In this applied project-based course, you will develop a research question in the domain of consumer behavior. Working together in a small team, you will answer the question using experimental research methods. Each team focuses on a different topic. Example topics include: How does a company's distribution strategy influence brand loyalty? How does perceived brand closeness influence consumer creativity? How do craft products or local products influence consumers’ feeling of groundedness and their sense of life satisfaction?
What is common to all team projects is that they are about understanding why consumers behave the way they do, how they form judgments, how they make decisions, and which psychological and cognitive processes underlie their behavior.
The goal is to generate new marketing knowledge that challenges some of the existing assumptions how marketing works.
In the first part of the course, we discuss some current trends in consumer behavior and underlying theories. This is followed by an applied practical part: As a team, you develop an experiment to test your research question, analyze results, and derive practical implications for companies, consumers, and decision-makers. You will go through the entire research process from problem analysis, formulating relevant research questions, hypotheses development, conducting an experiment, data analysis, and professionally communicating the results.
Please note: Before you make a selection for course V: Please have a close look at the participation requirements below.