95560 - CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

Il corso si propone di fornire agli studenti una comprensione completa dei fattori psicologici, sociali e culturali che influenzano i processi decisionali dei consumatori. In generale, gli obiettivi del corso sono quelli di fornire agli studenti le conoscenze, le competenze e gli strumenti analitici necessari per comprendere e influenzare efficacemente il comportamento dei consumatori sul mercato.

Contenuti

This course provides an overview of the most relevant and updated research in consumer behavior. The course is structured in order to provide students with a mixture of theory and practical applications by following logically and chronologically the steps that consumers encounter in their decision-making processes, that is to say Need Recognition, Search, Evaluation of the Alternatives, Choice, Post-Choice Evaluations. It has four main goals:

- To focus on the fundamental theoretical perspectives that allow to understand and measure how consumers make decisions;

- To provide students with the necessary tools to measure and analyze the different phases of the consumer’s decision making process;

- To stimulate the translation of the theoretical concepts into the managerial practice;

- To encourage students to work in a team, and to present and discuss their ideas and results with the audience.

Testi/Bibliografia

The course material consists of a collection of book chapters and scientific journal articles taken from different sources.

This “reading packet” is made available to students at Copisteria Asterisco (via Belle Arti, 31/B; just close to Bigiavi Library and round the corner from Piazza Scaravilli) to ensure that the photocopies comply with the current regulation in terms of copyrights. In order to purchase it, you just need to stop by at Copisteria Asterisco and ask for the Reading Packet for the course of Consumer Behavior by professors Chiara Orsingher and Gabriele Pizzi. We are aware that this might be a little bit more expensive than normal photocopies, but the material provided is protected by copyright and we are committed to the complete legality of the distribution of the course material. Nonetheless, we have done our best to make the total cost of the reading packet absolutely comparable to, if not lower than, the most widespread university textbook available in bookshops.

Lecture notes

Attending class, taking notes, and asking questions is the best way to learn. In class we will provide lots of examples that will be portrayed in the lecture notes. Furthermore, the course material is very detailed. For these reasons, the lecture notes that we are providing are not to be intended as a summary of the textbook and are not exhaustive for a sufficient preparation to the exam. Rather, the notes serve as an outline for the instructors for developing the concepts in each lecture. Lecture notes will be made available to students before each class on the IOL platform in .pdf format, so that students can bring a printed version of the slides to annotate them during class at their convenience.

Metodi didattici

Interactive lessons, Group Works, Exercises and Managerial Talks

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

Though not compulsory, class attendance and participation in team-work assignments is strongly encouraged. Team-work assignments consist of:

a) One intermediate short team-work project at the end of the first term: students will be asked to collect and analyze data on consumers’ consumption goals, and to write a short report (max 15 Power Point slides). Groups will be randomly extracted to present and discuss their reports in class on the assignment due date.

b) One final team-work project at the end of the second term: students will be asked to work in group on a project aimed at understanding and analyzing how consumers form their attitudes and intentions toward a given purchase situation and to present in class the results and the managerial consequences of their projects (max 15 Power Point slides).

Course evaluation will be different depending on the participation in team-work assignment, as detailed in the following:

Students participating in team-work assignments:

70% final written exam

30% team-work assignment

Students who do not participate in team-work assignments:

100% final written exam

Final written exam

Students can attend a mid-term exam (not compulsory) during the teaching break at the end of the first sub-cycle, and then the second mid-term exam at the end of the course. The grades of the two mid-term exams will be averaged to compute the “final written exam” grade.

By School regulation, those who positively pass the first mid-term exam (i.e. grade greater or equal to 18), have the chance to take the second mid-term exam either in the January or February session. However, the second mid-term can be taken only once. Therefore, if a student does not pass the second mid-term exam (or opts for a re-take), s/he can attend only total exams from that moment on.

The course material chapters on the topics discussed in the team-work assignments will be excluded from the exam program for those students who will participate in team-work assignments.

The overall grade is the arithmetic average of the results of the two checks.

The test assessment grid will be as follows:

· <18 insufficient

· 18-23 sufficient

· 24-27 average/good

· 28-30 very good

· 30 cum laude excellent/outstanding

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Chiara Orsingher

Consulta il sito web di Gabriele Pizzi