (Kieth Weed, 6 Nov, 2012,
HBR)
Case
RIN Detergent: To Position or Reposition, Standord Graduate School of Business,
2008

Learning Outcomes
 1. Understand what attitudes are, how they are learned, as well as their nature and
characteristics.
2. Understand the composition and scope of selected models of attitudes.
3. Understand how experience leads to the initial formation of consumption-related
attitudes.
4. Understand the various ways in which consumers’ attitudes are changed.
5. Understand how consumers’ attitudes can lead to behavior and how behavior can
lead to attitudes.

Week 10
1. Guest Speaker Session on Influence of culture on Consumer Behavior
Case Study
19 &20
Sensory Branding – Oreo in Indian context (S. Ramesh Kumar, Nalin Goel & Gireesh
Gera, IIMB, 2015)

Week 11
21 &22 2nd Hourly

23 &24 Week 12
The Family and Social class

For many consumers their family is their primary reference group for many attitudes and
behaviors. The family is the prime target market for most products and product
categories. As the most basic membership group, families are defined as two or more
persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption who reside together
The members of a family assume specific roles in their everyday functioning.
Social stratification, the division of members of a society into a hierarchy of distinct
social classes, exists in all societies and cultures. Social class usually is defined by the
amount of status that members of a specific class possess in relation to members of other
classes. Social-class membership often serves as a frame of reference (a reference group)
for the development of consumer attitudes and behavior.
Research has revealed social-class differences in clothing habits, home decoration, and
leisure activities, as well as saving, spending, and credit habits. Thus, astute marketers
tailor specific product and promotional strategies to each social class target segment.

Book Chapter
Chapter 10, The Family and its Social Standing

Article
8.1: Children’s Influence on Family Decision Making (Anne Martensen & Lars
Grønholdt, 2008)
8.2: Parental Influence On Consumer And Purchase Behaviour Of Generation Y
(Melanie Wiese & Liezl-Marié Kruger, 2016)
8.3: Family Buying Influences-Family Life Cycle and Buying Roles
8.4: Social Class Mobility and Lifestyle Analysis
8.5: A Theoretical Approach to the Influence of Social Class on Consumer Behavior (Dr.
Yakup Durmaz & Ahmet Taşdemir, 2014)
Learning Outcomes

1. Explain the Socialization Process and Other Roles of the Family.

2. Explain the Dynamics of Husband-Wife Decision Making, as Well as the Influence
of Children in Family Consumption Decision Making.
3. Explain How Traditional and Nontraditional Family Life Cycles Impact Consumer
Behavior.
 4. Explain what social class is and how it relates to consumer behavior and its
measures
5. Evaluate consumer behavior for the affluent consumer, the middle-class consumer
and the working class/ non affluent consumers.

Week 13

Consumers and the Diffusion of Innovation

The diffusion process and the adoption process are two closely related concepts
concerned with the acceptance of new products by consumers. The diffusion process is a
macro process that focuses on the spread of an innovation (a new product, service, or
idea) from its source to the consuming public. The adoption process is a micro process
that examines the stages through which an individual consumer passes when making a
decision to accept or reject a new product.
The definition of the term innovation can be firm oriented (new to the firm), product
oriented (a continuous innovation, a dynamically continuous innovation, or a
discontinuous innovation), market oriented (how long the product has been on the
market or an arbitrary percentage of the potential target market that has purchased it), or
25 &26 consumer oriented (new to the consumer). Market-oriented definitions of innovation are
most useful to consumer researchers in the study of the diffusion and adoption of new
products.

Learning Outcomes

1. Highlight what comprises of a new product within a social system.

2. Understand how innovative products and services spread (or fail to spread) within a
social system.
3. Understand how individual consumers decide whether or not to try and adopt a
particularly innovative product or service.
4. Understand the personal characteristics of innovators.

Consumer Decision Making and Beyond

The consumer’s decision to purchase or not to purchase a product or service is an

important moment for most marketers. It can signify whether a marketing strategy has
been wise, insightful, and effective, or whether it was poorly planned and missed the
mark. Thus, marketers are particularly interested in the consumer’s decision-making
process. For a consumer to make a decision, more than one alternative must be available.
(The decision not to buy is also an alternative.)
A consumer decision-making model ties together the psychological, social, and cultural
concepts
The process of gift exchange is an important part of consumer behavior. Various gift-
giving and gift-receiving relationships are evaluated.
Consumer behavior is not just making a purchase decision or the act of purchasing; it
also includes the full range of experiences associated with using or consuming products
and services.
Relationship marketing impacts consumers’ decisions and their consumption
satisfaction. Firms establish relationship marketing programs (sometimes called loyalty
programs) to foster usage loyalty and a commitment to their products and services

Learning Outcomes
1. Discussion on what a consumer decision is.
2. Explain the three levels of consumer decision making.
 3. Explain four different views or models of consumer decision making.
4. Explain in detail the model of consumer decision making.
5. Explain the nature and scope of consumer gift giving.
6. Explain the significance of consuming and possessing.
7. Explain the need for relationship marketing.
Book Chapter
Chapter 13, Consumer Decision Making and Diffusion of Innovation
Article
9.1: Accelerating Customer Adoption at the Bottom of the Pyramid Peter Frykman, 31,
January, 2013, HBR)
9.2: Why India is such a terrible place for innovation (Itika Sharma Punit, 28 January,
2016, Quartz)
9. 3: The Social Acceptability of Disruptive Food Innovations (Eddy Fougier, 24
October, 2017, Paris Innovation Review)
9.4: Innovation and Product Innovation in Marketing Strategy
(Nagasimha Balakrishna Kanagal, Feb, 2015)
9.5: Diffusion of Innovation (USC, Marshall)

Week 14
27 &28 Term Project presentations

4. Teaching and learning methodology

 Lecture discussion on topics of Consumer Behavior

 Random spot Q&A session to evaluate student understanding
 Movie clips to show application of Consumer Behavior concepts to reinforce
theory
 Brainstorming on marketing scenarios to reinforce learning
 Case study to see firsthand application of concepts in a true marketing scenario
 Reading material in the form of articles and chapters from other reference books
to supplement prescribed text

6. List of references/teaching material/books Prescribed Text

 Consumer Behavior, Leon G. Schiffman, Leslie Kanuk, & Havard Hansen,

(2015), 11th Edition, ISBN: 9332544786, 9789332544789

Recommended (Reference) books:

 Consumer Behavior by Frank R. Kardes, Maria L. Cronley, & Thomas W. Cline

(2012), ISBN 13: 978-0-538-74688-5
 Consumer Behavior, Del I. Hawkins, Roger J. Best, Kenneth A. Coney (2004),
ISBN: 0077387678, 9780077387679
 Consumer Behavior, Global Edition, Michael R. Solomon (2015), ISBN:
1292057017, 9781292057019
 Consumer Behavior, Hawkins, Best and Coney