Understanding why people buy, choose, trust, recommend, reject, and remain loyal to products and brands is one of the most valuable capabilities in modern business. Consumer decisions are influenced not only by price and product quality but also by perception, emotion, memory, habits, social influence, cognitive biases, environmental cues, and decision architecture. Organizations that understand these behavioral drivers are better equipped to design products, services, customer experiences, and marketing strategies that create genuine value while improving customer satisfaction and long-term business performance.
This course provides a practical, executive-oriented study of consumer behavior and behavioral design by integrating insights from psychology, behavioral economics, neuroscience, marketing, design thinking, and business strategy. Rather than focusing solely on marketing theory, students will examine how consumers actually make decisions and how organizations can ethically design products, services, digital experiences, retail environments, pricing strategies, and communications that align with human behavior.
Throughout the course, emphasis is placed on practical decision-making used by marketers, product managers, customer experience teams, retailers, financial institutions, healthcare organizations, technology companies, hospitality businesses, and public-sector organizations. Students will learn how behavioral insights can improve customer acquisition, engagement, retention, loyalty, and long-term organizational success while maintaining ethical standards and consumer trust.
Course Objectives
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
• Understand the psychological foundations of consumer behavior.
• Analyze how cognitive, emotional, and social factors influence purchasing decisions.
• Evaluate customer decision-making across different industries and market contexts.
• Apply behavioral design principles to products, services, and customer experiences.
• Design customer journeys that improve engagement and satisfaction.
• Evaluate pricing, branding, and communication through behavioral science.
• Understand ethical applications of behavioral influence in business.
• Assess customer loyalty and long-term relationship strategies.
• Integrate behavioral insights into marketing, innovation, and strategic management.
• Develop evidence-based approaches to improving consumer decision environments.
