Consumer Psychology
H. Rao Unnava
530 A, Fisher Hall
Ph: 292.1506 (O); 439.6765 (C)
Unnava.1@fisher.osu.edu
Office Hours: By appointment
This course is intended as a follow-up to the Consumer Behavior course you completed last year. It
introduces more advanced concepts from research on consumer behavior and looks into their
application in marketing. By design, there will be readings from academic literature so you will be able
to appreciate the nuances that are commonly not touched upon in popular news articles. A thorough
understanding of the concepts discussed in this course will help you assess the validity and value of
market research information provided to you on a regular basis in your job. The main objective of this
course, therefore, is to equip you with the latest knowledge on consumer behavior so you will be highly
effective in your marketing job. A secondary objective of this course is to generate interest in you in
consumer psychology so you will be able to participate in academic conferences either as a presenter or
an informed audience member.
Course Materials:
All the required course materials are provided on Carmen. There is no text book for this class.
Assignments:
a. Participation in class room exercises
b. Research paper (two students per group)
c. Final Exam
30 points
40 points
30 points
The university grading scale is used to assign final grades in class.
Description of assignments:
Class room exercises: Every week, we will work on exercises designed to help you understand consumer
behavior concepts to a desired depth. Attendance in class, therefore, is expected. I understand some of
you may be interviewing for jobs and will allow for one class to be missed without your grade being
affected.
Research paper:
Problem identification: In the first two weeks of the semester, you will identify a research problem in
consumer behavior that you would like to study further. The research problem will be based on the
latest news in marketing and consumer behavior (e.g.,
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/business/theres-power-in-all-those-user-reviews.html or
http://screen.yahoo.com/popular/science-teacher-gets-surprising-results-122737570.html). Based on
the news article, you will state the question(s) you would like to explore further, using the theories and
concepts discussed in class. The news article and your questions for further research will be submitted
to me by 5 p.m. Friday of the second week of classes (January 17, 2014). The questions will be typed
separately on a sheet of paper and submitted along with the news article into the Carmen drop box
provided. Feedback will be provided to you by the following Monday (January 20, 2014) so you can
begin your work on the paper.
Literature review: During weeks 3 and 4 of the semester, you will conduct literature review to identify
the relevant academic and popular press articles which will help you build your argument. I will be
available to assist you if you run into difficulties in identifying the relevant literature. I will also get you
started with one or two papers so you can build on them as you do your research. By 5 p.m. on Friday of
the fourth week of classes (January 31, 2014), you will submit your bibliography to me. This deadline is
set so you won’t run into information search problems toward the end of the semester. I understand
that you may find other research after the deadline which you may want to use. I will allow for two
other cites to be added to your bibliography for the final submission.
Final submission: Your final paper is due on Sunday, February 16, by midnight. The paper will have the
following topics addressed:





Introduction and Statement of the problem
A paragraph explaining why the problem is important to study
Review of literature (categorize literature using sub-headings for clarity of expression)
Implications of your review for your hypotheses about the problem
Your conclusions and recommendations for how further research should be conducted
Final Exam:
The final exam will cover all the materials discussed in class. On the Monday of the seventh week of
classes (February 17), I will give you a set of questions based on our discussions in class. On Thursday,
February 20, we will have your final exam in class. The final exam will consist of three questions from
the question set you have been given to prepare plus one question that is not part of the question set.
You will have one hour to answer the questions.
Class Schedule and Readings
Week
1
Topic
Consumer decision making
revisited
Assignments
The consumer decision journey – retail (Microsoft
Corporation report)
Ad testing – Volkswagen Passat
Watch - http://www.ameritest.net/index.php/theforce-report
2
Multi-attribute models –
attitudes and behavior
Read – The theory of Planned Behavior
Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFdCzN7RYbw
3
Attitude Strength
Read – Theoretical and Empirical Implications of
Attitude Strength
4
Implicit Measures
Read – The Development of Implicit Attitudes
Read - Measurement of Implicit and Explicit Attitudes
Toward Barack Obama
Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DOrOPdNz3U
5
Categorization
Read - Innovation Aesthetics: The Relationship
between Category Cues, Categorization Certainty, and
Newness Perceptions
Goode, Miranda R.1; Dahl, Darren W.1; Moreau, C.
Page1
Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB6cNMtRGoM
6
Brand attachment, commitment,
and brand loyalty
Behavioral Decision Making
Read – Brand Love
7
Watch - http://youtu.be/JhjUJTw2i1M
Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrFHRtGmE5I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMqM4BDqvXY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DUrTy48KS0
Important dates and deadlines:
January 17, 2014
January 31, 2014
February 16, 2014
February 20, 2014
Submit research problem and news article by 5 p.m.
Submit bibliography for research paper by 5 p.m.
Submit final research paper by midnight
In-Class Final Exam