BSc Management (International Business Economics) with Industrial/Professional Experience / Course details

Our lives are not about what we consume, but at the same time, consumption is threaded through much our lives. We are constantly buying and experiencing and trading and using and losing things and experiences. This course equips students with a toolkit of concepts to understand this world more deeply. It equips students with an understanding of how our thoughts and decisions and emotions are shaped by the way our motivation, perception, memory work, and how our worlds are tangled up with the people that surround us (from strangers to friends to entire cultures). Additionally we think about ways that marketers often try to use these factors to shape our decisions, for better and worse. By the end of the course, students will be well-equipped to apply their knowledge to real-world type scenarios, making informed decisions that benefit both businesses and consumers. 

BMAN20271 has pre-requisite of: BMAN10101 Marketing Foundations and available to students on: BSc Mgt/Mgt Specialism; IMABS, IM & ITMB/ITMB Specialism. This course also available to MLBM students and the pre-requisite is BMAN20832.

Pre-requisite course units have to be passed by 40% or above at the first attempt unless a higher percentage is indicated within this course outline.

Pre-requisites: BMAN10101 Marketing Foundations

Co-requisites: N/A

Dependent course: BMAN31581 International Marketing

The course aims to provide students with a ‘tool kit’ of consumer behaviour concepts, and to build the skill in them to use these concepts to understand and analyse consumer situations. This tool kit covers the essentials of consumer decision making, psychology, and social/cultural influences. It considers both practical business implications of these elements, along with an academic understanding of important elements and outcomes on the lives that consumers live.

Expected Outcomes:

Non-assessed outcomes include:

Enhanced Critical Thinking:  

Students will develop the ability to critically evaluate consumer behaviour theories and models, applying them to real-world scenarios and reflecting on their implications.

 

Improved Communication Skills:  

Through group discussions, presentations, and collaborative projects, students will enhance their ability to articulate complex ideas about consumer behaviour effectively in both written and oral formats.

 

Ethical Awareness:  

Students will cultivate a deeper understanding of the ethical considerations in consumer behaviour research and marketing practices, reflecting on the impact of their actions on consumer well-being.

 

Practical Application:  

Students will have opportunities to apply their knowledge of consumer behaviour to real-world type situations, developing practical skills that can be used in their future careers.

 

motivation

perception  

memory

self and identity

culture and consumption

communications and influence

brands and marketing pragmatics 

Methods of delivery- Lectures/Seminar sessions

Lecture hours - 25 (2 hours per week, over 10 weeks + 1 hour every 2^nd week)

Seminar hours -          5 (1 hour every 2^nd week)

Private study -            170

Total study hours -      200

Informal Contact Methods
1. Office Hours
2. 2 x 2hr Drop in Surgeries (extra help sessions for students on material they may be struggling with)

 

By the end of the course students will be able to:

Apply relevant CB theories to important components of consumer behaviour

Describe the psychological processes involved in consumer decision-making, including perception, memory, and motivation.

Explain the social and cultural influences on consumer behaviour, including self-identity, emotions, and cultural consumption. 
 

By the end of the course students will be able to:

Explain the way consumer psychology shapes what consumers see, understand, act and experience in the market place 

By the end of the course students will be able to:

Analyse situations that consumers might experience using CB theories and concepts 

By the end of the course students will be able to:

Evaluate ways in which actors try to influence each other in marketplaces 

Formative Task:
Bullet point essay outline

Summative Assessment:

10% Completion of flashcards

20% Seminar group presentation

70% Examination 
 

 

• Response to student emails.
• Generic feedback on Blackboard.
• Formative essay assessment.

Sethna & Blythe (2019) Consumer Behaviour (fourth edition) Sage, London

Pre-requisite course units have to be passed by 40% or above at the first attempt unless a higher percentage is indicated within this course outline.

Pre-requisites: BMAN10101 Marketing Foundations

Co-requisites: N/A

Dependent course: BMAN31581 International Marketing

Programme Restrictions: BSc Management and Management (Specialisms), BSc International Management with American Business Studies, BSc International Management, BSc Mathematics and Management. 
 

For Academic Year 2025/26

Updated: March 2025

Approved by: March UG Committee