Fundamentals of Consumer Behaviour

Concept, nature, scope, and importance of consumer behaviour; relationship between consumer behaviour and marketing; consumer value, consumerism and consumer rights; factors influencing consumer behaviour; emerging trends in consumer markets; ethical marketing practices; introduction to online consumer behaviour and digital consumer journey; overview of organisational buying behaviour.

Lifestyle analysis and psychographics; AIO (Activities, Interests, Opinions) framework; social class and consumption patterns; reference groups and group dynamics; family decision-making and family life cycle; role of opinion leaders and influencers; cultural values, subcultures, and cross-cultural influences; global and Indian consumer diversity.

Consumer perception and perceptual mapping; learning theories and memory systems; motivation theories and their marketing implications; personality and self-concept; consumer involvement; attitude formation and change; cognitive dissonance and its impact on post-purchase behaviour; implications for branding and communication strategies; case studies.

Concept and stages of decision-making; need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post-purchase behaviour; situational influences (physical, social, temporal, psychological); satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and loyalty formation; traditional and contemporary models of consumer decision-making; application of behavioural models in marketing strategy; case studies

• Online consumer behaviour and digital decision journey; e-commerce buying behaviour; consumer analytics and behavioural data interpretation; application of consumer insights in segmentation, targeting, and positioning; development of customer-centric marketing strategies using behavioural insights; emerging trends in AI-driven consumer analytics. Practical Activities 1. Design of a short AIO (Activities, Interests, Opinions) questionnaire and collect responses from peers and its analysis to identify different lifestyle segments to learn consumer segmentations using psychographic variables. 2. Evaluation of competing brands of e.g., smartphones, food delivery apps, or apparel on selected attributes to understand consumer perception and brand positioning strategies.
• 3. Documentation of own purchase process for a high-involvement product (laptop, smartphone, online course, etc.) and map each stage of the decision-making process to understand consumer decision-making models to actual buying behaviour. 4. Analyse online reviews, social media comments, or e-commerce product ratings to identify consumer preferences, satisfaction drivers, and behavioural trends to develop skills in interpreting digital consumer data for marketing decisions.